Hiby R3 pro my first venture into hi Res

xand_xand

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Hi I just wanted to take the time to add my own user experience review of the Hiby R3 Pro.

I'm not an audiophile or particularly tech savvy.

I'm spent months looking at many different reviews and YouTube videos and asking questions in here about various dap's to really replace my iPod and iTunes experience and enable me to start to explore some hi Res music.

I have struggled to find some very basic information and so I decided to take the plunge of the much coveted R3 pro by Hiby.

This device ticked the boxes which were important to me at this time including budget, user friendly, access to 2 X hi Res streaming aps from the device tidal and quboz. Battery, reviews etc.

Anyway in a nutshell I've been really impressed with the R3 being able to do what I needed it to do, despite believing if hit snagging and obstacles along the way.

On opening the R3 I found it to have 75% charge from the off which was great as I could get on with updating it.

Dropped in a 256gb memory card.

Updating firmware... I did this over OTA WiFi with ease, took about 25 mins. Then refreshed the device and all upgraded to 1.5v.

I like many others have only ever used iTunes for my music library. Hooked up the R3 to pc using usb lead supplied. Found the iTunes library within my pc folders and simply dragged and dropped the album folders injury the R3 memory card.

Eject the R3, referesh the database in settings and after a few mins all my album folders are there waiting to play.

Had a play about with the equaliser and presettings... Lots of fun to be had there.

Delved into the mysterious world of hi Res... Signed to to tidal hifi (.£4 for first 3 months deal)... Logged in on my R3 device with ease and immediately started to listen to some albums with mqa sound and was blown away from the off.

I'm not his greatest fan but I listened to Sam Smith latest album on tidal in mqa and the sound is simply stunning. Crisp clear, deep.
The first track had no music to it.. Just vocals... Wow it's was beautiful. The silent parts were black with no noise.

I guess the reason I've written this is to give those who have been considering the step up... To go for it. You won't regret it.

I'm more than happy to answer any questions, as long as they are not too techy lol.

There are some amazing people in here who can answer those types.


Take care all.....
 
I also bought this player about two weeks ago. I've owned both the Sony NW A35 and NW A45 but was disappointed that both players disable EQ and sound adjustments through Bluetooth. (Why Sony?)
I read the reviews on this player and took the plunge. The sound through my Sony MDR-1AB Wireless headphones was adjustable and sounded AWESOME, but alas, the software was very buggy (even after the latest v1.5 firmware upgrade) Bluetooth was crackly and you could hear the interference even scrolling to find a track... Not nice. Gapless playback with FLAC tracks didn't happen, even with the setting switched on.
In the end I sent it back to Amazon UK. I've left a review there too.
Its a shame. The R3 Pro really sounded wonderful.
 
I also bought this player about two weeks ago. I've owned both the Sony NW A35 and NW A45 but was disappointed that both players disable EQ and sound adjustments through Bluetooth. (Why Sony?)
I read the reviews on this player and took the plunge. The sound through my Sony MDR-1AB Wireless headphones was adjustable and sounded AWESOME, but alas, the software was very buggy (even after the latest v1.5 firmware upgrade) Bluetooth was crackly and you could hear the interference even scrolling to find a track... Not nice. Gapless playback with FLAC tracks didn't happen, even with the setting switched on.
In the end I sent it back to Amazon UK. I've left a review there too.
Its a shame. The R3 Pro really sounded wonderful.
I don't understand this. If you are using your MDR1AB on Bluetooth, then the wonderful DAC in the Hilby is bypassed and only the one in the headphones is used
 
I don't understand the physics...only what I heard and saw using bluetooth, dannnielll.
Switching from LDAC to SBC seemed to resolve things but still got a gap in between songs when playing FLAC files and still got a bit of sound stuttering (never happened on the Sony)
I may have got a duff unit but there have been other negative reviews read about the bluetooth also.
Its a great sounding DAP though. Because you can EQ many ways to suit your own sound style, its the best I've heard so far. Spacious soundstage and great transparency. Chalk and cheese to the Sony's which give out a take it or leave it congested sound signature through bluetooth
I've just ordered a Fiio M7 from Amazon for a really good price. Reviews seem ok and just hoping it sounds decent. EQ can be altered to your taste through bluetooth and LDAC is supported
If that fails, I'm gonna go for another Hiby, but go for the R6 or R6 Pro. A lot more expensive but hopefully without the glitches I experienced
Now...Just how I get it in the house without the wife finding out it's price :)
 
In theory LDAC, Aptx HD, Aptx and AAC should all provide better sound quality than the basic SBC Bluetooth codec

@dannnielll is highlighting Bluetooth headphones use their own built in DAC. That means you bypass the source onboard DAC, amplifier stage and any DSP effects

