[Joe Bloggs]

Hiby R6 Pro II Initial Impressions:

The R6 Pro II arrived at my doorstep approximately two nights ago. Due to my daily gigs as a musician, I didn't have much time to listen to it continuously. However, I have noted some key observations which I'll present in a bullet-style list:

- The driving power of the R6 Pro II is sufficient for all my IEMs. It delivers more punch compared to my RS2 and Questyle QP2R. I typically set the volume level around 40-50% on the balanced output and 50-60% on the single-ended, depending on the track.

- The level of detail is impressively clean, crisp, and transparent.

- The build quality exudes a premium feel, although the size is a bit large for my small Asian hands. I'm a small guy, standing at around 5'4". LOL

- The user interface and touchscreen are snappy and responsive, although not as fast as our smartphones. There were a few instances where I had to tap the screen twice as it didn't respond on the first tap.

- I personally miss having a volume wheel on the device.

- The leather sleeve included with the R6 Pro II is a nice addition and adds to the overall appeal.

- After approximately 30 minutes of use, the device tends to get warm. But then again, this is a common occurrence with most DAPs.

- The 4.4mm balanced output showcases a noticeable difference compared to the single-ended output. There is more headroom, and the soundstage is more discernable.

- Unfortunately, I couldn't discern a significant difference between Class A and AB amplification. This might not necessarily be a fault of the R6 Pro II, but rather a result of my own auditory limitations. Having been exposed to loudness for quite some time, I may have a mild hearing loss. Kudos to those with golden ears!

- The trebles have that extra grit and texture, especially when paired with my Kinera Idun, which is a bright-sounding set. The added sparkle and sheen are noticeable.

- The mids are the star of the show, being forward and emphasized. They are not exaggerated but rather presented in moderation while still being discernable.

- The lows are transparent, punchy, and neutral, which aligns perfectly with my personal preference.

- The technical capabilities and micro-detailing of the R6 Pro II are incredibly impressive.

- Changing gain modes and adjusting amplification are easy and convenient, requiring just a few swipes.

- During these impressions, I used the Hiby music app and Apple Music, which I downloaded from the Play Store. I did encounter occasional crashes when logging into my account on the Play Store, but fortunately, I managed to log in successfully.

That's all for now. Cheers!

regarding the Play store, it would be missing a few updates out of the factory and be updating itself (closing itself on occasion to do so). So yeah.

 

[darmanastartes]

HiBy Zeta Review

INTRODUCTION AND DISCLAIMER:​

The HiBy Zeta is a hybrid in-ear monitor that combines one 10mm dynamic driver, four balanced armatures, and four electrostatic drivers per earpiece. It retails for $1399. I received the Zeta through a review tour organized by HiBy. I was able to test it for a week and a half before writing my review. I covered the shipping costs to the next reviewer on the tour, and no compensation was received for this review.

SOURCES:​

During my review process, I utilized the Hiby Zeta with the following sources:

• Moondrop Dawn
• Truthear Shio
• Hiby R6 Pro II

MUSIC:​

I assessed the quality of these headphones using FLAC and Spotify Premium. To gain an understanding of my musical taste, visit my last.fm page:
XenosBroodLord’s Library | Last.fm

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:​

The HiBy Zeta comes in a rectangular square black box with a black cardboard slipcover. The included 2-pin cable has a 4.4mm balanced termination. The package includes nine pairs of eartips. This selection consists of three pairs of standard silicone eartips (S, M, L), three pairs of shallow wide-bore eartips (S, M, L), and three pairs of hybrid silicone-foam eartips (S, M, L). The package also includes a HiBy-branded hockey puck-shaped storage case with a friction-fit lid finished in turquoize leather. Two small drawstring mesh bags are included to protect the earpieces inside the storage case. A magnetic cable clasp and a cleaning brush are also provided. As for documentation, the Zeta comes with a user manual and a quality control pass chit.

BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN:​

The Hiby Zeta’s earpieces are machined from titanium and feature a puesdo-custom fit. The teardrop-shaped faceplates have mirrored stainless steel inlays featuring a two-tone geometric design. The earpieces are laser etched with with the HiBy logo and unit serial number, plus “L” and “R” indicators below the 2-pin ports. Each earpiece has a single circular vent near the serial number. The nozzles are thick and have a gently raised lip to secure eartips. I did not have any issues with eartips coming loose during my time with the Zeta.
The included 8-core litz cable uses an eight-way braid below the Y-split and quad-braids on each side above the Y-split. It has strain relief above its 4.4mm jack but none at the Y-split. Its chin adjustment choker, 4.4 mm jack housing and Y-split hardware are all dark polished chrome with white lettering (“HIBY” on the 4.4mm jack hardware and “ZETA” on the Y-split hardware). It also has pre-formed earguides and the 2-pin connector hardware is marked red and blue for right and left. My one complaint about the cable is that the chin adjustment choker is hard to slide up and down the cable due to the girth of the quad-braids.

COMFORT, FIT, AND ISOLATION:​

The HiBy Zeta should be worn with the cable up. Though it has a moderate insertion depth, secureness of fit is slightly below average. However, isolation is very good. The included cable is somewhat microphonic even with the use of the chin adjustment choker.

MEASUREMENTS:​

My measurements of the HiBy Zeta can be found on my expanding squig.link database:
HiBy Zeta — Squiglink by Bedrock Reviews

SOUND:​

The HiBy Zeta has a refined V-shaped tuning, with the bass and upper midrange/lower treble having roughly equal intensity. The upper midrange is notably even, avoiding any harsh peaks.
The Zeta’s dynamic driver produces a thunderous, powerful bass response. The bass is most elevated in the bottommost sub-bass and recedes in a roughly linear fashion until around 700 Hz. If the Zeta’s dynamic driver were less capable, I would imagine this tuning would be muddy and bloated. Given the capabilities of the driver, however, the Zeta has some of the best bass I have ever heard, with superb articulation and resolution, impactful slam and excellent note weight and texture.
The Zeta’s lower mids are recessed, resulting in male vocals sounding slightly boxed-in compared to low-end and top-end instrumentation. With that said, harsh male vocals have body, grit, and power in spades. Female vocals are lush, vibrant, and clearer than male vocals. However, there is a hint of sibilance to female vocals. Analog percussion has an organic and snappy timbre. There is a moderate dip between 5 kHz and 8 kHz which appears to be intentional. Adding presence into this dip with equalization introduces an unpleasant grittyness to the presentation.
The Zeta has a gentle but detailed treble response that delivers the micro-level insight one would expect from an IEM of its price. I do think the Zeta could use a bit more upper treble emphasis, as there is limited air. Furthermore, the soundstage is not as spacious as the driver configuration might suggest. The soundstage width extends outside the head, while the height and depth of the soundstage are average and shallow respectively. The sustained emphasis in the mid-bass region does create a busy center-stage image, yet layering is still very good. Thanks to its punchy and highly textured bass response, the Zeta conveys dynamic swings with ease. Finally, imaging is excellent.
The Zeta is one of the best IEMs for extreme metal I have listened to to date. I felt the power of its sound listening to a high-resolution digital copy of “I Will Find You” by Whitechapel early in my review process. The galloping double bass and downtuned extended range electric guitars that kick in at 0:46 sound like a stampede, and vocalist Phil Bozeman’s growl at 4:11 sent shivers down my spine.

AMPLIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND SOURCE PAIRING:​

The Hiby Zeta is easy to drive and had no hiss with any of my sources. For best results, I recommend pairing it with a highly resolving source device, like the Hiby R6 Pro II, which offered an audibly blacker background than my Truthear Shio.

CLOSING WORDS:​

I usually prefer reference-tuned IEMs, but the HiBy Zeta’s stellar bass performance and excellent build quality have won me over. I can confidently recommend the Zeta to anyone looking for an endgame IEM with a V-shaped sound profile.

