[Zaghamkarim]

I am looking forward to this! I have the R6Pro, RS6 and R8------and would welcome this new model.

Not much long of a wait now - launch in Canjam Singapore confirmed by Zeppelin & Co.

 

[NAD Fi]

Sexy isn’t the word that would typically describe a DAP but that R6 is a work of art from someone who appreciates beauty. Call it beauty vs the beast in waiting.

 

[donkashyap]

Sexy isn’t the word that would typically describe a DAP but that R6 is a work of art from someone who appreciates beauty. Call it beauty vs the beast in waiting.

I was pretty fixed on waiting for a deal on the new RS6 colour but now this black R6 pro has got me drooling.

 

[Zaghamkarim]

Am a bit sceptic about the Class A amp - considering how some reviewers on the R6G3 say they can't tell a tangible difference. Hopefully is a bit more definitive in the Pro, if not can revert back to the plan to pair it with the PA10. Not a fan of the play pause button on the same slider as the rewind/ previous track either, but will have to see in person how it functions (chances of mis-press).

 

[NAD Fi]

Am a bit sceptic about the Class A amp - considering how some reviewers on the R6G3 say they can't tell a tangible difference. Hopefully is a bit more definitive in the Pro, if not can revert back to the plan to pair it with the PA10. Not a fan of the play pause button on the same slider as the rewind/ previous track either, but will have to see in person how it functions (chances of mis-press).

AK4499ex may be better positioned to show the difference that class A may bring to the table.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

can't wait to read impressions on this dap.

the ak4499ex is a multibit chip iirc, wondering if it'll be similar to the burr brown multibits

 

[jsmiller58]

AK4499ex may be better positioned to show the difference that class A may bring to the table.

The AK4499ex is the DAC, right? How would that affect the results for class A or AB which is more about the amplification stage (if I understand this correctly, which I might not!)?

 

[jsmiller58]

Am a bit sceptic about the Class A amp - considering how some reviewers on the R6G3 say they can't tell a tangible difference. Hopefully is a bit more definitive in the Pro, if not can revert back to the plan to pair it with the PA10. Not a fan of the play pause button on the same slider as the rewind/ previous track either, but will have to see in person how it functions (chances of mis-press).

From what I have read it seems that well implemented AB should sound quite close to an A implementation, at much lower power / much greater efficiency.

I don’t really know anything about audio amplifiers, but I wonder if to tell the difference we would have to be using much higher power output levels. In any event the availability of class A in the HiBy DAPs may be at best a great feature or at worst a differentiator without a difference (that still provides bragging rights).

 

[NAD Fi]

The AK4499ex is the DAC, right? How would that affect the results for class A or AB which is more about the amplification stage (if I understand this correctly, which I might not!)?

I will use a reverse analogy of having a high quality amplifier and pairing it with a lesser IEM/Headphone.

 

[jsmiller58]

I will use a reverse analogy of having a high quality amplifier and pairing it with a lesser IEM/Headphone.

I still don’t see how the quality of the DAC will make a difference to whether the output is class A or AB, barring an edge case of it being a terrible DAC with lots of artifacts at the output that might be somehow more amplified by the output.

In any event probably the reason no difference is discerned in the R6III between the two output classes is most simply that the AB Implemenation is very good and while the A may be better, it may simply not be audibly better.

Don‘t get me wrong - I think it is great that the option exists for a Class A amplification stage, but that may be more of a novelty or pride of ownership thing more than audio quality.

To stress, I don‘t own the R6III as I am holding out to see what the new R6 Pro will bring.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

I still don’t see how the quality of the DAC will make a difference to whether the output is class A or AB, barring an edge case of it being a terrible DAC with lots of artifacts at the output that might be somehow more amplified by the output.

In any event probably the reason no difference is discerned in the R6III between the two output classes is most simply that the AB Implemenation is very good and while the A may be better, it may simply not be audibly better.

Don‘t get me wrong - I think it is great that the option exists for a Class A amplification stage, but that may be more of a novelty or pride of ownership thing more than audio quality.

