[ScubaDrunk]

HiBy's implementation is not ideal, I agree. And to be fair I rarely listen to MQA or streaming, so I'm probably not the right person to comment. That said, when I did hear the 'issue' I thought to myself if this is what people complain about nowadays, then wow. Would I like to see it solved? Sure. Is it a dealbreaker? Not for me. YMMV.

Thanks for your input and I appreciate this may not be a deal breaker for your experience but many people including myself bought this player on the basis that it streams MQA tracks across the internet and can handle this without interruptions in playback.

@Joe Bloggs Any idea when Hiby will be fixing this issue as it has been a problem for sometime now?

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Yes of course I would like the MQA file presented to me at the intended sample rate that the studio OR Artist intended it to be delivered

My question is why is the R6 not able to display the intended format on its display like the M500 does

As a end user it is confusing. The R6 used to change its colour on the power button depending on the format of the track being processed.

So in this example the power button would have turned green and the R6 display would have shown 44.1k even if the unfolded track being delivered to the ears was 352.8k

Has something changed with the latest firmware that does not allow Hiby to display this graphical feature?

@Joe Bloggs I am also seeing that most MQA tracks on the Tidal MQA playlist on the R6 start playing at 96k with the power button displaying green and then after 1 second of playing there is a audible gap/switch in the stream and the player switches the track to 384k and the power button turn yellow. This is not the user experience I paid for with a player that cost this much.

As I said the player never used to do this on the previous firmware. This break/switch in the music playing whilst the player switches the outputted stream to the higher bitrate upsets the experience of the listening track

1. On "previous firmware" where 44.1kHz was shown, MQA was not being decoded or rendered, at all. Green just happened to be our selected colour for 44.1 and 48kHz output.
2. On current firmware, we have a fundamental conflict between the R players displaying the sample rate going into the DAC to assure users that their music is being played at the intended sample rate (no resampling), and the MQA standard, which by its nature demands that all material be resampled. Explanation here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/r5-a-new-android-dap-by-hiby.912566/page-147#post-15610086

To spell this out--at the risk of backlash from the authorities--any and all MQA devices that do not experience this glitch while switching from non-MQA to MQA tracks, is resampling all your non-MQA tracks.

Not that I regard resampling as some kind of evil...

3. On the other hand, glitching on every track in an unbroken series of MQA tracks is not something other users have reported. Can you give some more details on the conditions under which this is happening?

 

[rlw6534]

1. On "previous firmware" where 44.1kHz was shown, MQA was not being decoded or rendered, at all. Green just happened to be our selected colour for 44.1 and 48kHz output.
2. On current firmware, we have a fundamental conflict between the R players displaying the sample rate going into the DAC to assure users that their music is being played at the intended sample rate (no resampling), and the MQA standard, which by its nature demands that all material be resampled. Explanation here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/r5-a-new-android-dap-by-hiby.912566/page-147#post-15610086

To spell this out--at the risk of backlash from the authorities--any and all MQA devices that do not experience this glitch while switching from non-MQA to MQA tracks, is resampling all your non-MQA tracks.

Not that I regard resampling as some kind of evil...

3. On the other hand, glitching on every track in an unbroken series of MQA tracks is not something other users have reported. Can you give some more details on the conditions under which this is happening?

To add to the MQA confusion, my Fiio M11 Pro shows the original sample rate in the status bar (44.1 and the MQA logo) but UAPP clearly shows 352.8 direct. Seems that I recall Fiio saying that the MQA gods required them to display the original rate => quoted from firmware update: "When playing MQA tracks, the status bar will display the original sample rates of the MQA track instead of the playing sample rates after fully unfolding, as requested by the MQA licensor."

It's odd that Hiby is different. No idea what is better...

 

[gLer]

To add to the MQA confusion, my Fiio M11 Pro shows the original sample rate in the status bar (44.1 and the MQA logo) but UAPP clearly shows 352.8 direct. Seems that I recall Fiio saying that the MQA gods required them to display the original rate => quoted from firmware update: "When playing MQA tracks, the status bar will display the original sample rates of the MQA track instead of the playing sample rates after fully unfolding, as requested by the MQA licensor."

It's odd that Hiby is different. No idea what is better...

That FiiO explanation is daft. Why would you not show the final playback resolution?

 

[rlw6534]

That FiiO explanation is daft. Why would you not show the final playback resolution?

This is just a guess, but there are 96 and 192 kHz original sample rate tracks on Tidal that are also MQA encoded. So, on UAPP these show as 96 or 192 kHz in the status bar but are unfolded to 384 which is the M11 Pro's max. On Hiby, you won't be able to tell the difference on the display. Presumably, these are higher quality tracks.

Aerosmith/Done with Mirrors at 96 kHz MQA:
https://listen.tidal.com/album/145502056

Aerosmith/Done with Mirrors at 192 kHz MQA:
https://listen.tidal.com/album/77659813

 

[mesabassman]

@Joe Bloggs Hi Joe, hope you are well. A friend of mine gave his Hiby R6 Pro to his Dad and wants to replace it. Do you know when they will be back in stock?

Thanks!

 

[ClicketEKlack]

I keep having a problem while traveling and trying to use either offline or airplane mode. Even though Tidal shows my downloaded albums, it says offline content not available. Is that a Tidal problem or a HiBy problem?

 

[stenog]

I keep having a problem while traveling and trying to use either offline or airplane mode. Even though Tidal shows my downloaded albums, it says offline content not available. Is that a Tidal problem or a HiBy problem?

I think it's a Tidal problem, the Tidal app is very often hit or miss.