 

[Mesteves77]

HiBy R6 Pro II - An Opening Door into the world of DAPs

I am hereby summarizing my opinions on the R6 Pro II, taken from very illuminative impressions. Please keep in mind that I am a beginner reviewer (thanks once again for the opportunity) and I had never heard a DAP before. The closest I have had to it was my Cowon J3 player, a decade ago.

To make this easier, I have compared this one directly to my daily use dongle, the Jcally AP10, which is mostly neutral packing a dual CS43131 and has the following power capabilities: 1.8V/3.8V on the 4.4 bal output, and 0.9V/1.8V on the 3.5mm output; being low and high gain respectively. No wattage info available.

This way I will be able to convey what a beginner audiophile might experience when upgrading from a mid-tier dongle/dac to a mid-tier DAP.

My collection of IEMs doesn't yet have a planar in it to test with the R6 PRO II, but I will be mostly testing it on budget IEMs, as well as in a couple of over-ear Headphones.

Functionality ​

User UI

Basic Android System, only having Hiby App pre-installed.

It is sluggish when scrolling and giving commands.

Powering the unit takes 26 seconds which seems like an eternity for a device that has no apps installed.

Better reproduction quality via HiBy app when compared to Tidal, however - Hiby app often crashes, screen touches and drags are not registered, and "unexpected errors" are frequent. For instance Hiby got stuck jumping between these two error messages upon playback " the asset could not be played for some reason"; "Several consecutive playback errors".

MSEB is quite useful. Being able to control subtle sound characteristics like frequency textures, warmth, note thickness, voices, overtones, sibilance, air. Controls are not intuitive but do function as expected.

Ergonomy

The disposition of the buttons isn't very logical with an isolated backwards button followed by a gap and then a start/stop button next to the skip button doesn't feel intuitive.

The left side buttons are in a position where you can easily misclick and either stop or skip the song when holding the DAP. As the device is heavy, you easily make these mistakes. Next time, consider having them in a higher or lower position so fingertips dont accidentally change or stop the song.

Initially I couldn't adjust volume with the Dap Locked, but this has changed on a recent update.

Aesthetics

I really like how the unit is presented, the backside with the grooves are lovely, and the screen quality is top notch, with vibrant colors and enough brightness.

The included leatherette case is a big plus, soothing my worries and nightmares of damaging the unit, as it enhaces the grip and is quite protective (it is thick!).

Bluetooth Connectivity

Pairing: finicky to connect, can't start the pairing from the phone or it won't connect even if detected. It needs to be from the DAP.
Once connected it goes smoothly and won't disconnect. Connection to Bluetooth Buds was way easier.

The codecs depend on the phone capabilities.

The range is mediocre: at 7 steps away from the phone, without walls or windows, on the outside, it starts to stutter the audio reproduction, and 10 steps/meters away it totally ceases playing.

Amplifier Types:

Class A - cleaner and less colored. Less sub-bass rumble but airier treble. Higher fidelity sound.

Class AB - The added punch and analog tint is noticeable on this amp mode. Somewhat of a V-shape goodness boost:

• Meatier Bass, about 5-10% more
• Slightly more forward mids
• High Treble seems attenuated or less evident in comparison to A
• A grainier experience overall but might be also perceived as "added noisefloor".

Talking about Power​

Admirable power output on the 3.5mm SO that managed to fully drive my Dt990 Pro 250 ohm version, although not to a very loud level. On High Gain and 90-100 volume it behaves as it should, but for people that like/need listening at higher volumes than most people, such impedance headphones (also planars) will definitely need to be connected to the 4.4 bal port.

I have also tried my AKG K701 (105 db SPL/V @ 1 kHz; 60 ohm) on the 3.5mm SO and it performed well, but left a bit to be desired - didn't feel very alive nor dynamic.

I'm not owning or carrying any planars as of the moment so I can't comment on the behaviour of this kind of both IEMs and headphones.

