HiBy R1 $85 CS43131 DAP Released!

[Joe Bloggs]

My value pak came with the Shure KSE 1200 electrostatic headphone system, The Smiths' discography, and lanyard.

the value pack comes with the HiBy Yves earphones, 32GB microSD card on top of what comes with the regular version and a microfibre pouch instead of a mesh pouch.

It's in the Version Choice tab of the page.

 

[ericr]

the value pack comes with the HiBy Yves earphones, 32GB microSD card on top of what comes with the regular version and a microfibre pouch instead of a mesh pouch.

It's in the Version Choice tab of the page.

FYI to everyone:

The Value Pack is currently $30 off at Hiby.com - with free shipping!

So, $99 for the R1, HiBy Yves earphones (regularly $19), and a 32GB microSD card.

This might be a hidden Black Friday deal not shown on the Hiby BF page. The HiBy Black Friday sale ends tomorrow, December 3rd.

 

[Flooshie]

I own a lot of audio gear, but I really enjoyed using R1. I don't know why, but has superb tactility and I enjoy that

Thanks for your work. Just listening to the R1 now. I finally understand what you mean by "micro-contrast."

 

[tarantula589]

My value pak came with the Shure KSE 1200 electrostatic headphone system, The Smiths' discography, and lanyard.

I also use this set: Gaya headphone amplifier and Asus smartphone. But I don't use headphones, I connect computer speakers to this pair that I carry on my shoulders and listen to music openly on the street. R1 will arrive soon for my birthday in 3 weeks and I will not use the Gaya headphone amplifier - I will connect the R1 directly to the mobile speakers. The speakers are powered by a power bank.

 

[abitdeef]

Sweet, I tie a crown amp to my waist and put infinity speakers on my shoulders, the R1 goes into the preamp in my backpack. All powered by the fission reactor in my signet ring.

 

[tarantula589]

Sweet, I tie a crown amp to my waist and put infinity speakers on my shoulders, the R1 goes into the preamp in my backpack. All powered by the fission reactor in my signet ring.

where're you from, bro?

 

[abitdeef]

where're you from, bro?

Chirac

 

[Twizzle]

My (Blue) HiBy R1 arrived today. Some initial observations and questions:

Notes:

• I'm in the UK (where the R1 isn't yet available. I bought direct from HiBy paying $30 for 5-6 day shipping from China. It didn't turn up after 7 days, so I contacted HiBy and they refunded shipping costs (thank you HiBy, that was appreciated). It eventually arrived after 9 days. Busy Black Friday times for delivery firms, I expect, but glad it got here.

Positive:

• It's a great sized unit, and I love the blue colour - I also own an M300 (which I love), but now wish I ordered the blue version of that as well, rather than the black one I have!
• Sound quality is excellent (although I'm by no means an audiophile)
• Turning off the volume lock is simple after the 5 taps in 'About' followed by going into Developer Options

Neutral:

• I assumed the strap would be a wrist strap, but both myself and my partner (who has much smaller hands) can only get it over our four fingers, not our whole hands!
• I bought the value pack, but in hindsight I needn't have bothered:
  • The microfibre pouch/case it comes with (the main reason I went for the value pack) is way too tight, leaving me worried I'll damage the side of the unit as I have to push it in and out so forcefully - hoping for an armband soon (even if made by a third party), so I can use it whilst exercising
  • The 32GB memory card is useful, but I've already replaced it with a SanDisk 1.5TB Ultra to accommodate all my music - although the spare 32GB SD may come in handy for something at some point
  • The earbuds sound very tinny and cheap - I doubt I'll ever use them. My existing JBL Endurance Run wired earbuds sound way better
  • So effectively, I've paid an extra $14 for the only useful gain of a spare 32GB SD card worth around $10 - but, I paid my money and made my choice I guess, and didn't expect great earbuds for that extra cost

Issues/questions

• This point removed, as resolved in next post thanks to @abitdeef. I tried both my pairs of Bluetooth headphones/earbuds - with volume lock off; replay album gain on; Codec set to Prefer LAC (Auto):
  
  • Sony WH-CH720N Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones: go up to a decent volume (showing the AAC icon on the screen - so I assume it's using that Bluetooth codec)
  • Jabra Elite 4 Active In-Ear Bluetooth Earbuds: the volume level is much lower using these - so much so that with volume on 100, I can still hear background noise (even with noise cancelling turned on)

1. Gapless transitions between tracks:
   • Testing using:
     • Depeche Mode 'Black Celebration (Remastered)' - ripped from a CD using iTunes into Apple Lossless (16 bit, 44.1kHz; 16 bit) - first three tracks are all continuously segued together
     • A Certain Ratio 'ACR Loco' - digital download (24 bit, 44.1kHz) - most tracks blend into one another continuously
   • Wired earbuds - seem to transition gaplessly as expected
   • Bluetooth - playing through tracks on both albums, using both pairs of headphones/earbuds, sometimes there is a split second gap. At other times the gapless transition works fine. Again, it's not an issue with my M300 at all (I use Poweramp on that). I need to play a few more examples to see if I can spot any pattern for when Bluetooth gapless transitions fail - but it seems random/intermittent so far. @Joe Bloggs are there any Bluetooth buffering or other settings I can extend that may improve this perhaps - if not, can this be a feature request? It'd be great to know how I can fix this, or if it will be addressed in a Firmware upgrade in the near future?

