Enter the modern hifi world. Try this test.

@sparksgja 

I agree, however... i am not trying  to be condescending to anyone. 

I could say that of most DACs i’ve heard, they all seem to have a different "flavor" or sonic character. I’m talking about solid-state only designs and not tube DACs, although I have no beef with them either. 

While it is true that so many headphone DACs like this, the size of a finger or smaller do not produce stellar sound, this one does. 

I think it has to do with the ecosystem that hiby created with the music app and building the hardware to be compatible. 

This specific one, amazingly, despite being only 20 dollars is as clear and transparent as I’ve ever heard. And it only works if you toggle the settings correctly. After that... it is smooth sailing. I have tried at least 12 or so other headphone DACs to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out many of them don’t perform well. Some of them sound no better than the aux output on a laptop.

The sound is totally uncolored from what I can tell. This is hard to pull off, even on much more costly designs. The soundstage is wide/expansive, and vocals (especially female vocals like Diana Krall and Anne Bisson  are an absolute joy to listen to. With it dialed in right, it sounds very much like the speakers (boxes) aren’t obviously making the sound; it’s just floating in the room organically.

And like I said earlier - many high end DACs are fighting numerous battles internally (at the electrical level) before they even get the output to the speakers or headphones. Most of them are a joy for marketing teams because they can state all kinds of improvements and sound quality upgrades; which may be real or not.

The FC1 ? total simplicity until you can’t reduce the numer of variables anymore. and keep the signal path clean, then go straight to output. A wonderful, delightful DAC that could have been sold for significantly more money. Also pairs really nicely with my AKG K553 MKII headphones. To such an extent that they don’t sound like headphones anymore... not boxy or closed in, just expansive and super wide. 

@frank009 

Funnily enough I have an old HiBy DAP I bought to listen to flac files while flying around the world pre-retirement, like HiBy value a lot. I'm convinced enough to spend $20 to try this out (I have a cable to use already) but none of the standard 'shops' have stock and eBay scalpers are charging double. My current setup with an expensive Denafrips Venus 15th (aka old Terminator) does sound amazing in my system but we are talking a factor of over 1750x more! Anyway thanks for more clarification I will look out on my travels as I do have an Android phone too. 

I agree with OP that costly DACs do not necessarily mean objectively better sound. It is more a question of flavor. I compared a $5K Holoaudio May2 with a $250 Topping D50 III. Depending on type of music/recording I had *slightest* preference for one vs. other. It is a combination of reminder of equipment PLUS recording. I have yet to see an AG discussion where pairing specific recordings to specific DACs is discussed. Typically, it is one DAC is always better than the other. That suggests a very limited sample of tracks being used. 

I also compared some earlier dongle DACs, the Audioquest Dragonfly red, black, and cobalt. There are some minute differences, but nothing earth shattering at all. And those are seriously overpriced.

If you like it then use, it and enjoy.

@sparksgja 

The Amazon.com: HiBy FC3 USB DAC with Display Hi-Res Audio 112mW Output Power Support PCM DSD MQA dongle for iPhone/MAC/Android/Windows(Black) : Electronics

is a winner too. Not nearly as much "harmonic glue" between the notes, but plenty of power on top to drive headphones and the sound is a bit more "explicit" so it tends to spotlight details and reveal more flaws in the music. But it’s no slouch at all for sounding musical and gives a very positive impression.

The output stage and DAC chip make the differences between the FC1 and FC3 easy to discern in real world listening. 

Integration with the hiby app and making sure you give it exclusive access to USB as I said earlier - and you’re in for hours of listening enjoyment.