HiBy R5 Gen 2 - Class A headamp, Dual ES9219C, 35h playtime, MQA 16x, open Android

[psikey]

Tell me about it. Sound like crickets. Lol

I'm clear on my views with my usage/listening but its always nice to read others reviews and especially the 'pro' reviews. It was never going to be ultimate sound as I found with the WM1ZM2, but for £310+p&p I paid its the best DAP for me in this lower price range yet (not needing to use class A AMP myself).

I've only previously had Fiio or Hiby or Sony A series in this price range and I get that iBasso is always consider highly, I just don't like volume wheels and prefer volume buttons. I wanted an Android DAP with long battery life and using this without need for the class A amp it certainly does have.

 

[Photoman]

I'm clear on my views with my usage/listening but its always nice to read others reviews and especially the 'pro' reviews. It was never going to be ultimate sound as I found with the WM1ZM2, but for £310+p&p I paid its the best DAP for me in this lower price range yet (not needing to use class A AMP myself).

I've only previously had Fiio or Hiby or Sony A series in this price range and I get that iBasso is always consider highly, I just don't like volume wheels and prefer volume buttons. I wanted an Android DAP with long battery life and using this without need for the class A amp it certainly does have.

Well put. I want long battery life and decent sound.

 

[psikey]

Well put. I want long battery life and decent sound.

You should be pleased then so long as you don't need to use class A which will eat battery life. It quickly restarts from off too and barebones Android removing much of the phone stuff you wouldn't need.

RAM and CPU plenty if used just as Music player. All I've installed is Amazon Music, Spotify and UAPP. Amazon Music does seem to still pad up to 192 with its Android App but doesn't appear to negatively alter the sound.

 

[Photoman]

You should be pleased then so long as you don't need to use class A which will eat battery life. It quickly restarts from off too and barebones Android removing much of the phone stuff you wouldn't need.

RAM and CPU plenty if used just as Music player. All I've installed is Amazon Music, Spotify and UAPP. Amazon Music does seem to still pad up to 192 with its Android App but doesn't appear to negatively alter the sound.

I used Apple Music. How’s the standby. I also read somewhere that it it has a double tap feature. Not sure about it

 

[psikey]

I used Apple Music. How’s the standby. I also read somewhere that it it has a double tap feature. Not sure about it

I've found no double tap feature.

I have it to auto power off after 1hr. Never use standby on any DAP. If I'm not using it can be powered off, and with this one start-up from off only about 30s anyway.

 

[gLer]

I used Apple Music. How’s the standby. I also read somewhere that it it has a double tap feature. Not sure about it

It can standby for weeks. It has no double tap feature (though I'm sure there's an app for that - I know you can enable double tap to sleep using Nova Launcher for example). Sound is, in short, down-the-line Delta Sigma (clear, crisp, precise) without too much Sabre glare thanks to HiBy's house sound tuning. It's not going to win any technical awards against the top dogs, but modern DACs and amp implementations are so good, that at this level, with most any IEMs, you're getting top-class sound for not a lot of money. It's the ideal carry DAP if you're after a low-cost, high quality, feature rich alternative to using your phone for music.

My review should be done this week, but the summary above is the gist of it.

 

[psikey]

It can standby for weeks. It has no double tap feature (though I'm sure there's an app for that - I know you can enable double tap to sleep using Nova Launcher for example). Sound is, in short, down-the-line Delta Sigma (clear, crisp, precise) without too much Sabre glare thanks to HiBy's house sound tuning. It's not going to win any technical awards against the top dogs, but modern DACs and amp implementations are so good, that at this level, with most any IEMs, you're getting top-class sound for not a lot of money. It's the ideal carry DAP if you're after a low-cost, high quality, feature rich alternative to using your phone for music.

My review should be done this week, but the summary above is the gist of it.

Agree with your last part fully. Its the useable Android DAP with long battery life I've been waiting for. The Sony A107 & ZX507 have poor battery life and don't do bit-perfect, while the original R5 only had around 10hrs, as does the DX240 I was seriously considering.

Sony tuning is sufficiently unique that I still want to get the 1AM2 when back in stock at Amazon Japan (don't waste money on EU crippled ones) and that is also an Android DAP with long battery at the more premium end.

The smaller R5G2 my out & about DAP while 1AM2 or 1ZM2 stay at home DAP for me.

 

[psikey]

Is there meant to be any burn-in time with the Hiby?

 

[StivVid]

So what happened to the reviews ?

