I recently purchased HiBy R2 and noticed it can output Bluetooth stream with LDAC Codec while in DAC Mode.
With this device, and USB-C to Lightning cable sold by HiBy or LT-LT1 from FiiO, HiBy R2 can be used as an external USB-DAC and output LDAC Bluetooth stream.
Also, of course, you can use this device for PC/Mac to output LDAC signal from desktop/laptop or Macbooks
There are several limitations and problems user has to be aware:
- Display always say 24-bit at DAC mode, even the input to the DAC is 16, 24, or 32. I confirmed with HiBy and they said bit-depth information display is hard-coded, at “24”, but doesn’t affect what is being decoded.
- In USB-DAC mode, NO Bluetooth signal if the input is in DSD format (or playing DSD file directly from this portable player), therefore I configured Roon does the DSD to PCM conversion.
- If you use LDAC, you HAVE TO TURN OFF WIFI. If you stream from Tidal or Qobuz using the build in app (NOT USB-DAC) with LDAC, the LDAC stream is very unstable from the WiFi interference. IMO, the streaming feature with this Portable Player is pretty much unusable if you are using LDAC codec.
- This DAC is very prone to wireless signal interference when using LDAC Codec, especially if you use it near a router or very close to a wireless mouse or keyboard
Note: Made sure to select LDAC (audio quality) for Bluetooth Codec so it will force to device to stream at highest 990kbps
Yes, I know it is not true hi-res, compressed, lossy…etc… but still better than Apple’s AAC, 990kbps LDAC > 320kbps AAC.
Also, iPhone/iPad user NEED TO turn on “USB Current Limited” under Settings BEFORE connect this DAC to the iDevice, to prevent “This Accessory requires too much power” error.
I understand there are some limitations with this, but I think for the price, it is a good option of you want LDAC streaming from computers or “iDevices”
Roon recognizes its capable bitrate max at 192/32.
Here is an example of screenshot of signal path