HiBy has priced its RS2 II portable music player at $439, pairing a larger screen than the original RS2 with two memory-card slots and a range of wired connections.
The listed price applies to the green aluminum alloy model. HiBy prices a brass edition at $549 and says it will produce 500 units worldwide. The company expects that version to become available in October but has not announced a specific date.
The company’s Oct. 19 announcement came after earlier promotion of the player. HiBy previewed the RS2 II in August, then advertised standard-edition sales beginning Sept. 23 in a notice issued the day before. The October announcement therefore does not mark the device’s first public appearance.
HiBy says the RS2 II uses its DARWIN III audio design and an R2R resistor network. Its specifications list an FPGA with more than 35,000 logic units, 40 DSP units and four OPA1622 headphone amplifiers. The company also uses the DARWIN III name for its RS8 II flagship, though it lists more than 100,000 logic units and 212 DSP units for that model. Those figures describe different hardware configurations; they do not establish how the players compare in listening tests.
The RS2 II’s 3.55-inch display has a resolution of 480 by 800 pixels. The original RS2 had a 2.45-inch, 480-by-360 display, according to HiBy. The new player weighs about 156 grams in aluminum alloy and 240 grams in brass. Each of its two microSD slots supports a card of up to 2 terabytes.
For audio connections, HiBy lists 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm headphone outputs, switchable line outputs and USB DAC operation. Coaxial output works through the USB interface. The specifications list no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Under HiBy’s stated test conditions, battery life exceeds 9.1 hours through the 3.5 mm output and 8.1 hours through the 4.4 mm output.
The next availability milestone HiBy has identified is the brass edition, which it expects to offer in October.
