摘要：The Hiby R1, Hiby's latest entry-level model for Hi-Fi enthusiasts, arrived at my door, and I was excited to put it through its pa

Affliction Note: Hiby sent this unit for review.

The Hiby R1, Hiby's latest entry-level model for Hi-Fi enthusiasts, arrived at my door, and I was excited to put it through its paces. As a music lover always on the lookout for the perfect blend of portability, sound quality, and features, I was eager to see how this player would stack up.

Overall, it met my expectations for an $85 player. It offered good sound performance for its price range, and there were many options and features that enhanced its usability. Some of these, like the built-in AirPlay receiver and Wi-Fi music transfer, are genuinely useful in today’s digital age.

Using the Hiby R1 brought back memories of using old-style music players, allowing me to focus on the details of my favorite songs.

Here are my thoughts on this product:

The Hiby R1 is lightweight and fits comfortably in hand, thanks to its rounded corners and matte finish on the back and frame. It’s easy to carry around without feeling weighed down.

The unit I have is green, which gives it a subtle look. The shade leans toward olive, adding a touch of color to the dark back and semi-transparent frame. You can see some of the internal components through the body, and an LED light shines through the frame. On the front, the 3-inch display fits well within the body and has relatively thin bezels.

I appreciate the effort to reduce the weight, but the plastic material does feel a bit cheap. However, considering it’s an entry-level product, this is understandable.

On the side, there are power and control buttons similar to those on a classic Walkman. Unfortunately, they don’t provide good tactile feedback, and it’s hard to adjust the volume or skip tracks when the player is in your pocket. Unlike some competitors that add raised dots to help identify the buttons by touch, these buttons can be confusing.

At the bottom, there’s the audio output port, a USB-C port, and a Micro SD card slot. The 3.5mm audio port is quite tight, probably because the manufacturer anticipated frequent plugging and unplugging of earphones, so you might need to use a bit of force to plug your headphones in position.

Now, let’s discuss the sound performance of the Hiby R1. I tried it with the following devices I have:

My first impression is that the sound is clear and slightly cold. Unlike general wireless earbuds connected to smartphones, I don’t need to increase the volume to hear more details. Even at moderate levels, I can catch the details in high-bitrate tracks. It’s enjoyable to discover new elements in songs I’m familiar with, which justifies investing in a dedicated audio player, even as a beginner.

I appreciate that the sound feels natural without heavy digital processing. It’s not like the overly filtered audio you might get from bargain wireless earbuds. I can listen for longer periods without feeling tired. The neutral while slightly cold sound is more engaging and pulls my string through long hours.

However, I wish for better instrumental and vocal performance. I’m a big fan of vocals, especially those with high pitches. I found that these notes lack depth and extension, diminishing the passion and ethereal quality that artists aim to convey.

This also affects how the background instruments sound – crisp percussion and melodious violins may feel slightly underwhelming.

The bass performance is similar. The overall sound is flat. Hiby R1 seems to focus on providing detailed sound while reducing emphasis on both the low and high ends of the frequency spectrum. Some might not prefer this approach. Unfortunately, the EQ settings don’t significantly alter the sound to a more vivid tone, if that’s what you’re looking for.

One more thing mention, there’s no annoying background noise that you often find in audio devices – not until you have the player connected to a charger.

One of the joys of using such devices is the variety of options they offer, and the Hiby R1 satisfies that curiosity.

In the main interface, a notable section is “Wireless.” There are three features that caught my interest: “Import Music via Wi-Fi,” and two local streaming protocols – AirPlay and DLNA.

Importing songs to the device is easy through its web interface, and I enjoy the wireless experience. The transfer speed may be slower than using a card reader, but it’s much more convenient.

Imported music is categorized and accessible by artists, albums, or genres. The system labels different tracks to identify their format and sound quality. You can also create playlists on the device to keep your music organized.

Hiby R1 builts with the first-generation AirPlay, so the sound quality and latency aren’t as good as with AirPlay 2 receivers. But it’s still nice to have when I want to stream music from sources like Apple Music or Spotify. Overall stability is good, with about a second of delay when controlling playback, which is due to the limitations of the protocol.

There’s an issue when streaming with AirPlay – the volume is quite low, so you have to turn it up to the maximum which is concerning. Because once you disconnect from AirPlay and play local tracks, you might be startled by extremely loud sounds. I hope they can fix this issue with a software update.

DLNA support provides more options. For instance, I can access my media library from my local NAS via a Home Assistant interface and stream music to the Hiby R1 wirelessly and losslessly, with better performance than AirPlay.

The Hiby R1 also supports two major lossless music services – TIDAL and Qobuz. It offers basic features, but I experienced a severe crash while using them, which required a forced reboot to fix. Speaking of crashes, you may encounter system crashes during regular use. It might disrupt your listening, but it doesn’t happen frequently enough to be a major issue.

Regarding playback options, in addition to regular settings like fade-out, balance, and sound field, it has a detailed console to adjust the sound output. It provides specific labels to help you understand the effects of adjustments—for example, sliders labeled “Cool/Bright vs. Warm/Dark” and “Recessed/Crisp vs. Forward/Radio Edit.”

You might have fun experimenting with these settings, but I think it would be helpful to have some presets for specific music genres to get you started and make it easier to use.

That’s probably the hardest question to answer, as the sound experience would vary for different people and perference.

It could be a good option for those interested in trying out a Hi-Fi player at an affordable price. The Hiby R1 offers all the essentials with plenty of features to explore.

However, the overall build quality and user experience have some drawbacks. If you’re used to sound profiles with extra bass and treble, its balanced while plain output might not meet your expectations.

来源：撩HiFi一点号