Tech-N-Things

Finally, I got it right pretty much on the first time. This is exactly want I had hoped for in a DAP. There are some out there that you have to shift through that don’t live up to my love about music nor the access of that music. My very first one was horrible and it was purchased before I even understood what I was looking for(Hiby m300). It was horrible in functions and horrible in sound. Not sure why anyone would ever buy that product for music quality. As time went by I found out more about myself and what truly would be a benefit for me. I also found out what my none negotiable were and that was key.

• The player has to have Android OS for apps like Apple Music and Audible.
• It has to contain 4.4 and 3.5 connections.
• It has to be durable.
• It has to have sound quality that would be greater than my smartphone.
• It had to have more battery life than my smartphone for music playback times.
• The OS system had to be consistent in it’s response and navigation
• Lastly I didn’t want a player that was wider or taller than my smartphone.

And so when I saw that Hiby had another DAP a little bigger but with seemly better specs and performance, it took a second to trust the brand name again to buy. I was going to go with with many others but I didn’t see a more affordable / functioning DAP balance on the market. Most others ran at least $359 but the R4 was different at $250 containing if not more function and advantage, the same. Plus, I had concerns over the money spent on something I still wasn’t sure I wanted to carry around with me in addition to my phone. I hated the thought of having a additional item that pretty much did the same thing as something I already carried on me. This was and is still the biggest struggle.

But to a lot of credit to M.Wat(https://www.youtube.com/@MikeWat), a YouTuber friend of mine really stood by me and kept me on my toes about finishing up strong on this category. As a audiophile this was the only thing left I didn’t have to compliment my life in sound. He kept pushing me to moving forward with the idea of finally getting a good DAP. He had just gotten his R6 III by Hiby and he was in love, he stated. So I felt going with Hiby one more time would at the very least give me a clean picture of what I wanted from a DAP and the reality of caring one.

So with my Final Audio B3 in hand all I needed was the DAP to compliment it and this is exactly what the Hiby R4 did. By default the sound quality creates a more realistic timbre and tonality vs what I was getting on my smartphone. It also brought out a little more bass that complimented the Hifi fidelity focus of the B3, but adding just enough to help the bass role off that can be present while the B3 focuses on the treble extension. If I had to guess, these two create a sound more like Final Audio’s A8000 IEM who gave the balance of fidelity and dynamics.

Then apps like Apple Music, Youtube, and Amazon Audible worked perfectly on this unit. Everything is just a bit better in every way in sound when you listen to books, podcast, YouTube videos, and music. Best of all, finally, I can save battery power on my phone by not wasting it on music and streaming all day when I have this. This little beast can go up to 11 hours. I also can download my playlist from Apple music or Audible so even when I’m not in the house by WIFI, I have access to the music, so I’m never without.

Overall, I’m enjoying this DAP and find it very enjoyable and “Useful” which is a different conclusion than I believed I would have at one time. And yes I’m sure there are plenty of more expensive DAPs out there just like they are more expensive headphones and IEM’s. But just like all those, the same low and diminishing returns exist on DAP’s too. And something tells me that a lot of players have better Default sound but a lot of players also have the ability to get close to those other with adjustments to the vast EQ and Sound adjustment that I haven’t even touched yet in mine that can change the way the music is sounds. So I could be further blown away once this dived into. Something tells me though up front that the price to performance ratio on this is probably spot on but time will tell. So right now things look promising but it’s still very early and I’m not sure if there issues I haven’t experienced yet that will change my mind. I’ll need to spend more time with it before I give it a final score.