[jsmiller58]

Question, why not use the various built in equalizer options to get closer to your desired signatures? I mean, I do understand that EQ cannot solve everything, but spending lots of money on hardware in hopes of achieving a desired sound characteristic also seems less than ideal. Certainly there are some things EQ cannot solve, but I really wanted to ask...

 

[Neweymatt]

I had the chance recently to demo the HiBy R6 Pro 2, many thanks to @Joe Bloggs for providing the kit, and as ever to @Damz87 for running these awesome Australian tours!



I was very keen to demo this DAP as I’d heard so much praise for it, and it’s the sort of size and weight coupled with an attractive $749 price tag that hits a sweet spot for me. I’ve been really impressed with HiBy’s RS6 for nearly 2 years, and I’ve based many of my impressions off of this comparison.

One departure in design from a lot of DAPs is the side volume buttons, more in line with what you get from a smartphone. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and is one area where HiBy have saved cost, but in practice they were a little difficult to navigate well, especially with a case. I did get used to this after a little while, but I still found myself fumbling with them a bit.

Otherwise as far as the design of this DAP, I like the “less is more” kind of minimalist approach. The backplate design is kind of take-it-or-leave-it with its fancy curves that you never see once it’s in a case anyway. The RS6 by comparison has more of a luxe finish with its beautiful copper chassis, that despite its smaller footprint makes it heavier, in a “reassuringly solid” kind of way.




In use, the R6 Pro2 powers on quickly, the CPU is always snappy with no lag anywhere that I experienced, and the screen is lovely and bright. Battery life is OK, I think I got maybe 8-9 hours on a charge. This is an improvement over the anaemic RS6, and for my moderate DAP-usage requirements is perfectly adequate. If you are using a DAP all the time, you may need to stay a little closer to a power source to keep the battery topped-up however. Then again, this DAP is quite light and easy to handle, so there have to be trade-offs somewhere.

Getting into the sound of this DAP, I found it to be fairly neutral across the FR, with a hint of warmth. It’s a very “clean and correct” sort of sound that works really well with more coloured IEMs like my FiR Xe6 and Elysian Annihilator23. The RS6 on the other hand has a smoother, more organic and rich sound, that has a bit of mid-bass emphasis. The stage image that both these DAPs create is great, with R6 Pro2 feeling like it’s pushing out to the sides a bit more, and RS6 filling in the centre of the image with more emphasis.

If you've owned a recent HiBy DAP you'll know this, but do note that R6 Pro2 benefits from a wealth of DSP and other Plug-ins that HiBy have baked into the OS that let you really shape and tune the sound to your preference. MSEB is HiBy’s simplified take on EQ, and coupled with other plug-ins like Fixed Sample Rate that lets you upscale the bitstream, Sound Field that lets you expand the sense of sound stage, and DRX10K Dynamics that lets you increase/decrease the weight of different segments of the FR, you’ve got a lot of tweaking available! It can be a little overwhelming at first, and sometimes I’ve forgotten I had selected a particular setting for one IEM only to relalise later why another IEM sounded “off” because of some setting, but I’d much rather have these tuning options available rather than the very few to none at all that some DAPs provide.

As far as driving power, the R6 Pro 2 is not lacking at all, and compares very favourably with the RS6. I originally bought the RS6 to use with the Sony IER-Z1R I had at the time, and it always sounded fantastic with that power-hungry IEM. Annihilator23 is another IEM that drinks up all the additional power you can give it, and both the R6 Pro2 and RS6 drive it very well. Of course, neither of these DAPs can compare to a full-sized desktop Amp like the Schiit Jotunheim2 I’m using now, but for something easily pocketable, you’re not making too much of a sacrifice with the R6 Pro2.

So to summarise, this is an absolutely outstanding DAP, and at its $749 price point it’s really hard to pass up. This is the kind of DAP that I wish I knew more about when I first got into this hobby nearly 4 years ago, it would have been a dead-set no-brainer. For anyone new to the hobby, or looking for a mid-tier DAP, this is a strong contender.


