HiBy x F.Audio Project Ace

HiBy x F.Audio Project Ace Review: ACE IN THE HOLE?​

PRICE: $249​

PROS:​

• Unique aesthetics
• Good quality inclusions
• Uses the best kind of modular cable system
• Easy to drive, very good scaling
• AMAZING bass to midrange tone and timbre
• Superb technical ability
• Amazing low end texture and note weight
• Warm yet naturally sounding lower midrange

CONS:​

• Odd ergonomics
• A little sharp and edgy on the treble

WHO THIS UNIT IS FOR:​

• People who want a proper dynamic listening experience
• People who want a very technical sounding set for the price
• People who want a linear but very engaging bass-to-midrange presentation
• People who can stand a little bit of treble spice and sharpness
• People who like a very textured-sounding low end

WHO THIS UNIT ISN’T FOR:​

• Treble sensitive
• Timbre heads
• Fit-sensitive people
• People who want the cleanest sound signature
• People who want something airier

RECOMMENDED GENRES:​

• R&B
• Soul
• Funk
• Pop

SHORT REVIEW:​

Seemingly coming out from nowhere, F.Audio and HiBy has just created arguably one of the best lower midrange Single DD IEM in the market today. Unique presentation, superb dynamic sound and stellar technicalities are just some of the things this little blue dorrito has accomplished. Unfortunately, its Achilles heel of a treble may make or break your experience with this set due to the sharp and edgy mid treble that is followed by a dip that gives the impression of sounding choked. Nonetheless, the Project Ace is definitely something to look out for if you’re a Dynamic Driver lover like me. RECOMMENDED WITH CAVEATS!

FULL REVIEW​

Collaboration IEMs. Sometimes they revolutionize the market and how competitive the offerings are, sometimes they are complete flops and the collaborators would actively try to erase its existence. Most of the time, these collaborations are between a content creator and a brand. Sometimes it could even be a distributor and a brand.

But in rare cases, two brands will decide to collaborate to create something with the use of each other’s expertise. Think Elysian and Effect Audio with the Gaia. Or Nightjar and Symphonium Meteor. A common theme between the two companies is one handles the acoustics and the other handles the aesthetics or the cable.

But what in the world are HiBy and F.Audio doing to make an IEM together? HiBy, known for their music player app and DAC/AMPs, and F.Audio, known for their TOTL in-ears making an IEM together? What exactly is the Project Ace? And why does it look like a blue Dorito? Well, we’ll answer all of this in today’s comprehensive review of the HiBy x F.Audio Project Ace.

DISCLAIMER: This product was sent over by HiBy in exchange for my honest thoughts. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity. I was not paid. Rest assured, my thoughts and opinions on this product will be of my own honest opinions and will not be affected by the facts beforehand.

Audio is a very subjective hobby and as much as I try to objectively explain my thoughts and opinions, your mileage will vary. My preferences will also affect how I perceive the gear that I review. Sources and other accessories will also modify your experience. Lastly, my reviews should always be used only as a guide and not as the definitive bible. Trust your ears to know what’s good.

THE FIRST PROJECT​

Two seemingly contrasting brands, F.Audio and HiBy have set out to create something very unique with the Project Ace, not only in appearance but in sound. Both of these companies have had years under their belt, HiBy in particular have dabbled in many different product categories from music players, applications, dongle DACs, and even in-ears. F.Audio is no different as they have been known to release very unique TOTL in-ears that were founded by a music producer in the name of Ken Lee. So what can this $249 in-ear monitor made with the power of two experienced companies offer?

UNBOXING:​

The first thing that you’ll notice with the unboxing of the Project Ace is the fact that this resembles their Yvain quite a lot. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I just thought it was interesting that they’d use a similar presentation to their previous set.

Anyway, digging into the unboxing itself we’re met with the usual lore of the IEM in a piece of paper and the IEMs sitting on their lovely throne along with the accessories strewn around.

