HiBy Music's new Android 12 R4 discrete Class A music player is just such an example, being whatever you want it to be – a pocket rocket compact travel companion or beginner DAP. Stocks arrive mid-May.
We've seen this before: just HiBy pushing the boundaries of what's capable at the very top, but also at the bottom. Built on four low-power consumption ESS Technology DACs and two dedicated word clocks, pocket rockets like R4 – at this price – were what Head-Fi used to dream about.
Able to decode streams off Spotify, Hi-Res Lossless Apple Music, Tidal and whatever you could download from HiBy's open Android Google Play Store, R4 is an affordable audiophile's dream. It goes right onto Headfonia's Recommended Buys list.
That fidelity flows on to be translated into difficult, committed audiophile IEM loads too. Eschewing the de rigueur op-amps that you've gotten blaissé about – the ones that other manufacturers fit even into their mid-tier players – HiBy asks you to choose R4's superior discrete Class A output stage instead. [See Product Desc. For More]