Headphones

Sound:
Value:
(Read about our ratings)

I can’t remember when I first fell in love with the cyberpunk genre. Maybe it was the first time I saw Blade Runner. My love for the genre certainly solidified when I read Neuromancer in college. They’re finally making a TV show based on that book, something I’ll believe when I actually see it. While the genre has lost some of its mystique, given that we now live in the exact world all those movies and books warned us about, the aesthetic is still one of my favorites.

I reviewed HiBy’s R4xEvangelion portable media player last year for a different outlet, and I was impressed by the build quality, sound, and attention to detail. It was clear from a bunch of little touches that the folks at HiBy were fans of that anime and the sci-fi genre at large.

Which brings us to the FD5 headphone amp and USB DAC. I’m a big fan of its angles and overall design. Most headphone amps either look like scaled-down audio components or rehashes of ancient tube gear—or often both. So I appreciate a company realizing that it’s OK to look different.

The FD5 has a claimed power output of up to 1.52W into 32 ohms through the 4.4mm balanced output and 475mW through the single-ended output, which should put it roughly in the ballpark of the Schiit Audio Magni. At $429 (all prices USD), it’s more expensive, but it also has Bluetooth, an arguably cooler design, and a little OLED screen that gives you info about what’s playing. Of course, there has to be a DAC in a USB DAC, and in this case it’s actually four AKM4493s. The FD5 can accept PCM streams up to 32-bit/728kHz. OK, let’s Snow Crash into some tunes.

In the box

Some assembly is required. Well, OK, all you need to do is connect the two halves together. There’s even a magnet inside so they don’t randomly come loose later. Included in the box is a USB-C-to-USB-A cable and a rather nice, short, braided, 3.5mm-to-6.35mm (¼″) adapter cable.

Use

The FD5 is larger than it looks in pictures, and surprisingly heavy. The chassis is metal with a clear plastic top, under which are some design elements and RGB LEDs. The “5” lights up in a different color depending on the mode.

If we consider the volume knob the front, to the right are 3.5mm and balanced 4.4mm headphone output jacks. To the left is a two-position gain switch and a toggle to run the FD5 in either class-A or class-AB mode. Continuing around, there are 3.5mm and 4.4mm line-level outputs, USB-C, the connection for the 12V power supply, and a power switch.

A single button on top switches between USB and Bluetooth modes, and pressing it twice activates pairing mode. It can also turn the amp on and off if you hold it down. The small screen is extremely bright, and thanks to the contrast offered by OLED, its display seems less like icons on a screen and more like individual dedicated readouts. At a glance, you can see volume level, sample rate, gain, and other information.

When you switch to Bluetooth mode, the LEDs on top logically turn blue. The FD5 is a Bluetooth receiver, not a transmitter. So, for instance, you can connect your phone to the HiBy and play music from it through the FD5 to your headphones. When I connected it to my Pixel 9 Pro, the readout indicated LDAC 96K. I was able to switch to AAC or SBC in the phone’s settings.

It’s worth keeping in mind that the metal chassis serves double duty as a heatsink. Even in class-AB mode, the FD5 gets warm to the touch—warm enough that I wouldn’t hide it in a drawer while using it. Considering how it looks, why would you want to hide it?

There’s also a Windows app that lets you calibrate some settings and adjust a ten-band EQ to save to the FD5. It hasn’t gone through the normal Microsoft testing, apparently, and your computer will flag it as possibly unsafe. I’m not a big fan of EQs, so I didn’t use this function other than to check it out.

Sound

I used a variety of headphones with the FD5, including Audeze LCD-3 ($1945), Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro MkII ($599.99), and HiFiMan Sundara ($299) headphones. For comparison, I also connected the Schiit Audio Magni ($119) and the HiFiMan EF400 ($529).

Starting with the DT 1990 MkIIs, I cued up what only seemed appropriate: “Making of a Cyborg” from Kenji Kawai’s brilliant Ghost in the Shell soundtrack (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, Ariola Japan / Qobuz). The taiko maintained their definition and intensity, even at higher volumes. Their initial hits were immediate and clear, with the deep resonance that makes this track so iconic. At really high volumes, higher than you should listen to for any length of time, the voices and Kagura suzu didn’t seem to have any harshness.

Switching to the Audezes, I put on something to give the FD5 a bit more of a workout: “The Grid – Remixed by The Crystal Method” (TRON: Legacy Reconfigured, 16/44.1 FLAC, Walt Disney Records / Qobuz). As you’d expect from a Daft Punk track remixed by Crystal Method, this is a bass-heavy recording with sharp synth percussion. The FD5 easily drove the LCD-3s to levels higher than I should probably listen to for any length of time at just 70 on the volume readout in the high-gain mode. At 100, it was too loud to listen to for more than a few seconds. The bass was still surprisingly well controlled at that volume.

I swapped back and forth between the FD5, Magni, and EF400, as well as all three headphones, for a variety of other tracks, including Rosa Walton’s “I Really Want to Stay at Your House” (Cyberpunk 2077: Radio, Vol. 2 (Original Soundtrack), 24/48 FLAC, Lakeshore Records / Qobuz). The HiFiMan was definitely capable of more volume with less distortion at extreme levels. Not that there was much of the latter with the Magni or FD5. The HiBy and Schiit were fairly closely matched. Each of these amps can give you all the power you’d need for any of these headphones, which are all fairly difficult to drive.

Just in case you were curious how the FD5 performed with some non-cyberpunk music, I switched back to the DT 1990 Pro MkIIs and put on something unrelated but from that genre’s biggest decade: Dire Straits’ “Romeo and Juliet” (Money for Nothing, 24/192 FLAC, Rhino Records / Qobuz). Mark Knopfler’s National Style O resonator guitar that dances throughout, as well as his iconic Fender toward the end, both had a smooth precision to them, really letting the Beyers show off their high-frequency strengths. The FD5 was able to maintain its composure even at high volumes, with only a touch of harshness sneaking in at unsafe levels.

Conclusion

The Schiit Audio Magni is my baseline for a headphone amp. It does the job, does it well, and doesn’t cost a lot. To be fair, it’s not much to look at, though the brushed aluminum version is at least a little stylish. The HiFiMan EF400 is classy, for sure, but also quite large. HiBy’s FD5 offers great sound and enough power for pretty much any headphone, and does it with a cyberpunkian design that, personally, I think is great. The little touches, like the LEDs and OLED screen, show that some real thought went into the design. It’s a little expensive, and of course not everyone will love the look, but if you’re a sci-fi nerd like me, this looks far cooler on your desk than most other headphone amps, and it sounds great.

. . . Geoffrey Morrison
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Associated Equipment

• Smartphone: Google Pixel 9 Pro
• PC: iBuyPower Windows 10
• DAC–headphone amplifier: Schiit Audio Magni, HiFiMan EF400
• Headphones: Audeze LCD-3, Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro MkII, HiFiMan Sundara

HiBy FD5 DAC–headphone amplifier
Price: $429
Warranty: One year

HiBy
12/F, Lianjing Commercial Building
Hongwei 3rd Road
Nancheng District, Dongguan
Guangdong, China
Phone: +86-0769-23182216

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: hiby.com