[TomKorn]

I would only be speculating, but maybe they feel either that the North American market potential is larger for Hiby than Europe ? Or maybe they fell that the North American market needs an extra push to achieve a strong kickoff and attain the sales numbers they are hoping for.
As I said previously, this is a very important product launch for Hiby. I would say it is their most important product launch since their first dap player, the original R6 stainless (which I bought).

I fully agree. This should be their masterpiece.

 

[Tokpakorlo]

RS8 pre-ordered, woohoo! Curious how it stacks up against my big dog LP6 Ti AE.

 

[swedishpat]

RS8 pre-ordered, woohoo! Curious how it stacks up against my big dog LP6 Ti AE.

Please let us know! I’m really curious how it stacks up against LP6 Ti which is supposed to be the best!

 

[mt-hifidelity]

Please let us know! I’m really curious how it stacks up against LP6 Ti which is supposed to be the best!

Same here! I ordered the RS8 yesterday and am eager to hear how it compares with the LP6 Ti 7th AE.

This was a nutty move considering I've got a few excellent DAPs I need to sell asap. In case anyone is interested I'll be listing a P6 Pro, SP2000, DX320Max, and depending on how the RS8 performs perhaps an SP3000 and the aforementioned LP6 as well....

 

[wazzupi]

RS8 pre-ordered, woohoo! Curious how it stacks up against my big dog LP6 Ti AE.

please do tell when you receive them and properly a/bed etc XD

 

[wazzupi]

Same here! I ordered the RS8 yesterday and am eager to hear how it compares with the LP6 Ti 7th AE.

This was a nutty move considering I've got a few excellent DAPs I need to sell asap. In case anyone is interested I'll be listing a P6 Pro, SP2000, DX320Max, and depending on how the RS8 performs perhaps an SP3000 and the aforementioned LP6 as well....

ooh my lord that is a Dapdiction

 

[swedishpat]

ooh my lord that is a Dapdiction

Yes I think I have a DAP addiction too haha

 

[HK_sends]

Me too...

FiiO X7 Gen II DAP
FiiO X5 Gen III DAP
iBasso DX220
iBasso DX300
iBasso DX320
HiBy R6
HiBy RS8 (Incoming)

Not counting the ones I sold...

Cheers!
-HK sends

 

[mt-hifidelity]

Yes its an embarrassing sickness, audiophiliac syndrome. I'm a sucker for incremental improvements in the hunt for end-game sound. So far the LP6 Ti 7AE has been the best sq I've found by a pretty good margin. I hate when the most expensive item actually is the best (at least to my ears).

I have high hopes for the RS8.

ooh my lord that is a Dapdiction

 

[Newsee]

Maybe I’ll get the empyrean too for a matching pair! Must look cool together. How does the empy sound with the R8?

I am sure they will look cool together.
How the Empy sounds with R8? Shortly: excellent for one who likes the sound of the Empy. R8 is pretty transparent and has plenty of power to drive. I just saw your signature. Possibly the closest is how the D8000 sounds with the M17. Maybe less prominent subbass, more midbass. Perhaps you would go better straight with the Elite. It has the same matching back .

 

[raylu]

Order placed ! hope its going to perform better than my LPGT Ti

 

[gLer]

Hey guys, presenting my RS8 First Impressions…

First and foremost, I have to thank HiBy and @Joe Bloggs for looping me in on the RS8 and its development, and for sending me one of the first retail samples so I can get to experience it firsthand. At the same time, I need to stress that I’ve been very open and honest with HiBy about my impressions being my own, and have thus been given free rein to share them with you, warts and all, without any vetting whatsoever.

Ok, with that out the way, this is going to be a first impressions post only. No in-depth track notes, no in-depth feature notes. Just a high-level ‘this is what to expect’ and ‘this is what I’m hearing’ post. My full review will follow in the next week or two, which will fill in all the blanks missing from this post.

Introducing RS8

For the uninitiated, RS8 is (or soon will be) HiBy’s flagship DAP. It’s more than just the flagship Android or flagship R2R DAP, it’s just the flagship, period. That said, it is quite correct to call RS8 the world’s first Android R2R flagship DAP, because that’s what it is. It’s the most advanced, refined sounding, premium-built, luxury-specked DAP the company has made to date, and I daresay one of, if not the most, complete DAPs any company has made to date.

Tip: What is R2R, and why should you care? Here’s a primer: https://sw1xad.co.uk/delta-sigma-vs-nos-r2r-dac-designs

At $3,300, it’s also HiBy’s most ambitiously-priced DAP, which, for a company whose flagships haven’t traditionally been regarded at the same level as the Astell&Kern, Luxury & Precision, Lotoo and Sony flagships, is quite a big step. Having now lived with the RS8 for the better part of two weeks, I can comfortably say it’s right at home in this company, and might even get some jealous glances from the others too.

​

RS8 is extremely well specced and includes some world-first features such as Android 12, a 12.000mAh battery, and a new version of HiBy’s proprietary R2R architecture called Darwin II. Design-wise, RS8 is about the same size and shape as the previous flagship, R8, with the same angular design language, bottom ports, top volume wheel, and side power and playback buttons. It’s quite a bit heavier though, weighing in at 590g without the case, about 130g more than the R8.

