Today, we are reviewing the HiBy FD5 Desktop DAC & AMP. It is priced at $429 USD.
Disclaimer: HiBy sent us the FD5 DAC/AMP for this review. As always, I am here to convey my honest experience with the product.
HiBy Music
Established in 2011, HiBy Music specializes in the development of portable audio products, including digital audio players, earphones, and USB DACs. The company is supported by a team of over 40 R&D professionals and brings nearly two decades of experience in the audio industry.
HiBy Music’s founders and core staff have diverse and overlapping backgrounds, including senior executives from BBK, one of China’s largest electronics companies in the 2000s. With years of industry experience and a corporate culture of duty, integrity, teamwork, quality, and consumer-oriented service, HiBy has built a strong foundation.
HiBy FD5
The FD5 is a desktop DAC and amplifier with a cyberpunk-inspired double-deck design. The lower level houses an isolated power supply, where critical tasks like power filtering and regeneration occur to maintain clean power for the audio circuit on the upper level. The upper deck contains the DAC and amplifier circuits.
The FD5 uses four AKM AK4493 DAC chips in a fully balanced architecture, supported by premium components such as ELNA Silmic II capacitors, six OPA1612 and two ADA4625-2 op-amps, dual femtosecond oscillators, thirty-two hand matched transistors and an OLED display. It offers both wired USB and wireless Bluetooth connectivity. It comes with up-to-date Hi-Res codecs such as LDAC and UAT.
Explicitly designed for IEMs and headphones, the FD5 features 4.4mm balanced and 3.5mm single-ended outputs. Its amplifier circuit is switchable between Class A and AB modes, leaving the choice to the user. The FD5 is available for $429 USD on HiBy’s website.
Specs & Highlights
Quad AKM AK4493 DAC Array
Dual Amplifier Design | Switchable Class A+AB
Isolated Power Supply
FPGHiBy’sk Regen
OLED Display
BAL 4.4mm – 1523mW@32Ω Output Power
SE 3.5mm – 475mW@32Ω Output Power
32-bit/768kHz – DSD512 Decoding
USB-C + Bluetooth with LDAC & UAT
3.5mm SE + 4.4mm BAL Headphone Outputs
3.5mm SE + 4.4mm BAL Line Out
698g
Packaging & Accessories
The HiBy FD5 arrives in a black square box with a two-part structure separated by an asymmetric horizontal cutout. Removing the top reveals the FD5 unit and its detachable power supply arranged vertically in a foam cutout. The power supply, which arrives separately, labeled in a box with the HiBy logo, is a compact 12V-2A adapter with a barrel connector. The rest of the accessories are stored vertically in a cardboard compartment next to the device.
The accessory box includes a high-quality 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter, which features a matte black anodized aluminum alloy body and a fabric-jacketed cable. Additionally, the package includes a 1.5m gold-plated USB-A to USB-C cable with a nylon jacket for connecting the FD5 to a computer or an OTG-compatible smartphone. You also get a user manual, a quality control card, and a warranty card.
Build Quality & Design
The FD5 features a unique double-deck design, with the lower section dedicated to an isolated power supply that provides clean power to the DAC and amplifier circuits located on the upper level. These two sections snap together with a proprietary connector that looks like a straight 40-pin plug. In addition, cleverly placed magnets on the non-connector sides increase the holding force between the two sections; you can’t get them to separate even if you pull the unit only from the top level, which is pretty good, so there’s no chance of accidental damage that would keep you up at night.
The overall design is strikingly different from typical desktop DAC/AMPs, thanks to the all-aluminum chassis and cyberpunk-inspired aesthetics. The tempered glass top, angular design lines, asymmetrical 100-step volume knob, and aggressive contours immediately set it apart from its more conventional competitors. I love the bold design choices; we need new blood in the market.
The bottom deck, which houses the isolated power supply, features a power switch, a barrel power input, and a front-facing power LED. Moving on to the top deck, this section is more crowded, housing the 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone outputs, as well as the 3.5mm and 4.4mm line outs. While the 4.4mm jacks are gold-plated, the 3.5mm jacks use plastic inner housings.
On the top tempered panel, you’ll find a 1.1-inch color OLED display and a very elegantly designed asymmetrical volume knob that provides good tactile feedback when turned. On the top, there’s a multi-function button that lets you toggle between wireless and wired modes, and you can also press and hold it to power off the device as an alternative to the power switch on the power supply unit. The rear panel has a USB-C input, while the left side has two switches: one for AMP mode (Class A or AB) and another for gain (low or high).
Despite its unique design, the FD5 is compact, with dimensions of just 115x115x52.7mm. It takes up very little desk space, which is great for minimal setups. However, you can’t power the device with just the USB-C port and must use the barrel power adapter. The overall build quality is excellent, in my opinion, with the anodized aluminum finish giving it a very premium feel. The design choices, such as the tempered glass and high-resolution color OLED display, give it a nice high-tech, cyberpunk vibe. I am delighted to see such devices in today’s market, where every device that comes out looks the same.
Sound Impressions
To my ears, FD5 sounds like a dynamic, tastefully tuned DAC & AMP, with a slightly elevated sub-region and slightly elevated treble region with excellent bite. With my 64 Audio U4s, it sounds dynamic, engaging and clean. The clarity is excellent for the price, on par with some of the well-established devices on the market, such as the D50 III & A50 III stack.
While it is not the most reference-sounding DAC & AMP within its price bracket, I really like HiBy’s take here. Compared to their DAPs, which I find a bit colored, the “sauce” of the FD5 is much more subtle. The tonal balance is actually quite good, with slight signature touches here and there. It provides a middle ground for audiophiles who find reference tunings dry/lifeless and warm tunings somewhat claustrophobic. It strikes a happy medium between these tonalities, and you don’t trade much in return. In fact, you get the best of both worlds, but in a more conservative manner.
With the Volür, the sub-bass rumble and impact are quite impressive, and the mid-bass is very controlled. The midrange feels linear and less colored than the two opposite ends of the spectrum. The treble is tastefully spicy. It feels extended, yet the control is great, even with some of the spicier IEMs I have, such as the Symphonium Crimson. The overall resolution punches beyond its price tag, similar to the D50 III and A50 III, surpassing the iFi ZEN 3 stack. I would like to remind you all that this is the first “full-size” powered desktop DAC & AMP HiBy designed, and I am very impressed with it. In my opinion, they should definitely continue this trend. I also noticed that some of the components used here were highlighted in HiBy’s R8 II DAP; it seems like they are building on and refining their existing designs utilizing the collective HiBy know-how.
Sound part continues in the next page with comparisons ↓
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Page 1: HiBy, FD5, Packaging & Accessories, Design & Build Quality, Sound Impressions
Page 2: Sound Detail, Features, Comparison, Last Words
