Preamble
Thank you to @Damz87, @Joe Bloggs and Hiby for arranging the Australian tour of the Hiby R6 Pro 2. Big thank you especially to Joe for providing his personal unit on tour.
The digital audio player (
DAP) is something of an anomaly among people who do not care much for audio fidelity. Often, they gawk at my oddly shaped brick and query, “what is that?”. To which I must go into an explanation that it is essentially an iPod, and so beings the game of 21 questions as to why I bother when I have a phone and Airpods at my disposal. This is not a new experience to me but at the same time, even audiophiles with a wealth of equipment also find themselves querying, “why a DAP?”.
Today’s review concerns the Hiby R6 Pro II (
R6P2) a DAP that is priced to be mid-fi but promises a wealth of features and sound quality that would have you believe that it is a summit-fi DAP. And instead of just talking about the R6P2 I would like to talk about the concept of DAPs as a whole.
The Factual Stuff
The R6P2 is an Android 12 powered DAP featuring a Snapdragon 665 SoC and more importantly, a AK4191EQ + dual AK4499EX DAC. Finished in aluminium anodised in either purple or black, the R6P2 takes a more design-forward approach to aesthetics, with curves and a machined pattern in the rear. On the underside of the unit is a wealth of ports including a 3.5mm LO and PO as well as a 4.4mm LO and PO.
The R6P2 features a large 5.9” IPS screen with a higher than HD resolution of 1080 x 2160.
Within the R6P2 is 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Either side of the R6P2 feature a rocker button and an additional button offset.
The amplification stage of the R6P2 is drive by 2 OPA1652s and 8 NXP bipolar transistors leading to 125mW output through the unbalanced 3.5mm and 383 mW output through the balanced 4.4mm with either Class A or Class AB output.
The R6P2 has a 5000 mAh battery and Hiby report play time of 8 hours at the longest through 3.5mm, Class AB and 5 hours at the shortest through 4.4mm, Class A.
The Opinion Stuff
But why male models?
Perhaps delving into why the R6P2 is or isn’t a good DAP, perhaps it is more pertinent to explain why bother with DAPs in the first place. I personally enjoy DAPs as my audio source as I am often listening on the go and whilst the smartphone + dongle combination is something that would likely be able to match a DAP, the DAP remains hugely convenient to me. By having a separate device purely dedicated to music listening, I am able to save my phone’s battery life, remove distractions from my music listening and be able to use various SD cards at my ease. I find that when I plug my IEMs into my DAP I am removing the chance of being distracted by apps (despite DAPs being able to have these apps), emails or calls coming through that can definitely wait.
Sound
If you’re reading a DAP review, I would venture to believe that you are a believer of source impact on sound quality. If you are not, I would skip this section completely and move to the “Quality of Life & Value” section as you would believe that it is sheer baloney.
Bass
The most prominent aspect of the R6P2 seems to be a healthy amount of boost in the low end. The sub-bass of IEMs when paired with the R6P2 appears to be presented with added presence and extension in the low end providing a deep rumble with certain tracks. This is not an overbloated sub-bass boost, it remains subtle, nuanced and controlled with the bass notes. To this effect, mid-bass seems to have little to no movement, I would not term the R6P2 as a warm source as more neutral IEMs remain so and warm IEMs do not descend into the overly dark territory.
The bass extension seems to be the most prominent aspect of the R6P2 as there is a seemingly deeper reach into the low end creating a very pleasing sense of physicality with IEMs that had none previously.
Mids
The midrange of the R6P2 remains distinctly neutral to my ears with no real emphasis on any particular aspect of the midrange. There is not sudden injection of warmth nor is there a dramatic emphasis on sibilant upper midrange notes with more neutral IEMs. There is a certain sense of spaciousness and airiness with vocals on the whole that provides you with a distinct sense of naturalness to the timbre. I would definitely not call the R6P2 as thin nor ‘digital’ in nature as instrumentalization and vocals remain very good in their tonality, but there isn’t much in the way of tonal colouring going on with the R6P2.
Note weight isn’t heavy nor thin in any regard owing to the retention of mid-bass and so I believe that the R6P2 is a good choice for maintaining a neutral mid-range performance unlike some sources which seek to colour this region considerably.
Treble
Treble performance on the R6P2 is similarly a good story with a perceived slight boost in this region. This is not making a dead IEM suddenly sparkly nor is it going to make a sparkly IEM induce ear bleeding but rather there is an enhanced sense of layering and separation between regions and instruments.
