$200 vs. $2,000: Hiby R8 II REVIEW 

hello,I just want to use one earphone and don't want to be tired of switching devices all the time depending on the type of music. I listen to 80% classical and 20% jazz and pop. I have also seen the audeze mm500 so far, and I think the instrument part is quite good, and the vocals are in the front, so the female voice sounds good. Do you recommend other headphones at this level? I think the sound field of the mm500 is okay. For classical music, the instrument tone is not too modified. , the low-frequency dive is enough for jazz. I don’t know if I understand this right?

To be honest, it's actually harder just to convince you don't hear a difference than it is to admit. It's very easy to convince yourself (myself) that there's a difference with sighted listening, have to subject yourself to a blind test you can't game to really disabuse yourself (myself) of those conclusions.

It really depends if your headphone can show the difference. He only mentioned Campfire Aras. For IEMs, both have enough power and as they aren't particularly sensitive, both will appear quiet. If you want to power headphones the bigger amp will give more power, the question is if your headphones need it.

get more resolving gear and you will hear the differences

@@vaneast411 such as?

@@harackmw a highly resolving set of headphones such as the HE1000Se's will show you the differences in gear down chain as one example

How's U4s treating you?

It really hits you.

That's what she said

Poweramp is goated.

Let's make a video on how to set poweamp equilizer

Yeah testing the N3Ultra currently, it does have an audible change when engaging the tubes. I can even measure it!

True if the m300 got a 5* review at 200 bucks, the R4 with PEQ, plug-ins and balance output should be at least 5* at 250

It's a good little player.

That’s exactly the benefit. Depth of stage lower noise floor wider stereo image and less distortion. And respectfully the sp1000 is ancient in terms of audio. Imagine what they’re sounding like now

@@MrColdchillin81 "the sp1000 is ancient in terms of audio" 🤣🤣 "Depth of stage lower noise floor wider stereo image and less distortion" 🤣🤣 I dont hear any difference between the sp1000 and sp2000 so the sp2000 is ancient too? What makes the sp1000 "ancient" lol? A DAC? The newest Luxury&Precision flagship utilizes the same AKM 4497 DAC and they say that this DAC is the best for portables. Keep believing in dragons, your wallet will be happier for sure.

@@karolkedzierski5824it’s almost a decade old. That’s why it’s ancient. The rest is indicative of hearing loss and bias. My wallet is too heavy thanks

​@@MrColdchillin81Kid.. You're coping hard. I'm genuinely scared for your bank balance.

@@rajeebdas1724 I’m prolly older than you son.

Those also pretty thicccccc

@@SuperReview, thank God for cargo shorts pockets. 😎

And suspenders for the weight :D

You should. The dsee alone is worth it

Maybe R8II, keeping 9x M300s charged sounds like work 🥵

@@SuperReview Good point

Same. Even 192Kbps I'm struggling to hear a difference. ...That said, i still store my music in FLAC, it's not that big. Hi-Res FLAC, however, is too much space waste for me.

Just discovered them recently, good stuff.

If I only charged this thing once a month... I'd consider living with the size :D

Based.

I use Apple EarPods and those headphones they use at the library.

😂​@@SuperReview

@@SuperReview Ah, so you're more troll than a serious reviewer of audio gear. My bad.

@mfgillia7606 No, you are just the third person to ask this question, I answered the other two seriously and it did not satisfy the people asking so I tried something else.

What's their take on it?

@@SuperReview The consensus is always that the more expensive the better sounding, you are the exception which I appreciate especially because of your access to all price ranges if IEM's and it not affecting how you evaluate Daps sound wise (transducers affect sound more than source imo having owned multiple Daps and dongles myself).

​I did not believe in DACs/Amps making a difference myself. Then I compared the Elysian Annihilator 23 with my smartphone dongle (Moondrop Dawn) vs a friends Shanling M9+ DAP. Same files, same music. It sounded much better on his DAP. ​@@traktorpro10

@@traktorpro10 of course the iems/headphones affect sound more. However the idea that amping doesn’t affect it is kinda ludicrous. I’m assuming he used single ended for the comparison - which is hamstringing the dap right there - it’s made with balanced topology so he should use balanced. I know he’s got a philosophical issue with balanced but that’s silly. Example chord uses a pulse array dac which by design is single ended, it’s fed into a single ended designed amp. Including a balanced output would actually degrade the quality so it’s not included. That’s done similarly here except in reverse. Even the measurements measure better. In this instance it’s actually objectively better lol

Water-cooler crowd is strange they are too emotionally attached. They go from friendly to mob pretty quickly 😂

Wich one of those sound better for SQ like for a sound system in ur opinion , im looking to upgrade from the Fiio m11 plus .

I don't think I ever really used the 4XL as a daily driver except when I did a review of it years ago. Now it's a test device.

Yeah M300 is great with IEMs.

That one seems pretty well-spec'd, though the battery life claims are disappointing.

