Cayin N3 Ultra vs HiBy R6 Pro II

Short answer

  • More power: the HiBy R6 Pro II, with 750 mW into 32 Ω; the Cayin N3 Ultra has 250 mW. The HiBy R6 Pro II drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the Cayin N3 Ultra cannot (Moondrop PARA).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — the maker of the Cayin N3 Ultra publishes no noise figure.
  • Price: the HiBy R6 Pro II costs $101 more; what that buys on these numbers is set out further down, under What the price difference buys.

Both are portable players, $649 against $750.

The HiBy R6 Pro II reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the Cayin N3 Ultra on 565.

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationCayin N3 UltraHiBy R6 Pro II
Power into 32Ω250 mW750 mW
Power into 150Ω53 mW280 mW
Power into 300Ω27 mW140 mW
Power into 600Ω13 mW70 mW
Output impedance0.5 Ω0.6 Ω unverified
Output noisenot published4 µV unverified
Price$649$750
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
565566

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

BalancedCayin N3 UltraHiBy R6 Pro II
Socket4.4mmno separate rating
Power into 32Ω600 mW—
Power into 300Ω64 mW derived—
Output impedance1 Ω—
Output noisenot published—
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567
566—

Only the Cayin N3 Ultra has a separate balanced rating from its maker; through it, it reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here. The HiBy R6 Pro II may still have a balanced socket — its spec sheet simply gives no figure for one, so there is nothing to put beside it. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

Where each power figure comes from

LoadCayin N3 UltraHiBy R6 Pro II
32 ΩPublishedUnverified
150 ΩDerivedUnverified
300 ΩDerivedUnverified
600 ΩDerivedUnverified

HiBy R6 Pro II publishes no electrical specification at all. That is true of 10 of the 280 sources here, and the figures in that column come from independent measurement rather than from a maker document — which is not worse, but it is not the same thing, and it cannot be checked against anything the maker will stand behind.

The Cayin N3 Ultra column does stand on a power rating its maker printed, at one of these four loads at least. Reading the two straight across sets one kind of claim against another, and nobody has written down the conditions of both side by side.

What the labels mean.

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the HiBy R6 Pro II but not on the Cayin N3 Ultra — Moondrop PARA.

565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Audio-Technica ATH-R70X: HiBy R6 Pro II has +18 dB of headroom there against +10 dB. 7 dB is about 5.3 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for Cayin N3 Ultra and HiBy R6 Pro II because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsCayin N3 Ultra headroomHiBy R6 Pro II headroomCayin N3 Ultra hissHiBy R6 Pro II hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+32 dB+37 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+12 dB+17 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+22 dB+27 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+17 dB+24 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+14 dB+19 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+10 dB+18 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+6 dB+13 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+4 dB+10 dBnot publishednot published

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The HiBy R6 Pro II costs $101 more than the Cayin N3 Ultra. Out of the 567 models here, that difference buys 1 more model driven to 100 dB.

Nothing runs the other way: there is no axis here on which the cheaper of the two does better.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Both pages in full

Each has a page of its own with a full headphone list and the provenance of every figure — worth opening here, because HiBy R6 Pro II has published no electrical specification at all and everything above comes from independent measurement: Cayin N3 Ultra and HiBy R6 Pro II.

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