The ALPS volume wheel shows off the precision titanium finish with evenly spaced notches, and feels much smoother to use than the R8’s somewhat looser version. It still doesn’t have click feedback, and sometimes takes a second to activate a volume change, so you can’t accurately change volume up or down unsighted. That said, the volume ramp is gentle, so you’re not going to accidentally blow your ears off if you accidentally flick the wheel. You can also disable the wheel (and side buttons) when the screen is locked, for further safety, and set a volume cap in software settings.

At the bottom, RS8 features the same dual 3.5mm/4.4mm output ports, line out on one side, headphone out on the other. Be careful if you’re coming from the RS6, as the position of these ports are reversed on the RS8 (the same as R8). Line out volume on the RS8 is variable, and the last used volume is stored in memory, so do yourself a favour, plug a cable into each line out port and set the volume to 50, if only to save your ears from accidentally bleeding.

The side buttons have a solid, tactile feel to them, and the way they’ve been angled makes it very easy to feel for and use them blind. A small LED between the power and playback buttons shows current bitrate and charging mode, and can also be switched off in software settings if you’d prefer not to use it.

Overall, this is a seriously premium design and build, which you’ll want to baby for years to come. Titanium, while still a very hard metal, is softer and about 30% lighter than steel, and any scratches are more visible because the base metal reacts with oxygen when exposed. My suggestion is to always keep the DAP in its case, and use a screen protector for the back plate too. Rather replace a few plastic sheets over time than deal with the despair of scars on the otherwise flawless titanium finish.

​

Packaging and accessories

I won’t go into too much detail here, other than to say the packaging and presentation of the RS8 is luxurious, for want of a better word. The DAP is shipped in a titanium/silver printed outer box, inside of which you’ll find a genuine leather presentation box housing the DAP and accessories.

Accessories include a turquoise-tinted genuine leather case, HiBy-branded high-quality USB-C to C and USB-C to Coax cables, pre-fitted plastic screen protector (with a spare), a titanium silver display card, and a printed quick start guide. If you haven’t yet seen my unboxing video for the RS8, I’ve linked it below:

​

Software and other features

If you’ve used any of HiBy’s Android DAPs you’ll be right at home with the RS8 UI. The jump to Android 12 has introduced some new UI elements like dark mode, settings menu tweaks, a built-in screen recorder, and default navigation gestures, among other niceties, but on the whole, things look and feel the same.

This is a good thing, because it lets you get up to speed quickly, and I must say RS8 is genuinely easy and intuitive to use, even if you’re a native iOS user.

Startup from off is a fast 20 seconds, and overall performance is mostly snappy too. I have it on good authority that HiBy will constantly be optimising and improving Android performance on this new platform going forward.

All the usual suspects are there, including HiBy Music, Via (the Chinese web browser), clock, file manager, and so on, but I’ll take you through an in-depth UI and settings tour – as well as optimisation and my own customisation suggestions – in the full review, so stay tuned for that. Just know that, being open Android, every part of the UI, including default apps, can (and will) be customised, so you can create a UX completely unique to you.

PS. One software feature I’m keenly looking forward to trying out is HiByCast. Unlike HibyLink, HiByCastpromises to give you full control of all DAP functionality from a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and will be released later this year.

​

Audio settings

In a DAP as feature-rich and configurable as RS8, one of the more important aspects is the various audio settings available to tweak the sound to your liking. Again, this won’t be a deep dive into these settings, which I’ll cover in detail in the main review, but just the highlights.

There are two parts to RS8’s audio settings: the Darwin Controller and Audio Settings menus. The former lets you control various aspects of the R2R playback system, including switching between NOS (non-oversampling) and OS (oversampling). For a discrete R2R DAC, I generally leave this switched to NOS as I find it sounds more natural.

There’s also a selection of built-in filters, none of which I quite understand, and settings to control atmosphere enhancement, a harmonic controller, and customised presets for various IEMs (which are not yet loaded in the current firmware, but will be by the time RS8 starts shipping). I’ll cover what each of these setting does in the main review.

If Darwin Controller is where you tweak the DAC settings via the programmable FPGA chip inside the RS8, Audio Settings is where you directly tweak the actual output of the amplifier and software-based DSPs.

​

RS8 features a similar Class A/Class AB topology to the recently released R5 Gen 2 DAP, but unlike the R52, I’m not sure what audio benefits you get from switching to Class A. Normally I’d expect more control, maybe more energy or less distortion from a Class A amplifier, but honestly, try as I may, using blind tests and different music tracks, I can hear no perceptible difference between Class A and Class AB.

I can definitely hear a difference when switching on Turbo mode, with a bump in energy and volume, but since I hardly ever need more than half the volume on low gain with my IEMs, I generally leave this off. Interestingly, I remember using Turbo on the R8 to give the sound more weight and grip, but I’m finding RS8 has that in spades already. That said, RS8 has less raw amplification power than R8, so if you need the extra voltage boost for larger headphones, it’s good to have the option.

