Interface and features
One of the things that sets HiBy apart when it comes to mid-tier and flagship DAPs is its determination to make its players behave like proper modern devices, rather than relics from a pre-smartphone age.
Fire up the new R6 Pro II, and you’re greeted not with some clunky, barebones UI, but with Android 12, dressed in HiBy’s own skin. That means the Play Store is right there, ready for you to download Spotify, Qobuz, Tidal, or whatever flavour of streaming service you prefer. You can also customise the UI any way you like with launchers like Nova and other interface apps, something even most “open Android” DAPs won’t allow.
Under the bonnet, the Snapdragon 665 processor, paired with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, keeps things snappy. Apps launch quickly, scrolling is smooth, and multitasking is as seamless as you’d expect from a decent smartphone. There’s also a microSD slot discreetly tucked away under the case, ready to swallow up to 2 TB of storage. In practice, you’ll need it – high-resolution FLAC and DSD files eat through gigabytes faster than you can say “box set”.
HiBy’s software tricks are among its strongest selling points. The MSEB tuner (short for Mage Sound Eight-Ball, though mercifully you don’t need to remember that) is a gloriously intuitive way to fine-tune the sound. Rather than wrestling with a dry graphic equaliser, you get a set of sliders labelled with things like “warmth”, “note thickness” and “sibilance control”. Slide them around and you can subtly (or not-so-subtly) shape the sound to your preference. It’s like having a friendly studio engineer on hand, without the technical jargon.
For those who like to tweak further, HiBy also offers a range of plugins – from convolution filters that simulate different acoustic spaces, to fixed sample rate settings and more advanced EQs. Importantly, the player supports system-wide bit-perfect playback, bypassing Android’s tendency to meddle with audio streams. That means whether you’re using HiBy’s own player, or firing up UAPP or Tidal, you can rest assured you’re hearing the full resolution your files or streams are capable of.
Wireless support is equally robust. Bluetooth 5.0 with all the usual suspects (LDAC, aptX-HD, AAC, SBC) is here, along with HiBy’s own UAT codec. The latter isn’t widely supported outside of HiBy’s own products, but it offers impressively high bitrate streaming when paired with compatible devices. There’s also two-way Bluetooth, so you can use the new R6 Pro II as a receiver for your phone if you want to piggyback off its apps. Add DLNA and AirPlay support, and you’ve got a remarkably flexible hub for your digital music.
In daily use, the experience is fluid. Whether I was flicking through Tidal playlists on the sofa, or casting FLAC files from my Plex server, the player never missed a beat. Compared to the slightly underpowered feel of the original R6 Pro II, this new model feels grown-up and confident – the kind of device you don’t have to make excuses for.
Continue to sound impressions…