Here is the full list of accessories:

• Project Ace IEMs
• 3.5mm & 4.4mm 4-pin lock adaptors
• Litz 4 strand cable
• 6 pairs of eartips (3 silicone, 3 foams)
• Storage bag
• Cleaning brush
• Paperwork

One motif you’ll see quite frequently with Project Ace is the usage of this very beautiful shade of blue. You can find this on the IEMs themselves as well as the case and I just love this shade of blue. It’s a midnight-like blue that is very easy on the eyes and a pain in the ass to photoshoot. But still very lovely.


The case that the Project Ace comes in is quite nice with a very spacious internal that comes with a divider to split your accessories (or IEMs) into separate pieces. It’s a very well-built case, but not particularly pocketable at all. It’s great to store your IEMs in your home and maybe inside your bag, but you won’t catch me trying to put this big square in my pocket. My only nitpick is that maybe, just maybe, a pentagon case would’ve fit the aesthetics of the IEMs a little bit better.



As for the rest of the accessories, you get a basic cleaning tool as well as a tip case with a couple of tips inside. They provide 2 kinds of eartips. Silicone and Foams. I will mention very soon why this addition, while found in their older sets, is essential to the Project Ace if you can stand using foam eartips.

Build & Fit​

Now, let’s talk about the most interesting part of the Project Ace so far. The build & fit. And yes, I mention fit too because it’s equally as interesting, albeit not in a good way.

But first, let’s talk internals. The Project Ace features a 12mm Berylium Plated Diaphram with a Magnesium and Lithium alloy dome Dynamic Driver housed in a T6063 aluminum alloy CNC processed shell and a 0.78 2-pin connector.



Blue dorito. That is what I’ve called the Project Ace for the longest time and for good reason. Look at the thing. It’s a pentagonal faceplate of a blue variety. And I know a dorito only has 3 sides, but still doesn’t that remind you of chips? Piatos maybe (to the Filipinos out there) but whatever it may be, it’s a very interesting shape.



Unfortunately, this has the effect of not being the most ergonomic IEM. The shape doesn’t really do much for comfort as the inner shell is VERY thick and the nozzle is quite long. This means the stock silicone tips were very ineffective at providing a good seal and a comfortable fit. Only by using small, stubby eartips like the Zhu Bamboo, Sancai Widebore, or even TRN T tips do you get a properly good seal. Obviously, the Clarion’s made this the best fitting IEM ever, but that just showcases the inconsistency this has in terms of fitting.

Admittedly, however, it is quite comfortable in long listening sessions when you get the right tips. I never felt pressure in or around my ears whatsoever which deserves a bit of praise considering the kind of shape they went for and using the correct tips give this just the right amount of stability and seal to make it quite comfy.



Where I want to hype the Project Ace more is with the cable At first glance, it might seem like your basic 4-strand Litz cable. But look closer and deeper, you’ll see that the Project Ace has a trick up its sleeve.



That’s right, it’s the best kind of modular system. Instead of using the rudimentary plug-and-unplug method, the Project Ace’s cable features a screw lock mechanism. This reminds me of the Q Lock of Dunu’s Hulk Pro Mini which I also loved. But this is much much cheaper, at least compared to the IEM that you have to get that kind of cable. I cannot stress how much I love this modular system so much and I really hope they sell this cable separately. The Yvain also features a similar modular system, but the cable itself was worse in quality.

SOUND​

PREFACE: Tip-Roll is key​

Before I talk about the sound, I just want to emphasize the importance of tip-rolling the Project Ace. In my initial listen, I found that the treble sounded a little bit grainy and sharp with the bass sounding quite strong and incisive. I loved how it sounded, but I also knew that people might not find it too appealing. That was until I popped the foams onto these and found how much it smoothens out the overall sound. The treble peak is considerably smoother and the bass is tamer. This had the added effect of making the midrange even better than when using silicone eartips. So if you plan to get the Project Ace, consider tip rolling. This review was done with Silicone eartips as my ears do not like foams, but please consider using the foam eartips

Sound Signature​

The Project Ace is this somewhat weird flavor of neutral. It’s not flat neutral where it sounds dry, lean and analytical. But it’s also not the natural sound with heavy focus on timbre while keeping it very engaging. It’s like a mixture of that, which ends up making the Project Ace both natural and analytical sounding. Bass is VERY well done with amazing texture and note definition, the mids are well-bodied with a lot of nuance and character and the treble is a little spicy but quite resolving.