The last important audio setting I’d point to is MSEB, HiBy’s system-wide ‘natural language’ EQ that lets you tweak the sound using audio terminology like ‘overall temperature’, ‘note weight’ and ‘sibilance’ rather than making you guess which FR band does what. I’ve long been a fan of MSEB, and prefer to use it over other EQ systems. I find it works well, without notably degrading SQ, and lets me quickly dial in the very minor adjustments I sometimes need to make with certain IEMs.

PS. One more thing before we get to sound impressions, a quick note on battery performance. In my tests so far, battery life has been nothing short of exceptional. HiBy conservatively lists battery life at 8 hours and 6 hours using 4.4mm Class AB and Class A respectively. Forget it! I’ve clocked up 14 hours using 80% battery, playing back local flac files using 4.4mm Class AB, and more than 9 hours using Class A, with at least two hours of screen-on time. Rest assured you won’t need to recharge more than once a day at most, or more likely once or twice a week even with regular use.

​

Sound impressions

While I always say that sources don’t have an actual ‘sound’, they do affect the IEMs and headphones you plug into them in different ways, so you could say they have their own sound characteristics. RS8 is no different.

The very first words that come to mind on first hearing the RS8 are expressive, expansive, nuanced and refined. There’s a vibrancy to the sound that engages you almost immediately, not as an overwhelming ‘shock to the senses’, but rather it just sounds genuinely large, life-like and dynamic.

Going back and forth between other DAPs I have at hand, like HiBy’s RS6 and the original Sony WM1Z, sounds appear to be coming at me from a darker background with RS8, and I can hear my own tinnitus during quiet passages more so than any perceptible noise from the amplifier (of which I’m convinced there is none). There’s also no perceptible hiss from any of my IEMs, even in high gain Turbo mode (which I never use), but then I never heard hiss with the R8 and many others did. This will be one of the YMMV metrics, methinks.

Another quality I’m enjoying is the expansive staging. Combined with the pitch-black background, tiny sounds feel farther away at the extremes, giving the effect of a wide and deep stage, with natural vertical height as well. On some tracks with some IEMs the staging is impressively holographic, sounds emanating beyond my head on all axes. RS8 is also at least one or two notches more resolving than RS6, and possibly even more than the WM1Z, which itself is already a very detailed performer.

Tiny microdetails seem easier to discern, but more than that, the placement and movement of tiny details on the stage is easier to follow, as is the distinction between main and backing vocals, which means imaging, layering and separation are all a step above the rest.

I’d say the larger staging, even more than the quiet background and resolving power, is the easiest audible change to note when switching between DAPs, and I’ll be curious how RS8 compares in this regard to the other high-end players from Cayin, Sony and A&K.

​

Tonally I haven’t quite put my finger on the various FR emphases, which could simply mean RS8 is ‘tuned’ more linear or neutral than I’m used to with the other DAPs I’ve been using. While bass digs deeper than I’ve heard with any other DAP, with more sub-bass weight, it’s also tighter and, importantly, more textured. This could be the result of better amplification and a more precise DAC section as much as it could be from a lifted bass shelf, because I’m not really hearing bass to be overly elevated, just better controlled. A bass-light IEM will still be bass light, but the sub-bass weight and midbass punch from IEMs like Z1R and Turri Ti respectively suggest the RS8 has a firm grip in the bass department.

Vocals are unmistakably R2R, which is to say they don’t sound digital or processed at all. There’s a natural, realistic smoothness to the vocals that puts a smile on my face every time; rest assured, if vocals seem hard or harsh with RS8, point a finger at the IEM or recording. I’m also not hearing upper midrange vocals being pushed quite as forward as RS6, with vocals appearing exactly where they’re placed in the mix. This does mean recessed vocals in a track or with a V-shaped IEM will still sound recessed, especially with IEMs that produce genuine bass impact or treble emphasis.

On the whole, I’m hearing the midrange as perceptibly more resolving, clear and transparent than I’ve heard it with other DAPs, without any push in the lower, centre or upper midrange. Note weight is solid, if not overly full, and mids generally don’t come off quite as warm or contrasty as they do with the RS6 and WM1Z respectively.

Treble continues the midrange theme in that it’s not overly forward but well extended. There’s a genuine clarity and smoothness here, but I’m also hearing treble to be on the slightly relaxed side, which might concern those who pine for high-energy brightness and dollops of added air from their treble. I do think the treble presentation is what gives RS8 its sense of refinement, because it’s certainly not overplaying the treble to create false details.

Overall, I hear the tone of RS8 as one of natural balance, both in its R2R-derived organic voicing and its analog-leaning tonal emphasis. It also has genuinely high-end technical chops that give it a sense of effortless power in the way it presents the sound from my favourite IEMs.

​

Wrapping up

Ever since the release of the RS6 last year, I’ve been suggesting that a DAP that takes the RS6’s natural, organic-sounding R2R sound, combines it with the technical acuity of the R8, and then improves on both by refining the sound, reducing the noise floor, increasing dynamics and perfecting the amplification stage, will be a standout DAP by any measure.

Well, RS8 is that DAP. It does all of the above, and the combination of the different minor and major improvements makes it feel appreciably more premium than the sum of its parts would otherwise suggest.

