Hiby R6 Pro II (2023 Edition) - Launch, Hype, Thoughts & More

[Joe Bloggs]

Is there any plans on a firmware update to increase the sample rates on USB/DAC mode ?
Why it's still limited to DSD 256/PCM 768 ?

................. There I am, minding my own business never using more than 192kHz... (and yes, that means downconverting where applicable)

I would have to check whether the DAC used even supports more than these in the first place... It probably does, but damned if I'd ever found use for it??

 

[Edward Ng]

................. There I am, minding my own business never using more than 192kHz... (and yes, that means downconverting where applicable)

I would have to check whether the DAC used even supports more than these in the first place... It probably does, but damned if I'd ever found use for it??

DXD playback.

-Ed

 

[Joe Bloggs]

DXD playback.

-Ed

... which is up to 384kHz, your point?

 

[Edward Ng]

... which is up to 384kHz, your point?

Oh just that it’s over 192. Obviously not an issue for the device, just curious that you’re downsampling DXD personally (that or you have zero DXD material).

-Ed

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Oh just that it’s over 192. Obviously not an issue for the device, just curious that you’re downsampling DXD personally (that or you have zero DXD material).

-Ed

Well, yes, because I use DSP (and do not see the point of processing it at higher than 192kHz, even on a desktop)

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Is there any plans on a firmware update to increase the sample rates on USB/DAC mode ?
Why it's still limited to DSD 256/PCM 768 ?

Spoiler

It has been the response of the staff, that these are the HIGHEST SAMPLE RATES SUPPORTED BY THE STANDARD USB AUDIO STEREO STANDARD.

And that would be my personal cryptic response to the call for higher rates.

Personally I would be curious where one would see a higher rate supported over USB, in the sense of someone who is temporarily turned into an avid trainspotter by the sight of...

That said I admit such sights are more common than I'd think, now that I look around. I would have half a mind to ask them why such nonstandard implementations are so common, if only...

It's been reported that there are technically not much reason why we can't raise the numbers to DSD1024 and PCM1536, so you may see this in an upcoming update.

 

[ma151]

Spoiler

It has been the response of the staff, that these are the HIGHEST SAMPLE RATES SUPPORTED BY THE STANDARD USB AUDIO STEREO STANDARD.



And that would be my personal cryptic response to the call for higher rates.

Personally I would be curious where one would see a higher rate supported over USB, in the sense of someone who is temporarily turned into an avid trainspotter by the sight of...

That said I admit such sights are more common than I'd think, now that I look around. I would have half a mind to ask them why such nonstandard implementations are so common, if only...

It's been reported that there are technically not much reason why we can't raise the numbers to DSD1024 and PCM1536, so you may see this in an upcoming update.

Hello Joe,

Yes please bring this rates to DSD1024

I'm very interested in trying this with HQplayer upsampling.
I'm already trying on DSD256 and it's been awesome.

And yes, that's the reason many people want higher sample rates on DACs, bacause of upsampling (HQPlayer and PGGB are good examples).
If you never tried, definitely give it a shot, it's been a really nice improvement with every DAC I tried so far.

Thank you !

 

[ma151]

Ok, on another question: has anyone here tried the Hiby R6 Pro II on the DAC/USB mode on Linux ?

I can't seem to make DSD play on any Linux based OS I try.
I tried PiCorePlayer and HQPlayer NAA OS (both Linux based OSes) and I can only play PCM (or DoP (DSD over PCM))...
I can play DSD fine on Windows with the ASIO drivers.

Doesn't the Hiby R6 Pro II support DSD on ASLA drivers ?

Can you please check on this @Joe Bloggs ?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Hello Joe,

Yes please bring this rates to DSD1024

I'm very interested in trying this with HQplayer upsampling.
I'm already trying on DSD256 and it's been awesome.

And yes, that's the reason many people want higher sample rates on DACs, bacause of upsampling (HQPlayer and PGGB are good examples).
If you never tried, definitely give it a shot, it's been a really nice improvement with every DAC I tried so far.

Thanks but no thanks:
1. A delta sigma DAC is already built out of the box to play audio internally at tens of Megahertz sample rate, far higher than any upsampler can go.
2. If the contention is that the DAC itself does not do a good job of upsampling, I challenge anyone to point out an actual artifact that the DAC is producing rather than vaguely handwaving "it sounds better". If whatever it is can't be pointed to on a sine sweep spectrogram, let alone heard, it sure as heck won't make a difference in actual music material, where masking effects are such that one could get away with completely screwing up resampling to the level of this becoming this without pretty much anybody noticing.
3. Most music material you're playing likely already is 96kHz or above to start with where even a complete technical ball-up like an actual NOS aka non-oversampling mode will still sound completely indistinguishable from the best oversampling, even with demanding test tones, let alone actual music. And, if [insert big number here]x oversampling in software were really so superior, why are there equal numbers of people swearing by NOS DACs, the complete opposite thing?
4. As I said, I use DSP, actual DSP that changes the bits at the original sample rate for the better. DRX10K, MSEB, PEQ, spatial convolution, all beg for the sample rate to be as low as possible (without losing audible frequencies, of course) to reduce the substantial computational load they demand. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/t6aq...1.0.docx?rlkey=avz3mhfio04sm6bzkohquzobt&dl=0 give it a try someday?

