HiBy Zeta Review

Sound Quality

HiBy Zeta is the most ambitious HiBy IEM to date. Its sophisticated internal design is impressive, and the sound you get is quite impressive too, but not without its surprises. Keep reading.

First off, Zeta is so much fun. With its impressive bass power and texture, modern music is incredibly enjoyable. Its warm and organic tonality is another strong suit, with good staging and technical performance. Even though there are some details that need to be perfected, Zeta proves that HiBy can be a popular player in the IEM market, especially with high-quality tribrids.

Bass

Zeta welcomes its listener with a huge, vicious and impactful bass. If you simply like a big bass response, the new Hiby Zeta is simply tremendous in that department. The impressive part though is that Zeta somehow combines this fat and heavy rumbling bass with a good technical performance.

My past experience tells me that if an IEM has this much bass power and quantity, it usually ends up shadowing the mid-range. Not so with the Zeta. In some way, Zeta manages to separate bass and mids nicely, without any problem. This shows the quality of the internal acoustic design.

So, the Zeta has the potential to be one of the best choices in the market for people who like deep, rumbling bass but also clean mids with good tonality. Zeta does just that, in a very impressive way. Lows are greatly textured, and despite their heavy-hitting nature, they have good decay and recovery. Especially the midbass body and texture are very impressive. If you’re a lover of absolute neutral sound, the overall bass response might come a bit too much for your taste.

Midrange

As mentioned above, Zeta’s bass is the most dominant aspect of its sound. As a result, the midrange is not the shining factor here. However, as also mentioned above, the midrange manages to sound clean and resolving despite the bass presentation. Especially female vocals sound very musical and satisfying.

The vocals are nicely layered, clear, and very detailed. Not too forward, not too recessed. No harshness of any kind. The resolution is quite impressive for this particular presentation, especially with that much bass. Separation, airiness, and layering immediately catch your attention while the natural tonality of the instruments is waiting to be noticed.

The Zeta overall has a great mid-range performance, and I liked the fact that it has a musical, full, meaty and organic tonality. Instrument separation is quite good, although a bit more clarity would’ve been nice.

Treble

The treble is not aggressive, but just right in terms of definition. It is articulated, clean and transparent, but a bit thicker than neutral in terms of delivery. Also, the lower treble region is a bit pushed back, and there’s a slight boost in the mid-treble region.

Other than that, the treble is clean and resolving enough, and considering the overall delivery, the presentation is not too dark here. There’s good detail with good extension. Yet, you shouldn’t expect Zeta to be the ultimate treble performer in this price range. It prioritizes the bass first, then mids, and then you start to realize it has good treble too.  

It doesn’t hide anything from you, but it’s not a very crisp or bright treble response. If you like that kind of sound, Zeta might come a bit polite for your preference. Microdetail retrieval is nice too. The whole presentation is resolving, but again, a bit thicker than neutral. 

Page 1 – Intro, Packaging, Design, Build, Fit
Page 3 – Technical Performance, Comparisons & Conclusion
4/5 - (90 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

1 Comment

  • Reply April 9, 2023

    Steve

    eadfonia.com/hiby-zeta-review/

    Hi, mr. Berkhan.

    Thank you so much for your patient experience and detailed review. We appreciate your many positive comments and compliments about Zeta, and we also appreciate the suggestions you have made. Regarding the design of the original 8-core PCOCC cable, there is a special meaning behind it actually, and we have presented when we announced Zeta in China at the first time. The implied meaning of the “blue/purple” color is actually the color of Lapis Lazuli, which is a special blue color that has contained the imprint of global cultural exchange throughout human history. From ancient Egypt to ancient Babylon, from the Northern and Southern Dynasties and Tang and Song dynasties in ancient China to the Renaissance in Europe, we can see the presence of lazuli blue – from the golden mask of Tutankhamen, the Ishtar Gates , the Dunhuang’s Mogao Caves murals, to the frescoes of Giotto and the oil paintings of Raphael and so on. As I know, before the 18th century, natural blue was not easy to get, and the lazuli blue, a unique warm blue color with a slight purple tone, which was 90% originated from Afghanistan. Therefore, it was highly sought after by artists. The texture of lazuli blue is both uplifting and calming, providing a vast imagination and relaxing experience.

    The cable is the bridge that connects the earphones to the DAPs. And as the first flagship IEM from HiBy, Zeta is also an important audio product that was released for the first time after three-year pandemic period. We deliberately broke away from convention and designed a cable color that is similar to lazuli blue, symbolizing our love to music and our desire to restart communication in diverse cultures.

    To reiterate, the above is not meant to express any dissatisfaction with your sharing and views, but rather to supplement and explain the original intention behind the design of the cable color. Thank you deeply again, and I hope this would not disturb you.

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