[bluestorm1992]

Hiby is launching their new small dongle FC3. Its key selling points are the price point and MQA compatibility. It retails for 458 RMB (70 USD) and supports 4X MQA unfolding. Below I list some of its key functionalities and specs.

• DAC chip: ES9281 Pro
• Output power: 70mw + 70mw@32Ω
• Supports up to PCM 32/384 and DSD128
• Has two hardware bottoms for volume control
• Only has a 3.5mm output
• USB-C input

Update: first impression here!

Update 2: thanks to post #13 for a quick reminder in usage: The device needs to have the load (headphone plugged-in) for it to be recognized by your phone or PC.

Update 3: First review!

The FC3 also comes with a leather protective case and two cables in the box, which is quite nice at this price point. Shipping in mainland China begins on January 8th.

 

[bluestorm1992]

Some more pics of the FC3 and its leather case.

 

[YAGIZ]

The DAC chip is interesting, let's see!

 

[Sluggist]

Looks interesting.

 

[kkugel]

Just ordered it, will do a review!

 

[udesign48]

How does this sound when compared to Hiby R5??

Can you use this on your laptop?

 

[kkugel]

How does this sound when compared to Hiby R5??

Can you use this on your laptop?

No one has it yet, and yes.

 

[Croptop]

Looking forward to reading some reviews of this. Very seriously considering purchasing.

 

[Capilander88]

Mine came yesterday: it took only 3 working days from China to Italy, with no taxes or duties.

Package is very small and the "dongle" is as little as a AAA battery. Leather case has a very tight fit and supplied cables are so-so quality: I ordered a new USB-C to USB-C one as a replacement (the supplied one is veeeery hard to plug/unplug).

Well, how does it sound? It's a lot more powerful than everything I have (e.g. HRT microStreamer) and can drive my 600 ohm Beyerdynamic DT 880 at high volumes. No problems at all with low impedance IEM: no hiss and other issues. Soundstage is very wide, bass is strong and highs are crystal clear: it's night and day compared to the internal hi-res DAC on my Xiaomi Mi Note 10, but also to my other DACs.

The +/- volume rocker is solid and volume steps are perfect: it's a good option for exclusive mode with Tidal on MacOS, but with UAPP on Android you can't control hardware volume with the phone rockers (it's possible on the DAC only).

MQA 4x is done by the DAC, but the first 2x unfold has to be done by the player (UAPP in my case, but not by official TIDAL app). You'll get full unfolding with bit-perfect mode and if the light on the DAC turns purple. I encountered some clicks and pops during 88.2 kHz playback, but once I lowered the buffer to 100ms on UAPP they went away. No problems with DSD64 and 128 DoP: they sound much better and at higher volume than the internal converted ones by UAPP.

 

[Croptop]

@Capilander88 Thanks for posting your first impressions. Decided to go ahead and order one for myself.

 

[eloelo]

Mine came yesterday: it took only 3 working days from China to Italy, with no taxes or duties.

Package is very small and the "dongle" is as little as a AAA battery. Leather case has a very tight fit and supplied cables are so-so quality: I ordered a new USB-C to USB-C one as a replacement (the supplied one is veeeery hard to plug/unplug).

Well, how does it sound? It's a lot more powerful than everything I have (e.g. HRT microStreamer) and can drive my 600 ohm Beyerdynamic DT 880 at high volumes. No problems at all with low impedance IEM: no hiss and other issues. Soundstage is very wide, bass is strong and highs are crystal clear: it's night and day compared to the internal hi-res DAC on my Xiaomi Mi Note 10, but also to my other DACs.

The +/- volume rocker is solid and volume steps are perfect: it's a good option for exclusive mode with Tidal on MacOS, but with UAPP on Android you can't control hardware volume with the phone rockers (it's possible on the DAC only).

MQA 4x is done by the DAC, but the first 2x unfold has to be done by the player (UAPP in my case, but not by official TIDAL app). You'll get full unfolding with bit-perfect mode and if the light on the DAC turns purple. I encountered some clicks and pops during 88.2 kHz playback, but once I lowered the buffer to 100ms on UAPP they went away. No problems with DSD64 and 128 DoP: they sound much better and at higher volume than the internal converted ones by UAPP.

how does it sound compared to other usb dongles? warmer or thicker than average?

 

[kkugel]

Mine came yesterday: it took only 3 working days from China to Italy, with no taxes or duties.

Package is very small and the "dongle" is as little as a AAA battery. Leather case has a very tight fit and supplied cables are so-so quality: I ordered a new USB-C to USB-C one as a replacement (the supplied one is veeeery hard to plug/unplug).

Well, how does it sound? It's a lot more powerful than everything I have (e.g. HRT microStreamer) and can drive my 600 ohm Beyerdynamic DT 880 at high volumes. No problems at all with low impedance IEM: no hiss and other issues. Soundstage is very wide, bass is strong and highs are crystal clear: it's night and day compared to the internal hi-res DAC on my Xiaomi Mi Note 10, but also to my other DACs.

The +/- volume rocker is solid and volume steps are perfect: it's a good option for exclusive mode with Tidal on MacOS, but with UAPP on Android you can't control hardware volume with the phone rockers (it's possible on the DAC only).

MQA 4x is done by the DAC, but the first 2x unfold has to be done by the player (UAPP in my case, but not by official TIDAL app). You'll get full unfolding with bit-perfect mode and if the light on the DAC turns purple. I encountered some clicks and pops during 88.2 kHz playback, but once I lowered the buffer to 100ms on UAPP they went away. No problems with DSD64 and 128 DoP: they sound much better and at higher volume than the internal converted ones by UAPP.

Damn, that arrived fast! Mine is in transit already for 9 days :/

 

[parthabhatta]

I have received my FC3 today. Its a cute little device. But sadly it doesn't work with my phones neither with LG G8X nor with LG V20. I have tried with HIBY Music app in Exclusive USB mode as also with UAPP. None of them seem to recognise the device. I have also tried other USB C to C which works well with my other USB DACs but fails here.
What happens is whenever I plugin the USB C in my phone the light glows up sequentially in all the colours and then goes off when it should glow RED. The sound comes from the phone. The USB device is shown connected in POWER SUPPLY mode. I tried to change to MIDI mode but nothing happens.
Can anybody help?

Edit: Finally could make it work. The device needs to be fitted with the load (i.e., the earphone) to be recognised by the smartphone and the apps. You take out the earphone, the light goes off.

 

[Croptop]

Edit: Finally could make it work. The device needs to be fitted with the load (i.e., the earphone) to be recognised by the smartphone and the apps. You take out the earphone, the light goes off.

Glad to hear you got it working. Thanks for coming back to post that tip. I suspect that I'd have been bitten by the same issue if you hadn't given me the opportunity to learn from your experiences.

 

[bluestorm1992]

I have received my FC3 today. Its a cute little device. But sadly it doesn't work with my phones neither with LG G8X nor with LG V20. I have tried with HIBY Music app in Exclusive USB mode as also with UAPP. None of them seem to recognise the device. I have also tried other USB C to C which works well with my other USB DACs but fails here.
What happens is whenever I plugin the USB C in my phone the light glows up sequentially in all the colours and then goes off when it should glow RED. The sound comes from the phone. The USB device is shown connected in POWER SUPPLY mode. I tried to change to MIDI mode but nothing happens.
Can anybody help?

Edit: Finally could make it work. The device needs to be fitted with the load (i.e., the earphone) to be recognised by the smartphone and the apps. You take out the earphone, the light goes off.

Perhaps this is designed to minimize the power consumption when you are not using it (no headphone plugged-in)? Anyhow, glad that it eventually works!