Try the following:
Play some of your downloaded files while connected to the Internet. Then go offline and play the same files again. If this works, play some files you have not played while you were online. I bet you can't play them!

Hope this makes sense

 

[Joe Bloggs]

@Joe Bloggs Hi Joe, hope you are well. A friend of mine gave his Hiby R6 Pro to his Dad and wants to replace it. Do you know when they will be back in stock?

Thanks!

I think I've just replied to him in pm

 

[pawdog]

1. On "previous firmware" where 44.1kHz was shown, MQA was not being decoded or rendered, at all. Green just happened to be our selected colour for 44.1 and 48kHz output.
2. On current firmware, we have a fundamental conflict between the R players displaying the sample rate going into the DAC to assure users that their music is being played at the intended sample rate (no resampling), and the MQA standard, which by its nature demands that all material be resampled. Explanation here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/r5-a-new-android-dap-by-hiby.912566/page-147#post-15610086

To spell this out--at the risk of backlash from the authorities--any and all MQA devices that do not experience this glitch while switching from non-MQA to MQA tracks, is resampling all your non-MQA tracks.

Not that I regard resampling as some kind of evil...

3. On the other hand, glitching on every track in an unbroken series of MQA tracks is not something other users have reported. Can you give some more details on the conditions under which this is happening?

I can say I never noticed this behavior until reading this thread. My experience while looking for a problem is there is a flash between tracks, even consecutive MQA tracks on the same album streaming from Tidal but if not for the light flash giving a visual clue I would not have noticed it and it is not audible at least on the several tracks I tested. I would not call it a noticeable thing if one is not looking for it. The light flash is even shorter on downloaded tracks with Black Player and if not looking at the light color change is imperceptible audibly. I'm sure to the person complaining about how annoying it is, it sounds like an atomic bomb going off in his head. He is clearly looking for something to complain about.

 

[ScubaDrunk]

I'm sure to the person complaining about how annoying it is, it sounds like an atomic bomb going off in his head. He is clearly looking for something to complain about.

Not at all. My complaint is not for the sake of complaining. My complaint is this issue is not present on other devices that are able to stream the same advertised functionality.
On other device for example (FiiO M15) is able to stream decode and play without disruption a MQA track from Tidal without disruption at the intended format.

 

[pawdog]

Not at all. My complaint is not for the sake of complaining. My complaint is this issue is not present on other devices that are able to stream the same advertised functionality.
On other device for example (FiiO M15) is able to stream decode and play without disruption a MQA track from Tidal without disruption at the intended format.

Well, maybe some other users will share their experiences of these disruptions. I just don't hear anything I would consider a disruption.

 

[gLer]

Hi gents, noob question, if I wanted to reset my R6 Pro to new/factory condition with original software etc., what's the easiest and safest way to do it?

 

[Victorr]

Hi gents, noob question, if I wanted to reset my R6 Pro to new/factory condition with original software etc., what's the easiest and safest way to do it?

Android standard function: factory reset

 

[FuelMan]

Do you or do you not want your MQA files unfolded to high sample rates? Isn't that what MQA is all about?

That 44.1kHz on the M500 is the undecoded sample rate of the input file and not indicative of the final sample rate that reaches its DAC (you would hope not!)

@gLer MQA files can certainly be 24-bit--MQA files are often 24-bit flac files that when flac-decoded contains the characteristic "noise" under a 14-bit noise floor (i.e. noiselike datat from 15th to 24th bit) that consist the MQA encoding.

Anyway, MQA is very strict with its licensing--if we were using the MQA logo and claiming to do things with MQA that we don't actually do, you would hear a public statement about the issue from MQA soon enough.

Its at the beginning of every single MQA track for about a second maybe half a second. After that the track plays ok but every track has this switchover disruption at the beginning.

It starts to play the track at 96k with power button on green and then switches the track to 352.8k and turns yellow and then plays ok

Go see for yourself on Tidal using the MQA master album playlist. Play a track and you will hear and see this conversion process. Its very annoying.

It never used to do this.

Yes but if you stream another MQA track after the first one you shouldn't get the dropout on the second, third, fourth track etc. I agree, it's not ideal, but then neither is MQA

This discussion has gotten me curious as an R6Pro owner who absolutely loves the device but am annoyed by the same issue the @Topboy007 is reporting. I'm running 1.92G_202011031_1749 so I think I'm on the latest firmware (as a side note, this latest update was performed wirelessly and processed without any glitches). I can confirm that when streaming Tidal, there is a "glitch" upon initial play (the transition from 96k to 384k - confirmed by the LED power button indicator. It can be annoying, and certainly a valid complaint for one investing $700; begging the question, "is this a deal-breaker" for me? In my case, not at all, especially since this only happens when streaming via wifi on my unit. And when considering the audible performance of the player, I'm personally willing to deal with it, but that doesn't mean one should have to, which I think goes to the heart of @Topboy007 complaint.

For me, there are additional smaller "kwirks" I'd like to get addressed, such as WHY, when I select "AM/PM" as a clock style, the Hiby music app lockscreen will never switch to this format - it continuously stays on military time - why? Why is it when you select "cover cropping" in the Album Cover settings in the Hiby Music App, the lockscreen never seems to "crop" the album cover in order to fit the screen - why? Then there's the fact that when you select the screensaver for charging mode, it never appears - why?

Again, I really love this unit and it offers me as much value as I believe available at the price point, not to mention the stainless-steel form factor -absolutely love the look AND the weight! I realize some don't care for the "heft" of the SST version, but personally I love it. If @HiByMusic could resolve some of these issues, the value proposition would continue to be driven upward with continued success.