Synergy is excellent with all of the IEMs I’ve used with it so far, which is an important consideration for those with a multi-IEM collection, but I also feel it’s not going to radically swing the tonal balance of an IEM like a genuinely warm or bright source might do.

RS8 is more about refining the sound of an IEM and giving it the noise-free space, power and resolution it needs to perform at its best, along with the unmistakable R2R flavour that makes it unique among today’s flagships.

​

 

[audionewbi]

Boy, wish I had money

 

[Natesdailies]

Hey guys, presenting my RS8 First Impressions…

​

First and foremost, I have to thank HiBy and @Joe Bloggs for looping me in on the RS8 and its development, and for sending me one of the first retail samples so I can get to experience it firsthand. At the same time, I need to stress that I’ve been very open and honest with HiBy about my impressions being my own, and have thus been given free rein to share them with you, warts and all, without any vetting whatsoever.

Ok, with that out the way, this is going to be a first impressions post only. No in-depth track notes, no in-depth feature notes. Just a high-level ‘this is what to expect’ and ‘this is what I’m hearing’ post. My full review will follow in the next week or two, which will fill in all the blanks missing from this post.

Introducing RS8

For the uninitiated, RS8 is (or soon will be) HiBy’s flagship DAP. It’s more than just the flagship Android or flagship R2R DAP, it’s just the flagship, period. That said, it is quite correct to call RS8 the world’s first Android R2R flagship DAP, because that’s what it is. It’s the most advanced, refined sounding, premium-built, luxury-specked DAP the company has made to date, and I daresay one of, if not the most, complete DAPs any company has made to date.

Tip: What is R2R, and why should you care? Here’s a primer: https://sw1xad.co.uk/delta-sigma-vs-nos-r2r-dac-designs

At $3,300, it’s also HiBy’s most ambitiously-priced DAP, which, for a company whose flagships haven’t traditionally been regarded at the same level as the Astell&Kern, Luxury & Precision, Lotoo and Sony flagships, is quite a big step. Having now lived with the RS8 for the better part of two weeks, I can comfortably say it’s right at home in this company, and might even get some jealous glances from the others too.

​

RS8 is extremely well specced and includes some world-first features such as Android 12, a 12.000mAh battery, and a new version of HiBy’s proprietary R2R architecture called Darwin II. Design-wise, RS8 is about the same size and shape as the previous flagship, R8, with the same angular design language, bottom ports, top volume wheel, and side power and playback buttons. It’s quite a bit heavier though, weighing in at 590g without the case, about 130g more than the R8.

The ALPS volume wheel shows off the precision titanium finish with evenly spaced notches, and feels much smoother to use than the R8’s somewhat looser version. It still doesn’t have click feedback, and sometimes takes a second to activate a volume change, so you can’t accurately change volume up or down unsighted. That said, the volume ramp is gentle, so you’re not going to accidentally blow your ears off if you accidentally flick the wheel. You can also disable the wheel (and side buttons) when the screen is locked, for further safety, and set a volume cap in software settings.

At the bottom, RS8 features the same dual 3.5mm/4.4mm output ports, line out on one side, headphone out on the other. Be careful if you’re coming from the RS6, as the position of these ports are reversed on the RS8 (the same as R8). Line out volume on the RS8 is variable, and the last used volume is stored in memory, so do yourself a favour, plug a cable into each line out port and set the volume to 50, if only to save your ears from accidentally bleeding.

The side buttons have a solid, tactile feel to them, and the way they’ve been angled makes it very easy to feel for and use them blind. A small LED between the power and playback buttons shows current bitrate and charging mode, and can also be switched off in software settings if you’d prefer not to use it.

Overall, this is a seriously premium design and build, which you’ll want to baby for years to come. Titanium, while still a very hard metal, is softer and about 30% lighter than steel, and any scratches are more visible because the base metal reacts with oxygen when exposed. My suggestion is to always keep the DAP in its case, and use a screen protector for the back plate too. Rather replace a few plastic sheets over time than deal with the despair of scars on the otherwise flawless titanium finish.

​

Packaging and accessories

I won’t go into too much detail here, other than to say the packaging and presentation of the RS8 is luxurious, for want of a better word. The DAP is shipped in a titanium/silver printed outer box, inside of which you’ll find a genuine leather presentation box housing the DAP and accessories.

Accessories include a turquoise-tinted genuine leather case, HiBy-branded high-quality USB-C to C and USB-C to Coax cables, pre-fitted plastic screen protector (with a spare), a titanium silver display card, and a printed quick start guide. If you haven’t yet seen my unboxing video for the RS8, I’ve linked it below:

​

Software and other features

If you’ve used any of HiBy’s Android DAPs you’ll be right at home with the RS8 UI. The jump to Android 12 has introduced some new UI elements like dark mode, settings menu tweaks, a built-in screen recorder, and default navigation gestures, among other niceties, but on the whole, things look and feel the same.

This is a good thing, because it lets you get up to speed quickly, and I must say RS8 is genuinely easy and intuitive to use, even if you’re a native iOS user.

Startup from off is a fast 20 seconds, and overall performance is mostly snappy too. I have it on good authority that HiBy will constantly be optimising and improving Android performance on this new platform going forward.