Listening on the 3.5 mm SO has shown impeccable performance with all my IEMs, but all my following sound impressions have come from connecting my IEMs to the 4.4 bal port.

Power Longevity could and has been improving every firmware update, which have been frequent - I have had 3 firmware updates for the 10 days I have had the R6Pro II with me, which is a sign of good and on-going development.
Power consumption during idle was as if you were playing music - fixed in a new update, but still consumes a lot even if the screen is on sleep.

There was a time when the unit didn't appear fully charged, as it would never hit 100%. This has also been solved on an update.

Audio Impressions​

Here we will mostly be comparing the usage of a Dongle (Jcally Ap10 on 3.8v mode) versus the DAP - Hiby R6 Pro II on medium gain on IEMs and High Gain on Headphones

IEMs

Tanchjim Zero:

Intensified Sub-Bass, Bass slightly intensified. The remaining frequencies seem left untouched. The added rumble is notorious, the midbass punch not very much, yet it doesn't detract from the intended tuning experience.

Better separation along with wider added soundstage, gives off the feeling of being able to pinpoint more details in the treble region. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't increase details, it just creates more room for the frequencies to spread, thus allowing details to be more easily perceived.

Also stereo effects (left to right, and vice versa) seem to "travel" longer distances.

The low frequency boosts and added technicalities overall contributes to dynamics being more evident and engaging, benefiting the holographic experience.

Less distortion: If I increase the volume above my normal use, it distorts less than with the dongle (still within a comfortable volume window).

Truthear Hexa:

I can notice the warmer signature here, but not in the same way. Way lower bass boost than on the Tanchjim, I can hear less sparkle on cymbals and high hats, but when things go harsh (bad or old mixes) it has a positive effect on them, smoothening it.

Again, soundstage has improved slightly and dynamics are felt more intensively.
On busier tracks it feels like there are more layering capabilities than on dongle dacs.

It definitely gives some life to Truthear Hexa, making it a nice combo.

Truthear Zero

It was on this set that I clearly noticed the different Class Amp Behaviours on the Hiby.

Class A neutrally reflected the IEM's tuning and everything sounded tidy and as I familiarly remembered. A very faithful experience and compared to my daily neutral dongle, the AP10, it behaved very similarly tuning wise. Obviously, the amp technical and power capabilities are not comparable and I clearly noticed the benefits of the expanded soundstage, quite more prominent dynamics and altogether more vivid and engaging experience.
I can almost say I felt the Truthear Zero was finally being pushed to the best of its capabilities here. Definitely an enlightening moment for me as a beginner audiophile reviewer.

The story changed a lot on the Class AB Amp - it seemed to boost the mids but making them sound unnaturally metallic and voices got overly grainy, a very specific and exclusive reaction here on Truthear Zero.
Tracks that have a tape reel effect or a lot of ground noise (recording hiss), had these "sonic artifacts" augmented.

From my past experience the Truthear Zero has a very peculiar tune and behaviour given it's driver configuration and is quite sensitive to dac/amp rolling.

Moondrop Aria:

This used to be my daily driver during late 2020/21 so it was a pleasure revisiting it and even comparing them to nowadays budget dethroners, just to conclude upon the notorious speed at which IEM technology has been growing and being made accessible, specially at the entry-level cost bracket.

I still find it a quite interesting and musical tuning, not too sheen on technicalities, sluggish and sometimes boomy on the bass, supposedly mid focused, somewhat treble shy and certainly grainy.

I have had mixed results over the years pairing the Aria with wired dongles, always having to minimalistically recur to EQ to smoothen a few edges. For the purpose of this review I shall keep comparing it to my "neutral" Jcally AP10 wired dongle.

Under the juice of the Hiby R6Pro II it sang heartfully, the soundstage rose significantly in height. Comparing to my wired dongles for the first time, my ears blatantly catched up on a step upwards in resolution. Even if the unboosted treble was clearer and more evident.

I really enjoyed the natural warmth of this DAP with the Aria, using Class A Amp, still maintaining all the characteristics I so fondly remember cherishing on this set.

