[SciOC]

Not sure which one u prefer?

For that price you currently get a lot more features with the hiby. The only downsides are high output impedance and hiby customer support....

Now that we've seen the hiby r6 pro's msrp, I'm less concerned about my R6's resale value.

$799 for a 4.4mm output, a better amp stage with more power and no output impedance issue really merits a $200+ premium? They most think they're AK or cowon....

 

[Chacalo]

Not sure which one u prefer?

A week ago, Hiby cost 100 dollars more. I think it's a very good discount, and a better option than the M5s.

 

[dsrk]

Ditto. I returned my m5s to them and it all went smoothly. They even charged me less of a restocking fee than I was expecting.

Oh, you already ordered P2 mkII?

 

[originalsnuffy]

Wait, you think Hiby is the better choice? The unit has serious impedance issues. Plus its a HiBy, which has proven to be one of the worst offenders when it comes to mediocre support. I was disappointed with HiBy firmware for both Shanling and Cayin models that had their firmware. And the R3 was a highly mediocre unit when it came to promised features and I personally think it had impedance issues just like the R6. At least I experienced terrible low end bass response with all my IEMs with the R3.

I have a lot more confidence in Shanling than HiBy. Just to clarify; Shanling has dumped HiBy for firmware on newer units. My M2S is stable now, but it took longer than it should have. And my Cayin N5II which also has HiBy still is not quite as stable as I would like. I wanted to believe in HiBy but the experience with both hardware and firmware has been less than optimal.

 

[SciOC]

Oh, you already ordered P2 mkII?

Nope, haven't ordered yet, still watching prices. Ultimately my preference is the 2mkii, but most likely I'll end up with a 2.

Wait, you think Hiby is the better choice? The unit has serious impedance issues. Plus its a HiBy, which has proven to be one of the worst offenders when it comes to mediocre support. I was disappointed with HiBy firmware for both Shanling and Cayin models that had their firmware. And the R3 was a highly mediocre unit when it came to promised features and I personally think it had impedance issues just like the R6. At least I experienced terrible low end bass response with all my IEMs with the R3.

I have a lot more confidence in Shanling than HiBy. Just to clarify; Shanling has dumped HiBy for firmware on newer units. My M2S is stable now, but it took longer than it should have. And my Cayin N5II which also has HiBy still is not quite as stable as I would like. I wanted to believe in HiBy but the experience with both hardware and firmware has been less than optimal.

I have the R6 and it was fast more fill features than the m5s at current. I think the output impedance issues are blown out of proportion. I have issues with 2-3 pairs which are usually fixable with gain control and/or iematch.

As for support... Yeah. That's all true. Don't think I'll buy another hiby as a result.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Yeah, I am sure IE match will fix the impedance issues. But I don't want to carry yet another adapter to make a unit work properly. I am not a bass head; but I don't want my bass response to go on vacation either.

When the R3 Kickstarter launch went off the rails, HiBy support went onto life support. They kind of flat lined. I was not impressed. Not at all.

Shanling started off shaky for me with the M2, which at least in my case was buggy beyond repair. But the M2S has been good, the M1 when I had it was solid; and the M0 sounds amazing at the price point. So over time I expect good things from the M5S.

 

[velasfloyd]

Wait, you think Hiby is the better choice? The unit has serious impedance issues. Plus its a HiBy, which has proven to be one of the worst offenders when it comes to mediocre support. I was disappointed with HiBy firmware for both Shanling and Cayin models that had their firmware. And the R3 was a highly mediocre unit when it came to promised features and I personally think it had impedance issues just like the R6. At least I experienced terrible low end bass response with all my IEMs with the R3.

I have a lot more confidence in Shanling than HiBy. Just to clarify; Shanling has dumped HiBy for firmware on newer units. My M2S is stable now, but it took longer than it should have. And my Cayin N5II which also has HiBy still is not quite as stable as I would like. I wanted to believe in HiBy but the experience with both hardware and firmware has been less than optimal.

I agree.... plus the design UI/UX of Hiby is just.... ugly.. in all its systems.... the iOS app they did was so ugly that I couldn't use it... I think they have their software engineers doing the UI part and no proper professionals from that matter.

