In 2012 AudioQuest caused quite a buzz with its diminutive £215 DragonFly, a miniature DAC/headphone amp squeezed into a USB dongle, designed in collaboration with Wavelength Audio's Cordon Rankin and incorporating his Streamlength asynchronous USB protocol. Then the company scored a direct bullseye when it followed up with the DragonFly v1.2 [HFN Mar '14]. This not only offered improved sound quality thanks to power supply tweaks and a shortened signal path between its ESS Sabre DAC chip and the analogue output, but was also bargain-priced at just £ 129. This year AudioQuest has a new 'widget' commanding worldwide attention from budget-conscious audio enthusiasts playing music from their computers: the £39 JitterBug. It's another USB (Type A) dongle, a little smaller than the DragonFly, this time with a Type A socket at the other end.
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