HIBY CRYSTAL 6 II: Crystalline and Silvery

"Crystals are living beings at the beginning of creation.”

~~Nikola Tesla, Serbian inventor, perspectivist and electrical & chemical engineer.

We in the audio enthusiast community are quite familiar with this audio brand, HIBY MUSIC  as they are known to produce some of the most popular portable audio paraphernalias out there like DAPs, earphones and USB DAC dongles in the audio market. HIBY was established around 2011 and they have their own dedicated research and development to create some high quality portable audio products at decent price. The reason that they can provide such pricing to be affordable as possible is due to its strong manufacturing background with decades of experience and at the same time, they also have a stable supply chain for their hardware parts and other components. Aside from hardware aspect, they also have competent software development as they also develop their own OS for their portable digital audio player and a music app for popular mobile OSes which is one of the sought after app for audio enthusiasts for its advanced parametric EQ and a first choice for USB DAC dongle decoding support.

What I have here is an IEM product from them, the HIBY Crystal 6 II, which is an improvement over the previous Crystal 6 and an all-balanced armature driver setup.  This product is at the midrange segment as it was priced at over US$300/£245 where it will be competing with other midrange contemporaries which are more established and quite popular to audio enthusiasts.

As mentioned, the Crystal 6 II is an all-BA setup.  To be exact, it has 3 pairs of balanced armature drivers, the bass and treble pairs a customised version of a dual set-up of highly-regarded Sonion BAs and that will make it technically a hexapartite (6) driver layout per earpiece. These drivers were implemented in 3-way acoustic tubes and it utilises a electronic crossover frequency board, with gold circuit tracing for ensuring a minimal loss of signal transmission and better sonic fidelity for seamless, smoother and clear audio quality. The custom Sonion 39AY is a dual-woofer BA that will handle solely the low frequency in which I think that it is an improvement over the previous Sonion 38 series and it’s also a vented driver with accupass dampener technology for a deeper, more textured and better extended of bass akin to a high performance dynamic driver. The tweeters are custom Sonion E50DT, and the regular variant of this specific dual BA model is known to deliver a smooth, spacious and excellent treble air.

Its drivers and the other internal components are encapsulated in a resin shell chassis that were moulded via a 3D-printing process by HEYGEARS to ensure uniformity of its ergonomic design and better structural integrity. The faceplates were handcrafted and underwent a sand painting process to give a unique and distinctive pattern to each earpiece. It takes a UIEM-style form factor as it is the most ergonomic and versatile when it comes to fitting and comfort and the shell's cavity base has a large vent hole at the top part for releasing excess air pressure for more comfortable wear. And this set utilises a standard 0.78mm 2-pin connector as its detachable mechanism for ease of cable swapping.

It was partnered with a high quality cable with  a modular interface for interchangeable termination plugs. The cable itself is a 4-core high purity copper cable and it is quite supple and malleable to handle though it has a termination plug which is sort of a weighty one that gives a solid build on it.

Its UIEM-style shell contours are quite ergonomic as it sits well into my lugholes without any issues so that I can definitely wear them for a long listening session. It has an excellent seal as it was able to block a substantial amount of external noises coming from the outside surroundings, despite the venting.

The product presentation of HIBY Crystal 6 II is rather utilitarian and practical on how it was packed in a medium-sized square box but at least it has a considerable amount of inclusions.

Here are the following contents inside the box:

■ Pair of HIBY Crystal 6 II IEMs

■ Stock modular cable

■ 3.5mm SE termination plug

■ 4.4mm balanced termination plug

■ 3 pairs of balanced ear tips in different standard sizes.

■ 3 pairs of vocal/crisp ear tips in different standard sizes.

■ 3 pairs of bass ear tips in different standard sizes.

■ 1 pair of narrow bore medium-size ear tips

■ a circular hard-woven fibre IEM storage case.

■ An anti-theft holder for IEM case.

■ paperwork like Q.C. stub, instruction manual and warranty card.

