Hiby M300 Digital Audio Player Review - The Gen Z Music Player: Fact or Cap?

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Timestamps...
00:00 Intro, Pricing, Disclaimer
00:34 Shameless Self Promotion
00:58 Setting Up the Review
02:01 Build & Features
07:25 Headphone Output Uses SRC
10:43 Test Gear
12:35 Sound
15:37 Use Cases & Gen Z Music Player?
20:08 Wrap Up

[@krzysztofobodzinski2529]

I think they missed the mark with the marketing and the target audience. There's a growing community of people who want to use their smartphones less (or switch to a dumb phone completely), so they compartmentalize their activities into multiple devices, like an iPod for music, a Kindle for reading, an actual camera for photos, a dumb phone for calling, and perhaps a notepad for taking notes, and maybe an alarm clock. I think it's great for people who want an iPod, but since they're somewhat difficult to get, and you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get it working, it would be easier to buy this $200 device, download Spotify, download your favorite playlists and albums, and then switch it to airplane mode indefinitely. They wouldn't care about all the stuff like bit-perfect audio and so on. They would just be happy to have something to play their music on, and maybe use Bluetooth here and there. Instead of sending it to audiophiles for reviews, they should have sent it to youtubers who talk about digital minimalism, and maybe some mainstream ones who would be like, yeah, it plays music, and it sounds good. If you'd like to use your phone less, buy it. Right now, it's just getting needlessly scrutinized for things casual listeners don't care about, and they don't even know it exists. I think it's going to sell pretty poorly, and it's such a shame because this device is great, actually. I myself started out with an old phone and a dongle as a dap. Geez, what a long comment. TL;DR: dap for casuals who want to use their phone less, but its gonna have poor sales because they keep trying to sell it to audiophiles.

[@martinfox2244]

Thank you for the insightful review.

[@NeoGaming666]

Yay, wavetheory review.

[@wahid-lg1kk]

Glad I listened to this.. I just now heard that dsd will be an issue.. It doesn't read it on Hiby app and send it along to your dac?

[@Michael_mki233]

Is its ability to get it to output DSD easily really going to be a big deal to anyone buying this? I would expect anyone who has enough of a DSD library to be concerned about it to be spending more than $200 on a portable solution. 🤔

[@chungang7037]

People who use DSD is probably even more rare than people who still use a DAP.

[@Cujobob]

@@chungang7037 a lot of people use DAPs still. I think it has to do with wanting to save phone battery and not having to keep clunky dongles with you.

[@horussees]

GenX here, about to buy one and I use Qobuz, for all the HiRes and DSD audio. Was using my Galaxy S23 Ultra, but transitioning to wired IEM's and now a dedicated HiRes Digital Player. Sound is paramount, as is size.

[@donaldjuan4934]

Does it have aptX adaptive that will work with Bose QC Ultra earbuds?

[@yeezet4592]

Yes. Not really worth getiing to use wiht bluetooth buds though

[@donaldjuan4934]

@@yeezet4592 I know what you mean but it's the only DAP that supports the same codec I can find so it's good to have the option for the gym etc.

[@yeezet4592]

@donaldjuan4934 oh. If you just need something where you don't want to use your main phone these would be a decent choice. Howeverm, any similarly priced android phone should do the same, but if you want that battery life and small size, there's not a similar android alternative.

[@Rareparrot]

Apologize for N.B.O.T (not being on topic) but I have a collection of Digital Audio Players, including a Hiby which is excellent. My goto (music player of choice) however, is an iriver h10 20Gig . Am 55 years old and love the retro DAP's such as the iriver unit. Last unit I bought was $40 on ebay. Doesn't have bluetooth. But the sound.......................is excellent

[@wahid-lg1kk]

If you like that sort of thing try an Ibasso dx120, two memory card slots, older akm dac, very classic sound, very nice indeed for old dude music. I listen to King Crimson and Yes, etc, on mine.

[@Rareparrot]

@@wahid-lg1kk Worth trying for sure...second hand ibasso units are quite expensive on ebay ...

[@jaroslavfricek7772]

So it's a good news that if I use let's say hiby FC4 I have here, I can still play apple music "bit perfect"...✌️ 😁 ❤️

[@nicholashpitts]

How does the FM radio work?

[@danielmolinafernandez4960]

Hi!, I have this mp3 music player and talking about the radio, the experience is bad...interference is something really bad.

[@trubadyr99]

I liked your review, thumbs up! Here are some suggestions I'd like to share. I, find it more convenient to use a smartphone while on the go for listening to music. I like listening to streaming services like Spotify, Qobuz or Tidal. I very much like to be introduced to suggestions they offer. These days, unlimited data plans have become more affordable. So, my solution for enjoying quality music while out resting on a bench in the wood preserve or on a beach is: a smartphone paired with a quality USB DAC/AMP used with a nice set of IEMs. This way you overcome the Android's downsampling issue, you have mentioned. Or I can simply trade music quality for convenience and use my streaming smartphone with a quality pair of true wireless earbuds if I go to a gym and do not want to hassle with the cable. Cheers!

[@wahid-lg1kk]

I don't want calls and messages interrupting me, and android phones after Android 9 have issues with getting USB Exclusive mode going on some dacs, so I am getting this as it's made to be used with dacs, I will use it as a transport, and only use the built in headphone jack for low res stuff like KZbin Music

[@radiofreealbemuth]

9:43 if I'm gen Z and I want to use this DAP for anything besides music, I'd use my phone (s22 ultra), which is far superior for that function

[@xiang2mahbebe]

its like a smartphone, why dont we use/buy smartphone and get a DAC dongle..

[@jorgeluisfernandez2560]

Does this dap support loseless apple music?

[@krzysztofobodzinski2529]

Yes

[@ClintThomsen]

Does KZbin work?

[@Doctor-yr3uy]

It needs a SIM card slot to be perfect 😅

[@yeezet4592]

Then its just a phone.

[@chungang7037]

Gen Z audiophiles use an apple dongle and IEMs. No? Even seeing a DAP is a rare thing these days. What was Hiby thinking. I'm sure my students just think I am a boomer for using a wired headphone, period.

[@PetePohjanniemi]

Who cares what others think?

[@wahid-lg1kk]

They might think you are a boomer, I am, but a person who does not use wired headphones is not an audiophile of any sort, unless he is geared up for LDAC, and Bluetooth headphones of decent quality are rare as hens teeth, anyway.. So.. Not audiophiles. Neither is an apple dongle.

[@chungang7037]

@@PetePohjanniemi That wasn't the point of my comment, lol. The point was I don't understand what part of the market Hiby was targeting considering what newer generations use for music playback.

[@revan.3994]

so, in other words, a cheap smartphone without being smart and without being a phone. Oook.

[@Rusty_Shackleford099]

Yep. Perfect for those of us who intentionally got rid of their smartphones and went back to feature phones.

[@ATR-Sound]

@@Rusty_Shackleford099100%. I got the M300 from wanting to break away from smartphone dependency and not from an audiophile angle. Couldn’t care less about audiophile features, I would have bought an iPod if Apple still made them or used ones had expandable storage.

[@columbo47]

@@Rusty_Shackleford099exactly why I got it

[@ohdear2001]

What's up with your eye?