And I dont understand how some people really like the Android garbage... I was happy with Cayin, as the N3 was my first dap and I think its a great one (apart from the ugly Hiby design and the capacitive buttons), plus the support from Andy and his team was espectacular really... But sadly for me they went with Android for their middle-tier products.... So when I saw the M5s was android-crap-free I felt very happy and now Im waiting for mine to arrive. love and peace for everyone reading this comment

 

[vodanhkhack]

Yea, android is "garbage" on DAP . Some nonsensical features like pictures, youtube, google play ... and runing heavy android OS just waste processing power.

BTW, I think the screen and the back glass of Shanling M5s is quite anti-fingerprint. Don't remember if the screens of the other DAPs like walkman, cowon plenus are also anti-fingerprint or not? Why don't the smartphone manufactures apply such glass coating to reduce fingerprint smears?

 

[21qz]

I understand this is a Shanling thread, so i would expect most people to be in here because they are not happy with other products.
When you bring up the M5s the Hiby R6 will always come up in comparison. I also feel the whole android OS is unnecessary, unless you plan to use streaming services.
I had a M2s and really enjoyed the sound, but hated the UI. I much prefer the M0 & M5s style. Anyhow i just placed an order for the M5s and looking forward to pair it with my EX1000's.
I also will test it with my BGVP DM6's. Hate being in this tier of portable music players because it's the gateway for more expensive ones. Love and hate this world.

 

[vodanhkhack]

@21qz if you like the M3s or M2s ' sound, you will certainly like the M5s more. M5s is the improved M3s from every aspect.
You mean the Sony MDR EX1000 headphone? I think this has bright sound. How is its sound with the M2s?

 

[21qz]

@21qz if you like the M3s or M2s ' sound, you will certainly like the M5s more. M5s is the improved M3s from every aspect.
You mean the Sony MDR EX1000 headphone? I think this has bright sound. How is its sound with the M2s?

Sounds fantastic!

 

[gazzington]

I'm considering ordering one of these or ibasso dx150 just not sure... Look idea of swapping amps but in reality would I do that

 

[My Little Phony]

As for support... Yeah. That's all true. Don't think I'll buy another hiby as a result.

Most of the dap maufacturers are not clever enough to see that support, communication and taking actions is one of the big keys to the hearts and wallets of experienced portable audio fanatics.

When i read articles about products of the present manufacture names of the business theres the following ranking in some of the dark corners of my brainz:

Shanling
Always nice to read the threads about shanling products. Thats what i want. A lively exchange between Shanling and the users, discussions of solutions and very important: actions are following. That gives me a good feeling not being left alone with my device and finally got a company living to Philips old motto "Lets make things better".

Ranking: No. 1 - The winner... Congratulations, soon Shanling will rule the world and a handful over universes surrounding us.


Fiio, Hiby, etc...
I personally dont have any experience with their DAPs yet. Theres some threads going on but my spontaneous feeling is that i like the lively Shanling threads better. I sometimes watch news about the Fiio M9 and the Hiby R6 Pro but thats it.

Ranking: No. 2 - Nothing special on my mind here.


Cowon
When i hear/read the words Cowon & Plenue i always think about DAPs that are known for their very nicely done EQ-Options. I possessed a Plenue D once and have to say thats its a good one. Im always keeping an eye on their DAPs and when theres a beauty i cant resist i will saddle my horse and free it from the store.

Ranking: No. 2 (sharing with the above)


iRiver (Astell & Kern)
I really liked the iRiver MP3-players as i was in my younger years of life. Small devices driven by a single AA batterie for 24+ hours at higher volumes, providing awesome sound quality and tatatataaa a very good EQ. A & K and EQ... the A &K-fanboys will threaten me in a seperate corner of the hell for pointing this out again. But here i go:

A & K philosophy (i try to make it short): A & K are 99,9%* behind thesound signature of their DAPs. Why not? I had one of their players and it was sounding very good. The A & K DAPs come with an EQ. Just have a look at the newer A & K DAP tiers. The EQ-programm looks very nicely done. But the changes you can do with it are so tiny they are not even worth to call changes. So i asked A & K whats happening there?

