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This cheap Hi-Res Audio music player is like a modern iPod mini, with the funky colors to match

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This dual-DAC audio player mixes cute colors with serious specs

Three versions of the HiBy R3Pro II music player in orange, green and black
(Image credit: HiBy)
  • The HiBy R3Pro II is certified for wired and wireless Hi-Res Audio
  • The music player has double DACs and quad amplification
  • Amazingly affordable at just $199

If like me you miss the days of cute portable music players like the iPod mini, HiBy has just the thing: a super-cute and very small double-DAC audio player called the R3Pro II.

The R3Pro II comes in a choice of orange, silver, black or green; the orange one really reminds me of my much-missed Sony Ericsson Walkman phone with its orange highlights, while the others conjure up memories of multiple iPods.

Don't let the cute design fool you, though: the specs here are serious. According to HiBy you're looking at a "quality pocket cannon, performance monster". And the specs back that up.

Inside there are dual Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs and quad OPA1622 headphone amps capable of driving high-impedance headphones through either the 4.4mm balanced or 3.5mm stereo jacks.

A close up of the ultrasuede back of the HiBy R3Pro II music player

The green and orange models come with an Ultrasuede fabric back; other colors have a matte finish (Image credit: HiBy)

HiBy R3ProII: key features and pricing

Those amps and DACs are powered by a 4,000mAh battery with PD2.0 fast charging, and put out up to 480mW of power.

You're not limited to listening on the best wired headphones, though. The player is certified for both wired and wireless Hi-Res Audio and supports DSD256, PCM at up to 32-bit/384kHz and MQA 8X. Bluetooth is 5.1 and there's Wi-Fi too; you can have up to 2TB of storage via microSD.

You've got aptX and LDAC to beam high-quality sound to the best wireless headphones, and the R3Pro II also works with AirPlay and DLNA for Wi-Fi streaming. It has USB-C audio, USB to S/PDIF, and line outputs for connections to other audio equipment.

There are slightly different materials depending on your color choice: the green and orange ones have an Ultrasuede back, while silver and black are matte.

The specs suggest a fairly expensive device, but no: the R3Pro II is just $199. I'd expect it to cost around £199 or just under if it comes to the UK, and the US price converts to around AU$300 in Australia – though we don't have confirmation of an international release yet. Hopefully it'll come, because we could be looking at a new budget winner for our list of the best hi-res audio players.

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Carrie Marshall
Carrie Marshall

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than twenty books. Her latest, a love letter to music titled Small Town Joy, is on sale now. She is the singer in spectacularly obscure Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

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