A few things first. I’m no reviewer, no headphone junkie (though my experience with this product may change the headphone part).
How did I come by the Prodigy and what vested interest do I have?
I thought my Audioquest Dragonfly v1 was faulty (an uninstall and install sorted it out) so hopped on eBay and came across the Prodigy for $49.99- new. I came up short when Googling info so contacted the seller. Long story short , the designer never took it to market and moved on, so he offered me my money back if I wasn’t happy- and if I was I would say some nice things on the forums I frequent. I am happy, so here goes.
If you judge a book by its cover you would buy it for that alone. It’s hard to reconcile the price of the Prodigy D2A-HPA with the quality of the packaging. Really well packaged and presented. That bang for buck factor increased out of sight when I heard it though- gushing to follow.
The tail and the unit itself fit very snugly and securely in my laptop compared with my Dragonfly. The drivers installed automatically and quickly. I swapped between the Prodigy and the Dragonfly, playing the same songs through JRiver Media Centre 20 and my ATC 15 iems.
At 1st bite the Dragonfly seemed more impressive. It has more bass heft and more impact but- and it’s a huge but- it quickly became apparent that the bass is lumpy, the treble grainy, the soundstage denser compared with the Prodigy. In fact it sounded very artificial by comparison.
Initially I thought the Prodigy a little thin and lacking in bass- a little treble- happy. I soon realised that the sound was just more natural. The trebles were less sibilant and smoother, more open and without grain. The bass was in fact there, just not exaggerated. It actually extended deeper and further, as did the wide soundstage. The music flowed more naturally, was more immersive, with better placement of instruments and decays that were just not there with the Dragonfly. The Prodigy dug out more detail, had significantly more clarity and the Dragonfly sounded veiled by comparison.
I am definitely treble shy and the treble on the Prodigy can clear wax the Dragonfly can’t. Reviews of the Dragonfly have mentioned the lack of good treble so, for most, the treble of the Prodigy may be a good thing. I must add that I EQ the treble pretty much the same for both, but that may be to do with the ACTs. I disabled the Headphone function in the JRiver DSP studio with the Prodigy. I used it with the Dragonfly to combat fatigue, but it was detrimental with the Prodigy. I had previously found the iems fatiguing. Now I can listen for hours.
I started with notes of music I listened to- how X’s piano sounded wonderful, how fluid the music was etc etc. but won’t bore you to sleep with ALL the details.
I accidentally listened to some Mp3 tracks and even a dire 128kps Shania Twain song sounded ok. Triad from 4 Way Street at 320kps sounded better than I’ve heard mp3 before.
FLAC was great, which brings me to the Prodigy’s features.
You can find it here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRODIGY-USB-DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG-INTERFACE-HEADPHONE-AMP-DAC-DRAGONFLY/251897686824?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140602152332%26meid%3Df38583aaffa9443e9e788765c86bb144%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D251839088955There you will see that it can play 24/192 files and has all manner of bells and whistles crammed into its casing, which is pretty tough. I twice dropped it on concrete. No blemishes.
The Prodigy has a gain switch for harder to drive headphones. It also has 2 outputs- one to an external DAC.
I also listened on my hi-fi system using Monster cable into a Quicksilver Audio valve preamp (on loan) feeding Hypex module monoblocks and Eminent Technology LFT 16 speakers with a B&W ASW700 sub. I also (with careful use of the laptop’s volume) plugged directly into the sub with signal from the sub to the monoblocks.
The result influenced my buying decisions. I was looking for a middling DAC/pre but instead sold my existing TacT unit and the Dragonfly and bought an upmarket Modwright LS100 preamp, content to use just the Prodigy as a DAC until my wallet recovers.
Remember- its $49.99!
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Topic: Prodigy D2A-HPA USB DAC/headphone amp- a review of sorts (Read 3725 times)