Well... I've only had it for one full day. Needed some time with it to form an impression of it. Still in the process of doing so, but I can make a couple comments here. The R5 Gen 2 is a bit of a puzzler to me. I'll explain.
Almost all of my listening has been done with Moondrop's Kato and the 7Hz Timeless, both fitted with balanced cables terminated in 4.4mm Pentaconn connectors. Nearly all the time, I've had the Class A mode activated.
I can't really fault it's sound much. Everything sounds clear, detailed and balanced. What puzzles me is, when you switch from Class A to Economy mode, there really isn't any difference in sound. Okay, maybe Class A sounds ever so slightly smoother with ever so slightly improved soundstage and layering... maybe. Other than that, the two modes sound pretty much identical.
Which makes me ask the question, "If you're going to bother to develop a discrete Class A amplifier circuit to fit into a DAP, shouldn't there be an audible improvement in sound from the on-board amp of the ESS DAC?" I'm having a hard time seeing the point here.
Don't get me wrong. It's a really nice device. Feels good in the hand, looks great, the fact that it runs on Android adds the convenience of being able to stream over wifi with your favorite streaming app... It has a really nice feature set, but I just don't get it.
To me, the feature selling point is the claimed 35 hour battery life in Economy mode. If you're buying this DAP because you're hoping some kind of Class A magic will happen when you switch to that mode then you may be disappointed.
I did try my HD600's just to see what would happen. I don't have a balanced cable for those, so I was only able to use the single-ended 3.5mm output. There's just not enough juice here to run the Senns. They sound pretty thin. Even in Class A mode, the R5 Gen 2 can only muster 155mW of power into 32 ohms. That doesn't bode well for the 300 ohm Sennheisers. Probably wouldn't be a whole lot better using the balanced out, but someone else can comment on that.
One more thing... well two. The first time I loaded the player with some music from my 256GB card, the R5G2 sputtered and stopped and started on a FLAC file I've played hundreds of times on other players with no issue. I tried another track in another folder to see if it was just a problem with the first file. It stuttered and sputtered and stopped and started too. Then I shut down the R5G2 and restarted. When I played the tracks again, there was no problem and it hasn't happened again since. Also, the first time I tried using the R5G2 as a bluetooth receiver to stream Spotify from my phone over LDAC I got lots of static and digital noise when I hit play. It gradually cleared itself up over the course of 20 to 30 seconds and, like the first problem, hasn't happened since. Not sure what any of that was about.
So I'm going to play around with it a while longer and see if it grows on me. I like the convenience and features that Android brings with it and I love the battery life in Economy mode. But as far as I can tell, the only thing the Class A mode does for this DAP is drastically reduce its run time on a single charge.
It'll be interesting to hear what you all have to say.

 

[psikey]

Same, my ears can't discern any real difference in sound between ESS internal DAC AMP or the separate class A AMP. That's a plus for me so I can get the long battery life!
Maybe it comes into its own with headphones (appreciate your comments on HD600's but balanced has much more power available). I'd say I detected a tiny bit more warmth/smoothness but nothing really.

I also had some weird pause in music on first use and the wifi drop issue but both seem to have gone away after restarts (512GB mSD). If you are chasing ultimate sound quality then look elsewhere but for a better than phone SQ/power DAP with Android and long battery life this is it.

I've sent the EU capped Sony 1ZM2 back now but I'm still checking daily for new Amazon Japan 1AM2 stock ! (but then your talking x4 or x10 times more expensive).

 

[StivVid]

Same, my ears can't discern any real difference in sound between ESS internal DAC AMP or the separate class A AMP. That's a plus for me so I can get the long battery life!
Maybe it comes into its own with headphones (appreciate your comments on HD600's but balanced has much more power available). I'd say I detected a tiny bit more warmth/smoothness but nothing really.

I also had some weird pause in music on first use and the wifi drop issue but both seem to have gone away after restarts (512GB mSD). If you are chasing ultimate sound quality then look elsewhere but for a better than phone SQ/power DAP with Android and long battery life this is it.

I've sent the EU capped Sony 1ZM2 back now but I'm still checking daily for new Amazon Japan 1AM2 stock ! (but then your talking x4 or x10 times more expensive).

Yeah. I've been comparing it to my Cayin N3Pro. About the same price, but no Android. Tubes instead of Class A. AKM DAC instead of ESS. Much more power in all modes. 800mW balanced into 32 ohms vs 475mW on the Hiby. I think I might like the sound of AKM better than ESS.

 

[psikey]

Yeah. I've been comparing it to my Cayin N3Pro. About the same price, but no Android. Tubes instead of Class A. AKM DAC instead of ESS. Much more power in all modes. 800mW balanced into 32 ohms vs 475mW on the Hiby. I think I might like the sound of AKM better than ESS.