All the usual suspects are there, including HiBy Music, Via (the Chinese web browser), clock, file manager, and so on, but I’ll take you through an in-depth UI and settings tour – as well as optimisation and my own customisation suggestions – in the full review, so stay tuned for that. Just know that, being open Android, every part of the UI, including default apps, can (and will) be customised, so you can create a UX completely unique to you.

PS. One software feature I’m keenly looking forward to trying out is HiByCast. Unlike HibyLink, HiByCastpromises to give you full control of all DAP functionality from a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and will be released later this year.

​

Audio settings

In a DAP as feature-rich and configurable as RS8, one of the more important aspects is the various audio settings available to tweak the sound to your liking. Again, this won’t be a deep dive into these settings, which I’ll cover in detail in the main review, but just the highlights.

There are two parts to RS8’s audio settings: the Darwin Controller and Audio Settings menus. The former lets you control various aspects of the R2R playback system, including switching between NOS (non-oversampling) and OS (oversampling). For a discrete R2R DAC, I generally leave this switched to NOS as I find it sounds more natural.

There’s also a selection of built-in filters, none of which I quite understand, and settings to control atmosphere enhancement, a harmonic controller, and customised presets for various IEMs (which are not yet loaded in the current firmware, but will be by the time RS8 starts shipping). I’ll cover what each of these setting does in the main review.

If Darwin Controller is where you tweak the DAC settings via the programmable FPGA chip inside the RS8, Audio Settings is where you directly tweak the actual output of the amplifier and software-based DSPs.

​

RS8 features a similar Class A/Class AB topology to the recently released R5 Gen 2 DAP, but unlike the R52, I’m not sure what audio benefits you get from switching to Class A. Normally I’d expect more control, maybe more energy or less distortion from a Class A amplifier, but honestly, try as I may, using blind tests and different music tracks, I can hear no perceptible difference between Class A and Class AB.

I can definitely hear a difference when switching on Turbo mode, with a bump in energy and volume, but since I hardly ever need more than half the volume on low gain with my IEMs, I generally leave this off. Interestingly, I remember using Turbo on the R8 to give the sound more weight and grip, but I’m finding RS8 has that in spades already. That said, RS8 has less raw amplification power than R8, so if you need the extra voltage boost for larger headphones, it’s good to have the option.

The last important audio setting I’d point to is MSEB, HiBy’s system-wide ‘natural language’ EQ that lets you tweak the sound using audio terminology like ‘overall temperature’, ‘note weight’ and ‘sibilance’ rather than making you guess which FR band does what. I’ve long been a fan of MSEB, and prefer to use it over other EQ systems. I find it works well, without notably degrading SQ, and lets me quickly dial in the very minor adjustments I sometimes need to make with certain IEMs.

PS. One more thing before we get to sound impressions, a quick note on battery performance. In my tests so far, battery life has been nothing short of exceptional. HiBy conservatively lists battery life at 8 hours and 6 hours using 4.4mm Class AB and Class A respectively. Forget it! I’ve clocked up 14 hours using 80% battery, playing back local flac files using 4.4mm Class AB, and more than 9 hours using Class A, with at least two hours of screen-on time. Rest assured you won’t need to recharge more than once a day at most, or more likely once or twice a week even with regular use.

​

Sound impressions

While I always say that sources don’t have an actual ‘sound’, they do affect the IEMs and headphones you plug into them in different ways, so you could say they have their own sound characteristics. RS8 is no different.

The very first words that come to mind on first hearing the RS8 are expressive, expansive, nuanced and refined. There’s a vibrancy to the sound that engages you almost immediately, not as an overwhelming ‘shock to the senses’, but rather it just sounds genuinely large, life-like and dynamic.

Going back and forth between other DAPs I have at hand, like HiBy’s RS6 and the original Sony WM1Z, sounds appear to be coming at me from a darker background with RS8, and I can hear my own tinnitus during quiet passages more so than any perceptible noise from the amplifier (of which I’m convinced there is none). There’s also no perceptible hiss from any of my IEMs, even in high gain Turbo mode (which I never use), but then I never heard hiss with the R8 and many others did. This will be one of the YMMV metrics, methinks.

Another quality I’m enjoying is the expansive staging. Combined with the pitch-black background, tiny sounds feel farther away at the extremes, giving the effect of a wide and deep stage, with natural vertical height as well. On some tracks with some IEMs the staging is impressively holographic, sounds emanating beyond my head on all axes. RS8 is also at least one or two notches more resolving than RS6, and possibly even more than the WM1Z, which itself is already a very detailed performer.

Tiny microdetails seem easier to discern, but more than that, the placement and movement of tiny details on the stage is easier to follow, as is the distinction between main and backing vocals, which means imaging, layering and separation are all a step above the rest.

I’d say the larger staging, even more than the quiet background and resolving power, is the easiest audible change to note when switching between DAPs, and I’ll be curious how RS8 compares in this regard to the other high-end players from Cayin, Sony and A&K.

