R5, a new Android DAP by Hiby

[Interceptor69]

Hi All, I have been using my loved R5 since it arrived on last Jan 20th, in average 1 week/month, 10h/week, in the last 2 months this has increased to 5d/w, 1h/day and yesterday when I removed it from charger I found this unexpected status: that battery has swollen and has pushed out 2-5mm the back cover (please see attached photos I hope you can see the curvature of the battery).





Which is the solution to this problem? Thanks for your help

Mine did the same and Music Tek replaced it.

 

[dharmasteve]

Mine did the same and Music Tek replaced it.

I have noticed that it's good to check if the R5 heats up during charging. Sometimes mine can get warm but at other times just be at room temperature. If it constantly heats up during charging, then the battery may well be affected.

 

[almarti]

Mine did the same and Music Tek replaced it.

I bought it directly from Hiby.com
Which is the best way to get it fixed?

 

[Interceptor69]

I bought it directly from Hiby.com
Which is the best way to get it fixed?

Not sure but I would try sending them an email explaining your issue and see if they will replace it. Someone else on here may have purchased directly from Hiby and can answer more accurately.

 

[thorne10]

Hi All, I have been using my loved R5 since it arrived on last Jan 20th, in average 1 week/month, 10h/week, in the last 2 months this has increased to 5d/w, 1h/day and yesterday when I removed it from charger I found this unexpected status: that battery has swollen and has pushed out 2-5mm the back cover (please see attached photos I hope you can see the curvature of the battery).





Which is the solution to this problem? Thanks for your help

If it is still under warranty, they will replace it. Just contact them (service@hiby.com) and explain your situation. Send these photos as well.

This happened to me also, and I got my device replaced although I paid for the return costs. I have lots of problem on my previous device, such as temp, wifi and bluetooth problem. The battery swelling is just a blessing in disguise for me.

Luckily the replacement device have good WIFI and Bluetooth connection. No drop-outs pairing it with my ES100 and Sabbat X12 Ultra.

However, the new device have some difficulty registering 'clicks on' Volume Up, that is why I have to use apps like 'Always Visible Volume Button'.

I believe the reason for battery swelling is incompatible charger, so I'm charging my R5 now via PC only or using a power bank. It may not be fast charger but I can live with it.

 

[originalsnuffy]

If you are looking at this device the price on Amazon Prime Day is very aggressive.

I was having some issues with app behavior with Amazon HD. I ended up cleaning out my settings on the app which blew away all my music, playlists, and even the login. Then I logged in and re-downloaded everything that mattered to me. It is working better now.

I am still having trouble editing playlists on this device. I have resorted to creating and curating playlists on my iphone, refreshing the music to the cloud, then doing a refresh on the R5. This does work though inelegant.

I am currently very happy with how well this unit drives the LZ A7. It did have plenty of power for the Tri i3 planar hybrid (something of a power hog); but I decided I wanted a more refined unit and returned the unit and went for the LZ.

 

[irv003]

now got my replacement unit from musicteck.
great commendable customer service from andrew, kudos.

was able to test it, all i can say is its powerful.
not just louder but sound is clean, smooth and open.

using amazon music HD, still on 1.62 firmware.

 

[Interceptor69]

now got my replacement unit from musicteck.
great commendable customer service from andrew, kudos.

was able to test it, all i can say is its powerful.
not just louder but sound is clean, smooth and open.

using amazon music HD, still on 1.62 firmware.

Read this interesting article yesterday. It is as I suspected.

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/amazon-music-hd-is-still-lossy-r953/

 

[irv003]

Read this interesting article yesterday. It is as I suspected.

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/amazon-music-hd-is-still-lossy-r953/

he said he set his windows 10 to output 24/96, so might be the cause of his concern?

 

[Kejusan]

Hi All, I have been using my loved R5 since it arrived on last Jan 20th, in average 1 week/month, 10h/week, in the last 2 months this has increased to 5d/w, 1h/day and yesterday when I removed it from charger I found this unexpected status: that battery has swollen and has pushed out 2-5mm the back cover (please see attached photos I hope you can see the curvature of the battery).





Which is the solution to this problem? Thanks for your help

Looking at these pictures it seems that the only way to the internals of R5 is to pry open the back glass. Is it?

 

[CrystalGipsy]

Read this interesting article yesterday. It is as I suspected.

https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/amazon-music-hd-is-still-lossy-r953/

No surprise I always thought it sounded a tad bright compared to Tidal and Qobuz when I tried it out on the same device and same release. The fact a pc or any device still can't get exclusive control of DAC to match sample rates after a year is telling. Little to no hifi devices support it . Amazon don't give a hoot about hifi it's a half assed service to get you into Prime and a closed eco system such as Alexa speakers.

 

[CrystalGipsy]

he said he set his windows 10 to output 24/96, so might be the cause of his concern?

That has nothing to do with it. It doesn't get control of any DAC so won't sample rate switch for different content, leaving it up to your crappy soundcard to resample everything to one sample rate. If it was set to 24/48 it would make everything 24/48 and not get any higher. Tidal and Qobuz can take exclusive control of any DAC and sample rate shift according to content. This is essential for hires as there are many variables at play 44.1/24, 48/24, 88.2/24, 96/24, 176.4/24 and 192/24. No point in it if it's all up or down sampled badly due to bad software design.

 

[jwbrent]

I have a question about hi res file playback. When I first bought the R5, the native sample rate would show up next to the battery indicator, e.g., 96K. Since I primarily use the R5 to listen to my favorite internet radio station that streams 16/44.1 lossless, I recently noticed when switching to my hi res files that regardless their sample rate, 48K shows up next to the battery. If I go to the album info screen, 48K is shown there as well even though the bitrate indicated is substantially greater than a typical 24/48 file, i.e. > 5kbps.

It appears the R5 is down sampling my hi res library now, and I presume this change may have occurred with the last firmware/app update. Either that, or there is false reporting going on by the HiBy Music app.

Anybody else notice this phenomenon?

 

[jwbrent]

I have a question about hi res file playback. When I first bought the R5, the native sample rate would show up next to the battery indicator, e.g., 96K. Since I primarily use the R5 to listen to my favorite internet radio station that streams 16/44.1 lossless, I recently noticed when switching to my hi res files that regardless their sample rate, 48K shows up next to the battery. If I go to the album info screen, 48K is shown there as well even though the bitrate indicated is substantially greater than a typical 24/48 file, i.e. > 5kbps.

It appears the R5 is down sampling my hi res library now, and I presume this change may have occurred with the last firmware/app update. Either that, or there is false reporting going on by the HiBy Music app.

Anybody else notice this phenomenon?

I decided to try a total reset and now my hi res files play back at their native sample rate, and the indicator next to the battery icon reflects this.

 

[dharmasteve]

I decided to try a total reset and now my hi res files play back at their native sample rate, and the indicator next to the battery icon reflects this.

It was pointed out to me that the number next to the battery icon is just the rate that is possible. If you touch the HD or Ultra HD icon whilst the track is playing (full screen) the rate it is playing at comes up. There are very few tracks that 'allegedly' play at 192. Playing some Neil Young tracks and they play at 44.1 Khz. Still sound good to me though...but my ears are old and satisfied. I'm talking about Amazon by the way.