[davidcotton]

I am also experiencing very poor Wifi reception as expressed in my impressions a few posts above. My unit needs doesn't like to be away from the router at all.

I've also had poor wifi reception. Fine when it connects, but keeps dropping. As I don't stream I'm not that fussed, just surprised. The pioneer xdp100r which I had before the R6 had no problems at all and was rock solid. With the r6 I'm holding my breath to see if downloading an app works! As I only intend to use it for music and audiobooks (use Mort and Smart) I'm fine.

 

[CaptainCanada84]

Wifi is pretty bad on mine. I have to be in the same room, and only a few feet away, for it to work. If I walk into another room, the connection dies. Makes it hard to stream from when I'm home. I'll usually just leave it near the router and download what I was going to listen to.

 

[silverthornne]

That's exactly what happens to me with the Wifi as well. I'm not sure if I'd send it for fixing or something though since HiBy being in China would make this a long wait in transit for an RMA and I am managing with the travel router. Would be nice if it worked as expected though. Hey! This may be HiBy's "You're holding it wrong!" moment though! Maybe our hands are not supposed to hold it by the back of the device, but by the front!

I will check by pointing the back of the device to the router when I get home, but... I just got a call from my wife that our dear 2-year old just emptied a glass of water on top of the router so I may not be able to perform that test today

 

[Vimtoman]

Wow all this sounds pretty bad.
I hope hiby has some kind of solution for this as most people would have bought this on the streaming facility.

if wifi reception is poor thats going to make it unusable to a certain extent.

 

[CaptainCanada84]

The poor wifi connection is the only complaint I have. Everything else is incredible

 

[G_T_J]

I have not received mine yet but Wifi was pretty poor with my FiiO X5iii.
I suspect that DAPs come with antennas with less db to avoid interference and sound degradation.

 

[ddr]

it’d be interesting to see the effects of a usb-otg wifi adapter on wi-fi performance and sound inteference. curiosity aside, HiBy will probably respond with a reason or solution.

 

[skidxb]

I sold my Fiio x5iii coz of WiFi issue now its disappointing since I am waiting for my r6 delivery

 

[doomgazer]

I've had 0 issues with wifi (both 2.4ghz and 5ghz) It even works perfectly fine on my university's terrible public wifi.

 

[alphanumerix1]

Poor wifi? RIP

 

[blue212]

Listening to my Stainless Steel R6 with the Massdrop x HIFIMAN HE4XX through a balanced cable and loving it!

Of course, a few things did take me by surprise even after reading a whole bunch of reviews. Maybe all of these were expected by reviewers because the're used to the DAP market, but this is my first Android DAP so I was taken aback by the following things:

• The default launcher doesn't allow you to create folders within the app drawer. Probably silly, but that's the first thing I tried to do and it left me scratching my head.
• Default launcher doesn't seem to let you create extra desktops. I haven't given up on it, but the truth is that if it's possible, it shouldn't be so difficult to figure it out. In the meantime, I downloaded Nova Launcher but since it doesn't support the HiBy Music App wallpapers, I have gone back to the default launcher.
• No accelerometer? Whoah, this was big. Doesn't rotate pages and apps automatically. Again, this may not be an issue to those used to the DAP market, but it has really taken a while to get used to it. I did download an app called "Rotation Control" to be able to rotate the screen when necessary, but that's not as convenient as having an accelerometer would have been.
• Very few options from the notification shade. There's only brightness, Wifi, Bluetooth, and Audio options. I suppose those are what really have any importance in a DAP, but it'd be nice to at least have a little shortcut to the Settings app and a quick toggle for the Line Out behaviour.
• No light sensor, so no autobrightness but that's not a very big issue.
• Wifi range is quite low. I thought the Nintendo Switch had a crappy Wifi antenna, but the R6 takes the cake. It performs fine when I'm in the same room as the router, but the signal quality goes south quick if I enter another room. All of my other devices maintain a good Wifi connection, but the R6 tends to lose it. Very disappointing in this aspect. Not sure if this is an issue with the stainless steel body (though the glass back should allow the signals to go through without an issue).