​

Tonally I haven’t quite put my finger on the various FR emphases, which could simply mean RS8 is ‘tuned’ more linear or neutral than I’m used to with the other DAPs I’ve been using. While bass digs deeper than I’ve heard with any other DAP, with more sub-bass weight, it’s also tighter and, importantly, more textured. This could be the result of better amplification and a more precise DAC section as much as it could be from a lifted bass shelf, because I’m not really hearing bass to be overly elevated, just better controlled. A bass-light IEM will still be bass light, but the sub-bass weight and midbass punch from IEMs like Z1R and Turri Ti respectively suggest the RS8 has a firm grip in the bass department.

Vocals are unmistakably R2R, which is to say they don’t sound digital or processed at all. There’s a natural, realistic smoothness to the vocals that puts a smile on my face every time; rest assured, if vocals seem hard or harsh with RS8, point a finger at the IEM or recording. I’m also not hearing upper midrange vocals being pushed quite as forward as RS6, with vocals appearing exactly where they’re placed in the mix. This does mean recessed vocals in a track or with a V-shaped IEM will still sound recessed, especially with IEMs that produce genuine bass impact or treble emphasis.

On the whole, I’m hearing the midrange as perceptibly more resolving, clear and transparent than I’ve heard it with other DAPs, without any push in the lower, centre or upper midrange. Note weight is solid, if not overly full, and mids generally don’t come off quite as warm or contrasty as they do with the RS6 and WM1Z respectively.

Treble continues the midrange theme in that it’s not overly forward but well extended. There’s a genuine clarity and smoothness here, but I’m also hearing treble to be on the slightly relaxed side, which might concern those who pine for high-energy brightness and dollops of added air from their treble. I do think the treble presentation is what gives RS8 its sense of refinement, because it’s certainly not overplaying the treble to create false details.

Overall, I hear the tone of RS8 as one of natural balance, both in its R2R-derived organic voicing and its analog-leaning tonal emphasis. It also has genuinely high-end technical chops that give it a sense of effortless power in the way it presents the sound from my favourite IEMs.

​

Wrapping up

Ever since the release of the RS6 last year, I’ve been suggesting that a DAP that takes the RS6’s natural, organic-sounding R2R sound, combines it with the technical acuity of the R8, and then improves on both by refining the sound, reducing the noise floor, increasing dynamics and perfecting the amplification stage, will be a standout DAP by any measure.

Well, RS8 is that DAP. It does all of the above, and the combination of the different minor and major improvements makes it feel appreciably more premium than the sum of its parts would otherwise suggest.

Synergy is excellent with all of the IEMs I’ve used with it so far, which is an important consideration for those with a multi-IEM collection, but I also feel it’s not going to radically swing the tonal balance of an IEM like a genuinely warm or bright source might do.

RS8 is more about refining the sound of an IEM and giving it the noise-free space, power and resolution it needs to perform at its best, along with the unmistakable R2R flavour that makes it unique among today’s flagships.

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Love the macro shots showing the detailing. Very comprehensive for a "first look" into the RS8. Well done Guy .

 

[TomKorn]

Hey guys, presenting my RS8 First Impressions…

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First and foremost, I have to thank HiBy and @Joe Bloggs for looping me in on the RS8 and its development, and for sending me one of the first retail samples so I can get to experience it firsthand. At the same time, I need to stress that I’ve been very open and honest with HiBy about my impressions being my own, and have thus been given free rein to share them with you, warts and all, without any vetting whatsoever.

Ok, with that out the way, this is going to be a first impressions post only. No in-depth track notes, no in-depth feature notes. Just a high-level ‘this is what to expect’ and ‘this is what I’m hearing’ post. My full review will follow in the next week or two, which will fill in all the blanks missing from this post.

Introducing RS8

For the uninitiated, RS8 is (or soon will be) HiBy’s flagship DAP. It’s more than just the flagship Android or flagship R2R DAP, it’s just the flagship, period. That said, it is quite correct to call RS8 the world’s first Android R2R flagship DAP, because that’s what it is. It’s the most advanced, refined sounding, premium-built, luxury-specked DAP the company has made to date, and I daresay one of, if not the most, complete DAPs any company has made to date.

Tip: What is R2R, and why should you care? Here’s a primer: https://sw1xad.co.uk/delta-sigma-vs-nos-r2r-dac-designs

At $3,300, it’s also HiBy’s most ambitiously-priced DAP, which, for a company whose flagships haven’t traditionally been regarded at the same level as the Astell&Kern, Luxury & Precision, Lotoo and Sony flagships, is quite a big step. Having now lived with the RS8 for the better part of two weeks, I can comfortably say it’s right at home in this company, and might even get some jealous glances from the others too.

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RS8 is extremely well specced and includes some world-first features such as Android 12, a 12.000mAh battery, and a new version of HiBy’s proprietary R2R architecture called Darwin II. Design-wise, RS8 is about the same size and shape as the previous flagship, R8, with the same angular design language, bottom ports, top volume wheel, and side power and playback buttons. It’s quite a bit heavier though, weighing in at 590g without the case, about 130g more than the R8.

The ALPS volume wheel shows off the precision titanium finish with evenly spaced notches, and feels much smoother to use than the R8’s somewhat looser version. It still doesn’t have click feedback, and sometimes takes a second to activate a volume change, so you can’t accurately change volume up or down unsighted. That said, the volume ramp is gentle, so you’re not going to accidentally blow your ears off if you accidentally flick the wheel. You can also disable the wheel (and side buttons) when the screen is locked, for further safety, and set a volume cap in software settings.