The Class AB Amp was too much for me here, oversaturating frequencies and incentivizing the grain.

Tangzu S.G. Wan'er:

This fun yet relaxed fellow set still is a valid and actual recommendation to a beginner audio enthusiast so it deserves a ride on the Hiby R6Pro II.

It natively packs a superbly balanced sub-bass to midbass ratio that packs a fun factor, and still manages to be very genre versatile. It is on the higher mids that I don't really vibe with it, classifying it as thin sounding. Treble is tamed and safe, although never discouraging.

Once a bit claustrophobic, under the DAP's control it no longer felt so. It is remarkable the consequences of a good quality and clean amp when compared to devices that carry less powerful amps.

Kinera Hodur:

Especially with AB Amp it raises the mids, presenting them a tad more forward, whereas this was a caveat for this set, in my humble opinion. As so, percussion is presented a bit forward and so more engaging than before, roughly a 10% increase if I am to estimate a value.

The Sub-Bass and Bass are already clean on this unit, abundant yes, but never to distort, however I can now feel a more cohesive rumble and punch, respectively, where before they used to get crowded on busier tracks which sometimes affected the separation of bassier instruments.

Dynamics were already a strong perk on this set, but they have bulked up and seem to have more depth, making it even more engaging.

Simgot EA500 (tested on both lower and higher power modes n the Ap10 - 1.8V/3.8Vmode, and low and medium gain on the R6Pro II):

Simgot's Ea500 have been the latest surprise on my collection which also means it has been the victim of some modding tests, so please take into consideration that my unit might not sound like yours (foam or dunu S&S tips, vent tape mode, and copper balanced cable). I have been trying to accomodate for the above average pinna gain and high sensitivity of this IEM. My goal has been perking up the lower end a tiny bit and smoothing down the pinna glare and treble regions so it does become as fatiguing, which has proven to be a difficult task for me.

With its 123 db/Vrms of sensitivity comes the challenge of not overfeeding the unit with power or volume, risking some sound signature flex or ear damage.

Now, with dongle/dacs it can be hard to fine tune the balance of gain and volume, and the Ea500 can easily end up sounding piercing and very uncomfortable to sit through long listening sessions. Finding that perfect sweet spot of loudness has been quite the hassle on dongles as they usually have less steps to regulate volume.
Also finding the dongle with the right sound temperament to synergize with the Ea500 has also been a baffling quest.

Behold on the Hiby R6Pro II, it is now way more convenient to manage all these IEM and personal sound requirements - by being able to choose between 3 gain modes, a full 1-100 volume steps for each one, choosing between two different amp behaviours, and a whole MSEB settings list to fiddle with, I could now fully optimize my experience with the Ea500.

I have achieved a very cohesive sound by choosing the combination of Medium gain and a lower volume (45-48), the AB class Amp mode, lightly tweaking a few MSEB settings (overall temperature, bass texture, voice forwardness, for instance).

This was how I managed to extract the best out of my Ea500, thanks to this DAP.

Moondrop Quarks DSP

Sadly I can't have DSP IEMs working, it won't output audio both on exclusive and non exclusive mode. Nevertheless, hardware controls seems to work (volume up and down from my Quarks DSP)

IEM Pairing Conclusions:​

On a scale from 1-10, where 5 is Neutral, 1 is Warm and 10 is Bright, I would score this DAP overall as a 3.5 to 4.

Nevertheless, it can behave mostly neutral on the Class A mode, or warmer on AB Amp Mode.

It becomes of great sinergy value when matched with neutral to neutral-bright IEMs, giving them what they sometimes lack - sub-bass ambience, midbass punch and intense dynamics. The Class AB Amp mode is very tempting to use along these for this purpose, adding to them a punchier, grittier and meatier experience.

On already warm sets it doesn't overdo it, but instead minimizes any distortion there might be, specially on the lower frequencies.

