[handwander]

Let's not forget about the exciting next stretch goal.

I'm struggling to decide whether or not this is better or worse than another protective case.

 

[ballog]

I'm struggling to decide whether or not this is better or worse than another protective case.

Hiby should really cut the crap with these protective pouch, case, covers and whatever (these would just increase the shipping weight). They should just include the clear case and screen protector along with a usb cable or some other item (i think someone made a survey on this thread).

 

[dualsyste]

The headphone amp stage cannot be bypassed when you use it as a line out. That does limit some performance parameters to the level offered by the headphone amp stage. On the other hand, a line input is the "lightest load" possibly presented to an amplifier, so the headphone out will perform at its best (as shown by the performance parameters) when working as a line out. In other words, statistically it will not be as good as a true line out, but still better than when you connect any headphones directly to it.

So I'm really interested in backing the R3. Sounds like one of the best, feature-rich DAPs out there.

Two questions:
- If I wanted to use this into another bigger headphone amp, the 'line-out' goes through the internal amp of the R3. How much of an actual impact to the sound quality will that be (if any?). I know the preferred route for line-out is to bypass the amp but will it make much of a difference?
Thanks

I had asked this question earlier - see quoted.

I also use my portable amp through other items without dedicated line-out, and it seems fine. Can't imagine there would be a significantly material difference with the R3.

 

[khyaris]

Hi,

I have a couple questions regarding the hiby r3 :

• BT Receiving mode (Smartphone to hiby R3) : is the codec AAC supported ?
  
• I have bought a Fiio Q5 (dual AKM4490 + FiiOAM3A Amp) that I use with a pair of Pinnacle P1.
  Any idea how the sound would compare between the Hiby R3 and FiiO Q5 ? Is the AMP module in the Q5 really useful in my setup ?

Any help would be most welcome ...

 

[MAK1975]

Hi,

I have a couple questions regarding the hiby r3 :

• BT Receiving mode (Smartphone to hiby R3) : is the codec AAC supported ?
  
• I have bought a Fiio Q5 (dual AKM4490 + FiiOAM3A Amp) that I use with a pair of Pinnacle P1.
  Any idea how the sound would compare between the Hiby R3 and FiiO Q5 ? Is the AMP module in the Q5 really useful in my setup ?

Any help would be most welcome ...

Hiby doesn't specifically reference the AAC codec in their product specs but I think it is highly likely it will work over Bluetooth. It does say it supports most file formats. You may want to post this question in the comments section of the Hiby R3 Kickstarter campaign page.

I think the Fiio Q5 will be a good compliment to the R3 if you are using the 2.5mm balanced trrs output port of the AM3A module. As far as driving your Pinnacle P1s, the R3 without the Q5 should have no issues powering those IEMs as they are rated at 50 ohms. The R3's recommended drive ability is 8 to 100 ohms. When using the R3 as a transport stacked with Q5, using the balanced port, it will give your headphones more power which generally improves sound stage, clarity, and other musical dimensions. The R3's balanced port gives you 112mw per channel vs the Q5 with AM3A balanced port which gives you 440mw @ 32ohms. Hiby doesn't state at what impedance level they are measuring their 112mw balanced output but it's probably at 32ohms. If you are using the 3.5mm single ended output on either stacked or with R3 only I'm not sure you will notice much of a difference on your P1s. The power output for the 3.5mm single ended is more on the Q5, but not significant.

Where the benefit of stacking the Q5 with the R3 comes into play is with harder to drive headphones like if you where using Sennheiser HD650s or Hifiman HE-560s. This benefits more when using the 2.5mm balanced headphone output on the Q5 where you have more current you can feed these full size headphones. The R3 on its own isn't intended to be used with harder to drive headphones. Even the Q5 isn't going to be the ideal pairing for very difficult to drive headphones like Fostex T50RP Mark iiis and Beyerdynamic T1s. If you wanted to power those type of headphones with an R3 then you would want to stack it with something like an iFi Micro iDSD Black Label or Chord Mojo.

I hear the Bluetooth connectivity on the Q5 is superb and a lot of reviewers have difficulty telling the difference in audio quality between wired and wireless connections between transport and the Q5. I'm referring to the wireless connection between the transport device (DAP Player, iPhone, etc) and Q5, not using Bluetooth wireless headphones with the Q5.

I debated on getting a Fiio Q5 but wound up biting the bullet and springing for the ifi Micro iDSD black label. I have a pair of modified Fostex T50 RPs rewired with balanced connectors and 600ohm Beyerdynamic DT880s which benefit greatly from the iFi due to the power output its provides.

But having the Q5 stacked with the R3 will give you extra power to drive a variety of headphones. You'll want to pick up a short USB-c to micro-b USB 2.0 cable to connect these if you don't have one already. The USB-C connects to the R3 and the micro-USB connects to the Q5.

