Sound Quality
The Crystal 6 sounds slightly bright and highly resolving to my ears. It has a detail-oriented signature and it can highlight the issues of your sources and the mastering imperfections of the tracks in your music library. The Crystal 6’s presentation is energetic, spacious, and transparent. Of course, when this kind of sound signature is not supported by a solid foundation of technical performance, will create a feeling of cohesiveness, stickiness and downgrade the listening pleasure.
I’ve had similar experiences throughout the years in this hobby but luckily, this is not the case with the Crystal 6. The Crystal 6 is a highly capable monitor and scales well with good sources. I will talk about those in the upcoming section. Now that you have an idea about the Crystal 6’s sound signature, let’s dissect the sound into three sections and take a closer look.
HiBy Crystal 6
Lows
The Crystal 6 has a linear, fast, agile bass response with good texture and resolution. It does not offer the most impactful and rounded bass response I’ve ever heard but it is not a bass-light monitor, either. The balance bass presentation has a few advantages and Crystal 6 benefits greatly from them. One of those advantages is the sense of spaciousness.
The Crystal 6 has a breathy, airy presentation thanks to that. There is no bloat, no bleeding, no overlapping of any kind. The low range is perfectly in check, fast and ready to deliver.
Mids
The midrange is the range where HiBy put majority of the R&D hours. The midrange sounds very, very detailed. Micro-detail retrieval is very impressive for this price tag and so is the resolution. The vocals are articulate, transparent and clean. The clarity is top-notch. Upper midrange is energetic, bright and vivid. Lots of energy. The extension of the cymbals and hihats is impressive. This section tells us why the synergy is important when it comes to sources.
Brighter, sharper sources hinder the technical capability of the Crystal 6 and result in a sharper signature. If you pair with balanced sources or at least reference sources, such as the SMSL SU-8s & SH-8s stack, the monitor will have excellent control over those hotter areas. To sum this section up, with the right source, the midrange performs way ahead of its price bracket. Well done.
Highs
You know where the Crystal 6 get half of its energy from, yes, the midrange. The other half comes from the highs of course, thanks to the clear, resolving treble with very good extension. The high frequencies are fluid, articulate and incredibly detailed. This gives the monitor a unique sense of detail and contributes to the perception of clarity.
HiBy Crystal 6
Technical Performance
Let’s start with congestion as it is a vital subject for brighter signatures. The Crystal 6 performs very well in this regard, I don’t know if this is the acoustic tuning or the crossover or simply driver selection, HiBy seems to have paid attention to this when they are developing the IEMs. The instrument separation is impressive thanks to the airy and spacious presentation.
It is an energetic and dynamic IEM that has a great PRaT so dynamism and speed are really good for this price bracket. The stage length and the width is certainly impressive. To sum this section up, the Crystal 6 offers a really good technical performance and punches above its price tag.
Stock Cables
The Crystal 6 comes bundled with two stock cables. A balanced, OCC copper cable and a single-ended silver-plated copper cable. I am not sure why the alloy type changes with termination, although it is definitely good to have options. I used a 4.4mm to 3.5mm adapter to compare cables with the same source. The SPC cable slightly increases the sharpness of the upper midrange and treble region, increasing extension and energy. The OCC copper cable increases the sub-bass and low region quantity. It improves the bass texture and impact.
I personally liked the OCC copper better than the SPC. The OCC cable provides a more balanced signature compared to the SPC. Technicality-wise, IEM performs about the same with either so there is no apparent drawback beside the small signature difference, in my opinion. If you plan to use Crystal 6 with a warm source, like the Honey H1, you can switch to the SPC cable to get a crispier upper-mid reproduction for increased clarity. That’s a wrap about the cable options of the Crystal 6.
Comparisons
vs. Astrotec Volans ($329 USD)
The Volans have the exact opposite sound signature of the Crystal 6. The Volans are warm and lush with an enhanced bass response and a trimmed treble range. The presentation is very romantic and engaging, rather than transparent, detailed and analytic. The Crystal 6 has a better PRaT and technical capability compared to the Volans. The Crystal 6 also has a wider stage and an overall airier presentation. They are two similarly priced IEMs built for completely different target audiences. I would pick the Crystal 6 because of the impressive resolution and technical performance, any day, but hey, that’s just me.
vs. Tanchjim Darling ($419 USD)
The Darling is another interesting product. It has a fairly warm and detailed signature. It is one of the rare earphones that is musical and detailed at the same time. The Darling’s note weight is thicker and meatier compared to the Crystal 6. They both have good resolution and detail-retrieval capability. The Crystal 6 can get a little too hot in the upper midrange area with brighter sources, while the Darling shows excellent control in that region. The bass impact of the Darling is bigger and stronger than the Crystal 6. Also, the Darling feels much more romantic and dynamic while Crystal 6 feels linear compared to the Darling. Treble ranges of both of the IEMs are energetic but Crystal 6 has a crispier treble with sharper extension. Also, the soundstage of the Crystal 6 feels wider and more spacious compared to the Darling.
HiBy Crystal 6
Last Words
HiBy’s Crystal 6 is an impressive IEM. HiBy seems to have made a good start to the Crystal series with the Crystal 6. It’s pretty clear that HiBy engineers have put a lot of effort into maximizing the performance of the product. The Crystal 6 sounds spacious, detailed and resolving while having good tonal balance across the spectrum. The accessories bundled with the IEM are rich and the materials used are of very good quality. I especially like the fact that it comes with two different cables. The build quality is another major highlight of the Crystal 6 and it is not hard to understand why.
The german imported resin and the craftsmanship of HiBy engineers took the product to a whole new level compared to its rivals on the market. And it’s not just limited to that. HiBy engineers have also put a lot of effort into the ergonomics of the earphone, and the result is a fit that is comfortable. Furthermore, the resin-filled shell provides excellent passive isolation. I had absolutely no fit issues even after 10h-long sessions with the Crystal 6. I think HiBy’s Crystal 6 punches above its price tag with its excellent technical capability and sound performance so I recommend you give it a listen!
Page 1: HiBy, Crystal 6, Packaging & Accessories, Design, Fit & Build Quality
Page 2: Sound Quality, Technical Performance, Stock Cables, Comparisons, Last Words