At the bottom, RS8 features the same dual 3.5mm/4.4mm output ports, line out on one side, headphone out on the other. Be careful if you’re coming from the RS6, as the position of these ports are reversed on the RS8 (the same as R8). Line out volume on the RS8 is variable, and the last used volume is stored in memory, so do yourself a favour, plug a cable into each line out port and set the volume to 50, if only to save your ears from accidentally bleeding.

The side buttons have a solid, tactile feel to them, and the way they’ve been angled makes it very easy to feel for and use them blind. A small LED between the power and playback buttons shows current bitrate and charging mode, and can also be switched off in software settings if you’d prefer not to use it.

Overall, this is a seriously premium design and build, which you’ll want to baby for years to come. Titanium, while still a very hard metal, is softer and about 30% lighter than steel, and any scratches are more visible because the base metal reacts with oxygen when exposed. My suggestion is to always keep the DAP in its case, and use a screen protector for the back plate too. Rather replace a few plastic sheets over time than deal with the despair of scars on the otherwise flawless titanium finish.

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Packaging and accessories

I won’t go into too much detail here, other than to say the packaging and presentation of the RS8 is luxurious, for want of a better word. The DAP is shipped in a titanium/silver printed outer box, inside of which you’ll find a genuine leather presentation box housing the DAP and accessories.

Accessories include a turquoise-tinted genuine leather case, HiBy-branded high-quality USB-C to C and USB-C to Coax cables, pre-fitted plastic screen protector (with a spare), a titanium silver display card, and a printed quick start guide. If you haven’t yet seen my unboxing video for the RS8, I’ve linked it below:

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Software and other features

If you’ve used any of HiBy’s Android DAPs you’ll be right at home with the RS8 UI. The jump to Android 12 has introduced some new UI elements like dark mode, settings menu tweaks, a built-in screen recorder, and default navigation gestures, among other niceties, but on the whole, things look and feel the same.

This is a good thing, because it lets you get up to speed quickly, and I must say RS8 is genuinely easy and intuitive to use, even if you’re a native iOS user.

Startup from off is a fast 20 seconds, and overall performance is mostly snappy too. I have it on good authority that HiBy will constantly be optimising and improving Android performance on this new platform going forward.

All the usual suspects are there, including HiBy Music, Via (the Chinese web browser), clock, file manager, and so on, but I’ll take you through an in-depth UI and settings tour – as well as optimisation and my own customisation suggestions – in the full review, so stay tuned for that. Just know that, being open Android, every part of the UI, including default apps, can (and will) be customised, so you can create a UX completely unique to you.

PS. One software feature I’m keenly looking forward to trying out is HiByCast. Unlike HibyLink, HiByCastpromises to give you full control of all DAP functionality from a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, and will be released later this year.

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Audio settings

In a DAP as feature-rich and configurable as RS8, one of the more important aspects is the various audio settings available to tweak the sound to your liking. Again, this won’t be a deep dive into these settings, which I’ll cover in detail in the main review, but just the highlights.

There are two parts to RS8’s audio settings: the Darwin Controller and Audio Settings menus. The former lets you control various aspects of the R2R playback system, including switching between NOS (non-oversampling) and OS (oversampling). For a discrete R2R DAC, I generally leave this switched to NOS as I find it sounds more natural.

There’s also a selection of built-in filters, none of which I quite understand, and settings to control atmosphere enhancement, a harmonic controller, and customised presets for various IEMs (which are not yet loaded in the current firmware, but will be by the time RS8 starts shipping). I’ll cover what each of these setting does in the main review.

If Darwin Controller is where you tweak the DAC settings via the programmable FPGA chip inside the RS8, Audio Settings is where you directly tweak the actual output of the amplifier and software-based DSPs.

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RS8 features a similar Class A/Class AB topology to the recently released R5 Gen 2 DAP, but unlike the R52, I’m not sure what audio benefits you get from switching to Class A. Normally I’d expect more control, maybe more energy or less distortion from a Class A amplifier, but honestly, try as I may, using blind tests and different music tracks, I can hear no perceptible difference between Class A and Class AB.

I can definitely hear a difference when switching on Turbo mode, with a bump in energy and volume, but since I hardly ever need more than half the volume on low gain with my IEMs, I generally leave this off. Interestingly, I remember using Turbo on the R8 to give the sound more weight and grip, but I’m finding RS8 has that in spades already. That said, RS8 has less raw amplification power than R8, so if you need the extra voltage boost for larger headphones, it’s good to have the option.

The last important audio setting I’d point to is MSEB, HiBy’s system-wide ‘natural language’ EQ that lets you tweak the sound using audio terminology like ‘overall temperature’, ‘note weight’ and ‘sibilance’ rather than making you guess which FR band does what. I’ve long been a fan of MSEB, and prefer to use it over other EQ systems. I find it works well, without notably degrading SQ, and lets me quickly dial in the very minor adjustments I sometimes need to make with certain IEMs.