Careful with your hearing homie.

@@SuperReview I will. And thank you for the hiby m300 review.

Purchase validation: It's what I'm here for.

Not that I think it matters, but I only use streaming like Spotify to discover music that I later buy.

Can you elaborate on "sound completely different"? I have not heard those DAPs, but I truly find that baffling.

@@SuperReviewbro the sound signature would be different, noise floor, soundstage and lot of things. You could pick up the difference between those daps using iems like Mest2 or Radon 6 easily. Using mid tier iems won’t cut it.

There is a solution from Joe bloggs on head-fi where you download files they add certain plugins in order to make the soundstage crazy wide and holographic when I did this the R8ii and the R6P2 sound very expensive.

You either don't have both daps or you're coping hard trying to justify to yourself your uber expensive purchase. Judging by the price of the devices, i think it's the first one.. However if it is indeed the latter one, you messed up real big child😅

@@rajeebdas1724 why do you find it hard too comprehend ? I do indeed have both and can hear the difference. Also it’s not purely sound I have the R8ii also battery life. Now child please go talk shit to someone else who cares

The ones telling others they're coping are most likely the actual ones coping. 😂

I’m looking to upgrade from my fiio m11 plus . Wich one of those 2 sound better for SQ for a sound system in ur opinion ? Bass , highs , etc … the 6 or the 8

😂😂😂

lmao audiophile is full of douchebag, being honest is not allowed

Sharur is low effort rage bait, SR is not.

I want a motorcycle.

One of the best phones ever made IMHO with its pop-up camera and no holes in the screen. I love my 7 Pro and dread the day when it has to be replaced.

Nah.

​@@SuperReviewit eats memory cards

No.

There are a number available, but this is the one I use: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nagopy.android.overlaybatterybar&hl=en_US&gl=US

I just used this: www.schiit.com/products/sys

Thank you 🙏

I mean, DX300 also really big and expensive and I don't get it >_< Apart from nobomination, what do you want improved?

@@SuperReview Ideally I would like to see a new and fasterQualcomm chip that supports BT 5.4 and aptx lossless. As for SQ, I like the smaller Hiby players very much but the chunky Nobomination still holds its own despite being a few years older.

I don't think others are dishonest FWIW, either (A) they hear things I don't hear, or (B) they think they do.

I haven't, no, been using R5G2 as my daily.

I haven't compared Spotify with others, but I did try to test Apple lossless vs. Apple's normal compression and couldn't hear a difference, so I don't really bother. It's not a significant difference either way.

Apple Music much better than Spotify.

​@@SuperReviewI have compared Spotify 320 kbps with the quality of my sd card songs. There though, I must say, there's an audible difference. The Spotify version distinctly sounds a bit 'dirtier' and slightly compressed laterally. The same song on my card sounds cleaner and more expansive. Not a huge difference. But it is definitely there. The problem is once I hear even a 5% difference, I can't go back really. But there definitely was a difference. I haven't checked apple music though.

Schiit Sys: www.schiit.com/products/sys

@@SuperReview Thank you!!!!!! Do you know if there is a balanced version of a switcher? I pretty much have wired everything in balanced (back in the day when I was naive enough to believe that made a difference in a home setting) and it would just be easier to keep things consistent.

Don't think Schiit makes one, but I'm sure someone does. Not something I've looked for.

@@SuperReview No worries. Thank you!

To some degree it certainly is about paying for the physicality of a device like this. And in that case I'm probably not the best target, 'cause I prefer the compact form factors to the ornate, impressive ones.

Agreed it is cool, wonder what sorts of things they could emulate with an FPGA -- e.g. could they have alternate DAC designs that have higher harmonic distortions?

​​​@@SuperReviewmy dongle has it. The tempotec sonata bhd pro. Change tuning with firmware.

Edition XS? It doesn't require much in my experience.

M11S 100 step in SE with PEQ eq fiio build in and 80 in BAL connector. Its good enough for DAP. Thanks for your reviews last years

Some people like the bricks.

R4 claimed battery life is a bit disappointing, does real experience match?

@@SuperReview playback time is usually around 10-11 hours and I think it's decent. I've had other android daps before and they performed worse. But standby time is great. Around 20% drain in the last 5 days without using it.

R4 doesn't really need an external dac, 500mw and a class A amp..unless you are after a specific sound like with a Cayin ru6 or whatever

TBH I don't think the processor has to do with the battery life in this case, the M300 is using the same processor with a battery 15% the size and it gets the same if not a bit better battery life. Seems it's more to do with the audio architecture.

Yes.

Chord have been using FPGAs in their DACs for some time.

Yeah. That’s not what’s happening here

@@MrColdchillin81 cool! Is great to learn new things :)

@@ArtificialDjDAGXtotally. It’s not actually an fpga dac. But the dac is controlled with an fpga. Chord uses a pulse array dac which is also controlled via fpga. I don’t know anyone who actually uses an fpga as a dac.