Their original answer:
---
We employ a passive EQ in all of our players, so any changes are very subtle. We do not believe in heavily manipulating the music digitally and try to produce a pretty neutral sound.

That being said, there have been a number of requests for a more active EQ system to be added and I will pass along your message to our software development team to support that request. While we cannot guarantee that it will be implemented in a future firmware update, the more requests we get for a feature add, the better the chances they decide to add it in the future.
---
My thoughts: *Why wont they add the 0,1 % and stay 100% true to their sound signature. Why even bother implementing an EQ-programm that gives you mouth-watering expectationswhen you see it the first time. "That being said, there have been a number of requests for a more active EQ system to be added..." As you can imagine you are waiting and waiting... months are passing buy with no new update. Oh sorry there have been a mature update for my AK70MKII (already sold it) in this time. The spanish language have been added. Holá!!!

Ranking: No. 3 - Boutique DAP manufacturer with bad customer service. Could easily catch more customers with improved support and taking care of the customers wishes.

Whats happening to a head-fi user reading unsupported threads with no action:

 

[dsrk]

Most of the dap maufacturers are not clever enough to see that support, communication and taking actions is one of the big keys to the hearts and wallets of experienced portable audio fanatics.

When i read articles about products of the present manufacture names of the business theres the following ranking in some of the dark corners of my brainz:

Shanling
Always nice to read the threads about shanling products. Thats what i want. A lively exchange between Shanling and the users, discussions of solutions and very important: actions are following. That gives me a good feeling not being left alone with my device and finally got a company living to Philips old motto "Lets make things better".

Ranking: No. 1 - The winner... Congratulations, soon Shanling will rule the world and a handful over universes surrounding us.


Fiio, Hiby, etc...
I personally dont have any experience with their DAPs yet. Theres some threads going on but my spontaneous feeling is that i like the lively Shanling threads better. I sometimes watch news about the Fiio M9 and the Hiby R6 Pro but thats it.

Ranking: No. 2 - Nothing special on my mind here.


Cowon
When i hear/read the words Cowon & Plenue i always think about DAPs that are known for their very nicely done EQ-Options. I possessed a Plenue D once and have to say thats its a good one. Im always keeping an eye on their DAPs and when theres a beauty i cant resist i will saddle my horse and free it from the store.

Ranking: No. 2 (sharing with the above)


iRiver (Astell & Kern)
I really liked the iRiver MP3-players as i was in my younger years of life. Small devices driven by a single AA batterie for 24+ hours at higher volumes, providing awesome sound quality and tatatataaa a very good EQ. A & K and EQ... the A &K-fanboys will threaten me in a seperate corner of the hell for pointing this out again. But here i go:

A & K philosophy (i try to make it short): A & K are 99,9%* behind thesound signature of their DAPs. Why not? I had one of their players and it was sounding very good. The A & K DAPs come with an EQ. Just have a look at the newer A & K DAP tiers. The EQ-programm looks very nicely done. But the changes you can do with it are so tiny they are not even worth to call changes. So i asked A & K whats happening there?

Their original answer:
---
We employ a passive EQ in all of our players, so any changes are very subtle. We do not believe in heavily manipulating the music digitally and try to produce a pretty neutral sound.

That being said, there have been a number of requests for a more active EQ system to be added and I will pass along your message to our software development team to support that request. While we cannot guarantee that it will be implemented in a future firmware update, the more requests we get for a feature add, the better the chances they decide to add it in the future.
---
My thoughts: *Why wont they add the 0,1 % and stay 100% true to their sound signature. Why even bother implementing an EQ-programm that gives you mouth-watering expectationswhen you see it the first time. "That being said, there have been a number of requests for a more active EQ system to be added..." As you can imagine you are waiting and waiting... months are passing buy with no new update. Oh sorry there have been a mature update for my AK70MKII (already sold it) in this time. The spanish language have been added. Holá!!!

Ranking: No. 3 - Boutique DAP manufacturer with bad customer service. Could easily catch more customers with improved support and taking care of the customers wishes.

Whats happening to a head-fi user reading unsupported threads with no action:

You really missed ibasso, they are right there at the top when it comes to support.

 

[Whitigir]

You really missed ibasso, they are right there at the top when it comes to support.

Ibasso is the top of the top, period