PS. One more thing before we get to sound impressions, a quick note on battery performance. In my tests so far, battery life has been nothing short of exceptional. HiBy conservatively lists battery life at 8 hours and 6 hours using 4.4mm Class AB and Class A respectively. Forget it! I’ve clocked up 14 hours using 80% battery, playing back local flac files using 4.4mm Class AB, and more than 9 hours using Class A, with at least two hours of screen-on time. Rest assured you won’t need to recharge more than once a day at most, or more likely once or twice a week even with regular use.

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Sound impressions

While I always say that sources don’t have an actual ‘sound’, they do affect the IEMs and headphones you plug into them in different ways, so you could say they have their own sound characteristics. RS8 is no different.

The very first words that come to mind on first hearing the RS8 are expressive, expansive, nuanced and refined. There’s a vibrancy to the sound that engages you almost immediately, not as an overwhelming ‘shock to the senses’, but rather it just sounds genuinely large, life-like and dynamic.

Going back and forth between other DAPs I have at hand, like HiBy’s RS6 and the original Sony WM1Z, sounds appear to be coming at me from a darker background with RS8, and I can hear my own tinnitus during quiet passages more so than any perceptible noise from the amplifier (of which I’m convinced there is none). There’s also no perceptible hiss from any of my IEMs, even in high gain Turbo mode (which I never use), but then I never heard hiss with the R8 and many others did. This will be one of the YMMV metrics, methinks.

Another quality I’m enjoying is the expansive staging. Combined with the pitch-black background, tiny sounds feel farther away at the extremes, giving the effect of a wide and deep stage, with natural vertical height as well. On some tracks with some IEMs the staging is impressively holographic, sounds emanating beyond my head on all axes. RS8 is also at least one or two notches more resolving than RS6, and possibly even more than the WM1Z, which itself is already a very detailed performer.

Tiny microdetails seem easier to discern, but more than that, the placement and movement of tiny details on the stage is easier to follow, as is the distinction between main and backing vocals, which means imaging, layering and separation are all a step above the rest.

I’d say the larger staging, even more than the quiet background and resolving power, is the easiest audible change to note when switching between DAPs, and I’ll be curious how RS8 compares in this regard to the other high-end players from Cayin, Sony and A&K.

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Tonally I haven’t quite put my finger on the various FR emphases, which could simply mean RS8 is ‘tuned’ more linear or neutral than I’m used to with the other DAPs I’ve been using. While bass digs deeper than I’ve heard with any other DAP, with more sub-bass weight, it’s also tighter and, importantly, more textured. This could be the result of better amplification and a more precise DAC section as much as it could be from a lifted bass shelf, because I’m not really hearing bass to be overly elevated, just better controlled. A bass-light IEM will still be bass light, but the sub-bass weight and midbass punch from IEMs like Z1R and Turri Ti respectively suggest the RS8 has a firm grip in the bass department.

Vocals are unmistakably R2R, which is to say they don’t sound digital or processed at all. There’s a natural, realistic smoothness to the vocals that puts a smile on my face every time; rest assured, if vocals seem hard or harsh with RS8, point a finger at the IEM or recording. I’m also not hearing upper midrange vocals being pushed quite as forward as RS6, with vocals appearing exactly where they’re placed in the mix. This does mean recessed vocals in a track or with a V-shaped IEM will still sound recessed, especially with IEMs that produce genuine bass impact or treble emphasis.

On the whole, I’m hearing the midrange as perceptibly more resolving, clear and transparent than I’ve heard it with other DAPs, without any push in the lower, centre or upper midrange. Note weight is solid, if not overly full, and mids generally don’t come off quite as warm or contrasty as they do with the RS6 and WM1Z respectively.

Treble continues the midrange theme in that it’s not overly forward but well extended. There’s a genuine clarity and smoothness here, but I’m also hearing treble to be on the slightly relaxed side, which might concern those who pine for high-energy brightness and dollops of added air from their treble. I do think the treble presentation is what gives RS8 its sense of refinement, because it’s certainly not overplaying the treble to create false details.

Overall, I hear the tone of RS8 as one of natural balance, both in its R2R-derived organic voicing and its analog-leaning tonal emphasis. It also has genuinely high-end technical chops that give it a sense of effortless power in the way it presents the sound from my favourite IEMs.

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Wrapping up

Ever since the release of the RS6 last year, I’ve been suggesting that a DAP that takes the RS6’s natural, organic-sounding R2R sound, combines it with the technical acuity of the R8, and then improves on both by refining the sound, reducing the noise floor, increasing dynamics and perfecting the amplification stage, will be a standout DAP by any measure.

Well, RS8 is that DAP. It does all of the above, and the combination of the different minor and major improvements makes it feel appreciably more premium than the sum of its parts would otherwise suggest.

Synergy is excellent with all of the IEMs I’ve used with it so far, which is an important consideration for those with a multi-IEM collection, but I also feel it’s not going to radically swing the tonal balance of an IEM like a genuinely warm or bright source might do.

RS8 is more about refining the sound of an IEM and giving it the noise-free space, power and resolution it needs to perform at its best, along with the unmistakable R2R flavour that makes it unique among today’s flagships.

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Thanks for this excellent and comprehensive review! Any thoughts and comparisons with other flagship DAPs?