What about Spotify?

Dude what is it, aac 256?

@@wahid-lg1kk Actin' like you can hear a difference between 256 AAC and lossless.

@@SuperReview actin' like you are an audiophile 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yeah, R5G2 is still my daily DAP, the battery life + form factor are pretty excellent.

That's a bummer to hear, I went through customer service a couple of times and it was a smooth experience -- minus the overseas shipping costs 🫠

It's why we get along.

😅

just a bs. There are 2 main cons with this "super review": 1) there is no any mention about what iems he used to compare these daps. Because I'm pretty sure he use some mid tier stuff. 2) No audio feedback regarding two devices. The problem with the first one if you've got a top tier stuff you may use top tier iems with it, or it's just like putting bicycle tires on ferrari and pretend that this car is not that fast that you imagined...

Seems like a high-touch area they woulda planned for that...

It's a cool idea, I wonder if you could use it to emulate DACs with worse noise, distortion, etc..

Can I turn it into a Tesla?

@@rajeebdas1724 Actually, you should be able to turn it into anything you can imagine as long as it has the same number or less unit circuit modules. Take this with a grain of salt it's been a while since I took the course that was to explain how FPGA's worked.

If he can't hear a difference, it's end of story right?? Should I bother if others can or cannot? If I can't, I'll happily save my money and laugh at others who spend like they're possessed 😂😂

There is built-in parametric EQ, you can add lots of coloration to taste if you want.

Seems to come down to how much you care about improvements to measurements you can't hear, or how much you can convince yourself you hear them. I keep most of my music in FLAC even though I can't hear a difference vs. well-compressed MP3. But that just costs a little storage, not $2,000.

@@SuperReview i can hear the difference beween 256aac and lossless cd. but it is INCREDIBLY close and not always "easy." but that makes sense as CD quality was chosen by the designers because it is greater than the threshold of our frequency hearing. don't get me going on measurements ;) but no matter what you think, i don't think $2000 makes sense in the world of smartphones. I get it has better spec dac/amp, but if you consider it even possible that you can't tell a difference, you're paying more money by almost twice and getting 1/10th the functionality.

@@SuperReview it’s also got dsp plug ins that are better then the peq. Might be fun to play with those

He is. He's just trying hard not to offend the dozens of divas out there who start whining when someone says their uber expensive purchase might've been unnecessary. Lol

Why?

(1) It's a made-up word, (2) get over it. No one pronounces my last name "correctly," I have complained about it zero times in my life.

They have buttons and TBH I prefer carrying a second device to dongle fiddliness.

Dongles drain your phone battery and are clunky?

@@oxyoxi3213 You will often use it to move around your home or travel, and use a desktop DAC and you will get unlimited listening time. At this price, you can get headphones, a desktop DAC, and the best dongle.

​@@oxyoxi3213A dap user shouldn't be using words like clunky...😅 A dongle can be thrown into the smallest of pockets.. What about a dap? You already have a phone. Then you have something that is 3 times thicker ! Where do you keep that? Mostly you need a whole bag... So dongles win on portability by a huge margin.

I bought a DAP Last year. I did it because i was primarily listening with a Dongle or BT DAC via my Phone and 10min later im on Instagram watch a reel someone send me or watching reviews like this, for products i don't need! With a DAP i don't get this distractions and the battery last 30h and i love the volumen in 150 steps through a volumeweel

If you get into a fight and need to hurt someone, you're gonna be happy you have this in your shoulder bag.

most audiophiles logic goes like: the more expensive the bigger and heavier it needs to be

@@SuperReview Sold

You're welcome to do a convincing blind shootout video!

@@SuperReview there is no need to do a blind test among some of these players. To my ears there is a difference in how these players sound especially among the higher tier players versus entry level and mid players. The higher end players will use the best off the shelf DAC chips, RTR Ladder DAC and other DAC technologies. Also, better parts are used. The DAC implementation is tuned by the brand or company manufacturing the player. Company A player’s sound signature may be different from company B. Some players are more musical than other players. Some players will be voiced to sound more neutral than others. Sone players will use tubes which will have an impact on the sound. I’m sure there is a difference in sound from your $200 DAP versus the DAP you just reviewed. What IEM’s or headphones did you use? Using $150 IEM’s or headphones on upper tier players ain’t gonna cut it. These better DAPs demand better IEMs and headphones to hear the difference. That’s like putting $100 tires on a high end luxury car. You’ll eventually arrive at your destination but getting there will be different. High end DAPs with the best ancillary equipment is a true revelation in sound. I’ve been there…from the cheapest or entry level gear to better gear but once you get better gear there is no way you can unhear it.

@@AF-rd2vf confirmation biases can be strong, your feelings of certainty are not evidence that blind testing isn't necessary... kind of the opposite.

@@AF-rd2vfThis!!!👍🏻

​@@AF-rd2vf Always the same excuse:"These better DAPs demand better IEMs and headphones to hear the difference"