[YanaMJ]

The player sounds very good. Solid average up to $1000 with aspirations to the top. But I noticed another unpleasant moment. The standard hiby music application constantly freezes and crashes. How to get rid of this?

Same problem for me. I've contacted Hiby about this problem. Do not hesitate to contact them too.

 

[Yanec]

Hey,

Help a newb please:

How does the Fiio M23 compare to the HiBy R6 Pro II in terms of sound quality? I am sure both are really excellent and there aren't any big differences, still what are the pros and cons?

I haven't used a dap for several years so my knowledge is not updated, would appreciate your perspective.

 

[Edward Ng]

Hey,

Help a newb please:

How does the Fiio M23 compare to the HiBy R6 Pro II in terms of sound quality? I am sure both are really excellent and there aren't any big differences, still what are the pros and cons?

I haven't used a dap for several years so my knowledge is not updated, would appreciate your perspective.

M23 just came out, so not sure if anyone has reviewed that one, or been able to do any comparisons yet.

-Ed

 

[Yanec]

M23 just came out, so not sure if anyone has reviewed that one, or been able to do any comparisons yet.

-Ed

Yep, makes sense. Thanks!

Hopefully people do compare them in the future, they seem as direct competitors in the same price category.

 

[Yanec]

Del., double post

 

[Nick24JJ]

Hey,

Help a newb please:

How does the Fiio M23 compare to the HiBy R6 Pro II in terms of sound quality? I am sure both are really excellent and there aren't any big differences, still what are the pros and cons?

I haven't used a dap for several years so my knowledge is not updated, would appreciate your perspective.

I have not tried the M23 but in January 2024, I got the FiiO M11 Plus, my first medium DAP ever, to test it. Now that M11 Plus is returned and fully refunded.

What I remember from the M11 Plus is the dynamic, energetic, sound, vivid and intense. I now own the HiBy R6 Pro II for a couple of weeks and I am pretty confident I have made the best choice for me. First of all, I much better appreciate the 5.9’’ 1080 x 2160 of the HiBy, compared to the 5.5″ 720 x 1440 of the M23. Additionally, the HiBy cost me cheaper in the UK, I paid £569.00 for it. The M23 now costs around £649.99. Furthermore, the HiBy is already one year plus out and it has already received a couple of firmware updates. The M23 just came out and, taking in consideration FiiO's history, I am sure there will be bugs.

Sound quality wise, I would say that the HiBy sounds more organic, more analogue, but it is too soon to speak. For sure, the M11 Plus I have briefly tried back in January does not play better than my HiBy. One should not also forget the great capabilities HiBy offers with their DSPs.

I've made an Excel sheet comparing the specifications between the M23 and the R6 Pro II but I am waiting someone to cross-check the Output Power values of both and then I will post it here.

The best would be, IF you could somehow try both of them for a couple of weeks and decide, yourself.

 

[Edward Ng]

I have not heard the M23 but in January 2024, I got the FiiO M11 Plus, my first medium DAP ever, to test it. Now that M11 Plus is returned and fully refunded.

What I remember from the M11 Plus is the dynamic, energetic, sound, vivid and intense. I now own the HiBy R6 Pro II for a couple of weeks and I am pretty confident I have made the best choice for me. First of all, I much better appreciate the 5.9’’ 1080 x 2160 of the HiBy, compared to the 5.5″ 720 x 1440 of the M23. Additionally, the HiBy cost me cheaper in the UK, I paid £569.00 for it. The M23 now costs around £649.99. Furthermore, the HiBy is already one year plus out and it has already received a couple of firmware updates. The M23 just came out and, taking in consideration FiiO's history, I am sure there will be bugs.

Sound quality wise, I would say that the HiBy sounds more organic, more analogue, but it is too soon to speak. For sure, the M11 Plus I have briefly tried back in January does not play better than my HiBy. One should not also forget the great capabilities HiBy offers with their DSPs.

I've made an Excel sheet comparing the specifications between the M23 and the R6 Pro II but I am waiting someone to cross-check the Output Power values of both and then I will post it here.

