Sound Analysis.

The sound analysis is based on my tests and experience with R6 2020 in comparison to other similar DAPs and multiple pair-ups of IEMs and headphones in my collection. All the IEMs and headphones that were used are listed at the end of the article in the ‘Gear used for testing and review’ section.

R6 2020 has a very natural, slightly warm-ish sound signature and steps it up even more in richness and detail retrieval compared to its predecessor, R6 Pro. It’s not bright as iBasso DX160 and neither clinical and dry as the Fiio M11. What impressed me right off the bat is its musicality with every IEM and headphone I paired with it. It has a very nice clean, wide and involving soundstage. It clearly outperforms the R6 Pro, DX160 and M11 in engagement and enjoyment factor as well as sound refinement.

Noise levels – Waterfall hissing is very faint with Campfire Andromeda v2 plugged into 3.5mm SE in Low Gain and almost non-existent with other low impedance multi-BA IEMs from my collection like Custom Art Fibae7, TSMR-3Pro, BGVP VG4, Craft Six, Craft Four, etc. With Andromeda plugged into 3.5mm SE in Low Gain, I can only hear it very faintly for a second or so when I pause the song before the DAC goes on standby or in the rare song where only one instrument is playing (not all songs), but you got to focus hard to hear it. I definitely don’t hear it in busy sections of songs. It is ever so slightly more prominent with Andromeda plugged into 4.4mm balanced output but it’s not substantial enough for me personally and I don’t use the balanced outputs for sensitive IEMs anyway. In general with most IEMs and headphones I have, R6 2020 presents a very nice clean black background which I quite dig and like!

There is however a noticeable loud pop/click every time I change the track when listening to MQA tracks on TIDAL. Having noticed the LED light switching from green to orange every time the track changes, I’m guessing R6 first switches to TIDAL HiFi (Green light indication) while it unfolds MQA and then switches to MQA (Orange light) once it’s done and that switch to MQA after complete unfolding is what triggers that loud pop/click sound. I highly appreciate R6 2020 having 16x MQA unfolding capability but I hope they can find a fix for this since it is prominently audible. 

Driving Power – R6 2020 is a fairly powerful DAP with 245mW power available from the 3.5mm SE and 750mW available from the 4.4mm BAL output. It can drive most IEMs with absolute ease, be it dynamic drivers, multi-BAs or hybrids/tri-brids. As for headphones, R6 2020 easily drives the 300Ω Sennheiser HD 6XX to good levels with the SE in High Gain (vol around 85) but drives it even more easily with the 4.4mm BAL out in High Gain (vol around 72). I generally switch to High Gain when using headphones for more headroom and ease of drivability. 

Select quick pairing impressions.

Sennheiser HD 6XX –  I primarily used R6 2020’s 4.4mm BAL in High Gain since HD 6XX is a 300Ω headphones and it allows easy drivability with a bit more headroom. Paired with the R6 2020, HD 6XX has nice warmth in the mids, very clean bass character and a rich but always smooth treble presentation. Soundstage width is wider than the Fiio M11.  

HifiMan Sundara – R6 2020 is easily able to drive Sundara even from the SE output. Right off the bat, Sundara’s upper-treble sounds more refined and lower-midrange has a nicer, warmer character when paired with R6 2020. The sound signature sounds a bit more musical than clinical in this pairing. Soundstage width and depth boundaries are more noticeable than other DAPs I’ve tried it with. 

64 Audio U12t – I particularly like how clean and precise U12t’s bass sounds with R6 2020. U12t’s tia driver upper-treble peak too sounds more refined compared to both DX160 and Fiio M11. Soundstage is holographic, has a very nice black background with clean reverb trail depth picturisation.  

Craft Ears Six – Paired with R6 2020, CE6’s signature upper-treble peak sounds more refined, sub-bass has good resolution, lower midrange sounds more musical and soundstage is holographic, both nice wide and deep. 

Moondrop S8 – I quickly perceive the soundstage very nicely holographic, clean and resolving in this pairing. Again, sub-bass is more precise and has cleaner impact whereas midrange is presented very musically.

Moondrop KXXS – Most prominently, I perceive KXXS’ bass cleaner, more resolving and having better rumble in this pairing. Soundstage sounds cleaner with good instrument imaging and treble being rich and resolving. 

Quick comparisons with other DAPs.

HiBy R6 Pro

While R6 2020’s output power specs of both 3.5mm SE and 4.4mm BAL are the same as R6 Pro, R6 2020 improves on almost everything else and seems like a completely new DAP. To list a few, R6 2020 runs newer Android 9.0, has a much faster Snapdragon 660 SoC, has more RAM & ROM (4GB RAM + 64GB ROM), a higher resolution and bigger 5.0″ 1080p screen, newer dual ES9038Q2M DAC, newer quad OPA1612 Op amps, supports higher DSD512 and PCM768kHz/32Bit, has independent isolated power supplies, supports USB3.1 and Bluetooth 5.0, has a bigger 4500mAh battery, etc. HiBy have an R6 2020 vs R6 Pro vs R6 table at the bottom of their R6 2020 product page for people who are interested in comparing all the specs (link).

