[vessel]

Is no-one else suffering these unexplained halts in playback?

I've had Spotify stop for no obvious reason several times. Most of those times my R5 seemed to have no network connection because other apps also could not transfer data. Disabling and reenabling wifi or rebooting the device solved the problem. A fewer number of times other apps still could transfer data, quitting Spotify and relaunching it resolved the issue for me when this happened. I have checked Spotify on another device on the same network when this happened and it worked there so I'm assuming the version available on the R5 is buggy.

 

[Interceptor69]

Isn't it the same Spotify app we download from the play store no matter what device we download it to?

 

[vessel]

Isn't it the same Spotify app we download from the play store no matter what device we download it to?

I assume there are variations depending on Android version.

 

[Q Mass]

I've had Spotify stop for no obvious reason several times. Most of those times my R5 seemed to have no network connection because other apps also could not transfer data. Disabling and reenabling wifi or rebooting the device solved the problem. A fewer number of times other apps still could transfer data, quitting Spotify and relaunching it resolved the issue for me when this happened. I have checked Spotify on another device on the same network when this happened and it worked there so I'm assuming the version available on the R5 is buggy.

Sounds similar to my issue, sometimes at least. Except that the really regular halts I was having every..second..song were being played from offline Spotify playlists that I'd already downloaded. And the problem seemed to depend on whether I had chosen to have 'Offline Mode' switched on or off (switched on = problem, switched off = no problem). This was with wi-fi turned off BTW so no wireless data at all, regardless of how the offline mode toggle was positioned.

I haven't had time to do any extended listening in the last few days, but the shorter sessions I have fitted in have only halted a couple of times (much better performance, less frequent stops).

Hiby pointed out to me that there is a new firmware available now, and asked whether it solves the issue, but I haven't tried it out yet as I assume that will require me to re-download all my offline Spotify content, which I cannot do ATM.
I do plan to try the update soon though.
I already updated Spotify once, but have still had a couple of halts since then.

 

[vessel]

In my case downloaded songs didn't work but I never tried enabling offline mode.

 

[kfotheringham]

Hiby R5 V1.83G available for OTA download folks.

Immediately after the new FW update, I received app updates for Spotify, UAPP and poweramp.

Can now confirm that UAPP 5.4.8 plays DSD and MQA bit-perfect.

Latest Spotify version is 8.5.49.973

Latest poweramp version is V3-863

 

[bassboysam]

Disregard.

how did you fix it? mine is doing the same thing now.

 

[Interceptor69]

I messaged MusicTeck re: the back pulling off the device and it's increasingly odd behavior. They had me ship it back-they checked it out and decided to just send me a new device. That's what I call great service. I highly recommend buying your device from them as they have been prompt with issues and more than fair. I'm back up and listening to great music.

 

[CANiSLAYu]

how did you fix it? mine is doing the same thing now.

I did a factory reset and reinstalled everything, but I also think part of the issue when I was comparing was because headphones weren't plugged in. Apparently it does some weird output stuff if there's nothing connected. So with the headphones plugged in everything is fine now, but I could have sworn I had the issue even with headphones plugged in previously, as I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of a reset. But it also could be my brain is out of whack from self-quarantine, haha...

 

[Metalomaniac]

I'm looking for a new DAP for Spotify offline listening to drive EE Nemesis which I just ordered, and R5 sounds like a really enticing given the current price. It's priced similarly to Sony NW-A105, and the main differences I've found are that the Sony has slightly poorer battery life but runs Android 9 (more secure), while R5 can bypass Android sound processing (no idea if this makes any difference in actual sound quality, though) and has two output jacks (my older entry-level Sony DAP's 3.5mm jack became so loose it didn't work, making this a very nice feature).

Anything else I should consider, pros or cons? I'm looking for a smooth UI. I absolutely haaated the laggy and buggy Cayin N5ii, which they just stopped supporting after failing to fix most of the game-breaking bugs, I guess after realizing this software stuff is hard.

Also, one head-fi review mentioned the lack of "native" EQ, what does that mean, and am I likely to care? I will mostly listen to Spotify, as I have only a handful of hires files.

 

[datamon]

Anyone have their R5 intermittently restart when you start the playback of a song? I get it occasionally and noticed that if no headphones are attached playback starts ok, but as soon as I plug in the headphones the unit restarts.

I think this only happens when my battery power is somewhat low (but definitely at least 40%). I am using the Monoprice MP80 headphones unbalanced, rated at 16 ohms. I even tried with the volume set to minimum and the same thing happened.

 

[Q Mass]

Anyone have their R5 intermittently restart when you start the playback of a song? I get it occasionally and noticed that if no headphones are attached playback starts ok, but as soon as I plug in the headphones the unit restarts.

I think this only happens when my battery power is somewhat low (but definitely at least 40%). I am using the Monoprice MP80 headphones unbalanced, rated at 16 ohms. I even tried with the volume set to minimum and the same thing happened.

I haven't had this happen, whatever that's worth.

 

[vessel]

Anything else I should consider, pros or cons? I'm looking for a smooth UI.

The R5 is the only Android-based DAP I've used but I think it will meet your needs. The UI does have a tiny bit of lag if you are running a lot of apps at once but it's never been annoyingly slow for me. I'm sure if you spent a few hundred more you could get a faster DAP but I'd say the R5 is plenty fast enough. Sound quality is great, it's definitely better than any phone I've ever used. It's got great battery life and is, for me at least, the perfect size.

 

[Interceptor69]

Yes- mine was shutting off as well. That's one of the reasons I sent my unit back- the other was the back coming off.
They (MusicTeck) sent me a new unit. Just got it yesterday so don't know of this unit will do that as well.

 

[originalsnuffy]

If you are using Spotify as your primary music source, I don't think the system wide access to 24 - 192 if as important. Isn't Spotify at 320 ? If there is a hi res option I would withdraw this comment but even if they offer lossless I don't think it is hi res.

The unit has oodles of power which helps if you have less efficient headphones.

So it all comes down to your use case. I like the unit. My issues are more related to minor nits with Amazon music than anything in the R3. I don't love the HiBy music app but it does the job. But I purchased the unit as a vehicle for playing Amazon Music HD primarily in offline mode and it is good for that. Actually the best Amazon Music device is my iphone hooked to either CarPlay or to an external DAC (like my R3). For some unknown reason the iphone implementation of Amazon Music is smoother on the iphone than on Android, at least in my opinion.