[AlexFL]

Hi guys, please can you post your results with battery life on balanced? I have ordered R6, updated it to Oreo, wiped cache and factory reset, charged and drained the battery 5 cycles and after all it had only 5 hours of play time with 16 but FLAC on repeat, airplane mode on and screen off. No way I can live with this.

 

[AlexFL]

Can someone share the the impressions on bass quantity on R6Pro versus R6 out of balanced with high sensitive IEMs like SE846. I loved R6 but the bass quantity was extremely high.

 

[jsmiller58]

This is a long thread, with many questions being asked repeatedly because it is a real chore to read from the beginning. I know - I asked many of the same questions after others had the same questions answered.

Below is a quick recap of some of the common answers provided by others, along with my own experiences... hope this helps new owners...

HISS: For those experiencing hiss out of the R6 Pro... if you have highly sensitive IEMs the R6 Pro will give you hiss. The amount of the hiss will depend on the sensitivity of the IEMs. The impedance is part of it, but so is the IEM sensitivity rating. Your unit is not likely defective if you hear this hiss on sensitive IEMs (obviously you may have a broken unit in extreme cases). An iEMatch works wonders for this. With my more sensitive IEMs, when it really bothers me (which is only when listening to quiet tracks) I use the iFi IEMatch 2.5mm version, and a right angle 4.4 to 2.5mm adapter for this. More on why I think that kind of right angle adapter is good in a moment. HiBy claims that the R6 Pro will hiss more than the R6 because of the much higher output power of the R6 Pro. Whether the R6 Pro hisses more, less, the same as other powerful DAPs / amps, I don’t know. My only other similar portable experience is with the iFi xDSD and it does also hiss with sensitive IEMs.

NOISE I: For those detecting noise, pops, and clicks during playback... The R6 Pro will pick up electromagnetic interference (EMI) if it is close to a noise source. In my case as long as I keep my phone or iPad at least 5 inches away from the R6 Pro I don’t get any interference. If you live in a city surrounded by lots of interference and can pick that up even when your R6 Pro has nothing else around it, I don’t know what to say... other than have regular checkups for potential health implications of exposure to that much electromagnetic radiation...!

NOISE II: If you are using a 4.4mm to 2.5mm adapter that has a wire between the 4.4 end and the 2.5 end, that wire could be acting as an antenna and make your system even more sensitive to EMI. This is another good reason to use the right angle type of adapter - no wire to act as an antenna. Some wired adapters may be better shielded than others, and that could be why some people experience issues and others don’t.

MOMENTARY POP / CLICK: You may hear a pop while playing tracks - if you are switching sample rates between tracks (one track is 44.1K and the next is 88.2K, for example), this will create a momentary pop or click. That is normal.

POP OR CLICK THEN SILENCE: You may detect a click and change to the sound when you have paused the playback for a few seconds. This is the amp going into standby mode-shutting down - to save power. This is especially noticeable if you are using sensitive IEMs and you are going from hiss to blackness/silence. This is normal, and a good way to detect if you have particularly sensitive IEMs.

4.4MM RANT: On the 4.4 to 2.5 adapter... I have a straight adapter (plug in the 2.5 into a straight 4.4), a wired adapter, and a right angle adapter... absolutely prefer the right angle... why?
- the aforementioned EMI potential with the wire is not there
- 4.4 plugs are big/bulky and stick up. Hard to have this in your front pocket. It can be uncomfortable and may put too much stress on the plug. So an angled adapter has the plug sitting much more flush with the player making it much more pocket friendly. For this reason I prefer to have 2.5mm terminated cables, and use the right angle adapter.

EQ: For those wanting global EQ... there are apps on Play Store for this. I don’t think any work with MQA (MQA requires no mucking around with the audio stream). I don’t think any will work if you have bit perfect audio (for example if you are using UAPP and have bit perfect enabled). Others more experienced can comment, but from my understanding, global EQ is much more elusive than we would like (especially if you are into Tidal at their highest resolution). The HiBy app has a wonderful EQ capability built in - but only works with the HiBy app.