In regards to scaling on power requirement, HIBY CRYSTAL 6 II is quite exceptional on this aspect as it is one of the most sensitive when it comes to amplification and very easy to drive. My LG phones with ESS Hi-Fi DACs need only 20-30% of its volume level as it is quite pretty loud and will give a complete and dynamic sound quality. Pairing it with HIBY R6 PRO II will somehow regulate  and give a proper power output to this set.

[Note: The HiBy R6 pro II, which I had together with this for review, powers these fully without a doubt, without overpowering them and there’s enough volume control granularity and no noticeable noise floor.]

As for its tonality, this set has a neutral-ish-bright sound profile as it has more emphasis and elevation on the midrange to high frequencies while the low frequency part is rather reserved and less focused on. This kind of neutral sound signature somehow plainly aligns with a reference sound that I am really fond of.

(Graph was provided by PRACTIPHILE, credits to him)

[Note: The majority of conducting an assessment of this set to analyse its sound quality will be paired with HIBY R6 PRO II. And there will be no EQ or the usage of its add-on plugins unless otherwise stated.]

LOWS/BASS:

The bass quality of this one is quite impressive for a BA woofer. Like all IEMs with Sonion BA woofers that I've tested, it has that almost DD-like performance with good incisively deep and clean bass response in which a neutral-ish-bright tonality that usually has. But the vividness and punchiness of a dynamic driver is still unmatched in this regard. It's quite impressive that it has a sub bass presence as I am still able to perceive some reverberations from sub bass-focus instruments like low tone bass guitars, drum machines and synthesisers if I listened to some music genres like synth-pop, post-punk and old school hip-hop.

The mid-bass texture of this one is also noticeably denser that it will give a sufficient punch on the bass kick drum, ample roar on bass guitars and then, depth and tone on bass-baritones. The bass kick drum has a thudding and resonant sound as it is able to cope with fast double bass kicks on metal and rock tracks. Bass guitars have a rasping and sustaining sound on every strum of their string notations and bass-baritone vocals seem to have enough texture to have a wool-like and dense sound though it has a less darker tone that this particular voice type should have.

MIDRANGE:

This is probably one of its focal point on its overall frequency range presentation as the midrange frequency of Crystal 6 II was presented in a neutral, clean and transparent fashion. The quality of the midrange will give more emphasis on tonal colour of vocals (mostly female ones) and instruments to have crisp, energetic and more open sounding.

In part of vocal quality, both male and female voices have a good detail, clarity and some smoothness on its texture. And I'll begin with male vocals first, majority of baritone types have a smoothness and velvety sound while kavalier baritones has a tad metallic sound as I expect a more steely tone and verdi has a decent fullness although less darker timbre as I want. Tenors have a brassy and ringing sound of their vocals with a tinge of spiciness on either lyric, spinto, dramatic or Heldentenor as they have a sufficient texture and volume. Countertenors have smooth and tender voice qualities as they deliver their distinctive high falsetto notes. On female vocals, contraltos have a rich, smokey and sufficient lushness on their vocals as they project their low chesty voices while mezzo-sopranos have a tender, smooth and fiery sound as their voices really gives me that soothing and feathery feel. Sopranos are probably the best one for this set as it has a an energetic and spacious one as it sounds very crystalline, shimmering and metallic that  all types of this vocals will be excellent on this one whether it is dramatic, lyric, soubrette or coloratura.

On how the instruments' will sound on this set, strings, woodwinds and percussives will sound very natural and well-delineated on this one as this kind of tuning will excel on mostly classical and orchestra ensembles. When it comes to strings like guitars and violins, guitars (both acoustic and electric-types) have a crisp, lingering sound and it also quite has a presence sound to in some acoustic tracks while violins have vibrant and metallic sound every motion of its bowstring. In woodwinds, concert flutes have a bright and silvery sound while piccolos have intense and piercing sound on them, and then both clarinets and saxophones have lively, sonorous and reedy sounds as I listen to them either in solo or group performance. Percussion instruments like snares, toms, field drums and kettledrums, snares have a sharp, metallic and bright sound while toms have a rustling and resonant sound. Kettledrums have resonant and dry sound and field drums have hard, clattering and sonorous sound. Chordophones like pianos and harpsichords are on the brighter side as the pianos sounds very evenly bright which gives a lively tone while harpsichords have a crisp and resonant sound as I enjoy listening to some Handel tracks. In regards of brass instruments, trumpets have brilliant, bright and shrill sound while trombones have a powerful, penetrating and tense sound, and then on horns, they have a rather a resounding and quite intense sound on them.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