That's probably the preferred connection vs using the 3.5mm line out ports on these devices. The R3 does not have a dedicated line out port as it shares it with the 3.5mm headphone out.

 

[hawk10eye]

Almost 280k..

 

[khyaris]

Hiby doesn't specifically reference the AAC codec in their product specs but I think it is highly likely it will work over Bluetooth. It does say it supports most file formats. You may want to post this question in the comments section of the Hiby R3 Kickstarter campaign page.

I think the Fiio Q5 will be a good compliment to the R3 if you are using the 2.5mm balanced trrs output port of the AM3A module. As far as driving your Pinnacle P1s, the R3 without the Q5 should have no issues powering those IEMs as they are rated at 50 ohms. The R3's recommended drive ability is 8 to 100 ohms. When using the R3 as a transport stacked with Q5, using the balanced port, it will give your headphones more power which generally improves sound stage, clarity, and other musical dimensions. The R3's balanced port gives you 112mw per channel vs the Q5 with AM3A balanced port which gives you 440mw @ 32ohms. Hiby doesn't state at what impedance level they are measuring their 112mw balanced output but it's probably at 32ohms. If you are using the 3.5mm single ended output on either stacked or with R3 only I'm not sure you will notice much of a difference on your P1s. The power output for the 3.5mm single ended is more on the Q5, but not significant.

Where the benefit of stacking the Q5 with the R3 comes into play is with harder to drive headphones like if you where using Sennheiser HD650s or Hifiman HE-560s. This benefits more when using the 2.5mm balanced headphone output on the Q5 where you have more current you can feed these full size headphones. The R3 on its own isn't intended to be used with harder to drive headphones. Even the Q5 isn't going to be the ideal pairing for very difficult to drive headphones like Fostex T50RP Mark iiis and Beyerdynamic T1s. If you wanted to power those type of headphones with an R3 then you would want to stack it with something like an iFi Micro iDSD Black Label or Chord Mojo.

I hear the Bluetooth connectivity on the Q5 is superb and a lot of reviewers have difficulty telling the difference in audio quality between wired and wireless connections between transport and the Q5. I'm referring to the wireless connection between the transport device (DAP Player, iPhone, etc) and Q5, not using Bluetooth wireless headphones with the Q5.

I debated on getting a Fiio Q5 but wound up biting the bullet and springing for the ifi Micro iDSD black label. I have a pair of modified Fostex T50 RPs rewired with balanced connectors and 600ohm Beyerdynamic DT880s which benefit greatly from the iFi due to the power output its provides.

But having the Q5 stacked with the R3 will give you extra power to drive a variety of headphones. You'll want to pick up a short USB-c to micro-b USB 2.0 cable to connect these if you don't have one already. The USB-C connects to the R3 and the micro-USB connects to the Q5.

That's probably the preferred connection vs using the 3.5mm line out ports on these devices. The R3 does not have a dedicated line out port as it shares it with the 3.5mm headphone out.

Thanks a lot for your detailled reply !!

How is the BT connection from e.g. spotify to hiby r3 ? It's flawless on the fiio q5.

I should have been more precise in my question : should I retourn the fiio q5 to get a hiby r3 instead?
I don't want to stack items ... I'm already stacking a dac/amp with a smartphone just for spotify. I'm not gonna buy a hiby r3 on top of a fiio q5, I'm wondering what's the best choice

 

[MAK1975]

Thanks a lot for your detailled reply !!

How is the BT connection from e.g. spotify to hiby r3 ? It's flawless on the fiio q5.

I should have been more precise in my question : should I retourn the fiio q5 to get a hiby r3 instead?
I don't want to stack items ... I'm already stacking a dac/amp with a smartphone just for spotify. I'm not gonna buy a hiby r3 on top of a fiio q5, I'm wondering what's the best choice

I unfortunately cannot answer the Bluetooth connection performance question on the R3, as they haven't shipped yet. Only a few people have received the R3 for early reviews and I am not one of them.

Here are the 2 reviews from Headfonics and Headfonia (You might want to send these two reviewers your question, as they will have have a good idea how well it works)

https://headfonics.com/2018/03/hiby-music-r3-review/

https://www.headfonia.com/review-hiby-audio-r3/

Hawaiian Bad Boy on this forum would probably know as well. His full review on the R3 should be coming soon:

Here's his original preview of the R3 in case you haven't seen it:



As far as whether or not you should keep the Q5 or not all depends on how you would use it. You mentioned that you would rather not stack items. If that is the case the Hiby R3 has the advantage over the Q5 as it is in all in one DAP player vs. just a DAC/Amp combo that requires another transport device. The R3 is about as portable as it gets for a music player. The portability/form factor and amazing touchscreen is the reason a lot of people here are excited about the R3. Just look at the great pictures on this thread that Hawaiian Bad Boy has posted.