TIDAL: If you want Tidal to work correctly, stick with the 2.11.3 version. Download the apk from one of the apk sites. Turn off Play Store auto update or else it will update the Tidal version as well and always decline the suggested update when you fire up Tidal, and manually update all of your other apps in Play Store. @Joe Bloggs would have to explain why we have to stay with 2.11.3... he has answered on multiple occasions and I still don’t understand... but I do as instructed!

4.4MM RANT, AGAIN: Did I mention how much I dislike the standard 4.4mm plug? . Yes, the 4.4mm plug is mechanically / physically more robust than the 2.5mm. But it is also a pain in the... pocket. I find that going portable with a big 4.4 plug sticking up is a challenge, hence the right angle is better. If you can find cables terminated in an angled 4.4 plug, more power to you, otherwise consider using the much more common 2.5, and a right angle converter. Electrically there is no difference between the 2.5mm and 4.4mm plugs. Using the adapter introduces some infinitesimal additional impedance. If you can hear it... we need to have your hearing studied by scientists!

Anyway, I hope this helps some.

 

[koaly]

What is the build date on your device? Off the box



What is your build date on the box? Unfortunately, you will need to either return l, and hope the replace doesn't exhibit the noise issues, use a iematch, or change iems.

The box shows the manufacturing date 2019-03-26.
The problem is that the hiss noise is present whenever you click the play button. It remains also if the player is paused. Then in about 10 seconds the hiss is switched off with a certain click noise. For me it is disappointing for a player, which costs 800USD. It sounds wonderful, but the hiss destroys all the positive impression.

 

[jsmiller58]

The box shows the manufacturing date 2019-03-26.
The problem is that the hiss noise is present whenever you click the play button. It remains also if the player is paused. Then in about 10 seconds the hiss is switched off with a certain click noise. For me it is disappointing for a player, which costs 800USD. It sounds wonderful, but the hiss destroys all the positive impression.

The hiss is due to the sensitivity of the IEM, and the power output of the R6 Pro. The hiss turning off is the amp going into standby.

@Joe Bloggs has answered this in the thread - a search may help.

 

[CactusPete23]

The hiss is due to the sensitivity of the IEM, and the power output of the R6 Pro. The hiss turning off is the amp going into standby.

@Joe Bloggs has answered this in the thread - a search may help.

If I remember correctly, when the R6-Pro's amp section was re-designed to have lower output impedance, it also got increased noise level compared to the R6. This baseline noise increase may be what folks with sensitive IEMs are hearing whenever both the AMP is on, And there is no music playing to mask it.

@IryxBRO Wonder if adding what @jsmiller58 wrote in post 1923 (or something similar) to the First Post as a "reference info" would make sense?

 

[newtophones07]

The hiss is due to the sensitivity of the IEM, and the power output of the R6 Pro. The hiss turning off is the amp going into standby.

@Joe Bloggs has answered this in the thread - a search may help.

Makes sense, but it's still poor engineering, for that on occur on a $800 device. Just hope my replacement works better.

 

[jsmiller58]

Makes sense, but it's still poor engineering, for that on occur on a $800 device. Just hope my replacement works better.

If your replacement is another R6 Pro, and if your IEMs are sensitive, this will not change.

 

[newtophones07]

If your replacement is another R6 Pro, and if your IEMs are sensitive, this will not change.

Guess you may be correct.

 

[ariscotle]

If your replacement is another R6 Pro, and if your IEMs are sensitive, this will not change.

Can someone please explain to me what "sensitive" iems are? I am very new to the head-fi game, and am in the dark about this terminology.

I can see the spec on the data sheet for the ones I purchased (**** v2) but have no idea what the 108db means.
(My specs included in the image below)

Is there a spectrum of most to least sensitive in therms of the db rating?
Kick down some good basic info.