Source Pairing​

The Project Ace are not only easy to drive, they are VERY easy to drive. Using an inefficient/noisy source will bring out noise in this IEM. Using your smartphone is more than enough to get an enjoyable listen out of this. However, using a better source improves upon its dynamic presentation and smoothens out the treble. That makes the Project Ace solid for both low-powered and high-quality sources.

Bass:​

One of the first things that stood out to me with the Project Ace is the bass. And while I do have my expectations for a midrange single DD to have good bass quality by default (otherwise it gets eaten by the EA1000, Falcon Ultra, or Winter), the Project Ace blew my mind by not only having a very tight and clean bass but also a very textured and rich sounding bass. The 12mm dynamic driver truly does wonders as it balances both quality and quantity in the perfect way. It’s not big woofy bass, mind you. It’s generous, clean yet engaging, and punchy.

Listening to Send It by D’Angelo has been one of the best listening experiences I’ve had so far. As soon as the first bass riff plays, you’re transported to groovyland with how rich the bass guitars are rendered on the Project Ace. The texture in every strum is so good. The kickdrums are also felt but non-intrusive. You get enveloped in this sense of warmth without drowning you in it and it’s absolutely amazing.

Mids:​

This perfectly translates into the midrange where the tonal balance between male and female vocals is perfect. This translates to the rest of the ensemble having this perfect harmony of really good note weight while having a crisp and clear definition that never sounded recessed or unnatural. Male vocals and low-frequency instruments in particular sound absolutely amazing on these and perfectly transition into the upper mids in such a silky smooth manner. The upper mids are admittedly thicker than what the recent trends in audio have been providing, but I’d say this makes vocals sound more organic and natural to the ears.

I want to use D’Angelo again, but I would like to use a different artist for the midrange. Daniel Cesar’s 2017 album, Freudian sounds perfect on the Project Ace, full stop. From Get You’s slow and sensual basslines paired with Daniel’s smooth vocals and hard-hitting percussive all the way to We Find Love and its rich pianos and harmonies, the Project Ace is able to render it with such grace with one critique that I’ll be mentioning in the next section. But if we’re talking about the mids and bass, the Project Ace is genuinely a perfect IEM for R&B and Soul genres.

Treble:​

And here we are to the part of the Project Ace that I wanted to love so badly, but just couldn’t. The treble is quite detailed with good sparkle and incisiveness. And as a treblehead, I honestly could appreciate the amount of sparkle and brightness that the Project Ace provides. It’s also very detailed with a lot of nuances. However, it’s quite uneven and causes a somewhat grainy and occasionally sharp and unnatural tone to the mix. This is particularly evident in the trailing highs of vocals and percussive instruments. It isn’t helped with the air region being deliberately rolled off to compliment the rich low frequencies as the contrast from the massive peak in the mid-treble to the sudden dip to the upper treble gives a somewhat low-res sound due to the graininess and sudden shift in energy.

The best song I can describe this is Atomic by Blonde. That song is my test track when it comes to treble timbre and splashiness due to how aggressively the percussive instruments were mixed into that track. And it could not have been splashier on the Project Ace. Granted, it didn’t sound overly harsh like some other hybrid sets I’ve heard on this track. But to have an almost perfect tuning to only reach this kind of treble kind of bummed me out. At the very least the detail retrieval here is still very good and competent for the price.

Technicalities:​

The technical ability of the Project Ace is superb. Not only is it good for a single DD, but it’s also really good for the price. The only IEMs that can match Project Ace’s technicalities are the top-of-the-class IEMs for the price which include the Falcon Ultra, EA1000, and BQEYZ Winter. Separation and layering are very clean although out despite the warmer low end and edgy upper frequencies. Imaging and stage are very immersive, although not entirely holographic as these are still in-ear. And I’ve talked about the texture enough to mention it again, but it’s fantastic. The only thing I really hear it struggles with is resolution and refinement due to the edginess and splashiness up top. Otherwise, very technical set!

