HiBy R8 II
Flagship Android DAP with Darwin-MPA architecture and Class A/AB amplification
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Pros
- Proprietary Darwin-MPA 16-way current-mode PWM DAC delivers natural, analog-like resolution
- Freely switchable Class A and Class AB discrete amplification with high-voltage Turbo mode
- Dedicated physical 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm ports for both headphone outputs and line outputs
- Surgical-grade stainless steel chassis with genuine Alcantara back panel and 5.9-inch 1080p display
- Massive 12,000 mAh battery delivers up to 20 hours of playback with 20W fast charging
Cons
- Substantial 515 g weight and thick chassis make it less pocket-friendly than compact DAPs
- Flagship luxury price tag puts it far beyond entry-level budget players
- Class A amplification mode generates noticeable warmth during prolonged listening sessions
Updated
Details and specs
The HiBy R8 II is a reference-grade Android digital audio player (DAP) engineered as a portable concert hall. At its core is HiBy’s proprietary Darwin-MPA (Multiphase PWM Array) architecture, an in-house developed 16-channel discrete current-mode PWM DAC driven by a custom FPGA matrix. This architecture oversamples input signals up to 16x and modulates them into high-speed PWM streams, eliminating the phase distortions common to delta-sigma chipsets and producing an organic, effortless analog presentation.
Amplification is handled by dual independent Class A and Class AB discrete amplifier stages powered by dual ADA4625-2 high-current op-amps and 16 custom bipolar transistors. Listeners can toggle between Class A’s full-bodied musical density and Class AB’s high-efficiency playback on the fly, with a software-selectable Turbo mode providing elevated supply rail voltage to deliver up to 710 mW at 32 Ω (and up to 7.5 Vrms) on the 4.4 mm balanced output. Four independent physical gold-plated jacks on the bottom panel provide dedicated headphone and line outputs for both 3.5 mm single-ended and 4.4 mm balanced interconnects.
- Proprietary Darwin-MPA discrete 16-way current-mode PWM DAC architecture
- Decoding support up to native DSD1024, PCM 32-bit / 1536 kHz, and 16x MQA unfolding
- Dual-mode Class A / Class AB discrete amplification with high-voltage Turbo mode
- Balanced 4.4 mm headphone output power: 710 mW @ 32 Ω (4.7 Vrms standard, 7.5 Vrms Turbo)
- Single-ended 3.5 mm headphone output power: 225 mW @ 32 Ω (3.0 Vrms Turbo)
- Output impedance 1 Ω on both 3.5 mm single-ended and 4.4 mm balanced jacks
- Dedicated physical 3.5 mm line out and 4.4 mm balanced line out
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC with 8 GB RAM, 256 GB internal storage, and microSD slot
- Open Android 12 with system-wide bit-perfect Direct Transfer Architecture (DTA)
- 5.9-inch 1080p+ (2160 × 1080) IPS touchscreen display with oleophobic glass
- Surgical-grade high-gloss stainless steel chassis with genuine Alcantara backing
- 12,000 mAh internal battery supporting 20W USB PD2.0 quick charging
- Dual-band Wi-Fi, two-way Bluetooth 5.0 (LDAC, aptX HD, AAC, SBC, UAT), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2
- HiByCast wireless remote control and screen mirroring
- Released late 2023
