[subguy812]

Incredibly early/amateur impressions so take it for a grain of salt:

R8 is tuned pretty neutral to me, definitely a bit hissy with the Erlkonig (this is a deal breaker for me tbh), it’s only noticeable on quiet passages but for the tracks I listen to that do have some quiet bits, it’s annoying. No hiss with the A18s at all. Haven’t gotten around to using the M5 yet.

Bass is neutral, I find the Max to have more thump and body in the lower end, Mids are revealing. if I had to choose between the presentation of the mids on the R8 or the Max, I prefer the Max as they have more body to them to my ears but I have no complaints about the R8. Treble is nice and extended. Overall just a neutral sounding DAP to me without much added color or body for that matter. I think it sounds great, but I think the Max is still another beast all together especially where staging is concerned. I haven’t heard anything come close to the Max staging (from android daps). So far from a pure SQ standpoint I think the Max is on another level still, but I’ll update that within the next few days.

I’ll keep listening over the next few days and post any changes I hear with burn in over time.

The speed of the DAP is seriously insane, I haven’t seen track scrolling on Spotify like this on anything except for my iPhone.

Compared to something like the M15, the R8 is not as warm, and I’d argue the R8 actually makes the M15 feel a bit sluggish even though that DAP is considered quite quick for Android DAP standards.

Hope those random impressions help.

edit: listening done on high gain with turbo mode, turning to low gain/turning off turbo mode did reduce the hiss a small amount, nothing crazy though.

Can you please give me some reference tracks to hear hiss on Erlkonig? I am forcing myself to hear it, even in between songs. Is the impedance @ 16ohms on Erl? Using turbo, mid gain. I will say my tinnitus has an impact on me hearing silence.

 

[aaf evo]

Can you please give me some reference tracks to hear hiss on Erlkonig? I am forcing myself to hear it, even in between songs. Is the impedance @ 16ohms on Erl? Using turbo, mid gain

Sure give me a little. Most of the stuff I find hiss on will be like the opening 30 seconds or so of certain tracks. When a song will get going it’s pretty hard to discern or hear it, but for some tracks it bugs me.

I’m not sure about the impedance or sensitivity. Using Erlk on #2 also.

 

[KevP]

At this level and price point, as it should be, quite frankly. I'm so tired of people making excuses for sloth-like performance and basic 1990s UIs because "sound is all that matters". Pfft.

I agree. We accept some pretty dire performance from very expensive gear

 

[subguy812]

Sure give me a little. Most of the stuff I find hiss on will be like the opening 30 seconds or so of certain tracks. When a song will get going it’s pretty hard to discern or hear it, but for some tracks it bugs me.

I’m not sure about the impedance or sensitivity. Using Erlk on #2 also.

I use #2 exclusively 16ohms and I think 105db sensitivity

 

[mvvRAZ]

At this level and price point, as it should be, quite frankly. I'm so tired of people making excuses for sloth-like performance and basic 1990s UIs because "sound is all that matters". Pfft.

This is a huge point for me too. I don’t need my DAP to transport me back to 2007 lol, I’m happy in 2020

 

[Nayparm]

Keep forgetting to mention, even so the title of this thread for Hiby R8 says Snapdragon 625, the actual SoC used in R8 is Snapdragon 660 SoC 8-core processor running at max 2.2GHz clock rate, 8x Qualcomm Kryo 260 Gold/Silver architecture and Adreno 512 GPU.

I mentioned it myself a while back and I have only just realised I started this thread so I've changed it. It was originally going to be the 625 as the original marketing material from Hiby shows on the first post.

 

[twister6]

Sure give me a little. Most of the stuff I find hiss on will be like the opening 30 seconds or so of certain tracks. When a song will get going it’s pretty hard to discern or hear it, but for some tracks it bugs me.

I’m not sure about the impedance or sensitivity. Using Erlk on #2 also.

Yep, like first 30sec of Agnes Obel "The Curse"

 

[aaf evo]

Yep, like first 30sec of Agnes Obel "The Curse"

Let me give this a go on the erlkonig.

 

[aaf evo]

Yep, like first 30sec of Agnes Obel "The Curse"

Volume 30, med gain/turbo mode, Erlkonig setting #2

Yeah I mean this is a pretty perfect song to pick out hiss, it goes away mostly when the song picks up at around :31 seconds but to me that opening part is a deal breaker.

On the Max the hiss is borderline non existent. It also helps pick out some extra background details in the opening passage.

@subguy812 I could just be extra sensitive to it, but I feel I have to at least share that its there to my ears.

 

[twister6]

Volume 30, med gain/turbo mode, Erlkonig setting #2

Yeah I mean this is a pretty perfect song to pick out hiss, it goes away mostly when the song picks up at around :31 seconds but to me that opening part is a deal breaker.

On the Max the hiss is borderline non existent. It also helps pick out some extra background details in the opening passage.

@subguy812 I could just be extra sensitive to it, but I feel I have to at least share that its there.

Yep, but then when you turn the turbo off or switch to 3.5mm, it is a lot less noticeable even in the intro part.

 

[mvvRAZ]

Isn’t the turbo on the R8 just like, high gain?

 

[aaf evo]

Yep, but then when you turn the turbo off or switch to 3.5mm, it is a lot less noticeable even in the intro part.

Do you feel that comes at the expense at any of the balanced output SQ?

 

[subguy812]

Isn’t the turbo on the R8 just like, high gain?

No...there is turbo and high gain

 

[Pro-Jules]

My DAP progression

FiiO M9 - Sold
Hiby R6 Pro - Retired to the old gadget box - I loved the "heavy old brick"
Sony 507 - in daily use now

I download & stream Amazon Music HD

I wonder what could make me ditch the Sony for the R8?

Battery life is poor but it's so light and small it can sit in a shirt pocket with no problem. Keyboard is a tad small for my old eyes and clumsy fingers but I manage..

Sell me on the R8!

 

[subguy812]

Yep, but then when you turn the turbo off or switch to 3.5mm, it is a lot less noticeable even in the intro part.

Is it possible a) my ears are shot or b) the adapter is doing something to help eliminate it.

Maybe the slightest bit, but again my tinnitus can sound like hiss, I don't know. What I do know is I am not going to search for something that isn't bothering me and consider it a blessing.