The HIBY Crystal 6 II is absolutely a bright sounding set as I observe the elevation on the upper-mids on how its give a precise and sharper attack of percussive and rhythm instruments along with its boosted female vocals. It has remarkable clarity and detailed sound in its presence in the treble region. But there are some caveats on this one as it will be an anathema to most treble-sensitive folk out there as this will be a fatiguing sound for them, in that there are some noticeable shrillness and hissiness that will affect their listening session but if you are an ardent treble head, this is definitely for you. There are noticeable slight sibilance in this one too especially in tracks that were prone to sibilance.

Cymbals sounds have a shimmering, metallic and sizzling sound, hi-hats have shortened buzzing sound albeit it has added more resonance on them. Glockenspiels have a piercing and strident sound while celestas have a bright and glassy sound on them. Brilliance treble on this one is also remarkable as it has very sparkling and shimmering sound with good treble extension.

[Note: in HIBY R6 PRO II, In the plugin option, the Dynamic mode, it will somehow rectify some unwanted peaks and it adds some texture on its note weight.]

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

It has a good proportion of its sound/speaker stage as it gives me a roomy headroom within my aural sphere as it has a wide span on its sound field along with good height reach and depth on it. It projects a holographic, 3D-like stereo imaging as I was able to perceive the exact location of instruments and vocals. It has an excellent separation of instruments and vocals along  with its well-defined layers of tonal frequencies and colour of each element on its overall composition in its black sonic canvas.

The cohesive performance of its drivers is quite remarkable as it has a faster transient response and delivers a detailed sound.

I also give an excellent mark on resolution capability as they have a good macrodynamics and stellar microdynamics. It has a decent amount of note texture while it has a very sharp definition on its detail retrieval as it was able to extract a good amount of details, nuances and subtleties of information from an audio track.

[Note: Again on HIBY R6 PRO II, plugins like “Sound Field” and “DRX10K Dynamics” will even further improve technical capabilities, like giving a more spacious headstage and a more vivid, impactful sound.]

PEER COMPARISONS:

THIEAUDIO HYPE 2

● This is a hybrid driver set-up and it is way  less cheaper compared to Crystal 6 II. It has a dual dynamic driver in "isobaric" set-up and also uses two Sonion BAs for mids and high frquencies. Both have both appealing looking resin shells and almost have a quantity of inclusions.

● As for tonality, This set is more a mild U-shaped, probably even "bass-boost neutral", it has a more prominent bass which has more slam compared to Crystal 6 II. Its  midrange especially on lower midrange have similar depth and texture on male vocals but compared to Crystal 6II, it has less energetic and particulaly not that open sounding on female vocals and woodwinds. Treble response on this one is more balanced and more smoother sounding but less airy and sparkling compared to Crystal 6 II.

● Technicalities-wise, both are comparable  with their respective capabilities, but compared to Crystal 6 II, HYPE 2 has less sound/speaker width and its detail definition was less sharp but not blunted as I still consider it to have competent resolution capability.

HIDIZS MS5

● Unlike Crystal 6 II whose shells chassis are mostly made of resin shell material, the MS5 shells are made of composite materials, a hollowed resin on its faceplate and an aluminium alloy on its cavity base. It has a hybrid driver set-up and it also uses a Sonion BAs. It should be noted that it has a detachable tuning nozzles where you can interchanged with other tuning nozzles that suit your preferred sound profile

● Due to its detachable tuning nozzle, MS5 makes it more versatile to offer different types of sound signatures. The red nozzle has more V-shaped sound signature, rose gold nozzle has a U-shaped which is the most balanced sounding among its tuning nozzles and silver nozzle has a brighter U-shaped. Bass response of this set is more punchy and has a more authority compared to Crystal 6 II but the midrange is way more recessed especially the red nozzle filter. Its treble response are similar, especially the silver and rose gold tuning nozzles as they are also bright and crisp sound with good amount of air and sparkle.