Compared to the likes of cheaper dongles such as the DC04Pro wherein sibilance may be a side effect of drawing out additional top-end detail, the R6P2 remains fairly neutral.
Overall, there is not much to say for this region other than there is a slight emphasis on the upper regions of the frequency response that seeks to heighten the fun factor of the R6P2 by creating a edginess and crispiness to the notes in this region. When combined with the low-end performance, one could characterise the R6P2 as having a slightly v-shaped tonality.
Technicalities:
The most prominent element about the R6P2 is the significant boost in dynamic performance of certain IEMs. The MEST MK2 is hardly a dynamic IEM remaining rather subdued with swings of volume in certain songs. The R6P2 amplifies such dynamic swings adding a sense of drama to your music. Soundtracks to films and video games have not sounded better on the MK2 until it was paired with the R6P2 with jarring crescendos being reproduced with gusto and jumps in volume giving me a great sense of scale and dynamic range.
Sound staging is rather good, presenting music in a spacious manner. The R6P2 doesn’t imbue a huge amount of staging width nor depth but rather seems to extend things slightly wider when listening closely. This is unlike certain sources such as the W4 or the RU7 which extended staging broadly to the point of potentially losing some engagement. The R6P2 remains present and thoroughly engaging throughout the entirety of the listening experience.
Detail retrieval and imaging is also similarly good for the price as I feel that microdetails and placement of certain instruments become more well defined when compared to the likes of competitors in the price range. The M6U (more on this below) feels less defined and sharp with its laissez-faire reproduction.
Overall
It is difficult to fault the R6P2 on the basis of sound. Very dynamic with a fun infused V-shaped tuning, the R6P2 provides the end user with a significant injection of excitement into any IEM that they listen to as well as the ability to tweak sound signatures with the wealth of DSP built into their software.
Overall, I would say that the R6P2 provides a very compelling package from a sound quality standpoint, especially when compared to its peers.
Comparisons
Shanling M6 Ultra (M6U)
The M6U takes a different approach to sound quality when compared to R6P2. The M6U seemingly represents a phrase I have heard commonly in audio circles of “Shanling house sound”. With increased warmth, smoothness and note weight, the M6U colours tonality to a greater extent than the R6P2.
This shift in sound signature is likely a love-hate relationship whereas the R6P2 is seemingly able to appeal to a larger audience.
Technical performance on the R6P2 is better with a noticeable improvement in dynamics and a perceived extension in bass frequencies.
Outside of sound, the M6U takes a smaller footprint and features a volume wheel making adjusting volume a much more intuitive. The M6U runs an older version of Android and has fewer built-in DSP features.
Overall, the R6P2 is likely to appeal to more people whereas those who are looking for a more analogue and coloured tonality would likely love the M6U. I can see people owning both to achieve different sound signatures but if it were up to me to have only one DAP, I would go with the R6P2 for an all-rounder.
Luxury & Precision W4
The W4 with fast filter, Tone set to 02 and all other DSP off creates a fairly dry and fast reproduction of music that seeks to heighten detail retrieval and clearly defines the edges of notes. The detriment of this tonality is a slight unnaturalness to certain instruments as well as vocal tonality. Comparatively speaking, the R6P2 maintains a natural presentation of music with greater dynamics and greater punchiness in the sub-bass region whereas mid-bass gets a little more love with the W4. Technicality wise, the W4 presents in a more wide and more flat staging compared to the R6P2 and as such I prefer the R6P2.
The W4 therefore is a more detail-orientated source with a great sense of speed and edginess to the music whereas the R6P2 seeks to be more engaging with its dramatic low-end and excellent dynamics.
The dongle is something of a love-hate source choice being extremely convenient but also somewhat annoying to carry around with your phone. The R6P2 suits my use case better in this scenario but the W4 is able to trade blows from a detail standpoint but ultimately, I feel that the R6P2 is far more engaging with its presentation.
Chord Mojo 2 + Poly
The Mojo 2 presents a warmed up signature compared to the R6P2 with greater mid-bass imbuing a sense of low-end punch. Despite this warmth, upper mids remain fairly forward in the mix and the staging of the Mojo2 is wider than that of the R6P2. There is a greater sense of depth with the Mojo2 as well but there is a slightly more coloured tonality compared to the R6P2. Ultimately, where the R6P2 presents its greatest advantage is of course, the dynamics and microdetail retrieval.
The R6P2 also presents a greater emphasis on the upper mids and the treble regions of the frequency response curve creating a greater sense of crispness and tingle in the upper end that I thoroughly enjoy with certain IEMs.
