[Newsee]

Hi guys , i was lucky to be able to purchase RS8 and wow i love the stage and holographic earthy smooth sound of this DAP , but i wonder is the bass a little light? I am comparing to some other amplifier i think RS8 is a little less in the bottom. I.e. comparing to more affordable dongle like DC elite and Q15.

No. RS8 is bass heavy compared to my reference tuned desktop gear and Cayin N30

 

[Aetherhole]

Hi guys , i was lucky to be able to purchase RS8 and wow i love the stage and holographic earthy smooth sound of this DAP , but i wonder is the bass a little light? I am comparing to some other amplifier i think RS8 is a little less in the bottom. I.e. comparing to more affordable dongle like DC elite and Q15.

I think it’s going to depend on your settings with the RS8. What amp mode are you using? Also, using Turbo or no?

I love the sound that I get out of it in Class A mode with Turbo mode on. It’s thicker, but still more articulate than my Questyle M15 dongle, for sure. Additionally love the holography, too.

 

[BeardSplinter]

I think it’s going to depend on your settings with the RS8. What amp mode are you using? Also, using Turbo or no?

I love the sound that I get out of it in Class A mode with Turbo mode on. It’s thicker, but still more articulate than my Questyle M15 dongle, for sure. Additionally love the holography, too.

I could not agree more, love my questyle M15 and while the bass quantity is comparable the RS8 is on a whole different level with the quality/texture of the bass.

My RS8 always stays in turbo mode, even with BA bass the difference feels staggering in the dynamics and control.

Class A or AB I never feel bass is lacking with turbo on!

 

[Pelilin]

I think it’s going to depend on your settings with the RS8. What amp mode are you using? Also, using Turbo or no?

I love the sound that I get out of it in Class A mode with Turbo mode on. It’s thicker, but still more articulate than my Questyle M15 dongle, for sure. Additionally love the holography, too.

I use AB and didnt turn on the turbo. Does the bass only increase when turning on the class A and turbo ?? Wont it drain battery faster?

 

[Aetherhole]

I use AB and didnt turn on the turbo. Does the bass only increase when turning on the class A and turbo ?? Wont it drain battery faster?

It will drain it faster. It’s effectively outputting more voltage… 7.5v, I believe. It doesn’t just give more bass, I find it just more dynamic, bass, treble, and just about everything else, overall with Turbo on.

 

[Aetherhole]

I could not agree more, love my questyle M15 and while the bass quantity is comparable the RS8 is on a whole different level with the quality/texture of the bass.

My RS8 always stays in turbo mode, even with BA bass the difference feels staggering in the dynamics and control.

Class A or AB I never feel bass is lacking with turbo on!

Definitely love the texture improvements! Oh so good.

 

[BeardSplinter]

I use AB and didnt turn on the turbo. Does the bass only increase when turning on the class A and turbo ?? Wont it drain battery faster?

It will most certainly drain the battery more, and as @Aetherhole mentioned turbo is 7.5V!

I find turning on turbo in class AB with 16bit 44.1 flac files the battery drain is negligible compared to the sound improvement.

I use darwin filter 10, atmospheric enhanced, harmonic at 80, no MSEB or PEQ, low gain + turbo and I literally can go 3-5 days between charging at 4.5 to 8 hours per day listening.

The RS8 has absurdly good battery life with local file playback imo. I feel the manufacturer stated battery life is worst case, think using with wifi on, streaming high res files, etc.

 

[Pelilin]

It will most certainly drain the battery more, and as @Aetherhole mentioned turbo is 7.5V!

I find turning on turbo in class AB with 16bit 44.1 flac files the battery drain is negligible compared to the sound improvement.

I use darwin filter 10, atmospheric enhanced, harmonic at 80, no MSEB or PEQ, low gain + turbo and I literally can go 3-5 days between charging at 4.5 to 8 hours per day listening.

The RS8 has absurdly good battery life with local file playback imo. I feel the manufacturer stated battery life is worst case, think using with wifi on, streaming high res files, etc.

It will drain it faster. It’s effectively outputting more voltage… 7.5v, I believe. It doesn’t just give more bass, I find it just more dynamic, bass, treble, and just about everything else, overall with Turbo on.

I tried the turbo oh yes the dynamic increase . Everything become more energetic and lively. But now i cant tell the difference between class A and AB with turbo mode. I think i will experiment more later. Regarding the darwin filter are there any guideline what the filter does to the sound? There are a lot of option im confused.