The best would be, IF you could somehow try both of them for a couple of weeks and decide, yourself.

M23 uses the same DAC chipset as R6 Pro II, so it is a fair direct comparison. The retail price in the US for M23 is $50 less than the R6 Pro II’s, too.

-Ed

 

[Nick24JJ]

Actually, can someone help me decipher and compare the Output power between the the M23 and the R6 Pro II?

Here are M23's specifications

For the R6 Pro II, I have:
Power Output:
3.5mm: 125mW (2Vrms)
4.4mm: 383mW (3.5Vrms)

Is this correct?

How much is for the M23?

@Joe Bloggs ?

 

[Nick24JJ]

The retail price in the US for M23 is $50 less than the R6 Pro II’s, too.

-Ed

Oh really? So sorry! In the UK it is different.

 

[Edward Ng]

Oh really? So sorry! In the UK it is different.

Nothing to apologize about. The price in the US shouldn’t matter any more to you than the price in the UK to me.

-Ed

 

[kcsound777]

Actually, can someone help me decipher and compare the Output power between the the M23 and the R6 Pro II?

Here are M23's specifications

For the R6 Pro II, I have:
Power Output:
3.5mm: 125mW (2Vrms)
4.4mm: 383mW (3.5Vrms)

Is this correct?

How much is for the M23?

I think that the M23 has some great ideas but strange executions, like they have two usb-c ports where one allow battery bypass to have desktop mode, but then they don't make their line-out as true dedicated line out but a shared one or digital like shanlings, which is what I would consider if I want to use it as a desktop source player, spec wise after glancing not thoroughly I think that Fiio 'may' have some newer components and use slightly better parts (caps) but who knows, it depends on the implementation of the dac chips at the end od the day. Here in HK many people think Fiio to be a bit too neutral and soul-less, I demoed their older m11 and felt that to be true, as an R6pro2 owner I would say it's good but it can be a bit grainy, and to me the mids are a bit too recessed despite many reviewers claim it to be opposite. I like it because it has dedicated line out and that's important for me, and if I was to choose now between the two, those two line out ports alone will likely make me choose the r6p2. my 2 cents... I personally will wait a bit to see how reviewers compare the two since they share same dac chips... and also there's m27s which will be their new flagship but that's another level...

 

[nioh]

M23 uses the same DAC chipset as R6 Pro II, so it is a fair direct comparison. The retail price in the US for M23 is $50 less than the R6 Pro II’s, too.

-Ed

M23 uses 1x AK4499EX DAC. R6P2 uses 2x. This alone makes the FiiO overpriced in comparison as this is a flagship DAC and it’s not so cheap.

 

[Edward Ng]

M23 uses 1x AK4499EX DAC. R6P2 uses 2x. This alone makes the FiiO overpriced in comparison as this is a flagship DAC and it’s not so cheap.

Interesting…I didn’t know the AK4499EX could be used that way. I’ve seen DACs that use four AK4499EX chips (2 per channel), so I had naturally assumed that the minimum was 1 per channel. Surprised to hear Fiio is running two channels off the one. This would be an inferior implementation for sure.

-Ed

 

[DonKarleon95]

Interesting…I didn’t know the AK4499EX could be used that way. I’ve seen DACs that use four AK4499EX chips (2 per channel), so I had naturally assumed that the minimum was 1 per channel. Surprised to hear Fiio is running two channels off the one. This would be an inferior implementation for sure.

-Ed

Apparently, Fiio went down the path of excess power to rock full-size headphones, unlike Hiby, which went down the path of sufficient power supply for two 4499ex to better unlock their potential, at the expense of amplification

 

[Nick24JJ]

Nothing to apologize about. The price in the US shouldn’t matter any more to you than the price in the UK to me.

-Ed

It was not my intention to apologise. What I meant to say is that I am sorry for the consumers who might eventually fall for the M23 due to that reduced price - which is kind of hard for me to believe but I'm not going to search it, anyway - as it is my personal opinion that it does not worth it, compared to the R6 Pro II, especially taking in consideration FiiO's software and hardware implementation and customer service.