Now, these details may not be important for those that went in thinking DAP only and are more experienced with DAP's than I am. I just got into the audiophile hobby, and when I ran into the R6 I thought in Android terms first, so these details have really stood out to me and am surprised that I haven't run into a review that mentions these things (or maybe I missed them because I was too hyped).

Having said that, the following features have exceeded my expectations way beyond any reason:

• Screen quality. I knew it was an LCD, so I had certain expectations of it being a disappointing screen. However, it is actually a very bright screen that can hit eye-searing levels of brightness while keeping very high quality color reproduction and a very crisp presentation in regard to its resolution. It also has wonderful viewing angles; a big win altogether.
• Performance is amazing! I expected some jerkiness because the CPU in the device is not the latest Snapdragon, but I suppose the 3GB of RAM coupled with the smart Android distribution (no needless clutter here!) are a match made in heaven for performance!
• This is my first audio device with a 4-pole balanced connection and using it is lovely! Doing a great job pushing notes into HE4XX! Can't wait to get that balanced cable for my Sennheiser HD6XX to try them out with the HiBy as well!

At the end of the day, I am very pleased with my R6. Sure, I put more cons than pros there, but that's because I am listing the areas that are different from what I expected. At the end of the day, the R6 is an amazing device that I'm having a lot of fun with! I fed it some old Aerosmith and Michael Jackson DSD's and the quality was sublime. Unfortunately, I am not well-versed in the terminology so I can't provide any of those useful audio quality reviews as that is simply beyond my capability right now.

Appreciate the insight on your experience so far

Just curious, what balanced cable are you using with you HE4xx?

 

[Amigozszz]

I sold my Fiio x5iii coz of WiFi issue now its disappointing since I am waiting for my r6 delivery

Do not dissapoint, my first unit was very good on wifi section, just micro sd was not working, so i i received replacement and wifi is not good, it is not working i same spot i used it, so waitig for Hiby reply, if one unit was okay, rest of them should be ok as well, or they can send a replacement to me, there is no explanation if it was working rest of them should work as well. I maybe do not need micro sd slot but wifi must be for me as i stream mostly.

 

[bbfoto]

It is not only with Tidal, the place i could easily run 5 ghz, no barely working 2.4ghz, and when using 2.4 ghz you get in backround some strange like connection to internet distortion sound. It is really should not be so as i iad previously unit which was working with out problems, Joe maybe will answer what it caused!!!

I hope so and also hope there is a simple solution. I hate to say it, but it almost seems as if the new assembly factory forgot to attach the Wi-Fi antenna to the tiny PCB connector, or it might come loose during shipping? Or perhaps if the antenna is a now a trace that is "built-in" to the PCB, it is too close to the edge of the aluminum or S-S frame, where in Chinese Rev.A units it was not?

I've had 0 issues with wifi (both 2.4ghz and 5ghz) It even works perfectly fine on my university's terrible public wifi.

I must be really lucky. My unit has no issues whatsoever.
See YouTube vid in the link...

Looks like you are not using the Stock HiBy Launcher though, so no HiBy "DTA" functionality???

Thank you to everyone for chiming-in regarding the Wi-Fi issues!!!

For those that have GOOD Wi-Fi reception, are your HiBy R6 DAPs early Chinese market units, or "early bird" Indiegogo backer units, or "2nd Batch"/"In Demand" Indiegogo backer units???

Please also post the Firmware Version of your unit!

For All Users with both Good AND Bad Wi-Fi reception, can you Please Test the Wi-Fi speed & performance with a "Speed Test" app for each Wi-Fi signal "bar level" and report back??
For example, what is your Wi-Fi Connection Speed at a signal strength of 1 Bar, 2 Bars, 3 Bars, and Full Bars?

Can you stream a 720P YouTube video using the YouTube app or Browser without buffering or stutters at all Wi-Fi signal strength bar levels from Full to just 1 bar?