Much appreciated.

 

[newtophones07]

]

It's more about the impedance. Anything under 20 ohms "MAY" be an issue.

Most of the buyers are happy and have no issues at all.

 

[jsmiller58]

Can someone please explain to me what "sensitive" iems are? I am very new to the head-fi game, and am in the dark about this terminology.

I can see the spec on the data sheet for the ones I purchased (**** v2) but have no idea what the 108db means.
(My specs included in the image below)

Is there a spectrum of most to least sensitive in therms of the db rating?
Kick down some good basic info.

Much appreciated.

There really isn't a hard and fast answer. Certainly some IEMs are more sensitive - on a relative basis - than others. Whether you hear hiss it not is partly a function of the IEM and partly a function of the source. For example, my Fearless S8F are considered sensitive and hiss out of my R6 Pro, out if my xDSD, but not out of my LG v30. My BGVP DM6 are less sensitive and also hiss out of the R6 Pro and xDSD, but less so. My Kanas Pro are less sensitive and I don't really notice much if any hiss out of any of my sources.

As @Joe Bloggs mentioned, the original R6 would not hiss as much if at all because of the lower output power versus the R6 Pro.

Bottom line is that it will be a function of the IEM and source.

Another way to experience the difference in sensitivity is try to volume match different IEMs with the same source. You will notice that for the same loudness, you will need to set the volume differently.

 

[ariscotle]

It's more about the impedance. Anything under 20 ohms "MAY" be an issue.

Most of the buyers are happy and have no issues at all.

Interesting to hear you say that, because inasmuch as I have had no issues, I see these posts about hissing and sensitive iems, and iem match and the 4.4 right angle adapter and so on
AD NAUSEAM and it just has me curious.

I really do feel bad for anyone who has issues, because they are right, for $800, this thing should just be flawless (for the most part). I would definitely return mine if I had to use some adapter to make it work.
Would have already traded in my iPhone for an Android because of the headphone dongle garbage if not for getting a DAP that simply made that a non-issue in my life.

Though I'm gonna think long and hard before I get my next phone. I think I might just be too into music and audio and open source to get another iPhone.
Time will tell. Happy with my R6 Pro though... super happy.

 

[ariscotle]

There really isn't a hard and fast answer. Certainly some IEMs are more sensitive - on a relative basis - than others. Whether you hear hiss it not is partly a function of the IEM and partly a function of the source. For example, my Fearless S8F are considered sensitive and hiss out of my R6 Pro, out if my xDSD, but not out of my LG v30. My BGVP DM6 are less sensitive and also hiss out of the R6 Pro and xDSD, but less so. My Kanas Pro are less sensitive and I don't really notice much if any hiss out of any of my sources.

As @Joe Bloggs mentioned, the original R6 would not hiss as much if at all because of the lower output power versus the R6 Pro.

Bottom line is that it will be a function of the IEM and source.

Another way to experience the difference in sensitivity is try to volume match different IEMs with the same source. You will notice that for the same loudness, you will need to set the volume differently.

And to be clear, this hissing issue is only with the 4.4. jack?
Both of my headphones (**** v2 and Fostex TR-X00 Ebony) use the balanced jack and I have no issues.
Have also not experienced anything negative out of the 3.5 jack or line out.

 

[newtophones07]

Interesting to hear you say that, because inasmuch as I have had no issues, I see these posts about hissing and sensitive iems, and iem match and the 4.4 right angle adapter and so on
AD NAUSEAM and it just has me curious.

.

I bet if there was a poll, on who has issues with hissing, emi, clicks, pulsing sounds, etc., The numbers would be small. Most DONT have these issues. Doesn't mean that aren't those in my case that had all of them lol. It's just electronics and QC, it happens. I just appreciate when companies adjust and fix the issues. Hiby should have done something by now (hence asking for build dates) or offered a new firmware update by now. Just enjoy your luck of the draw!!