[arijitroy2]

Even if we were categorising by price, $1800 is not mid-fi. It's very much high-end. TOTL even. I'd say anything above $800 in today's market is high-end, and mid-fi sits comfortably in the $300-$800 bracket. If we're going by price only, that is. FWIW I prefer the sound of my R6 Pro to the R2R2000, with costs $2500 last I checked.

I like products in this hobby are put in certain categories just by their price! One of the reason why people tend to think Denon D9200 is a mid-fi, where infact I know so many people here that preferred them over Stellia or even sold off Stellia. Let the ears be the judge, not the price tag, that's what I say.

 

[Whitigir]

oh well... the market is still up for grab. The thing about these stuff is that their build is about a modern smartphones, but is ways more expensive

The time for smartphones to be weak is over, all smartphones are a powerhouse nowadays. Perhaps the only differences between a modern high-end DAP to a smartphone is the DAC chips being used lol!! And the analog amplifications......and they are still 64Gb Internal memory ? LOL!!

If Apple was so much into this market, I think they would have killed off the competitions like squashing flies...well, they squashed Sony before

 

[gLer]

oh well... the market is still up for grab. The thing about these stuff is that their build is about a modern smartphones, but is ways more expensive

The time for smartphones to be weak is over, all smartphones are a powerhouse nowadays. Perhaps the only differences between a modern high-end DAP to a smartphone is the DAC chips being used lol!! And the analog amplifications......and they are still 64Gb Internal memory ? LOL!!

If Apple was so much into this market, I think they would have killed off the competitions like squashing flies...well, they squashed Sony before

To be fair, only the HiBy R8 (and New 6) and maybe some of FiiO's newer DAPs have anywhere near the performance (and features) of modern smartphones, and even then, very entry level modern smartphones.

DAPs are very much a niche product in a niche hobby, and the best DAPs today, like the R8, offer true high end desktop grade sound and power, especially with IEMs, that even the best and most expensive smartphones can't match.

The fact that DAPs like the R8 give you that level of sound quality while still giving you the speed, applications and features of a modern Android phone is a small miracle in itself, because the most expensive DAPs from Astell & Kern and Lotoo give you exactly none of those features while costing significantly more, and not necessarily offering 'better' sound quality either.

It used to be the case that Android-powered DAPs were written off as slow, cumbersome, with poor battery life and compromised sound quality. That's no longer the case, and hasn't been for a while, and I suggest the summit fi players (and by that I mean summit fi priced players) will soon be offering the same features if they hope to stay competitive.

 

[subguy812]

With @Joe Bloggs help, got it to work. R8 has to be powered on, select Restart and when it starts press and hold skip Prev button (above Play) until you see android on its back. Then, Press power button and then Prev button again to enter Recovery mode from which you can do a clean wipe cache/data and factory reset.

It is good stuff, I need to try that.

 

[unifutomaki]

Today's Apple makes zero audiophile products and is more interested in titanium credit cards, making obscene profits and locking people into their ecosystem. Sony, on the other hand, offers a collection of products that have their fair share of fans and detractors but nonetheless stand apart from the competition. I know which company I'd rather support.

 

[subguy812]

From what I have read about the hiby R8 this is what I cane up as a deductive thingking.

R8 is a high quality dap that can stream music and also work as a high quality music playback from local files.

Its sound carachteristics are on the warm side and some what close to wm1z sound, with more normal tuning not to overly warm nor light or thin sounding. It has superb abilities in technicalities but not on a flagship level. As its positioned somewhere between the mid tiers and high tiers daps...

It is a very interesting position as I dont know many daps that sits in the middle point between mid and high tiers.

It has good clean background and barely audible hiss, it does not reach the technicalities of sp2k or lpgt, that to me means it does not reach 1a performance then as I compared 1a and lpgt to me I preferred wm1a it was more analogue. Later on I preferred zx507 over wm1a! And zx507 to me sounded equal to 1a but woth slightly different strengths.

Now I am at a thought that hiby R8 will sound equally to zx507 but with a warmer sound signature and different flavor.

I hear R8 has lucid good mids and vocals. But I also love sony new golden caps lol.

