Performance Representing Nationally Manufactured Bricks - HiBy RS8 Flagship Portable Music Player

RS is the abbreviation of Rennsport in German, which means racing car. Unlike regular cars, it has enhanced performance and is superior in all aspects. The core parts, such as engine output power and torque, are stronger. Audio products that can use the RS name naturally apply all their technological reserves and are considered "supercars" in the field. Today I am going to introduce the HiBy RS8 flagship portable music player recently launched by HiBy Music.

HiBy entered the public eye starting with the HiBy Music App and has since then accumulated core technologies such as audio underlying algorithms, digital-to-analog conversion technology, and analog amplification circuits, covering a complete professional audio playback chain. The popularity of its previous product, R8, is beyond doubt. The all-new RS8 has the title of "the perfection of perfection" and naturally applies all their technological reserves. With a pure titanium alloy body, second-generation DARWIN architecture, R2R technology, Class A headphone amplifier, Turbo mode, and the HiByOS audio system based on Android 12, RS8's sound completeness is extremely high, the scene is grand, and the wave is not surprising.

All of HiBy's technological reserves have been applied.

The overall appearance of RS8 inherits the HiBy family-style exterior design. The material used on the casing is luxurious, and the appearance looks noticeably more refreshing and upscale compared to R8. The body is made of titanium alloy - a significant qualitative leap in texture compared to the previous aluminum alloy and stainless steel materials. The RS8 titanium alloy body uses an integrated molding technology. The entire titanium alloy is subjected to CNC precision processing. According to the official statement, it has undergone 17 advanced processes and meticulous polishing for 19 hours. The contours are clear, and the back of the body uses exposure and development technology, with a brushed design combining RS and DARWIN diamond patterns. The screen adopts a 16:9 Corning Gorilla glass with a 5.5-inch 1920x1080 resolution and 443 PPI, equipped with an oil-repellent layer. The output interface is equipped with 3.5 single-ended, 4.4 balanced headphone ports, and a linear output port, which basically meets the requirements for most situations.

The second-generation DARWIN architecture.

The audio section of the HiBy RS8 utilizes the second-generation DARWIN architecture and R2R technology. HiBy enthusiasts familiar with the products know that the RS series is a complete high-definition audio processing architecture based on the R2R structure, independently developed by HiBy. Building upon traditional R2R technology, the RS series integrates new technologies, including R2R resistor network linear technology, pure FIR filters, harmonic controllers, NOS/OS switching, and DSD pass-through functions, applied to portable playback devices. HiBy has full control over the entire architecture, allowing for adjustments and upgrades in each part to achieve control over the overall sound quality.

It is precisely because of the sustainable evolution of the DARWIN architecture that the RS8 is equipped with the latest second-generation DARWIN architecture, enabling the RS8 to achieve an astonishing audio hardware decoding specification of DSD1024/PCM1536, and equipped with 12 electronic switches and 184 high-precision resistors, creating the RS8 resistor network, which is twice as advanced as the R8. To pursue even more extreme transient performance, a zero-level correction circuit was added and a non-coupled direct output mode was adopted, bringing the dynamic and transient performance of the RS8 to a new level.

As is well known, the sound characteristics of R2R are stable and robust, with ample high-frequency sense, abundant musicality, and a very full sound performance that is true and natural. The core of the second-generation DARWIN architecture is its conquer of R2R technology. By adding a high-precision resistor network, the digital signal is driven through the high-speed electronic switch to the divider resistor in the resistor network, and the different divider values can be accurately converted into analog signals corresponding to the original encoding, effectively eliminating unfavorable high-frequency noise and digital flavor produced during playback, and reproducing the original and natural sound.

NOS/OS mode can be switched freely.

The classic feature of the RS series is the ability to freely switch between NOS/OS modes, providing the perfect choice to meet everyone's needs. In NOS mode, the signal response speed is faster, with direct analog conversion of the original data, preserving the original flavor of the music. In OS mode, combined with the characteristic functions of the DARWIN architecture, personalized adjustments of the sound can be achieved, and different earphones/headphones can be adapted accordingly by combining adjustments, providing extremely high flexibility and playability.

The RS8 has an extremely rich and luxurious audio accessory, equipped with two dedicated femtosecond audio crystals: 45.158MHz and 49.152MHz, effectively reducing phase noise and clock jitter, as low as -159dBc/Hz@1KHz offset.