The R6P2 and the Mojo2 present significant DSP capabilities but I, being the simpleton as I am, enjoy pushing buttons on the Mojo more than I do playing with convolution filters and incremental sliding scales on the MSEB.
Overall, the Mojo2 presents a more laid-back reproduction of music whereas the R6P2 seems to attack you more.
Quality of Life & Value
The R6P2 eschews from DAP conventions to innovate some novel approaches to common complaints. The R6P2 utilises a rocker button and another offset button on either side of the DAP, leading to a total of 6 buttons on the DAP. These control volume, power and media controls and allow for the R6P2 to be rotated in a manner to reorientate the outputs. This is a tremendous design choice as it provides people with the option to utilise their DAP with their cables hanging from the top of the DAP or from the bottom.
The reality of this configuration however is that the buttons are fairly mushy to the touch and are not as intuitive to use as a encoder wheel which provide greater ease of adjustment. The button configuration is also quite odd on the left side of the R6P2 as the rocker is play/pause and skip defying conventional thinking.
The wealth of outputs on the R6P2 is a tremendous quality of life bonus for those who look to use their DAP in a more varied manner than a glorified MP3 player. Line outputs allow users to bypass the amplification stage of the R6P2 and connect to an external amp. This line out is also variable, allowing users to control volume on the line-out which is something that is a bit of a rarity on DAPs.
Android 13 on a DAP is a rarity unless you’re HIby. So often do many DAP manufacturers utilise obsolete versions of the Android operating system which is not an issue if you plan on using local files but poses a larger issue if you want to use apps which are constantly updating their requirements. For example, the Wavelet app only works on Android 10 and above.
Hiby is also known for their significant digital signal processing capabilities when compared to other DAP manufacturers. With their MSEB which seeks to simplify a 10 band EQ into more easily understood terms, various digital filters and add-ons such as a convolution filter and the DRX10K Dynamic plug-in. These elements provide the end-user with tremendous granularity in adjusting the sound signature of the R6P2 and is a definite bonus to those who are looking to tweak their sound signature. The dynamics plug-in creates a very unique shift in sound quality that is more easy to use than messing to use with a 10-band EQ and seems to achieve dramatic shifts in dynamic performance, which on the R6P2, is already stellar.
The variance of class A and class AB seem to be minute if anything with IEMs. Call it a trick of the mind but I noticed the most minor increase in bass quantity and sense of punch when in Class A versus Class AB. This was somewhat more pronounced on headphones with the HD6XX being more confined in staging but with a greater sense of presence and impact in its reproduction of music. Power output is a sore point on the R6P2 with the volume having to be pushed quite high even on high-gain on IEMs. No IEM had any issues on the R6P2 but I am willing to bet that the R6P2 is not ideal for certain headphones in the market. The HD6XX required 75 / 100 to be at the peak of my listening volume on the 3.5mm.
Battery life is also a poor element of the R6P2 with Class A and 4.4mm balanced output being only rated for 5 hours. Whilst you can bring this figure up with AB and 3.5mm it is still hardly a world beater in this regard. I did not do any specific testing but anecdotally, seeing percentages drop considerably with only a few hours of listening is a hugely disheartening factor of the R6P2 when compared to the likes of the Mojo + Poly combo and the M6U.
Overall, the QoL with the R6P2 leaves a lot to be desired. Hardware design, whilst wonderful to look at, leaves a lot to be desired when you’re actually interacting with the device. Software is great with the latest and greatest of Android combined with a suite of DSP, but the lack of a dedicated listening mode that you see with devices from Shanling (Prime Mode) and iBasso (Mango) is something that I miss somewhat. Battery life and power output are the weakest elements of the R6P2 as both are middling and somewhat annoying to deal with. I cannot recommend the R6P2 for people with power-hungry headphones nor can I recommend it for those looking for an all-day device, especially if you find yourself enamoured with the Class A mode.
Conclusion
The R6P2 brings a very even keeled approach to sound seeking to enhance more technical elements of whatever you’re listening to rather than the tonality. By increasing extension and improving dynamics there is a sense of “opening up” your IEM and improving the dynamic range of what you can hear.
The R6P2 has some creature comforts and excellent quality of life features that seek to improve your DAP experience but fundamental aspects such as power output and battery life suffer considerably.
I cannot fault the R6P2 on a sound quality perspective but on a liveability perspective, it leaves a lot to be desired.
And if you are willing to make sacrifices for sound quality to a certain budget, the R6P2 punches above its weight in this regard.
