Smartphones have eradicated the portable music player from the market. Well, almost. In case you are not in the know, it did escape total annihilation. But gone are the cheap, iPod wannabes, and surviving the wrath of smartphones is a niche market for high-fidelity portable music players like those from Sony Walkman series, FiiO, and iRiver. Speaking of which… the HiBy R4 is one such latest offering in the narrow space of Hi-Fi digital audio players.
A dedicated high-fidelity portable music player is indeed very niche. While so, I am pretty confident that this HiBy R4 x Evangelion Hi-Fi Digital Audio Player would open up to a larger market, piquing the interest of fans of Evangelion. Maybe? My interest is piqued, though. But that’s just me. The HiBy R4 x Evangelion Hi-Fi Digital Audio Player is essentially the R4 Hifi Digital Audio Player announced in April but with Evangelion cosmetics.
It woos fans of Evangelion fans with collector-grade packaging and an aesthetic inspired by Evangelion Unit 01 along with the MAGI-style strap. The collaboration between the two brands is beyond skin deep; it also boasts a highly detailed and deeply customized system UI featuring the familiar elements of Evangelion’s cockpit UI as well as the NERV computer system’s UI. This wonderful UI is presented on an expansive 4.7-inch high-resolution display. Thankfully, the oh-so-poor-me sobbing Shinji sound effect isn’t part of it.
Speaking of Shinji… I think this is a fitting collaborative product because Shinji loves immersing himself in music on his portable music player. Anyhoo, the HiBy R4 x Evangelion Hi-Fi Digital Audio Player further touts an upgraded RAM and ROM (4 GB and 64 GB, respectively), quad-chip HiFi DAC array, SRC HiByOS Systemwide Bit-perfect audio, Class A amplification, Femtosecond-grade audio clock crystal oscillators, and a “tailored tuning for anime enthusiasts”.
The built-in HiBy Music app also offers advanced features including MSEB and PEQ for a “soul-stirring listening experience.” The device not only lets you enjoy high-resolution lossless music stored on the device. Popular streaming services including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, and Amazon HD are supported too with DTA bit-perfect output.
Other notables include Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC, PCM/DSD dual customized conversion pathways, an open Android 12 system, a 4.4 mm balanced headphone jack, a 3.5 mm SE headphone jack, a built-in battery with 15 hours of runtime per full charge, DSD 256, PCM678kHz/32bit, MQA 16x Unfolding, HiByCast Wireless Remote, bidirectional Bluetooth audio, a USB-C port that supports SPDIF charging and data transfer, and a user-defined function toggle.
Interested Evangelion-loving audiophiles may learn more about this lovely music player at store.hiby.com where you can also pre-order a unit. The list price is US$319 but you can secure a unit for 299 USD from September 15 to September 20. Pre-orders will also bag you a free BA04 storage case.
Images: HiBy.