In addition, 4 ELNA SILMIC II Brown God 2nd generation silk audio capacitors, 47 high-density large-capacity tantalum capacitors, and 10 Panasonic film audio capacitors are also used to ensure pure power output, better ripple suppression ratio, lower total harmonic distortion, and reject background noise. The result is a quiet and pure black background, with details that are fully presented, down to the finest detail.

One-key full power output Turbo mode.

In the amplification part, the RS8 adopts an A-class headphone amplifier system, which can freely switch between A-class amplification and AB-class amplification. It consists of 2 driving op-amps OPA1652 and 8 NXP composite transistors. The A-class headphone amplifier produces a full and energetic sound, and is not afraid of large dynamic music types. It can easily drive large headphones and various earplugs. In terms of output, it is equipped with 3.5mm PO+3.5mm LO output and 4.4mm PO+4.4mm LO output, all of which support independent volume memory, which can basically meet the requirements of most situations.

The RS8 still has a Turbo mode, which can be turned on with one click to achieve better sound! Turning on Turbo mode will increase the power supply voltage of the headphone amplifier at the hardware level, increase the power reserve by 25%, and change the working state of the headphone amplifier, which provides a wider dynamic range and larger push output. It can easily drive any large headphones or high-impedance earplugs!

As mentioned earlier, the RS8 uses a large 12000mAh battery, which is specifically designed to provide powerful power reserves for the A-class headphone amplifier and audio output in Turbo mode! After turning on A-class, the RS8's single-ended endurance can still reach 8 hours, and balanced output can reach 6 hours. Music is always around, without fear of time passing by.

Four independent power supply design.

The RS8 adopts four independent power supplies management for digital, decoding, preamp, and output. The headphone amplifier power supply is composed of 2 low-ripple DC/DC and 6 high magnetic flux density, ultra-low internal resistance, and fully shielded large power inductors, and the PO/BAL PO headphone amplifier is independently powered; The LPF power supply is powered by DC/DC boost chip+7 positive and negative LDOs, and the left and right channels are independently powered; The R2R power supply is composed of 1 DC/DC boost chip and 2 ultra-low-ripple LDOs, and the left and right channels are independently powered. To deal with the high heat generated during heavy usage, the RS8 is custom-made with a pure copper heat-conducting battery frame to quickly dissipate heat from the body, ensuring a suitable internal temperature and high-speed machine operation.

The RS8 adopts the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of ROM, providing powerful performance and computing capabilities. It is the first to be equipped with the Android 12 system, which optimizes delay and workload allocation, improves performance of key system processes, adjusts the logic of background service operation, redesigns the underlying system, improves system smoothness, and responds faster with higher power efficiency!

In terms of wireless transmission, it supports 2.4G/5.0G dual-band Wi-Fi, DLNA/AirPlay/Wi-Fi music streaming. For Bluetooth, it is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0, supporting bidirectional Bluetooth, and multiple high-definition Bluetooth coding technologies, including UAT, LDAC, aptX, aptX HD, AAC, and SBC.

In addition to the RS8 main unit, HiBy has specially designed an audio dock CR08 to meet the needs of many users who have desktop systems. The CR08 dock is designed specifically for the RS8, with independent power supply and semiconductor cooling, and with magnetic suction function to easily attach the RS8 weighing nearly 600 grams. At the same time, the CR08 dock also has rich connectivity functions, including RCA, XLR, and optical fiber outputs, making it more convenient and quick to connect to desktop systems. It can be said that it is an important accessory for expanding the usage scenarios of the RS8.

In addition to the new RS8, HiBy has also introduced a new app called HiByCast, which supports wireless remote control of the entire system globally. It can smoothly control all functions of the unit from mobile phones, tablets, and other devices, which is different from HiByLink that can only control the HiBy Music app. HiByCast can be used to remotely control the player through various smart devices, providing a convenient and easy solution.

Overall

HiBy Music is a brand that is very good at summarizing and adjusting. With each new generation of products, the direction for improvement and adjustment is found in the summary of the previous generation of products and user feedback. In addition, this year, many high-end players have gradually shown a trend towards "desktopification", where higher indicators and greater power have become the standard for competition. The RS8 can meet almost all of our requirements for a high-end portable player, and with the CR08, it can also be used as a desktop device to construct a stable "desktop system".