Synergy
Efficiency
One other worthy aspect to mention about the FC5 is the power efficiency and operating temperature. It seems this particular circuitry is very efficient far as power consumption and usage.
On average I could listen to a full CD and only notice an average of 5% of battery drain. My particular phone has a 5000mah battery so use that as a reference point for your particular device.
I also love the fact that the FC5 runs cold and barely reaches human body temperature and the unit itself never gets hot when connected to either a phone or a full-sized USB source from a PC or at any time.
Pairings
As stated before, I would not attempt to pair this device with full-sized planar headphones or inefficient ones. I actually heard some popping at high volume levels from one of my least efficient planar sets. I did use a couple of efficient dynamic driver headphones with very good results, however.
The popping source might be because the power out section might not be equipped with a limiter and what I got was a similar sound to when you run out of capacitor power or have a failing one.
A known fact in this hobby is that voltage drives planar driver headphones best while wattage drives dynamic drivers best. Since the FC5 only has a 2V output I figure it just runs out of power when that happens. Besides the point of owning a dongle-DAC is mainly the portability and large heavy planar models are not ideal for that type of use anyway.
I would use the FC5 with any efficient dynamic driver headphone and with especially any IEM out there and since its sonic characteristics are well balanced there’s no need to worry about having to pair it with an IEM with a particularly bright or warm character and is not particularly finicky of sound signature.
Select Comparisons
FiiO KA3
$89.99
Technical
One of the most featured-rich dongle DACs you can buy today is certainly the FiiO KA3. This dongle DAC has dual headphone output jacks although I do not recommend you use them both simultaneously. One of those jacks is a balanced Pentaconn female 4.4mm jack and the other is the more common 3.5mm TRS.
The KA3 is powered similarly to the FC5 and the audio source is also captured through its USB-C connector so if you count the 3.5mm adapter connectivity is identical in both these dongles except I do prefer the KA3 in the sense that it has the built-in dual hookup plus the absence of the need to carry an additional adapter to go 3.5mm is definitely a plus.
The KA3 uses a flagship ranked ES9038Q2M and it could do some hardware rendering but there is a slight shortfall here because the KA3 is not MQA enabled and sticks to the more common PCM and DSD formats only.
Design
Both these dongle DACs are almost identical in size but cannot be mistaken visually particularly since the FiiO KA3 design has golden end caps while HiBy went with an all-black finish on the FC5. The KA3 does have some sharp edges so I would say the FC5 has the more pleasing to hold in your hand design and construction.
Another point goes to the FC5 and its hardware volume control and although it’s a very useful feature most dongles do not incorporate one and that just might be for size reduction purposes which is understandably sensible.
Performance
There seems to be a touch more cleanliness and definition coming off that ES9281PRO DAC chip inside the FC5 and there might be a better amount of element distinction and there might also be a better representation of 3D space but power-wise it does come up short.
The difference between the 240mW per side output of the KA3 versus the 125mW coming off that FC5 is fairly noticeable allowing the KA3 to play louder without break up and it even could power up some planar cans which particularly presented issues for the FC5.
So here lies the bottom line between these two dongle DACs in comparison. Do you prefer better definition and 3D placement over power output and perhaps a more forward vocal presentation? That’s up to you.
iBasso DC04
$74.99
Technical
Since we are comparing dongle DACs equipped with 4.4mm balanced outputs this dongle would be considered a good bang for the buck contender since for the asking price you get higher power output, a dual DAC design coupled to the 4.4mm balanced headphone output in a smaller package half the size of the FC5.
The DC04 offers Dual CS43131 DACs and up to 195mW output power per channel and with a low asking price combined makes it a tempting candidate.
Design
There are some tradeoffs here and the first one is the attached wire which if it develops a break or intermittence at any point there’s no way of changing it. Two, the DC04 only offers a single 4.4mm connection but I have great news for current owners and future buyers of the DC04.
Out of curiosity, I used the same 3.5mm adapter that came with the FC5 on the DC04 and it works just fine. So, there is a way after all of using a single-ended 3.5mm equipped IEM with the DC04 and all you have to do is get a gender changer.
Kudos to HiBy for including one and a nice one it is but it makes me wonder if all these dongles DACs truly have balanced circuitry or are just wired up to use a 4.4mm Pentaconn connector.
Performance
Both models have some similar sonic traits although the DC04 seems to have a somewhat larger soundstage especially when it comes to height and width. Plus, once again, the extra power enables the DC04 to play somewhat louder on some occasions.
There does seem to be less amount of veil, especially in vocal presentation coming off the FC5 plus it definitely has a darker background with a slight improvement in tonal accuracy.
HiBy FC3
$69.00
Technical
To be honest the FC3 is not a bad deal in any sense and is one of those pieces of gear which I would consider a safe buy, especially for a first-time dongle DAC buyer. The unit itself has a rugged all-aluminum body with a brushed aluminum finish and has good internal hardware.
The FC3 has a 30-step hardware volume control same as with the FC5 and it seems to be a common feature on all the HiBy dongle DACs including the FC1 which is their budget model.
The HiBy dongle DACs in this comparison all do MQA decoding up to X8 so that means both TIDAL and local MQA tracks can be upsampled to 352.8kHz.
The FC3 does PCM and DSD and handles them at the same rates as the FC5 at 32 bit and 384kHz plus DSD128. So, what’s the catch if they have similar decoding capabilities?
Performance
The catch is that you only get 70mW per side off the single-ended 3.5mm plug. Why? They both use the same DAC chip, the ES9281PRO but the addition of the dual ES9603Q amplifier front end is the source of the higher power output capability and is responsible for a small difference in listening tests.
Technically and sonically both these dongle DACs sound very similar except for a touch of extra low-end punch supplied by the extra 55mW per side when you listen to the FC5 side by side to theFC3.
Imaging is almost similar as well but somehow the FC3 has better height while the FC5 displays a wider sound panorama and better depth so it’s basically a small trade-off. I do prefer width over height in some cases but when was the last time you went to a concert and heard the highs coming from the top of your head instead of from the front stage?
Our Verdict
The HiBy FC5 is aimed at buyers who want the latest chipset and a modern-looking shell design that is purposed for quality sound in particular. Although it lacks raw power compared to other models it makes up for it by providing a very nice and clean sonic character in general.
Some might be turned off by the lack of an app but the FC5 offers a superior hardware package that focuses on the quality of the output and not so much on features and is actually one of the cleanest sounding dongle DACs around.
Dongle DACs in general are not designed to push the hardest to drive headphones anyways and long as you keep that rule in mind and use it for its intended purpose which is in combo with a mobile device and a high-quality IEM then you will be more than happy with the FC5 for sure.
HiBy FC5 Specifications
- Port 4mm balanced headphone port
- Output Level 2V RMS at 32 Ohms
- Output Power 125mW + 125mW at 32 Ohms
- THD+N 0015%
- SNR 114dB
- Crosstalk Rejection 71dB
- Frequency Response 20 Hz to 90 kHz
- Dimensions 58 x 22 x 12 mm
- Weight 5g
- Chipset ES9281PRO + Dual ES9603Q
- Supported Formats PCM 32BIT/384kHz DSD128 (DoP) MQA
- USB Port Type C