To stress, I don‘t own the R6III as I am holding out to see what the new R6 Pro will bring.

I'll be honest man, some people heard little difference between the n6ii e01 class ab and class A modes, while I thought the difference is massive, it all depends on who hears it, and it's very hard to judge unless you tried hiby's implementation and differences between ab and A before.

I'll add, while the effect itself isn't big at all going from ab to A, what it seemed like to me is that lines weren't as blurry before, and that imaging became clearer and more precise (imagine the graphs of class ab and A where A is perfect and ab has small blurs from time to time, cross over distortion)

sure, the change is small to some, but for some like me those tiny changes make a huge impact on the final sound.

 

[Zaghamkarim]

I'll be honest man, some people heard little difference between the n6ii e01 class ab and class A modes, while I thought the difference is massive, it all depends on who hears it, and it's very hard to judge unless you tried hiby's implementation and differences between ab and A before.

I'll add, while the effect itself isn't big at all going from ab to A, what it seemed like to me is that lines weren't as blurry before, and that imaging became clearer and more precise (imagine the graphs of class ab and A where A is perfect and ab has small blurs from time to time, cross over distortion)

sure, the change is small to some, but for some like me those tiny changes make a huge impact on the final sound.

I think part of it may come down to size (space constraint). If you make a really good AB implementation, it leaves less space for more higher end components for Class A. I was hoping they'd ditch the Class A on the Pro (money spent on better internals for other internals, DAC and matching components). So then the DAP can be paired to an external Class A amp like the Astell Kern PA10 - which is another brick. But should at least in theory offer better performance than integrated Class A. Kind of like how the Cayin N7 ditched Tubes to get more space for the 1-bit DAC and people are pairing it with the C9 (I did hear talks of a more affordable C7 to launch in the future to pair up with this). Which is another reason I'm interested in finding how the R6P2 stacks against the N7. As both are stand out DAPs in a saturated market.

 

[donkashyap]

I think part of it may come down to size (space constraint). If you make a really good AB implementation, it leaves less space for more higher end components for Class A. I was hoping they'd ditch the Class A on the Pro (money spent on better internals for other internals, DAC and matching components). So then the DAP can be paired to an external Class A amp like the Astell Kern PA10 - which is another brick. But should at least in theory offer better performance than integrated Class A. Kind of like how the Cayin N7 ditched Tubes to get more space for the 1-bit DAC and people are pairing it with the C9 (I did hear talks of a more affordable C7 to launch in the future to pair up with this). Which is another reason I'm interested in finding how the R6P2 stacks against the N7. As both are stand out DAPs in a saturated market.

I Don’t Think those are going to compete. N7 being near 2k while the R6P2 being in the 8-900$ range.

 

[justsomesonyfan]

I'll be honest man, some people heard little difference between the n6ii e01 class ab and class A modes, while I thought the difference is massive, it all depends on who hears it, and it's very hard to judge unless you tried hiby's implementation and differences between ab and A before.

I'll add, while the effect itself isn't big at all going from ab to A, what it seemed like to me is that lines weren't as blurry before, and that imaging became clearer and more precise (imagine the graphs of class ab and A where A is perfect and ab has small blurs from time to time, cross over distortion)

sure, the change is small to some, but for some like me those tiny changes make a huge impact on the final sound.

While I see what you mean, I'd hope they'd offer a high quality class A and would focus on it and have the A/B as an after thought rather than vice versa.

overall if leaked prices are true (someone mentioned around 800-900 usd) it is phenomenal value considering the dac chips and everything around it.

 

[Zaghamkarim]

I Don’t Think those are going to compete. N7 being near 2k while the R6P2 being in the 8-900$ range.

It's not expected to overtake the N7 - more like how Sony pulled off the ZX707 (performance comparable to the higher end models at a much cheaper price). It's more on how close it gets - especially with detail retrieval. A lot of the cost for the N7 would have went into the proprietary 1-bit DAC setup (R&D). It's definitely going to have its own flavour that can't be imitated without similar tech. But will be interesting to see how close the R6P2 can get to everything else great about it.