● On technical competency, both sets are have similar imaging performance and resolution capabilities but the difference is that MS5 has a narrower sound/speaker stage compared to Crystal 6 II.

SEE AUDIO BRAVERY LIMITED EDITION

● See Audio's pride on the entry-level to lower midrange segment. This IEM has a similar build quality and driver configuration with the Crystal 6 II but there are still some differences. While it has similar resin shell and also takes a UIEM-style form factor, Bravery LE has a leaner and a tad smaller size. And in regards of its 4 BA drivers configuration, this set also have Knowles BAs to handling other frequency but its Sonion BA that handles the midrange frequency. It is also has modular stock cable but Bravery LE's is more premium as it was provided by Hakugei and it also included a premium ear tips by Azla.

● Tonality-wise, Bravery LE has a warmish-neutral sonic profile in contrast with Crystal 6 neutralish-bright sound. It has a fuller and impacting bass response, a bit warmer and textured midrange and smoother and well-balanced treble response which makes Bravery LE a more natural sounding and more versatile to all vocal types and instruments. Although when it comes to female vocals, strings and woodwinds, Crystal 6 II has better clarity, more shimmering and detailed sounding.

● On technical capabilities, they share similar performance in all technical aspects from soundstaging, imaging and driver cohesiveness. But the slight difference was that Crystal 6 II has tad wider soundstage width while the Bravery LE has a more solid macro-dynamics.

To summarise the overall product profile of the HIBY Crystal 6 II, it has an all-balanced armature drivers that were implemented in a resin shell chassis, a modular cable for versatility to different types of output sources. And then, its tonality took a different approach of having neutral-bright tuning while having a capable technical performance.

As I put a conclusion on this review, I will highly recommend this set to audio enthusiasts if they are looking for a neutral sounding IEM that is highly resolving, analytical with very competent technical capabilities. But for treble-sensitive folk, simply look for another set that will certainly fits your tonal preference.

HIBY CRYSTAL 6 II is now available at HIBY AUDIO's official online store, you can check out the unaffiliated link down below.

★★HIBY CRYSTAL 6 II - OFFICIAL STORE★★

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: HIBY CRYSTAL 6 II

IMPEDANCE: 58.5Ω

SENSITIVITY: 110dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE:  2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78MM)

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (6) BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVER(S)

PROS:

△ A premium, customise variant of Sonion BAs inside of its internal.

△ High quality resin shell chassis.

△ Its UIEM-type shell is quite ergonomic when it comes to fitting and comfort

△ High quality stock cable and it is also a modular one too.

△ Many choices of ear tips to choose from.

△ Very power efficient when it comes to amplification.

△ A neutralish-bright sound signature that will suited for some audiophiles.

△ Quite a punchy and incisive while retains its clean and well-segregated bass response, The fact that its uses a Sonion woofer BA.

△ Clear, clean and crisp midrange presentation.

△ Female vocals sounds very coherent and expressive with excellent clarity and energy.

△ Crisp and lingering sound on string instruments.

△ Woodwind instruments sound very airy and brilliant.

△ Very sparkly and airy treble response.

△ Excellent technical capabilities.

△ Intensely resolving one.

CONS:

▽ Definitely not for treble-sensitive folk out there.

▽ Sibilance is quite present in most cases

▽ Some female vocals might be too intense and shouty to some listeners

▽ Some might be too lean sounding to on their liking.

▽ Too analytical that it might show some artefacts and clippings in the badly-produced tracks.

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

Type O Negative - Black No.1 *

Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **

Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *

Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to HIBY MUSIC nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains from themas they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to JOSEPH YEUNG of HIBY MUSIXC for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate hos generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.