Ok, on another question: has anyone here tried the Hiby R6 Pro II on the DAC/USB mode on Linux ?

I can't seem to make DSD play on any Linux based OS I try.
I tried PiCorePlayer and HQPlayer NAA OS (both Linux based OSes) and I can only play PCM (or DoP (DSD over PCM))...
I can play DSD fine on Windows with the ASIO drivers.

Doesn't the Hiby R6 Pro II support DSD on ASLA drivers ?

Can you please check on this @Joe Bloggs ?

Unless you can play DSD to the R6ProII at higher rates on Windows ASIO than on Linux, the answer is probably that the R6proII does DoP over USB input only, and that's what it's doing whether via windows ASIO or Linux ALSA. DoP is of course just as authentic DSD as DSD native is, albeit limited to "lower" sample rates.

 

[grainjar]

Hi, I just got the Hiby R6 Pro II, and so I'm still figuring out its quirks. There are a couple issues that I've come across so far. I'm wondering if anybody else has run into similar issues.

1. Crossfade does not seem to work on Apple Music. For example, if I have crossfade set to 4 seconds, the song should start fading out when there's 4 seconds left while the next song starts gradually fading in. However, what ends up happening is that the current song that's playing will just abruptly cut off with 4 seconds remaining, and the next song will start from the beginning. So basically, it just cuts off the last 4 seconds of the song, instead of there being a seamless transition to the next song. I'm not sure why this is happening. I've tried restarting the device, but it didn't fix the issue. Crossfade works on the Hiby M300, and so I'm not sure why this is only happening on the Hiby R6 Pro II.

2. This is kind of an obscure problem, but on first impression when listening with my headphone, and using the R6 Pro II as a source/transport into my Schiit DAC, I think I prefer the USB Audio Player Pro's sound quality, compared to the default Hiby Music and Apple Music; Hiby Music and Apple Music sound fairly similar to each other. And so I found that I can get UAPP's sound quality on Apple Music when I'm using Hiby R6 Pro II as a transport (connected with a USB C to B cable into the Schiit DAC). First, I'll turn on UAPP's bit perfect mode and play a song to verify the sound quality (I have to verify, because half the times for whatever reason, it does not activate UAPP's bit perfect sound and instead continues to output Hiby's default bit perfect sound. Easiest way to tell is that UAPP's bit perfect is noticeably louder than Hiby's bit perfect. Also, there's more bass tactility, and the vocals sound more 3 dimensional and intense and clearer on UAPP's bit perfect, whereas Hiby/Apple's vocals are more recessed and veiled by comparison). If it's still giving me Hiby's default sound, I will disconnect the USB and reconnect, so that I can get the prompt again that asks me if I want to open UAPP to handle my Schiit DAC (sometimes I'll have to do this 3 or 4 times for it to work. It never works on the first try. Even if the UAPP app says it's "bit perfect," I've done this enough times to know when it's not giving me UAPP sound quality). And so after that, I'll play music again, and once I've verified that UAPP's bit perfect sound is working like it should, I will minimize UAPP and open Apple Music, and wait 1 minute on the Apple Music screen. If I don't wait 1 minute and start playing a song immediately, it won't give me any sound. After 1 minute, my Schiit DAC will reset its sample rate to 192 khz. Then I can press play and start playing music on Apple Music (and the sample rate will readjust to whatever's playing), and it'll give me UAPP's bit perfect sound quality. I was wondering if there was a way, where I don't have to wait 1 minute. Another thing I noticed is that this does not work (getting UAPP quality on Apple Music) if the USB setting under Default USB configuration is set to "File Transfer." If it's set to "File Transfer," and you wait 1 minute and start playing Apple Music, it'll revert back to the default Apple Music quality. It does seem to work, though, when it's set to "USB DAC (enable USB charging)." UAPP's bit perfect sound is more vocal forward, and it has better speed, dynamics, resolution, clarity, tactility than Hiby/Apple Music's default sound (EDIT: this aforementioned method for Apple Music still doesn't match the tightness and tactility in the bass as listening to music straight from UAPP's app. It still gets close, though (90 to 95% of UAPP's sound quality), and so I would recommend this method over the default Hiby/Apple Music bit perfect (75% of UAPP's sound quality).

3. This is another obscure problem, but when I use USB Audio Player Pro on the Hiby R6 Pro II, and I connect it to my Schiit DAC, I get a buzzing/ringing noise when I'm in the middle of a song, and I click the left arrow (previous song) or right arrow (next song), or swipe left or right. This buzzing noise happens for about 1 second before the previous or next song begins. If I want to avoid this buzzing noise, I need to pause the song before I click on the left/right arrow. Strangely, I do not get this same buzzing noise when I swipe up or down (which takes you to the album above or below). This buzzing sound also doesn't happen on the headphone jack when I swipe left or right on UAPP, so I don't know why it's happening only when I use the Hiby R6 Pro II as a transport through the USB port. I have this same issue with the Hiby M300. This buzzing sound doesn't happen with the UAPP app on my android phone (S22 Ultra) when I use it as a transport through the USB port.

