[Richsvt]

Got the Hiby R4 yesterday. Form was a bit bigger than anticipated but I'm liking the sounds so far. Unique look. Quirky.

 

[OldDude04]

Got the Hiby R4 yesterday. Form was a bit bigger than anticipated but I'm liking the sounds so far. Unique look. Quirky.

Looks like it came directly from the Cyberpunk game, lol. I dig it.

 

[jerick70]

Got the Hiby R4 yesterday. Form was a bit bigger than anticipated but I'm liking the sounds so far. Unique look. Quirky.

You're ready for Cyberpunk 2077. Good game by the way.

So how does it compare to your other DAPs? And are the plastic looking parts rubbery or hard?

 

[Light - Man]

Teac UD-507

Nice looking but it is only 2100 USD. Perhaps not expensive enough to sound really good!

1,200mW + 1,200mW (balanced output at 100 ohm load)

The rear is a bit on the sloppy side with those protruding screws, some of which are very close to the XLR sockets.

Back in the 90's I auditioned at home, some of their stuff and it tended to be on the bright side.

Nowadays, I reckon that it is rather overpriced for what you get, especially compared to some of the Chinese upstarts, who are disrupting the market, like Topping and SMSL.

For instance, look at the back of this SMSL D6s at about 180 USD with those flush screws.

 

[Richsvt]

You're ready for Cyberpunk 2077. Good game by the way.

So how does it compare to your other DAPs? And are the plastic looking parts rubbery or hard?

So far, with only a few hours of head time with it, seems pretty close the R6iii. Both are running class A for amplification so the power is there. This one not only has equalization inside of the music app but has a system wide eq to change the overall tone of the unit. Haven't tried that yet. The sound is a bit less refined than the R6 and my M11S. A huge step up from the R3 Pro. I won't count it against the RS2 as that has R2R for the dac and N3 Pro because of its tubes. I wish I had waited to buy the R6iii as the R4 sounds damn close for almost half the price. The plastic bits are hard. I'm sort of digging that weird shape, it was one the things that initially drew me to this. I chose green because the contrast was nice. Wish there was a purple. That back top left space actually glows with green lines. The front top right indicator changes color depending on bit rate. I plan to use this as my out and about piece but the size might limit that. The R3 was a perfect pocket size. Early days but I give it a thumbs up.

 

[jerick70]

So far, with only a few hours of head time with it, seems pretty close the R6iii. Both are running class A for amplification so the power is there. This one not only has equalization inside of the music app but has a system wide eq to change the overall tone of the unit. Haven't tried that yet. The sound is a bit less refined than the R6 and my M11S. A huge step up from the R3 Pro. I won't count it against the RS2 as that has R2R for the dac and N3 Pro because of its tubes. I wish I had waited to buy the R6iii as the R4 sounds damn close for almost half the price. The plastic bits are hard. I'm sort of digging that weird shape, it was one the things that initially drew me to this. I chose green because the contrast was nice. Wish there was a purple. That back top left space actually glows with green lines. The front top right indicator changes color depending on bit rate. I plan to use this as my out and about piece but the size might limit that. The R3 was a perfect pocket size. Early days but I give it a thumbs up.

Very cool bro. I love the aesthetic and feel of it. Always nice to have multiple flavors to listen to.

 

[groucho69]

You have a cough? Go home tonight, eat a whole box of Ex-Lax, tomorrow you’ll be afraid to cough.

 

[jerick70]

Not a huge Billie Eilish fan, but I might give her new album a try.

https://www.whathifi.com/features/t...very-audiophile-should-listen-to-this-weekend

 

[Whazzzup]

My new purchase. Funky stand.

 

[groucho69]

 

[sygnus21]

Nice looking but it is only 2100 USD. Perhaps not expensive enough to sound really good!

1,200mW + 1,200mW (balanced output at 100 ohm load)

The rear is a bit on the sloppy side with those protruding screws, some of which are very close to the XLR sockets.

Back in the 90's I auditioned at home, some of their stuff and it tended to be on the bright side.

Nowadays, I reckon that it is rather overpriced for what you get, especially compared to some of the Chinese upstarts, who are disrupting the market, like Topping and SMSL.




For instance, look at the back of this SMSL D6s at about 180 USD with those flush screws.

I just recently (about a month ago) finally retired my UD-503. It got replaced by the Teac VRDS 701 CD player / DAC. Well actually my Denafrips Pontus and Denafrips headphone amp replaced it, but for speaker play, that's where the UD-503 was still useful... until I got the 701 CD player with built in DAC.

Anyway, the UD-503 was my first "serious" DAC and my main system for years (2016-2024). Really good piece of equipment, but lousy built-in headphone amp paired with Sennheiser's HD700, and now HD800S phones. I now see headphone amp in the 507 got a huge boost in power, even more than the VRDS 701's built in headphone amp, so that looks good. This photo was taken when I first got both the UD-503 and Sennheiser HD700 phones...

When I bought my UD-503 in 2016, I paid a grand for it ($999.95). Here we have the 507 going for $2100.

BTW, I was going to get a toping setup (A90D, D90SE) but instead skipped those in favor of (the more expensive "Chinese") Denafrips gear.

 

[Whazzzup]

Rip Doug, there goes the band

 

[jerick70]

Nice looking but it is only 2100 USD. Perhaps not expensive enough to sound really good!

1,200mW + 1,200mW (balanced output at 100 ohm load)

The rear is a bit on the sloppy side with those protruding screws, some of which are very close to the XLR sockets.

Back in the 90's I auditioned at home, some of their stuff and it tended to be on the bright side.

Nowadays, I reckon that it is rather overpriced for what you get, especially compared to some of the Chinese upstarts, who are disrupting the market, like Topping and SMSL.




For instance, look at the back of this SMSL D6s at about 180 USD with those flush screws.

I've been thinking about the reason why some manufacturers use round screws over flat head screws in building audio gear. There are a few engineering reasons.... 1. Countersink screws weakens metal, and will cause it to bend in larger applications. 2. If a shielding is being used it will create a larger area for emi to enter the electronics. These are both really good reasons not to countersink screws and most likely is the difference in kit that takes in emi noise readily and gear that doesn't.

 

[sygnus21]

I've been thinking about the reason why some manufacturers use round screws over flat head screws in building audio gear. There are a few engineering reasons.... 1. Countersink screws weakens metal, and will cause it to bend in larger applications. 2. If a shielding is being used it will create a larger area for emi to enter the electronics. These are both really good reasons not to countersink screws and most likely is the difference in kit that takes in emi noise readily and gear that doesn't.

I can find a few things to complain about, but screws aren't one of them. Nor have I bought gear based on screws. Nor is build quality associated with screws used.

The (my) $3800 ($3799) dollar Teac VRDS CD Player / DAC uses rounded screws, like the UD-507; both my Denafrips Pontus, and headphone amp uses protruding hex head screws. The Denafrips Iris DDC use rounded screws. Holo Audio uses both protruding hex and flathead screws - example the Serene.

In the end they all do the same - secure panels. What they don't do is determine or affect the quality or performance of said units.

But that's me

 

[jerick70]

https://www.techradar.com/televisio...rs-and-wilkins-system-and-it-was-mind-blowing