For me right here right now though, R6 Pro2 is more of a side-grade to the RS6 I’ve had for a while. In a piece of uncanny timing, I pre-ordered the R8 II at the same time as I had the R6 Pro2 demo unit; I enjoyed it so much I decided to go all the way and get it’s big brother instead LOL.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

i think its literally one of those gold products that punch easy over their price tag, and i think right now only real upgrade is paying 3x with the r8 ii or 4x with the rs8.

 

[llysender]

Question, why not use the various built in equalizer options to get closer to your desired signatures? I mean, I do understand that EQ cannot solve everything, but spending lots of money on hardware in hopes of achieving a desired sound characteristic also seems less than ideal. Certainly there are some things EQ cannot solve, but I really wanted to ask...

You can but it really depends, like MSEB can somewhat fix R6pro2 to Leonarfd's taste for example but that is generally addative DSP. Its not as possible to make the R8 II for example sound like the R6pro2 due to there being added decay and smoothed out darker top end. The most you could do is adding more attack to the bass while using a paramatric EQ to reduce the bass by around 3dB at 80hz high pass and even so you wont get the "souless" has he puts it precise textureing of the bass of the R6pro2.

Honestly Frequency Responce EQ is only the foundation and does so little in the grand scheme of the time altering MSEB but even that is a band aid that doesnt work at lest for the type of sound I am chasing. But yeah feel free to exprement with the MSEB and EQ to get the style of colouration that you want. Its just that for the colouration that I want which is dry precise and highly defined texture with textured vocals that you can feel its generally comes down to how well the amp can control the driver over EQ as generally trying to subract decay and the like is a tall order that I haven't seen accomplished yet.

Hopefully my rambling makes sense.

i think its literally one of those gold products that punch easy over their price tag, and i think right now only real upgrade is paying 3x with the r8 ii or 4x with the rs8.

Hmmm I would say the upgrade would be the ibasso DX300MAX or if you are ok with the smoother ess sig the fiio M15s. At lest for me neither the R8II or RS8 are true upgrades due to significant differences in signature.

 

[jsmiller58]

You can but it really depends, like MSEB can somewhat fix R6pro2 to Leonarfd's taste for example but that is generally addative DSP. Its not as possible to make the R8 II for example sound like the R6pro2 due to there being added decay and smoothed out darker top end. The most you could do is adding more attack to the bass while using a paramatric EQ to reduce the bass by around 3dB at 80hz high pass and even so you wont get the "souless" has he puts it precise textureing of the bass of the R6pro2.

Honestly Frequency Responce EQ is only the foundation and does so little in the grand scheme of the time altering MSEB but even that is a band aid that doesnt work at lest for the type of sound I am chasing. But yeah feel free to exprement with the MSEB and EQ to get the style of colouration that you want. Its just that for the colouration that I want which is dry precise and highly defined texture with textured vocals that you can feel its generally comes down to how well the amp can control the driver over EQ as generally trying to subract decay and the like is a tall order that I haven't seen accomplished yet.

Hopefully my rambling makes sense.



Hmmm I would say the upgrade would be the ibasso DX300MAX or if you are ok with the smoother ess sig the fiio M15s. At lest for me neither the R8II or RS8 are true upgrades due to significant differences in signature.

You know, I wonder how much you could use the DRX10K Dynamics plugin that @Joe Bloggs has developed to address the dynamics… I have found it to be scary powerful…

 

[llysender]

You know, I wonder how much you could use the DRX10K Dynamics plugin that @Joe Bloggs has developed to address the dynamics… I have found it to be scary powerful…

Not sure what the dynamics plugin does that reducing impulse response in mseb doesnt do? At lest on the R6pro2 it seems to be a wav fattener eqv. Granted that the dynamics plugin gives better control but it isnt what I would consider dynamics.