Feature requests

1. Last.FM Scrobbling - as this has Wi-Fi and can connect to certain streaming apps, can the HiBY music player have some simple settings to send track details to the Last.FM APIs for scrobbling (as Logitech Media Server does). I'm still a big Scrobbler, as are many DAP enthusiasts, and for me it's the only feature that feels missing from the R1. I know the M300 is Android based, but it's great I can Scrobble with that, and would love the same with the R1. @Joe Bloggs is there a formal way for me to request this feature (i.e. on the HiBy website, or via an email address)?

Hope this is all useful feedback!

Andy

 

[abitdeef]

Hi Andy, this might be a waste but when I first hooked up both my wireless buds the volume was really low. I had to increase the volume on the buds themselves and then the volume was quite loud. I didn't have to do that on my other daps. Also I disabled the maximum digital out setting, that helped with volume level to attached dongles which was very low with volume maxed. But for sure this thing needs some firmware work. I'd love to see error 13 fixed and a dark theme and a proper EQ. Oh and being able to stream wirelessly from my phone. I'm sure Joe Bloggs has passed these things on.

 

[Twizzle]

Hi Andy, this might be a waste but when I first hooked up both my wireless buds the volume was really low. I had to increase the volume on the buds themselves and then the volume was quite loud. I didn't have to do that on my other daps. Also I disabled the maximum digital out setting, that helped with volume level to attached dongles which was very low with volume maxed. But for sure this thing needs some firmware work. I'd love to see error 13 fixed and a dark theme and a proper EQ. Oh and being able to stream wirelessly from my phone. I'm sure Joe Bloggs has passed these things on.

Hey Abitdeef, you're completely right - daft of me to not try that out! All my other devices (including the M300) have a 1 to 1 link with the volume bar on the device, and the maximum volume of the headphones. Nice easy solution - thanks! I've struck it out in my previous email as a question!

Last.FM Scrobbling from the R1 would me my primary feature request I want @Joe Bloggs to pass on to the developers!

 

[abitdeef]

Not daft, I didn't try it first either I just thought the Bluetooth volume sucked I just happened to tap my right bud and viola it went very loud. Yes all my other devices have that 1 to 1 volume link so it threw me off big time. Glad I could help

 

[Twizzle]

You can create a playlist on the device and save it as .m3u. It will be saved on the sd card in a folder named ‘playlist_data’.

• While playing music, press the 3 dots in the lower right corner.
• Select ‘Add’ and ‘Create new playlist’. Enter a name.
• Go back to the ‘Music’ screen
• Click the icon at the top that looks like a folder with a star (the middle one).
• Click ‘Playlists’ and the 3 dots next to the name you entered earlier.
• Click ‘Save playlist’ and ‘.m3u’.

Check the contents and make your own playlists in the same way.

Playlists you put in ‘playlist_data’ folder can be loaded.

I have many hundreds of playlists I plan to transfer from my PC as .m3u files. When they are saved in the 'playlist_data' folder, is there a way to load them in bulk (i.e. select all, or select folder), or will I be stuck with the slow task of loading them one at a time?

 

[abitdeef]

Man I must say I'm pretty impressed with this little device. I've been listening to this thing now for a good while and I'm surprised by how good the imaging and stage depth is. Listening to an old favorite and a really good masterd recording and it sounds spectacular. I really have to re-rip this at a higher bit rate. But still sounds amazing. Good recording

 

[endgame4]

I have many hundreds of playlists I plan to transfer from my PC as .m3u files. When they are saved in the 'playlist_data' folder, is there a way to load them in bulk (i.e. select all, or select folder), or will I be stuck with the slow task of loading them one at a time?

There is no bulk option, but maybe the ‘Playlists > Load playlist’ does that. I have not tried it but as far as I can tell there is no way to import a specific playlist so it might just do all.

But why do you need to load all of them? You can open/select/load the one you want from the Music > Files > SD-card option.

 

[Twizzle]

There is no bulk option, but maybe the ‘Playlists > Load playlist’ does that. I have not tried it but as far as I can tell there is no way to import a specific playlist so it might just do all.

But why do you need to load all of them? You can open/select/load the one you want from the Music > Files > SD-card option.

Thanks for the reply. I may be misunderstanding the process and/or terminology. I'm assuming I need to import (load?) all my .m3u playlists from the folder so the HiBy gets them in its database available to play, but guess you're saying I can load each one up from the folder as and when I need to play it?

Would there be a delay if I did this with long playlists (my "Highlights" playlists I use to shuffle a selection of my favourite tunes have over 1,000 tracks, for example)?

My computer's busy copying my 28,000ish tracks to the SD card for a day or so right now. When it's done I'll pop the card back in the R1 and have an experiment with the playlists!