Opus #2 Digital Audio Player Discussions | Drop

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Opus #2 Digital Audio Player

Apr 6, 2019

There have been a lot of questions about this DAP and the Hiby R6 Pro. I had the same questions, so I did the only sensible thing and got both. Both DAPs arrived about 2 hours apart, and I've only had them for a couple days at this point, so keep in mind that I've barely had enough time with them to form coherent opinions. However, they did each make some strong first impressions that I felt were worth sharing here: The first thing I noticed about the Opus is that it sounds excellent. It comes preloaded with a trio of 192kHz jazz tracks, and they are absolutely clean with an open and detailed presentation. I listened to these on my Stellias, and it was readily apparent to my how the Opus #2 earned a reputation for good sound quality. I'll need to spend more time with tracks I know before I'm comfortable generalizing about performance, but there's certainly a lot of promise here. Unfortunately, the second thing I noticed about the Opus is that the software is a hot mess. Seriously, it's bad. The default player/navigation is OK, but since I only had 3 songs on the player it was no time at all before I went looking for Tidal (or anything else). One thing that really concerns me: is there no search function??? By the time I get a large library onto the Opus, I hope it's easy enough to find what I want to hear. You have to pull down a menu, click on Settings, then click "Streaming" just to find out that there are no pre-loaded streaming apps (e.g., no Tidal or Spotify). There is a generic "NetOpusPlayer," but it feels more like a barebones tool for testing at the factory than a finished product that belongs on your DAP. I was able to locate the FLAC files on my NAS, but browsing the file structure was frustratingly slow, and after clicking "play" it took something like 2-3 seconds for the player to indicate it was even trying to play the song. It worked, and it sounded great, but the whole process was clunky to the point that it's not something I expect to ever use again. Meanwhile, the first thing I noticed about the R6 Pro is how much more it feels like a complete, polished, feature-rich product. It's well-built, looks and feels nice, and is as easy to navigate as any other Android device. Operating it feels like operating a phone without the phone part. It even comes preloaded with a calculator, calendar, clock, and you can set a custom desktop image. Nice! There are no included music files on the R6 Pro (really, Hiby?!), but my slight disappointment with that decision evaporated as soon as I opened the Google Play store, downloaded Roon Remote, and gained access to my entire music collection. Roon won't work outside my home, so next I downloaded Tidal, which allowed me download tracks for offline use; I queued up half a dozen albums. So, with next to zero effort on my part, I had hundreds of quality tracks ready to go anywhere, and thousands more readily accessible from anywhere with a WiFi connection. I've been listening to downloaded Tidal content via Noble K10s and absolutely loving that combo. The sound quality of the R6 Pro is at least "very, very good," though not flawless. My WiFi at home sucks (old router), and when my connection dropped I picked up some noise out of the R6, but otherwise it has been perfectly quiet with no noticeable interference. I'm not convinced the Hiby will keep up with the Opus in terms of pure sound quality, but I'm also not convinced it won't. Perhaps the most damning indictment of the Opus is that I haven't cared enough yet to find out. I've been too busy to bother jumping through all the hoops of side-loading apps and filling up both players with FLACs.

I'm liking the Hiby enough that it's already an easy recommendation for me at this price point, especially if you want to stream music and appreciate an easy-to-use DAP that is stuffed with features and capabilities. If, on the other hand, sound quality is king and your primary music source will be your own collection on however many SD cards, then the Opus is a strong contender.

Apr 6, 2019

silverthornne

279

May 13, 2019

SpeleoFoolSorry to hijack on the Opus #2 thread, but you mention the HiBy R6 Pro and streaming so I thought I'd ask. Does it support Tidal MQA? I won't get into a debate into whether it's good for the industry or not, I am just bummed that my R6 does not and the R3 does and figured they may have chosen to add that feature to the R6 Pro while leaving the old R6 in the dust.

May 13, 2019

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SpeleoFool

675

May 14, 2019

silverthornneSeems to, yes. I get the "MASTER" icon under the playback controls when playing back an MQA track. I assume that means full MQA support, although I'm not sure how to confirm bit-rate / unfolds via the Tidal app. Sound quality seems hi-res on the tracks I've sampled. FWIW, I can download MQA albums as well and still get the "MASTER" icon while playing those back. :-)

May 14, 2019

ShaunLee

Jul 15, 2019

SpeleoFoolthx for your insightful input! Could you please tell us how much you paid for R6 pro? In canada, R6 pro can be had for $800+ CDN, and this one is around 1100 CDN after conversion, which makes R6 pro a no brainer. I dont quite get it why MD feels ashamed of for products from China (I mean, HIFI products). in DAP market, Chinese products are leading the league (only brand can catch the game is Astell and Kern, IMO). for 800 USD DAP, you can pick R6 pro, Dx220, Dx200 + amp9, N6ii, R2R2000, just so many options there.

Jul 15, 2019

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SpeleoFool

675

Jul 15, 2019

ShaunLeeI paid us$799 for my R6 Pro. Incidentally, Amazon has the R6 Pro on sale for us$699 right now for Prime Day. (Mass)Drop doesn't seem to shy away from ChiFi for desktop offerings. Topping, SMSL and Aune all make good gear that sells here regularly. For DAPs, however, options seem more limited. Maybe it's more difficult to negotiate decent drop deals for DAPs?

Jul 15, 2019

KayLF

Jul 19, 2019

SpeleoFoolHi! Thanks so much for this review, it’s really helpful. Wondering if you still recommend the Hiby6 Pro? I’m looking for a DAP that will stream offline (downloaded first as you described) but will also drive 30ohm headphones. Are there any players other than the Hiby that would fit this bill in present day? Thank you so much for any input you may have!

Jul 19, 2019

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Interceptor69

Aug 29, 2019

KayLFHiby just announced a new R5- looks great on paper for$400.

Aug 29, 2019

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