Treble has been the least affected region from my perspective. I may say I have felt no boosts, also no attenuations, yet the general positive effect it has on the soundstage creates more room for frequencies to "spread", thus making it easier to pinpoint details on this region.
On IEMs that may have harsher treble, it does smooth out the experience.

With Headphones ​

DT 990 Pro (3.5 mm SO, High Gain)

• Behaves as it normally does on my studio and desktop amp, performing the whole frequency range in a fully extended way, both ends (low and high).
• Soundstage and Dynamics are a delight and I am seriously impressed on how a portable unit can fully provide for this demanding set.

The A amp sounds natural and very close to what I am used to hearing via my studio audio signal.
With the AB amp it shines with analogue tint and I feel the sub-bass and midbass might be getting a very slight bump up.

AKG K701

Performs clearly and as I have always recognized it. Could feel more lively, but I also think these headphones are dying on me, so I won't add any following impressions here.

Final Words

Despite being a lovely unit and it pushing my IEM's capabilities to the fullest, it is a cumbersome experience in terms of portability, ergonomy and connectivity.

Whilst being perfect for IEMs, I think it could have done better on the headphone department, of which I also don't have enough to demo.

Technology wise, I was expecting a bit more of software that would inspire the user to tweak more sound settings to their liking.

In terms of sound it is fabulous: a very engaging and a transforming experience. I can now say I somewhat understand what mid to high tiers of audio playback devices are all about, and it is now difficult for me to turn back and listen to the regular budget dongle.

For me, the stellar resolution and the life it gives to IEMS are reasons enough to win over its setbacks.

Thank you once again for the opportunity and for reading my impressions,
Miguel Esteves

 

[e-dub]

This thread has died?

 

[Jarlaxle]

This thread has died?

Weird right? I don't know. I heard tour unit is, well touring but reviews etc. stopped coming.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/hiby-r6pro-ii.26432/reviews

 

[darmanastartes]

HiBy R6 Pro II Impressions​

INTRODUCTION AND DISCLAIMER:​

The HiBy R6 Pro II is a digital audio player (DAP) with 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced headphone and line-out outputs. It retails for $749. I received the R6 Pro II through a review tour organized by HiBy. I was able to test it for a week and a half before writing my review. I paid the shipping costs to the next reviewer, and no compensation was received for this review.

PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES:​

The HiBy R6 Pro II comes in a square white box. The package includes a leather protective case, screen protectors for both the front screen and the glass portion of the rear of the device, a long, sturdy USB-C to USB-C cable for charging and data transfer, a female USB-C to male USB-A adapter, a quality control pass chit, and a user manual.
The USB-C to USB-A adapter lacks backpower protection and is not recommended. The areas of the protective case which cover the device’s buttons are not labeled. If I had more time with the device to learn the layout this would be less of an issue, but I opted not to use the case during my time with the R6 Pro II as a result. In addition, these areas should be more prominently raised from the surface of the case. They blend into the rest of the case and are easy to miss.

BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN:​

On the one hand, the HiBy R6 Pro II has an attractive and visually interesting design that makes excellent use of a variety of premium materials and surface textures. On the other hand, this is a large, bulky, and heavy device. While I can see myself taking this device to a coffee shop to listen to while working, I cannot picture myself carrying it on my person and using it on the go with any regularity.
I was also not a fan of the R6 Pro II’s button layout. The device has power and volume up/down buttons along the right side, which is familiar to me as a Google Pixel user. However, the R6 Pro II’s play/pause and fast-forward buttons share the same raised surface. The similarity in profile between the left and right side controls repeatedly led me to rewind to the beginning of a track when I intended to turn the screen on. I would have liked to see three distinct buttons on the left side dedicated to playback control.

DEVICE PERFORMANCE (NON-SOUND):​

The HiBy R6 Pro II is disappointingly sluggish and not nearly as responsive to input as I would expect from a device that retails for more than my Google Pixel 7. The Fiio M11 Plus I had the opportunity to try last year at a Head-Fi meet was much snappier despite its older Snapdragon 660 processor. I was also not a fan of certain user interface choices. Specifically, adjusting the device volume while the screen is powered on triggers a full-screen volume control overlay which interrupts menu navigation. I could not locate an option to disable this overlay.

