- HIBY R3PRO II is certified for the cable and wireless hi-res sound
- The music player has double DACs and quad reinforcement
- Incredibly affordable at just $ 199
If you, like me, miss the days of cute portable music players like the iPod Mini, Hiby has just things: a super-cute and very small double-DAC audio player called R3Pro II.
R3PRO II comes in a choice of orange, silver, black or green; The orange one really reminds me of my very missing Sony Ericsson Walkman phone with his orange highlights, while the others evoke reminiscent of more iPods.
Don’t let the sweet design fool you though: The specifications here are serious. According to Hiby, you are looking at a “Quality Pocket Cannon, Performance Monster”. And the specifications back.
Inside, there is a double Cirrus logic CS43198 DACS and QUAD OPA1622 headphone amplifier capable of running high impedance headphones through either 4.4 mm balanced or 3.5 mm stereostic.
HIBY R3PROII: Key features and pricing
These amplifiers and DACs are powered by a 4,000 mAh battery with PD2.0 Quick charge and adds up to 480 MW of power.
However, you are not limited to listening to the best wired headphones. The player is certified for both the cable and wireless hi-res sound and supports DSD256, PCM at up to 32-bit/384kHz and MQA 8X. Bluetooth is 5.1 and there is also Wi-Fi; You can have up to 2 TB of storage via MicroSD.
You have APTX and LDAC to radiate high quality audio for the best wireless headphones, and R3Pro II also works with AirPlay and DLNA for Wi-Fi streaming. It has USB-C audio, USB for S/PDIF, and line outputs for connections to other audio equipment.
There are slightly different materials depending on your color choice: The green and orange have an ultra -sounded back, while silver and black are matte.
The specifications suggest a fairly expensive device but no: R3PRO II is only $ 199. I would expect it to cost around £ 199 or just below if it comes to England and the US price converts to around AU $ 300 in Australia – even if we have no confirmation of an international release yet. Hopefully it will come because we could look at a new budget winner for our list of the best hi-res sound players.