Thanks for pointing out the plugin btw wouldnt have known it existed without you.

 

[jsmiller58]

Not sure what the dynamics plugin does that reducing impulse response in mseb doesnt do? At lest on the R6pro2 it seems to be a wav fattener eqv. Granted that the dynamics plugin gives better control but it isnt what I would consider dynamics.

Thanks for pointing out the plugin btw wouldnt have known it existed without you.

I see you’ve posted a question to @Joe Bloggs on the DRX10K thread. I hope that he can help you out. If nothing else, you might want to install and play with it as well.

 

[Neweymatt]

i think its literally one of those gold products that punch easy over their price tag, and i think right now only real upgrade is paying 3x with the r8 ii or 4x with the rs8.

Yeah, I think HiBy are really on a roll with their DAPs lately, and I hope they can keep other manufacturers "honest" when it comes to pricing. From the R8 II at the top end, R6 P2 in the middle, and heck even the budget-tier R3 II you are getting exceptional features & performance for a very fair price. The pragmatist in me has a very hard time considering anything else at the moment tbh.

 

[AlMix]

 

[llysender]

Global PEQ hype. Hmmm too little words I guess. But still global PEQ hype!!!!

Sigh my unit doesnt have the OTA rolled out yet. QQ

 

[ma151]

How do I download this ? Here it's saying it's on the latest version. And I already selected "Join beta version"

Edit: Nvm lol it worked after a couple of refreshes

 

[Etx1]

After some advice regarding an aspect of the sound, Hiby is paired with 109 pro's and sounds fantastic.
Only had both just over a month so still learning and fine tuning the mseb and have only recently discoverd the DRX10K plugin which makes a huge difference to the sound.
The problem I am having is on a few tracks at the end of a drum roll and where it finishes with a big cymbal hit.
The cymbal sound is very harsh and somehow also seems elevated as if the volume has been turned up just at that particular moment.
Has anyone encountered this ? and what settings should I be playing with to tame this ?

 

[jsmiller58]

Is the 1.30 firmware available everywhere? I am in the US and my device says 1.21 is the latest available

 

[sutonpu]

Fiio's FD7 has a tough high range, so it's fun to change the settings.

 

[Zaghamkarim]

After some advice regarding an aspect of the sound, Hiby is paired with 109 pro's and sounds fantastic.
Only had both just over a month so still learning and fine tuning the mseb and have only recently discoverd the DRX10K plugin which makes a huge difference to the sound.
The problem I am having is on a few tracks at the end of a drum roll and where it finishes with a big cymbal hit.
The cymbal sound is very harsh and somehow also seems elevated as if the volume has been turned up just at that particular moment.
Has anyone encountered this ? and what settings should I be playing with to tame this ?

That is one of the things I loved about the Hiby - the software flexibility. The ability to add convolution files (for some reason I never get the name right in my head always think of the words convolver/ devolver - I'm pretty sure that's a gaming studio) and plugins are icing on the cake!

For the harshness, probably not that helpful but it really depends on which part of the cymbal strike you are finding harsh as they extend across the mids to treble. There are a few different ways to EQ/ use MSEB which you can try. Boosting the bass (would recommend staying within +/- 30 when using MSEB, at least that range is what works best from my experience to finetune - after that is too intense), so boosting the first & third bass settings to the right. Making the overall temperature warmer & darker - first setting of tone to the right. Secondly by cutting, depending on which part of the cymbal you find piercing - first try cutting on Sibilance LF (the 2nd last treble setting) by moving to the left. If that isn't the one affecting yourself, cut the vocals a bit (voice recessed and female overtones to detox) - both to the left. If it's sharp sounds/ treble in general you are looking to cut, you can also cut down the second treble setting (sibilance HF to the left) and the last setting of air to be soft (moved to the left as-well). The best thing to do with MSEB is really play with the settings and try it over different soundtracks to get your ideal signature.