I am pushed to try the Hiby R8 but honestly from what I learned it doesnt seem to be this much outstanding or out of ordinary super amazing. It has the wm1z approach to the sound, warm but natural.

Also I have read to many times about the interferences from emi and rfi wich are occasional aperantly not so frequent.

I am also curious if the next astell&kern sp3000 will be an 4.4mm balanced? That would be something I would be super interested to try.



All this is my thoughts and not real impressions.

I did a comparison of the R8 vs.SP2000...I hate to toot my own horn, but no one mentioned it.

 

[subguy812]

What streaming apps is everyone using, singular and/or multiple?

 

[gLer]

I did a comparison of the R8 vs.SP2000...I hate to toot my own horn, but no one mentioned it.

That was a very good comparison. I didn't mention it specifically but it's something @Vitaly2017 will come across if he goes back through this thread.

 

[gLer]

What streaming apps is everyone using, singular and/or multiple?

Tidal and Plex (via remote access to my home server).

 

[subguy812]

Tidal and Plex (via remote access to my home server).

Thanks man...I was referring to the R8. I am still trying to figure my battery drain thing I have going on. For Vitaly or anyone new, I wouldn't worry about it, I am the only one dealing with it. On Android, it can be caused by a rogue app, but I only have three streaming apps and have downloaded no other apps at all. I have dealt with this on phones before.

 

[subguy812]

To be fair, only the HiBy R8 (and New 6) and maybe some of FiiO's newer DAPs have anywhere near the performance (and features) of modern smartphones, and even then, very entry level modern smartphones.

DAPs are very much a niche product in a niche hobby, and the best DAPs today, like the R8, offer true high end desktop grade sound and power, especially with IEMs, that even the best and most expensive smartphones can't match.

The fact that DAPs like the R8 give you that level of sound quality while still giving you the speed, applications and features of a modern Android phone is a small miracle in itself, because the most expensive DAPs from Astell & Kern and Lotoo give you exactly none of those features while costing significantly more, and not necessarily offering 'better' sound quality either.

It used to be the case that Android-powered DAPs were written off as slow, cumbersome, with poor battery life and compromised sound quality. That's no longer the case, and hasn't been for a while, and I suggest the summit fi players (and by that I mean summit fi priced players) will soon be offering the same features if they hope to stay competitive.

Agreed. It is unfortunate that LG makes a mediocre cellphone experience because they are the true audiophile phone. I was disappointed to see the industry go the other direction and eliminate hp jacks and top-end DACs. This just proves that DAPs are a niche.

My Samsung Note 20 Ultra sounds fine with wired IEM's, but not to the level of the R8.

 

[Vitaly2017]

I didnt want to start a war hehe I didnt meant R8 is bad, it was an impression I got from reading some reviews....

I dont find my zx507 to be a top tier dap, it has great sound but it is not a high level dap abilities....

R8 actually looks really good and I think it suites me perfectly in design and sound carachteristics as I do like warmer sounds and wm1z was my favorite dap for many years!
But it has no streaming options ! And dealing with bluetooth and smartphone isnt the best way to get the best sound....



I will probably find a way how to try the new R8 I feel its the new big android dap of the year

 

[arijitroy2]

What streaming apps is everyone using, singular and/or multiple?

Tidal, Spotify, Idagio, Youtube/Music, Plexamp and Soundcloud.

 

[subguy812]

Anyone streaming Qobuz or Amazon HD?

 

[twister6]

I didnt want to start a war hehe I didnt meant R8 is bad, it was an impression I got from reading some reviews....

I dont find my zx507 to be a top tier dap, it has great sound but it is not a high level dap abilities....

R8 actually looks really good and I think it suites me perfectly in design and sound carachteristics as I do like warmer sounds and wm1z was my favorite dap for many years!
But it has no streaming options ! And dealing with bluetooth and smartphone isnt the best way to get the best sound....



I will probably find a way how to try the new R8 I feel its the new big android dap of the year

Because you are vested into IEMs, maybe worth waiting for new R6 next month to find out how it sounds, that one should be a scaled down R8 Jr.