 

[m3lover1]

Hi, I just got the Hiby R6 Pro II, and so I'm still figuring out its quirks. There are a couple issues that I've come across so far. I'm wondering if anybody else has run into similar issues.

1. Crossfade does not seem to work on Apple Music. For example, if I have crossfade set to 4 seconds, the song should start fading out when there's 4 seconds left while the next song starts gradually fading in. However, what ends up happening is that the current song that's playing will just abruptly cut off with 4 seconds remaining, and the next song will start from the beginning. So basically, it just cuts off the last 4 seconds of the song, instead of there being a seamless transition to the next song. I'm not sure why this is happening. I've tried restarting the device, but it didn't fix the issue. Crossfade works on the Hiby M300, and so I'm not sure why this is only happening on the Hiby R6 Pro II.

2. This is kind of an obscure problem, but on first impression, I think I prefer the USB Audio Player Pro's sound quality, compared to the default Hiby Music and Apple Music; Hiby Music and Apple Music sound fairly similar to each other. And so I found that I can get UAPP's sound quality on Apple Music. First, I'll turn on UAPP's bit perfect mode and play a song to verify the sound quality (I have to verify, because sometimes for whatever reason, it does not activate UAPP's bit perfect sound and instead continues to output Hiby's default bit perfect sound. If it's still giving me Hiby's default sound, I will disconnect the USB and reconnect, so that I can get the prompt again that asks me if I want to open UAPP to handle my Schiit DAC. And so after that, I'll play music again, and once I've verified that UAPP's bit perfect is working like it should, I will minimize UAPP and open Apple Music, and wait 1 minute on the Apple Music screen. If I don't wait 1 minute and start playing a song immediately, it won't give me any sound. After 1 minute, my Schiit DAC will reset its sample rate to 192 khz. Then I can press play and start playing music on Apple Music (and the sample rate will readjust to whatever's playing), and it'll give me UAPP's bit perfect sound quality. I was wondering if there was a way, where I don't have to wait 1 minute. Another thing I noticed is that this does not work (getting UAPP quality on Apple Music) if the USB setting under Default USB configuration is set to "File Transfer." If it's set to "File Transfer," and you wait 1 minute and start playing Apple Music, it'll revert back to Apple Music quality. It does seem to work, though, when it's set to "USB DAC (enable USB charging)." UAPP's bit perfect sound is more vocal forward, and it has better speed, dynamics, resolution, clarity than Apple Music.

3. This is another obscure problem, but when I use USB Audio Player Pro on the Hiby R6 Pro II, and I connect it to my Schiit DAC, I get a buzzing/ringing noise when I'm in the middle of a song, and I click the left arrow (previous song) or right arrow (next song), or swipe left or right. This buzzing noise happens for about 1 second before the previous or next song begins. If I want to avoid this buzzing noise, I need to pause the song before I click on the left/right arrow. Strangely, I do not get this same buzzing noise when I swipe up or down (which takes you to the album above or below). This buzzing sound also doesn't happen on the headphone jack when I swipe left or right on UAPP, so I don't know why it's happening only when I use the Hiby R6 Pro II as a transport through the USB port. I have this same issue with the Hiby M300. This buzzing sound doesn't happen with my android phone (S22 Ultra) when I use it as a transport through the USB port.

Yea for me crossfade on apple music never worked, for r6 pro ii, my current r8ii, and even the cayin n7.

 

[Edward Ng]

Yea for me crossfade on apple music never worked, for r6 pro ii, my current r8ii, and even the cayin n7.

Never heard it work except on Apple Devices

 

[grainjar]

Yea for me crossfade on apple music never worked, for r6 pro ii, my current r8ii, and even the cayin n7.

Ah, interesting. Crossfade works on my Hiby M300.

Never heard it work except on Apple Devices

It works on the Hiby M300 and S22 Ultra.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Ah, interesting. Crossfade works on my Hiby M300.

It works on the Hiby M300 and S22 Ultra.

Might have something to do with the DTA bitperfect optimizations on the HiBy R Android series...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is letting you guys play Apple Music at native sample rates for each album, unlike say on the M300 (which is fixed at 192kHz), right?

 

[grainjar]

Might have something to do with the DTA bitperfect optimizations on the HiBy R Android series...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is letting you guys play Apple Music at native sample rates for each album, unlike say on the M300 (which is fixed at 192kHz), right?

I'm not sure what "DTA" means, but yes, M300 resamples everything to 192 khz by default.

I just tried using the UAPP bit perfect method I described in my original post to bypass the default 192 khz sample rate conversion and play Apple Music bit perfect on the M300, and yes, you're right. It seems like crossfade does not work when bit perfect mode is on. On the M300, it just acts like crossfade is off, and so the song completes to the end and the next song starts. Thanks for the clarification.