Albeit it being a little large and chunky. It packs a punch and drives most headphones well too. This has the snappiest OS of all their devices and also best sound quality. I also enjoyed the RS6 but this is another step above!
Do you want everything in a Digital Audio Player (DAP)? Do you want a DAP that you would be willing to keep even if the "next best thing" arrives? Do you want a DAP allows you to alter the sound in so many ways, it'll make your head spin? Do you want a DAP that tells all the others, "Hold my beer"? Well, it won't be cheap, and it won't be light in weight but the HiBy RS8 is not your run-of-the-mill high-end DAP either. Unlike most other DAPs that use a brand name Digital Audio Converter (DAC) chip, the RS8’s R2R DAC uses a large number of transistors in equal numbers for each channel and controlled by a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to convert your digital music into a form the amplifier can boost and send to your headphones/iem’s or other external device. That DSP can be software upgraded to refine or even change the music quality so if you want warm and lush sound or more neutral or more analytical the RS8 has the settings and controls that let you do that.
The Amplifier on the RS8 is also not based on a chip (although there are chips that regulate but not change the analog channels. The amp has two modes; Class A which provides a very analog sound (and will warm up the RS8), and Class B which provides more power for sensitive or power-hungry headphones.
There are so many features available for the user. Based on Android 12, any musical or streaming apps can be loaded and used although I find the HiBy player to be just fine! WiFi and Bluetooth are both supported and can let your player be controlled from another device while at the same time streaming music to an external Bluetooth speaker. The RS8 can serve as a digital music source for and external DAC, line-out analog to an external amp, or function as a usb DAC for your computer or other device.
If you need to use some or all the features on the RS8 for any real amount of time then you need a beefy battery. The 12000mAh battery should provide plenty of juice to let you listen to music the way you want. If power gets low, the RS8 supports a number of fast-charge protocols.
I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface (don’t do that, the finish is beautiful.) of what the RS8 can do. It is designed to be a top-of-the-line DAP with an architecture and features that will be hard to beat. And it has a sound that it hard to beat. Lastly, don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t sound perfect from the beginning. Research on R2R DACs indicates you need to invest some break-in (or stabilizing) time for the DAC’s transistors to settle. 20-100 hours of playing music should bring quite a change to the sound quality, usually for the better.
If there were ever a reason to go broke (Please Don't!) on a piece of expensive personal audio, the RS8 maybe it. But it could also serve you for a long, long time.
just into 3rd hour of burning in, so this is just partial, just a glimpse of what is going to be revealed after proper burn in. sofar, everything so good with sound quality ticked in for me. so, ill just have to be quick. all that i will not mention, i consider excellent.
bass - huge, but not overwhelming for me. doesnt bleed to blunt the mids and highs. just that reverberation, rumble that i havent heard yet from my experience, just now. it is ever present, up and down, left and right, and in front and back.
sibilance - not at all. smooth. just right for my ears.
black background - i could hear details, dynamics, spaces in between.. considering that i have tinnitus. it's the Bone Conduction driver working its way. have yet to listen at lower volumes for further observations and surprises.
the legend evo is indeed a breakthrough.
🤟🤟🤟
The build quality is very good. It has great soundstage and warm bass
Sometimes the price paid buys great performance, sometimes not. In this case, the extra dollars spent for the 2022 version of the Utopia delivers premium and accurate sound that will make the best recordings let you feel like you are in the presence of the performers, very engaging and involving. That said, they also well let you know when you are listening to some music whose recording process was less than stellar, so do not expect magic sound on everything. But for those recordings that are very well done, you will experience a magic sound that does not emphasis one aspect of the music over another, it just plays what your equipment can produce from your recordings. Get a better DAC and keep rehearing new details in your collection. Highly recommended.