While I did not keep track of how much continuous listening I could get out of the R6 Pro II on a single charge, I needed to charge it roughly once every 36 hours. The device appears limited to 12 Watt charging, which is slow by modern standards.

THIRD-PARTY MUSIC APPS:​

I encountered inconsistent results when first using Spotify on the HiBy R6 Pro II. After I first downloaded the app, I was unable to initiate music playback. Songs failed to play or buffer upon selection, and the “Home” tab refused to load at all. After revisiting Spotify later in the day, however, I was able to play music and access the “Home” tab without difficulty.

SOUND AND THERMAL PERFORMANCE:​

The HiBy R6 Pro II offers tremendous resolution, catapulting the already impressive detail retrieval of my beloved Moondrop S8 to new heights against a pitch-black background. The AK4499EX digital-to-analog converter (DAC) chip, by Asahi Kasei Microdevices Corporation, is impressive. HiBy’s Mage Sound 8-ball (MSEB) pseudo-parametric equalizer (PEQ) is a useful feature, but I always prefer to have true PEQ if possible.

The R6 Pro II’s amplifier section fails to impress and likely isn’t enough to power many over-ear headphones. I reached my usual listening volume with the HiFiMan HE400SE through the R6 Pro II’s balanced output with high gain and a volume of 75/100. I did not notice an audible difference between Class A and Class AB amplification, which the R6 Pro II allows the user to toggle between. Class A mode does make the device warmer and drains the battery faster, so it’s best to leave it in Class AB.

CLOSING WORDS:​

Since the advent of high-performance balanced output dongle DAC/amplifiers and increased storage availability on flagship smartphones, I have had little interest in DAPs. They tend to be bulky, underpowered, and expensive for their specifications. Despite its impressive resolving capabilities, the HiBy R6 Pro II does little to change my mind. I would not purchase it with my own money.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

Surprising Pairing

Damn, what sorcery is this? This is probably one of the best pairing and synergy that I've experienced so far. HiBy R6 PRO MK.II and SoftEars Studio 4. This is the closest thing if you want to feel that hi-fi nirvana experience. Both have the almost the same alignment of neutral that they melded and are very compatible with one another. Accurate, almost correct timbre that I've experienced on the midrange segment.

I really swear that I could hear the coherency of vocal tone, breathing control and that distinct vocal timbre of Steve Tyler on this one. Like almost all instruments here sounds life-like that I can say it as precise and accurate timbre.

This is quite an amazing listening and unexpected pairing of both sets. I listen to them both for 2 hours.

HiBy R6 PRO Mk.II and SoftEars Studio 4.

I'll do a separate pairing assessment on Crystal 6 MK.II and R6 PRO MK.II in my full review later.

I'll drop some information on how great the R6 PRO MK.II was as device for Hi-Fi enthusiast like us and why it is better than some midrange DAPs that I've tested before.

 

[Zerstorer_GOhren]

Initial impressions on HiBy R6 PRO MK.II.

To be honest, This is actually my first ever device from HiBy but I'm already aware about this audio brand before as its entry-level DAPs became a talk of the town among local audio enthusiasts here. They are also known for their DAC/Amp dongles like FC1 and FC3 dongles which have a competitive pricing and yet can deliver such impressive performance.

This is HIBy R6 PRO Mk.II, their latest DAP for the midrange category. It has an aluminium chassis casing and combination of glass and carbon fibre at the back. Both sides have its button keys, the left part has play, pause, stop and next track buttons while the right part has the volume keys and power button. It has 5.9 inches in 16:9 aspect which is very similar to my old LG V20's overall dimensions. It has an IPS LCD Screen with a 1080p resolution that shows a sharp, crisp and vivid pixel quality when I look at its visual interface. It has large battery capacity inside and it supports a power delivery charging at 18 watts which can deliver around 2 hours of charging from 5% to 100%. The thickness of R6 Pro MK.II is equal to my 2 LG devices (LG G7 and LG V50) stacked together.

