[Tardisco]

Hello all you lovely people,

This is my first post in Head fi. Hoping to find help regarding a purchase decision.

As an owner of Schiit Bifrost 2 OG and 2/64 r2r dac and Jotuheim 2 Amp with Senn HD 6XX headphone ,
I am planning to get the Hiby FC6 R2R Dac dongle for travel due to its small size or maybe a Modi Multibit 2.

Need some inputs from anyone who has heard or owned both Hiby FC6 r2r dongle and Schiit mutlibit dacs like the Bifrost 2 OG or 2/64 dac or the modi multibit r2r dac.

I like the r2r dac's depth in imaging , where things do not feel wall of sound compared to a typical delta sigma dac, and also like the full bodied sound like my Bifrost 2 OG.
How does the Hiby FC6 compare against Schiit r2r dacs in terms of staging , imaging and layering(this is important to me).

I am trying to decide between Hiby FC6 r2r dongle or a schiit modi multibit v2 dac.

Any info will be very helpful for my purchase .
Thanks.

 

[HiFiWar]

Hello all you lovely people,

This is my first post in Head fi. Hoping to find help regarding a purchase decision.

As an owner of Schiit Bifrost 2 OG and 2/64 r2r dac and Jotuheim 2 Amp with Senn HD 6XX headphone ,
I am planning to get the Hiby FC6 R2R Dac dongle for travel due to its small size or maybe a Modi Multibit 2.

Need some inputs from anyone who has heard or owned both Hiby FC6 r2r dongle and Schiit mutlibit dacs like the Bifrost 2 OG or 2/64 dac or the modi multibit r2r dac.

I like the r2r dac's depth in imaging , where things do not feel wall of sound compared to a typical delta sigma dac, and also like the full bodied sound like my Bifrost 2 OG.
How does the Hiby FC6 compare against Schiit r2r dacs in terms of staging , imaging and layering(this is important to me).

I am trying to decide between Hiby FC6 r2r dongle or a schiit modi multibit v2 dac.

Any info will be very helpful for my purchase .
Thanks.

Get the Schiit. HiBy has always been plagued with problems. Schiit makes good Schiit. I enjoyed my Bifrost quite a lot. All 4 HiBy products I've had were plagued with software issues.

 

[Lexington99]

My vote goes to the FC6. It's $180 on Hifigo now and it offers another use case as it contains an amplifier as well that pairs absolutely excellently with IEMs and pretty good with many headphones. The R2R it offers is really successful in terms of giving that true R2R signature of analogue, organic, rounded, grounded and deep sound.

 

[HiFiWar]

My vote goes to the FC6. It's $180 on Hifigo now and it offers another use case as it contains an amplifier as well that pairs absolutely excellently with IEMs and pretty good with many headphones. The R2R it offers is really successful in terms of giving that true R2R signature of analogue, organic, rounded, grounded and deep sound.

That's a good example of you get what you pay for, but go for it.

 

[Lexington99]

That's a good example of you get what you pay for, but go for it.

At $180 is represents a really, really good deal imo. You certainly get further *for the money* than the Bifrost. all things considered.
Personally, I found the Bifrost a bit low-fi at its price and it's a pseudo R2R solution anyway, if I understand correctly. Even though I also love the R2R sound, I would opt for a great chip DAC under $1000. The SMSL SU-X is pretty fantastic.
Imo, R2R tech starts to really shine with Gustard R26, or perhaps the new Musician Pegasus II, but neither are portable products.

 

[HiFiWar]

At $180 is represents a really, really good deal imo. You certainly get further *for the money* than the Bifrost. all things considered.
Personally, I found the Bifrost a bit low-fi at its price and it's a pseudo R2R solution anyway, if I understand correctly. Even though I also love the R2R sound, I would opt for a great chip DAC under $1000. The SMSL SU-X is pretty fantastic.
Imo, R2R tech starts to really shine with Gustard R26, or perhaps the new Musician Pegasus II, but neither are portable products.

Except that the hiby will either break or not work at all, so that's not a great value, it's a waste of money. I had an fc3 and the USB c connection would cut in and out all the time while it was brand new.

 

[Lexington99]

Except that the hiby will either break or not work at all, so that's not a great value, it's a waste of money. I had an fc3 and the USB c connection would cut in and out all the time while it was brand new.

Sorry to hear that. At $59 which is the price of the FC3, QC can unfortunately be a lottery even from established brands. The FC6 in my estimation is built really really well. I have owned 5 different dongles between $100-330 over a period of 4 years and none have developed issues like your FC3 did, even with a good bit of on-the-go use. Also, you are entitled to a replacement unit if something were to happen within the warranty window, so there's that.

Anyway, I don't think it's fair or helpful to use one anecdotal experience as evidence to demonize an entire category of products.

 

[HiFiWar]

Sorry to hear that. At $59 which is the price of the FC3, QC can unfortunately be a lottery even from established brands. The FC6 in my estimation is built really really well. I have owned 5 different dongles between $100-330 over a period of 4 years and none have developed issues like your FC3 did, even with a good bit of on-the-go use. Also, you are entitled to a replacement unit if something were to happen within the warranty window, so there's that.

Anyway, I don't think it's fair or helpful to use one anecdotal experience as evidence to demonize an entire category of products.

I've owned 5 HiBy products. They've all had issues.

 

[Lexington99]

I've owned 5 HiBy products. They've all had issues.

Curious, I have had 3 Hiby products and besides some firmware shenanigans, which they are not uniquely guilty of, Hiby has served me well so far.
Nontheless, OP has another option in the new Questyle 12i or 15i which are said to, somehow, offer very similar levels of organic analogue sound to FC6 despite not being R2R.