I've always liked ESS signature but then I also like Sony which is opposite really to ESS ! The DAC of course its not the only part that determines the sound signature. Yes, the Cayin has much more power, but as a pure IEM user I never have issues with power output. Even smartphones can drive my IEM's well.

 

[monsieurfromag3]

Well... I've only had it for one full day. Needed some time with it to form an impression of it. Still in the process of doing so, but I can make a couple comments here. The R5 Gen 2 is a bit of a puzzler to me. I'll explain.
Almost all of my listening has been done with Moondrop's Kato and the 7Hz Timeless, both fitted with balanced cables terminated in 4.4mm Pentaconn connectors. Nearly all the time, I've had the Class A mode activated.
I can't really fault it's sound much. Everything sounds clear, detailed and balanced. What puzzles me is, when you switch from Class A to Economy mode, there really isn't any difference in sound. Okay, maybe Class A sounds ever so slightly smoother with ever so slightly improved soundstage and layering... maybe. Other than that, the two modes sound pretty much identical.
Which makes me ask the question, "If you're going to bother to develop a discrete Class A amplifier circuit to fit into a DAP, shouldn't there be an audible improvement in sound from the on-board amp of the ESS DAC?" I'm having a hard time seeing the point here.
Don't get me wrong. It's a really nice device. Feels good in the hand, looks great, the fact that it runs on Android adds the convenience of being able to stream over wifi with your favorite streaming app... It has a really nice feature set, but I just don't get it.
To me, the feature selling point is the claimed 35 hour battery life in Economy mode. If you're buying this DAP because you're hoping some kind of Class A magic will happen when you switch to that mode then you may be disappointed.
I did try my HD600's just to see what would happen. I don't have a balanced cable for those, so I was only able to use the single-ended 3.5mm output. There's just not enough juice here to run the Senns. They sound pretty thin. Even in Class A mode, the R5 Gen 2 can only muster 155mW of power into 32 ohms. That doesn't bode well for the 300 ohm Sennheisers. Probably wouldn't be a whole lot better using the balanced out, but someone else can comment on that.
One more thing... well two. The first time I loaded the player with some music from my 256GB card, the R5G2 sputtered and stopped and started on a FLAC file I've played hundreds of times on other players with no issue. I tried another track in another folder to see if it was just a problem with the first file. It stuttered and sputtered and stopped and started too. Then I shut down the R5G2 and restarted. When I played the tracks again, there was no problem and it hasn't happened again since. Also, the first time I tried using the R5G2 as a bluetooth receiver to stream Spotify from my phone over LDAC I got lots of static and digital noise when I hit play. It gradually cleared itself up over the course of 20 to 30 seconds and, like the first problem, hasn't happened since. Not sure what any of that was about.
So I'm going to play around with it a while longer and see if it grows on me. I like the convenience and features that Android brings with it and I love the battery life in Economy mode. But as far as I can tell, the only thing the Class A mode does for this DAP is drastically reduce its run time on a single charge.
It'll be interesting to hear what you all have to say.

Very interesting, thanks for your impressions. That ESS chip which integrates DAC and amp is often looked down upon, I remember Shanling saying the M3X’s 9219 could not be compared to the M6 series’ discrete amp solution, and to be fair the M6 sounds amazing, but good implementation of the 9219 can yield amazing results. I like my N3Pro better than my Qudelix-5K (which uses the 9218), but the 5K is arguably better technically. I’m not surprised the gain with the class A circuit is marginal… I hope we’ll see comparisons with the M3X.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

I hope we’ll see comparisons with the M3X.

This is basically the crux of the matter.

 

[alwass89]

So far I listened to the R5II with Sony MDA-1AM2 headphones through balanced, and Moondrop Starfield IEM through single ended, both through the DAC’s integrated amp. I only listened a few hours so far and the player is not fully burned in. Sound wise, I think the keyword here is clarity. I would say that the sound is balanced, but tends to lean on the brighter, detailed and revealing side of things. There is a great sense of space between the instruments and the sound stage is wide.

I unfortunately, do not have the Shanling M3X anymore for direct comparisons, but based on my memory, I would say that the R5II is more detailed and has a wider soundstage. I'm not sure, but part of this may have to do with the more sophisticated audio circuitry in the R5II than the M3X with Hiby using 163 high-precision resistors, 19 Panasonic tantalum POSCAPs, and 4 ELNA electrolytic capacitors, as well as the way Hiby tuned the ES9219C DACs.