[superuser1]

I am wondering if Hiby would be willing to mail me an R5 with it stating "gift" on the package. This way it will cost me 395.36 Canadian (current conversion amount from 300 US), and then I will not have to pay any other ridiculous charges for the DAP when it shows up. I ended up sending Hiby an email to inquire about this. I am very happy with the R3 Pro, but I am rather interested in stepping up to the sound quality improvements which would be offered by the R5.

Technically, that is misdeclaration!

 

[393699]

Hiby ended up responding, and they stated that this is not possible. However, they did offer to quote the value of the item at only 40 USD, which ends up being about 53 Canadian. Because it would be quoted at being under 60 CAD, it would not end up being hit with any additional fees. Damn, I am tempted to get an R5. I currently use my R3 Pro paired with my Fiio A5 amp. I would end up doing the same with the R5 if I get one.

 

[393699]

Technically, that is misdeclaration!

Canadians are tired of being ripped off.

 

[superuser1]

Canadians are tired of being ripped off.

In India, the customs duty can go up to the 70% of the declared value... that is being ripped off!!!

 

[dharmasteve]

Hiby ended up responding, and they stated that this is not possible. However, they did offer to quote the value of the item at only 40 USD, which ends up being about 53 Canadian. Because it would be quoted at being under 60 CAD, it would not end up being hit with any additional fees. Damn, I am tempted to get an R5. I currently use my R3 Pro paired with my Fiio A5 amp. I would end up doing the same with the R5 if I get one.

I have various amps, but using the 4.4 balaced out on th R5 there is very little need for an amp. It has plenty of power. TheCyrrus DAC chip is very good too.

 

[393699]

At this time, I would use the single ended connection with the Fiio A5.

 

[dharmasteve]

At this time, I would use the single ended connection with the Fiio A5.

You could test it. Even the SE is fairly good. I don't even need to use my FiiO K17 Alpen with it.

 

[superuser1]

Fiio Alpen is no match for the R5

 

[dharmasteve]

Fiio Alpen is no match for the R5

That is true. It is good for one thing though. Making things bulkier than they need to be. The strong point of the R5....small form factor.
Oh sound beautiful sound. The last sense to leave us when we die is hearing. That is why the Tibetans recite the 'Tibetan Book of the Dead' to the dead person over many days. To guide them through the 'Bardo of Dying'. Imagine having your earphones in at the time of death. Who would you listen to?.

 

[dharmasteve]

In India, the customs duty can go up to the 70% of the declared value... that is being ripped off!!!

I love India. Was almost my second home many moons ago.

 

[CrystalGipsy]

I didn't know Roon had a portable application. Don't know much about it. I went with Audirvana for PC.

The remote apps allow any device to be an endpoint for playback. But on Android it doesn't recognise the DACs properly and to support more devices automatically resamples to Android native sample rate that the DAC advertises. In this case it's a max of 44.1/24 on the R5 anything higher is downsampled. We are hoping they allow it to recognise and play bit perfect like UAPP can someday. But the current limitation is better than it was before the introduced the resampling as they left it up to Android to do it and it was very bad playback as a result. But as its so convenient to use and have one app for all my music across many different systems I use it more than anything else on the R5. Unless I am out and about.

 

[dharmasteve]

The remote apps allow any device to be an endpoint for playback. But on Android it doesn't recognise the DACs properly and to support more devices automatically resamples to Android native sample rate that the DAC advertises. In this case it's a max of 44.1/24 on the R5 anything higher is downsampled. We are hoping they allow it to recognise and play bit perfect like UAPP can someday. But the current limitation is better than it was before the introduced the resampling as they left it up to Android to do it and it was very bad playback as a result. But as its so convenient to use and have one app for all my music across many different systems I use it more than anything else on the R5. Unless I am out and about.

I use Amazon HD & Tidal.
Although Tidal through UAPP shows MQA 384 K, the Amazon 192k sounds better to me. Am I missing something? Why doesn't the Tidal sound better? Listened to Dreams, Fleetwood Mac.

 

[dharmasteve]

I use Amazon HD & Tidal.
Although Tidal through UAPP shows MQA 384 K, the Amazon 192k sounds better to me. Am I missing something? Why doesn't the Tidal sound better? Listened to Dreams, Fleetwood Mac.

In fact Tidal on it's own shows 384k and Amazon shows 192k, but they sound equal. I cannot hear an iota of difference. My sad ears maybe? Through UAPP I think Tidal sounds clearly a little poorer. Maybe there's something wrong with my UAPP.

 

[originalsnuffy]

I use Amazon HD & Tidal.
Although Tidal through UAPP shows MQA 384 K, the Amazon 192k sounds better to me. Am I missing something? Why doesn't the Tidal sound better? Listened to Dreams, Fleetwood Mac.

Ignore the specs and trust your ears. Once you get above 24 -88 it is really hard to hear a difference. Also; MQA is in fact a lossy compression scheme with amazing marketing.

 

[originalsnuffy]

Hiby ended up responding, and they stated that this is not possible. However, they did offer to quote the value of the item at only 40 USD, which ends up being about 53 Canadian. Because it would be quoted at being under 60 CAD, it would not end up being hit with any additional fees. Damn, I am tempted to get an R5. I currently use my R3 Pro paired with my Fiio A5 amp. I would end up doing the same with the R5 if I get one.

The R5 is a great deal. Not expensive by Head-Fi standards yet sounds just great. And the Android is not crippled like on some units.

I get a kick out of it when some people every so often state that this is a warm unit. I have never owned a piece of gear that is quite as neutral as this. It takes a bit to get used to a neutral approach.