I would think carefully about spending coin on a DAP when an existing smartphone 'may sound' just as good as a source for Bluetooth headphones. The value ratio of DAP's increases with wired earphones or headphones
 
I don't understand the physics...only what I heard and saw using bluetooth, dannnielll.
Switching from LDAC to SBC seemed to resolve things but still got a gap in between songs when playing FLAC files and still got a bit of sound stuttering (never happened on the Sony)
I may have got a duff unit but there have been other negative reviews read about the bluetooth also.
Its a great sounding DAP though. Because you can EQ many ways to suit your own sound style, its the best I've heard so far. Spacious soundstage and great transparency. Chalk and cheese to the Sony's which give out a take it or leave it congested sound signature through bluetooth
I've just ordered a Fiio M7 from Amazon for a really good price. Reviews seem ok and just hoping it sounds decent. EQ can be altered to your taste through bluetooth and LDAC is supported
If that fails, I'm gonna go for another Hiby, but go for the R6 or R6 Pro. A lot more expensive but hopefully without the glitches I experienced
Now...Just how I get it in the house without the wife finding out it's price :)
Ok. Steven has explained it .
If you use wired headphones then the electronics in the DAP are doing all the processing. .. usually . This means that any sound shaping and amplification ,tone controls etc are done in the DAP and it then just sends analogue signals to the dumb headphones. If you use Blu tooth, a digital radio signal is sent by a transmitter in the DAP to a receiver in the smarter headphones . It then converts the digital pulses into audio in its own DAC and its own amplifiers ..this is why Blu tooth headphones always have batteries. . It is nearly ALWAYS the case that the DAC in the DAP is better than the DAC in the Headphones,and usually the case that the DAC in headphones is better than the DAC in a mobile phone. So wired phones are almost always better sounding than over Bluetooth. An exception to this rule could be the Sony X1000M3 Noise cancelling headphones , because they will sound rather poor unless they are in NC mode , even if using a wire connector...Which means using its internal DAC.
I have the Sony NWA 45 and also those Sony MDR1AB ..but I always use them wired. Even on LDAC their frequency response is reduced. I did buy the Filo M7, for my wife and she uses it with Sennheissier on ear momentum ..and she is very happy with it, and I with my Sony. I find Bluetooth a lot of faffing about for little return . Grand for hooking the player to the car stereo but thats all..
 
Thanks for the explanations guys. You made it a lot clearer for me.
All I can say is that my preference is the "wire free" route of listening to music, and that the Hiby R3 just sounded fantastic through the MDR 1AB headphones, compared to the Sony DAP using the Bluetooth route. The Hiby was more detailed, less congested and had a terrific soundstage. Additionally, I could tailor the sound even more with the R3s Equaliser and Hibys fantastic MSEB tuner. The Sony DAP was one route only... Like it or lump it!
I may have got a dud, but honestly the buggy software and poor Bluetooth took away the enjoyment of the music, but I’d definitely look at Hiby again. Maybe the higher models with android offer more of what I want, but all coming at a price of course.
 
@Spike_UK i believe all the latest Canyin, Fiio, Shanling, HiBy supports Bluetooth 5

It is relevant to also look at codec support to ensure there is Aptx HD or LDAC
 
I also bought this player about two weeks ago. I've owned both the Sony NW A35 and NW A45 but was disappointed that both players disable EQ and sound adjustments through Bluetooth. (Why Sony?)
I read the reviews on this player and took the plunge. The sound through my Sony MDR-1AB Wireless headphones was adjustable and sounded AWESOME, but alas, the software was very buggy (even after the latest v1.5 firmware upgrade) Bluetooth was crackly and you could hear the interference even scrolling to find a track... Not nice. Gapless playback with FLAC tracks didn't happen, even with the setting switched on.
In the end I sent it back to Amazon UK. I've left a review there too.
Its a shame. The R3 Pro really sounded wonderful.
 
I also bought this player about two weeks ago. I've owned both the Sony NW A35 and NW A45 but was disappointed that both players disable EQ and sound adjustments through Bluetooth. (Why Sony?)
I read the reviews on this player and took the plunge. The sound through my Sony MDR-1AB Wireless headphones was adjustable and sounded AWESOME, but alas, the software was very buggy (even after the latest v1.5 firmware upgrade) Bluetooth was crackly and you could hear the interference even scrolling to find a track... Not nice. Gapless playback with FLAC tracks didn't happen, even with the setting switched on.
In the end I sent it back to Amazon UK. I've left a review there too.
Its a shame. The R3 Pro really sounded wonderful.
wondering about the gapless playback why it didn't work with FLAC file? did MP3 works with? not try yet with MP3
 

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