REAL WORLD USAGE​

Casual Use:​

Unfortunately, due to the shape and fitting of the Project Ace, I found them to not be the most stellar for media consumption. Long-term comfort is great as it never digs into your ear, but it’s quite unstable especially if you move around. The tuning, while great for general media consumption might bring out unintended harshness in the higher frequencies. Dialogue however is very full and never distant on these and the superb technical ability makes even the busiest and most action-packed scenes with dialogue quite audible.

Gaming Use:​

Gaming fairs better on the Project Ace as the tuning compliments competitive games like Valorant really compliments the specific sounds you’d want to hear really well. Immersive games are much closer to movies and the harshness can both be a great and a bad thing depending on what kind of game you play. On more immersive games with a lot of environmental sounds, that peak benefits the overall sound as it brings out the micro nuances in the sound design. Bigger set pieces with sharper sound will be painful, unfortunately. But overall, great set for gaming!

COMPARISONS​

VS Simgot EA1000​

Arguably the best Single DD (technically) IEM I’ve heard under $500, the Project Ace gets surprisingly close to competing against the EA1000. The bass and lower mids sound more natural on the Project Ace due to the flatter response. However, the EA1000 still edges the Project Ace overall due to the generally better-tuned, more technical nature of the EA1000. The bass on the EA1000 is still more tactile and tighter sounding than the Project Ace’s and the treble sounds CONSIDERABLY smoother, despite being brighter than the Project Ace. Accessories are better on the Project Ace through and offer a more complete package that even includes a modular cable.

vs Simgot EA2000​

Now you might be wondering why I’m comparing a $319 IEM with a $249 IEM. That’s because genetically, they are very similar. Deep, tactile bass with ridiculously bright treble peaks that ruin the overall timbre. The main difference would be the EA2000 bass still sounds more tactile and richer with the treble peak sounding just a little bit smoother while the Project Ace sounds considerably more natural in the bass to midrange. Technicalities still go to the EA2000 with just how clean the separation is for how bright it sounds and the dynamics of the bass. But not too shabby comparing the two together as they still feature very similar characteristics.

vs Dunu Falcon Ultra Ti​

Compared to the Falcon Ultra Titanium Edition, the Project Ace has a cleaner, tighter, and more tactile bass response while the Falcon Ultra Ti is smoother and more natural sounding overall. The treble sounds CONSIDERABLY cleaner on the Falcon Ultra Ti, but the technicalities would have to go to the Project Ace for having a cleaner separation and layering while having more holographic imaging and stage compared to the Falcon Ultra.

vs Letshuoer D13​

Just like the EA2000 comparison, why the hell am I comparing a $129 which can be bought for only $89 IEM being compared with a $249 IEM? And just like the EA2000, they have very similar DNAs. Essentially, the D13 is a worse Project Ace in every way but retains the bass tactility and tightness that makes it one of the best IEMs if you want quality and quantity. The Project Ace improves upon this but also keeps that awkward peak in the mid-treble that dips down to give a somewhat “low res” sound.

CONCLUSION:​

This Project Ace was a complete curveball from what I expected it to be. Not to diss them but HiBy has not had a good track record for IEMs in the past. They’ve made interesting IEMs like the HiBy Zeta and to an extent, the HiBy Yvain, but they’ve also made something as atrocious as the Crystal 6. But the Project Ace brings a near-perfect tuning to what would have been otherwise just a meme of an IEM.

Whatever F.Audio and HiBy did to this IEM, they did well. It has some of the best bass and midrange balance I’ve heard in any IEM, it’s very technically capable, especially considering the price and it offers an aesthetically unique presentation that makes it stand out from the market.

It’s not perfect, however. The treble would be a big turn-off to people who are sensitive to peaks or who want perfect timbre. The fit isn’t the most stellar and might cause discomfort for some.

But I can’t lie, this is probably HiBy’s best IEM to date. Not only in value but in sound. Imperfections aside, this is a very technical, very tactile and very rich-sounding IEM with a unique presentation to boot. Maybe F.Audio and HiBy should do more collabs next time, yeah?

Thank you for reading my full review on the HiBy x F.Audio Project Ace! If you would like to order one, consider using the non-affiliated link below: https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-x-faudio-project-ace

Watch full review here: ​