Also, if I remember correctly, in Currawong's (Amos) HiBy R6 YouTube review, he showed that there is a place in the Settings Menu to Send a "Error Report" to HiBy for evaluation & bug fixes. Please check this. Watch at 12:19 mark....



If there is no simple or quick solution to the Wi-Fi or TIDAL streaming issue, I'm wondering if HiBy will accept a Return of the R6 for a Refund due to not delivering on major functions and marketing bullet points of this device? The Wi-Fi issue would also affect HiBy-Link and DLNA usability, etc. I'm guessing "no returns/no refunds'' due to Indiegogo's or HiBy's terms regarding this being a crowd-funded or "backed" campaign product?

If that is the case, my brand new, virgin, unopened, SS HiBy R6 may be up for sale "AS IS". (Note that it would only be sold & shipped within the U.S.A.).

This unit has SO MUCH potential! I would really hate for HiBy to have major, unsolvable issues and setbacks with the Wi-Fi & Tidal streaming on this device. That would be a major blow to the company.

But even if the R6 is otherwise an amazing DAP, the fact remains that A LOT of people (including myself) decided to back this campaign based on marketing that promised excellent 2.4 & 5 Ghz Wi-Fi, Music Streaming, & Wireless DLNA & HiBy-Link features...plus the marketing of "DTA" functionality when using those Streaming apps. If Wi-Fi is essentially rendered unusable, ALL of those features are lost.

I'll admit that I was personally very hesitant in the beginning to back this campaign due to the R6 having just One microSD memory card slot. But what ultimately persuaded me to back the R6 campaign was the fact that Wi-Fi & TIDAL Streaming plus Wireless HiBy-Link and DLNA functionality would be available as key features, and would supplement the on-board storage.

Fingers-Crossed for all of the backers and HiBy Music Co.

 

[tonehk]

Regarding the wifi issue:

I’ve been using the R6 for about 2 weeks. Wifi on the R6 is weaker than a mobile phone or tablet but still usable. Unless I am right next to my wifi access point, I dont get full wifi bars. This is for both 2.4G and 5G. Having said that, streaming tidal and Spotify doesn’t require much bandwidth. Even if I have one or two wifi bars, I am ok. I previously owned wifi DAP (Onkyo DPX1, DPS1) and found their wifi reception also to be inferior to a mobile phone but also usable.

Tidal streaming doesn’t work well in the tidal app – I get continuous buffering. But I enquired about this earlier and was told this is to do with the app and the device not working well together, it is not to do with wifi. If you want to stream tidal, use either UAPP or bubble upnp. I use UAPP and so far it is fine.

 

[bbfoto]

Regarding the wifi issue:

I’ve been using the R6 for about 2 weeks. Wifi on the R6 is weaker than a mobile phone or tablet but still usable. Unless I am right next to my wifi access point, I dont get full wifi bars. This is for both 2.4G and 5G. Having said that, streaming tidal and Spotify doesn’t require much bandwidth. Even if I have one or two wifi bars, I am ok. I previously owned wifi DAP (Onkyo DPX1, DPS1) and found their wifi reception also to be inferior to a mobile phone but also usable.

Tidal streaming doesn’t work well in the tidal app – I get continuous buffering. But I enquired about this earlier and was told this is to do with the app and the device not working well together, it is not to do with wifi. If you want to stream tidal, use either UAPP or bubble upnp. I use UAPP and so far it is fine.

Thanks for your input. I'm glad that Wi-Fi and Tidal are (somewhat) working for you.
Unfortunately, you have to switch back to the Tidal app if you want to play Tidal Offline. :/ I'm glad that a "work-around" exists, but I really don't think that we should have to do the "Tidal Shuffle" when the Tidal app works perfectly on other Android DAPs, smartphones, and tablets.

But my real question and/or issue is that SOME PEOPLE are reporting Excellent Wi-Fi performance, AND also have No Issues with Tidal Music Streaming using the Tidal app (not having to use another app such as UAPP).

WHY???

If you have the time, can you perform the Wi-Fi Speed Tests that I outlined with Bold text in my previous post?