HiBy R6 Pro II Review

Sound Quality

What HIBY Tells

HIBY uses an AK4191EQ for digital signal processing, and dual AK4499EX DACs handle the analogue part. The circuit consists of four sections; DAC, I/V, LPF and Amp with independent power supplies for reduced interference. You can check the diagram below. 

Let’s check what HIBY claims with its new DAP:

”Each output of the 4499EX is equipped with an I/V conversion circuit, allowing the 4499EX to fully utilize all the capabilities of the DAC. With this architecture, the response speed is fast, and the density of the sound has noticeably improved.

The R6 Pro II’s battery capacity has increased, but its output power and endurance have decreased. This is actually a shift in our new generation of player product design philosophy. The R6 Pro II’s electricity is essentially all dedicated to the All-In architecture’s DAC circuit. Endurance will be lower than previous products, and lower again in Class A amplification mode.”

Overall Impression

Overall what I understand from HIBY’s claims is that they aimed to create a DAP that sounds dynamic, and fast with a high level of definition in the whole sound spectrum. While trying to accomplish that, they changed their internal design choices to take things into an ”uncompromised” area, where you have to sacrifice pure driving power and battery life.

The HiBy R6 Pro II sounds a touch warm and musical, with a refined and mature presentation overall. It certainly impressed me, especially after listening to the R6 III. It’s a joyful listening experience as a whole. Its bass is very controlled and tight, mids are liquid, tonality is excellent, and treble is nicely extended. It has good technical performance too.

At the end of the day, the R6 Pro II is not just a cosmetic update, it sounds like a very capable and high-performing DAP. Since they launched their first DAP in 2017, HIBY has improved the sound aspect substantially. One can easily say that they now have a very mature sound performance with almost their entire DAP range.

Bass

The new R6 Pro II has good speed and attack with its sound, and it all starts with its bass presentation. Overall it gives a beautiful bass presentation which is very very controlled. The midbass region is nicely separated from vocals and instruments. Lows have a very good balance with an uncoloured and controlled delivery. I think the bass in the R6 Pro II is a great example of control, balance and tonality. Especially the mid-bass is spot on.

So I can say that it reproduces a well-balanced, quick and neutral bass presentation which has good PRaT, good dynamism and good texture. Quantity-wise you don’t get a big bass, it’s very neutral on that part with a true-sounding, uncoloured approach. I think this DAP hits the sweet spot in terms of bass. To sum up, the bass section has a very controlled and balanced response that scales very well with the different IEM configurations. It’s not boosted at all, and again, it’s a neutral bass without colouration.

Midrange

R6 Pro II has an impressive mid-range, and I can easily say that this is the most impressive part of this new DAP. Mids have good texture, good timbre and good separation altogether. I also realised that the mid-range is a bit lifted so you basically get a mid-centric sound with the R6 Pro II. It’s a minor tendency, but you feel that the mid-range is just a bit more highlighted than the rest of the spectrum. The R6 Pro II actually reminds me of the Sony WM1A in that regard.

The mids are very consistent and sound organic with true tones which feels very natural all of the time. There’s no sort of digital or metallic feeling, instead, it’s very smooth and without a fatiguing sharpness in the upper mids. The transparency and details are all very impressive, the note thickness is excellent, and the tonality is very satisfying. 

Since the background is very dark, the instruments and vocals have good dynamism, detail and timbre, and they can freely shine in the whole stage, without any congestion or overshadowing from another frequency range. That’s one of the most impressive feats of the R6 Pro II. There’s good warmth and fullness here but it’s not overdone.

Treble

The treble is relaxed, airy, and comfortable to listen to, with good extension. It’s overall a smooth delivery. Highs are also very detailed and well extending. It can cope with fast music very well and continues to give the separation that you require for many genres.

Once again it doesn’t feel metallic, it’s very natural and life-like. I need to say again that the extension is very nice while retaining the non-fatiguing character. There’s great detail here and great timbre. The treble is very realistic, and there’s great air/space. The extension is also quite good and microdetail retrieval is impressive too. The whole presentation is very resolving and articulate.

Technical Performance

For its price class, the R6 Pro II gives a good performance in technicalities. The strongest suit of it here is the background blackness and imaging. Especially the clean background is a highlight of the new DAP, which improves the dynamic range and definition. 

The performance is also quite resolving, transparent and refined. It is a very capable DAP and its presentation and overall performance make it a very good all-rounder for practically every genre out there. The R6 Pro II handles congestion and complex passages easily when it is paired with an equally good IEM. It also has a very good separation performance at all times. Thanks to the black background you can pick out the elements of the song clearly.

The R6 Pro II has good layering as well, with good sound-stage depth and width. It’s not flagship grade, but impressive regardless for a sub-1000$ DAP. The stereo imaging part is very good, with good focus and separation, again thanks to the excellent background darkness. Speaking of it, the R6 Pro II has a very silent background, and I couldn’t hear any noise with IEMs. The noise floor is excellent overall. Timbre is also a strong aspect of the new HIBY player, with lively and natural tones that feel flowing and smooth. 

Page 1 – Intro, Package, Design & Build

Page 2 – User Experience & Software

Page 4 – Technical Performance, Comparisons & Conclusion