IMO, R6 2020 looks even better with its all black brushed aluminium finish, is way faster and has a better overall user experience and engagement factor. R6 2020’s has a very low noise floor (almost close to non-existent) with most of the sensitive multi-BA IEMs in my collection, except for mild hissing with the infamous hiss monster Andromeda. It is much better than R6 Pro in this regard, nor has the WiFi interference noise problem that the R6 Pro had. Sound wise, R6 2020 and R6 Pro are similar in the broader picture but I perceive R6 2020’s sound signature being richer, more vivid and musical, having a slightly wider soundstage, with clearer bass precision, slightly more micro-detail retrieval and more refined treble presentation compared to R6 Pro. I feel R6 2020 is even more versatile as I feel it is a bit more refined and pairs better and more easily with most IEMs and headphones in my collection. Overall, I think R6 2020 is a worthy successor and upgrade over the previous R6 Pro in all departments. 

iBasso DX160

Quickly, DX160 has a Rockchip Octa-core SoC, 2GB RAM/32GB ROM, dual CS43198 DAC and a 3200mAh battery. Specs wise, there is no competition, barring the screens. DX160 too has a very nice 5.0″ 1080p screen but besides that R6 2020 is better in all departments as it a much faster DAP and has better and more high end technology inside. DX160’s UI is sluggish in comparison to R6 2020. Sound wise, DX160 is no slouch but is slightly brighter as well as has a tiny bit more mid-bass compared to R6 2020. R6 2020 has a smoother, more musical tonality, is richer in its presentation, has more precise bass presentation, a wider soundstage and better micro-detail retrieval while keeping everything sounding neutrally smooth. 

Fiio M11 

M11 has a Samsung Exynos 7872 SoC, dual AK4493EQ DAC, dual OPA1642 Op amps, dual OPA926 Amp, 5.15″ 720p screen, 3GB RAM & 32GB ROM, dual micro-SD slots, 3800 mAh battery, USB2.0 and Bluetooth 4.2 support. It does have better battery life averaging 13 hours with SE and 9 hours with BAL use but besides that, R6 2020 does everything better specs, speed and technology wise. As per AnTuTu benchmark test, R6 2020 is twice as fast as M11. Looks wise too, R6 2020 is a much more premium and classier looking DAP with better ergonomics, bevelled edges and better looking higher resolution screen. Sound wise, R6 2020 is simply a much better DAP. It sounds more musical, richer, engaging, has a more involving and bigger soundstage, cleaner and better bass impact, smoother but richer treble presentation and better micro-detail retrieval without ever sounding clinical or dry, which the M11 has the tendency to come off as to a lot of people. 

Conclusion. 

R6 2020 is a DAP that’s come closest to perfect out of all the DAPs I’ve had the pleasure of owning or trying. It is fairly light, has a very nice form factor, is one of the fastest Android DAPs available in the market (almost as fast as the flagship R8 as per our tests), has great overall build quality, a nice big 5.0″ 1080p screen, class leading technology inside, good output power figures and a very musical and engaging sound signature which I like most amongst all the other DAPs I have in my collection. Except for the rotary encoder’s volume response of my unit hanging occasionally, I can’t really list any cons. All in all, HiBy hit it out of the park with this one and I highly recommend the R6 2020 if you’re looking for a DAP around its price point.

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Gear used for testing and review.

• IEMs – 64 Audio U12t, BGVP EST12, Lime Ears Pneuma, Custom Art Fibae7, Campfire Andromeda v2, ItsFit Fusion, Craft Ears Six & Four, Moondrop S8 & KXXS, BGVP VG4, Tansio Mirai TSMR-3 Pro, etc.
• Headphones – Sennheiser HD 6XX, Ollo Audio S4X, HifiMan Sundara, SIVGA P-II, SIVGA Phoenix, Sennheiser HD380 Pro and AKG K371.

Reference Songs list.

• Foo Fighters – The Pretender, Best of you, Everlong & Sonic Highway album
• Coldplay – Paradise, Up in flames & Everglow + Everyday Life Album
• Biffy Clyro – A Celebration of Endings & Ellipsis albums
• Ed Sheeran – Thinking out loud, Bloodstream & Galway Girl
• Dave Matthews Band – Come Tomorrow album
• Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia album
• Chainsmokers – Somebody, Sickboy, This Feeling & Closer
• John Mayer – Slow dancing in a burning room, Stop this Train, Say & A Face to Call Home
• Gavin James – Always & Hearts on fire
• Switchfoot – Meant to live & Dare you to move
• Porcupine Tree – Sound of Muzak, Blackest Eyes & .3
• Our Lady Peace – Do You Like It & Innocent
• Linkin Park – Papercut, Somewhere I belong & Talking to myself
• Maroon 5 – She will be loved, Payphone & Lost stars
• Lifehouse – All in all & Come back down
• Breaking Benjamin – Diary of Jane
• Karnivool – Simple boy & Goliath
• Dead Letter Circus – Real you
• I Am Giant – Purple heart, City limits & Transmission
• Muse – Panic station
• James Bay – Hold back the river
• Zedd – Clarity album
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