 

[Aetherhole]

I tried the turbo oh yes the dynamic increase . Everything become more energetic and lively. But now i cant tell the difference between class A and AB with turbo mode. I think i will experiment more later. Regarding the darwin filter are there any guideline what the filter does to the sound? There are a lot of option im confused.

Let us know what you find with A vs AB!

I’m still a little new to the Hiby, so I’ve not quite dabbled with the filters at all.

 

[Pelilin]

Let us know what you find with A vs AB!

I’m still a little new to the Hiby, so I’ve not quite dabbled with the filters at all.

The difference is very subtle because its so subtle i dont know if its better to turn it on and trading the battery life for it. The class A seems to add more energy on the upper frequency but add a bit of thickness to the overall sound which can make bass and vocals sound thicker but this is all very subtle. Depend on your preferences. The turbo mode is the one that change the sound more. I think the character of this DAP is leaning toward natural organic real sound. I dont know why even with turbo mode and using my kefine delci (i know i know its a bottleneck, my feiwan is still in progress) the bass isnt strong enough , or even reduce the kefine delci bass, compared to other DAP. I wonder if other IEM sound different in the bass region with this DAP.

 

[BeardSplinter]

I tried the turbo oh yes the dynamic increase . Everything become more energetic and lively. But now i cant tell the difference between class A and AB with turbo mode. I think i will experiment more later. Regarding the darwin filter are there any guideline what the filter does to the sound? There are a lot of option im confused.

This link has the best descriptions of the original Darwin and new v2 filters. (I have not sideloaded yet but hear they are very good.)

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/pro...n-filters-v2-for-hiby-rs6-rs8-rs2-fc6.969083/

DAC filters in general are a very complex/intricate thing. I found a very informative link which I will share. How valid it is, I am unsure, but I don't really want to spend that much time diging into it.

https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/blogs/how-to/how-to-pick-the-best-filter-setting-for-your-dac

 

[Pelilin]

This link has the best descriptions of the original Darwin and new v2 filters. (I have not sideloaded yet but hear they are very good.)

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/proof-of-evolution—darwin-filters-v2-for-hiby-rs6-rs8-rs2-fc6.969083/

DAC filters in general are a very complex/intricate thing. I found a very informative link which I will share. How valid it is, I am unsure, but I don't really want to spend that much time diging into it.

https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/blogs/how-to/how-to-pick-the-best-filter-setting-for-your-dac

Thanks a lot i will read it later. Do you notice any difference when applying the filters?

 

[haci]

The difference is very subtle because its so subtle i dont know if its better to turn it on and trading the battery life for it. The class A seems to add more energy on the upper frequency but add a bit of thickness to the overall sound which can make bass and vocals sound thicker but this is all very subtle. Depend on your preferences. The turbo mode is the one that change the sound more. I think the character of this DAP is leaning toward natural organic real sound. I dont know why even with turbo mode and using my kefine delci (i know i know its a bottleneck, my feiwan is still in progress) the bass isnt strong enough , or even reduce the kefine delci bass, compared to other DAP. I wonder if other IEM sound different in the bass region with this DAP.

Try the plugins: Mastermind and dynamics

They can alter the sound significantly, including bass

 

[Joe Bloggs]

DAC filters in general are a very complex/intricate thing. I found a very informative link which I will share. How valid it is, I am unsure, but I don't really want to spend that much time diging into it.

https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/blogs/how-to/how-to-pick-the-best-filter-setting-for-your-dac

It is very valid. I need to find out who this Stephen Dawson guy is in Australia where I live and make friends with him.

The only addition I would make is that the Darwin Ultra filter models the frequency response of NOS "non-filters" [in the passband] while still doing a stellar job of actual anti-aliasing [i.e. rejecting all past-Nyquist imaging noise, unlike any NOS]. And has a mixed phase between linear and minimum which may be regarded as psychoacoustically ideal (if one could hear those ripples in the first place; you can't). It can be regarded as a version of NOS that is actually any good (very good, I hope)

 

[Pelilin]

Try the plugins: Mastermind and dynamics

They can alter the sound significantly, including bass

I think i understand now that RS8 are more neutral and linear from low to high compared to other DAC in the market. Most DAP or dongle nowadays give a bit more in the low end. While RS8 are giving the best version of your iems.