If you plan to use efficient/easy to drive IEMs and headphones with the R3 then an external Amp/DAC isn't required. The quality of the DACs between the R3 and Q5 are going to be close. Although the Q5 does have dual DAC chips vs a single chip in the R3. However, both use high quality DAC implementations so I think you'll be pleased with the sound quality of both. The amp stage isn't going to be as powerful or flexible on the R3 as it is on the Q5, but it sounds like that isn't a main issue for you if you mainly are going to be driving the Pinnacle P1s with it. Are you planning on getting a balanced MMCX cable with a 2.5mm trrs jack for your P1s to use with the balanced port on the R3? I would recommend one as this would give you the most power out of the R3 to power them as they are 50ohms impedance. By no means inefficient but they will benefit from having some power on tap to crank them up!There are a lot of aftermarket balanced MMCX cables terminated with a 2.5mm trrs jack that you can find on ebay, AliExpress, and Amazon.

Given the reception of their original R6 product I would expect the R3 to be top notch as well. Having their R6 model raise over $368k on Indigogo and now their R3 product at almost $280k doesn't just happen by accident. Hiby really listens to their customers and tries to make the best product they can. They also do a great job updating their firmware and adding new features to their DAP players after they are sold. I would expect Hiby's Bluetooth functionality to be flawless. It looks like Hiby is possibly working on getting Sony's LDAC wireless technology certified on the R3, but they are not able to currently discuss/guarantee this feature at this time. However, having LDAC support would make it a top notch Bluetooth streaming device, as many people regard this as the superior streaming codec for bluetooth. As I mentioned earlier there are a few reviewers on this forum that could answer your question on the current quality of the Bluetooth streaming on the R3.

You also mention that you use Spotify. If Hiby is able to get certified by Spotify and create a Spotify app similar to what they are doing with Tidal then that would be the icing on the cake for you. Even if the built in Spotify app doesn't happen it still gives you ability to use Bluetooth to stream songs from Spotify directly from your smartphone to the R3.

For $189, this device is a non-brainer for music enthusiasts. You will have to add the cost of a microSD card if you don't have one, but that's a requirement for almost every DAP player on the market. Even if you still have to buy a MicroSD card it's still a great value. I call it the little Swiss Army knife of DAPs.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[anxonic]

HiBy R3 Review is up! Enjoy reading!

https://audio123blog.wordpress.com/2018/04/16/hiby-r3

Thanks for this! Have a question, though - what are the dimensions of the box packaging?

I ask this because I can then estimate how likely it is that I'll have to pay import charges. Customs in my country (India) often pass over smaller packages.
The larger the package, the greater the risk of inspection and getting charged a hefty 30-40% extra.

 

[Tanelorn]

Next Stretchgoal is up:

 

[superuser1]

Next Stretchgoal is up:

Hell yeah!! Now lets get this one.

 

[Tanelorn]

Hell yeah!! Now lets get this one.

Well.. I suppose this to be not reacheable in 5 days. I wont need it but. lets see. Hopefully we can advertise this so much that we reach the stretch goal somehow

 

[superuser1]

Well.. I suppose this to be not reacheable in 5 days. I wont need it but. lets see. Hopefully we can advertise this so much that we reach the stretch goal somehow

I kinda agree with you.
I really need the coax cable so anyway will have to buy it. Just that where and when will it be available or is it already?

 

[Cato IluDe]

I kinda agree with you.
I really need the coax cable so anyway will have to buy it. Just that where and when will it be available or is it already?

Don't know the difference between a regulat Aux cable and a Coauxial one... but either way. Because I won't be raising any hopes to add it to my anxiety to have the R3 (5 days? That amount ? It won't happen)... by the image, it's a 20usd cable you can easily get from Amazon.

 

[MAK1975]

I kinda agree with you.
I really need the coax cable so anyway will have to buy it. Just that where and when will it be available or is it already?

Do you know if this usb-c to coaxial cable for the next stretch goal is the one needed to plug the Hiby R3 into an ifi Micro iDSD Black Label? The coax port on my ifi looks to be a regular digital coax RCA port and not a 3.5mm plug as shown. Not sure how this 3.5mm plug will work with the ifi Micro. It looks like I need something like this Cayin cable, but read that the R3's usb-c pin out isn't compatible with this cable.

https://www.amazon.com/Cayin-CS-30TCR-Type-C-Coaxial-Cable/dp/B0722NH4SK

Any help would be much appreciated as then I could run the R3 off the Coax port on the ifi Micro and use the USB port direct to a USB charging block when it needs to be recharged.

Thanks!