This device has an in-house overhaul software modification of an Android OS based on Android 12. Its internal has Snapdragon 662 with clock rate speed of 1.8 Ghz in a 8-core set-up which has similar performance with the old Redmi Note 7. On its UI, on upper pull down menu bar, you can find the basics like screen brightness, wifi toggle, airplane mode and other essentials but HiBy added it with amplification mode and gain mode. You can even see a sampling rate at top-right part.

I only tested the offline mode as I don't really rely on streaming services like apple music, tidal and deezer as I have a substantial collection of CD-rip tracks in my accounts from cloud services.

The stock HiBy Music App is actually rich of features that will be helpful and beneficial for customisation and the improvement of the audio quality. MSEB is a proprietary tool of HiBy which makes the EQ more straightforward, it is a parametric based equalisation for an easy to understand and avoiding some intricacies on doing some adjusting some certain frequencies that can ruin the sound quality. It is also noted the HiBy Music App will not be affected by the dreaded Android resampling as it absolutely bypasses it and it can deliver a bit-perfect audio quality.

Its sound quality reminds me of both Astell and Kern SP2000 which I'm already quite familiar with as I sometimes request it from the hi-fi store here to use it as source on demo and Lotoo Paw Gold Touch which my mate has. It has the balance-neutral tuning with some velvety yet detailed midrange that I really like as this is also some inherent characteristic of AKM DACs that I'm accustomed with. I also have 2 AKM DAC devices like LG X4+ 2018 and an old flagship DAP from Questyle, QP2R. But compare to the big guns like A&K and Lotoo. The power output of R6 PRO II is rather modest but if your listening gears are just IEMs or earbuds. R6 PRO II is more than enough that a hard to drive planar IEMs are amplified well even on low gain mode at 50% of volume level.

HiBy R6 Pro Mk.II have 4 types of jacks that were divided into 2 signals outputs, the Line Out and Power Out, both have 3.5mm and 4.4mm. I always use PO as it more suitable to IEMs, low impedance and high sensitivity rating in which a majority of IEMs have.

I've tested some entry-level to midrange DAPs from other companies like ibasso and Sony but I'm not really pleased with the tonal quality that they deliver as they are too warm in my liking and at the same time inferior in technical performance. Even though this device isn't a high endurance champ, I still prefer it over the DX120, DX160 and NW series on Sony as I prefer better technical performance and a more neutral sound profile.

On audio formats, HiBy R6 Pro Mk.II can play all types of format either lossless or lossy ones. If you are a fan of the MQA format, it can unfold up to 16x. DSD format can be played up to DSD512 and PCM like FLACs can theoretically reach up to 1536. These impressive decoding capabilities are processed by the newer generation of AKM DACs with Texas Instruments Op-Amps and NXP transistors for regulating voltage and current flow.

On brief sound impressions for each frequency, bass response is well-balanced as it had a well-controlled sufficient slam and a deep and rumbly sub bass. Midrange have good texture with slight warmth on it to give a substantial note weight in both vocals and instruments. Vocals sounds lusher, velvety and energetic while instruments have a natural tone with vibrant especially on rhythmic instruments in which both TOTL DAPs that I've mentioned a while ago, have these kind of characteristics. Treble seems to have smooth, inoffensive with good amount of treble air extension. It has an ample sparkle with a good amount of detail. Overall timbre quality is quite life-like sounding as how it depicts most instruments' tonal colour in an accurate and precise way.

On technical capabilities, it portrays a wide sound field, an atmospheric feel on its imaging aspect and clear-cut layering and excellent separation as I was able perceive the elements in a clean, pitch-black sonic canvas.

I hope that you enjoy your time reading my short write-up. Ill publish a full review on this one later.

 

[cleg]

My video about HiBy Crystal 6 II