Intro
Hello, today I have with me the latest from the audio brand Hiby Digital named the Hiby Digital Xeno (early bird price=$99). The Xeno came to me awhile back and so I’ve had ample time to play around and chill with them in my ears and folks I’m not going to beat around the bush on this because it is really a special sounding set. The Xeno is a dual driver iem consisting of one 10mm dynamic driver and one MEMS driver along with some great tech involved including two special dac chips (Cirrus Logic CS43131 & ES9018C2M), inventive DSP chip and a lot of functionality to tune the sound to your liking. I’ll definitely explain later.
Hiby
Friends, with all of Hiby’s experience it’s no wonder they’d come out with something so advanced in tech. They’ve had years working with all different types of audio devices, from daps, dac/amps, Bluetooth devices to earphones etc. They have been around for a long time! Something tells me they aren’t going anywhere. Now, Hiby Digital is actually a sister brand to the parent company Hiby Audio, and they are truly brand new within the market coming out with only one other device. That is the Hiby Digital M300. The M300 was and is a huge success and so I wonder how well the Xeno will do at attracting potential suitors. After all, the Xeno is a crowd funded iem. At any rate, Hiby has been at this audio thing for a long-time folks and it’s good to see the culmination of their knowledge and expertise put into a set which only costs a mere $99 which can serve so many people very well. Also, know that Hiby has been at this audio game a very long time. I’ve reviewed a few of their sets and audio devices as well. Devices like the Hiby R3 II (R3 II Review) and the Hiby R6 Pro ii (R6 Pro 2 Review). I’ve also reviewed a few of their iems in the Hiby Yvain (Yvain Review), and the Hiby Zeta (Zeta Review). I know it isn’t some huge catalog of sets and devices, but each has been really nice with what’s out there.
One-of-a-kind
I find it hard to place a set like this to be honest with you. I have no real bearings on its competitors or where I place it amongst the pantheon of audio products. It’s DSP, has features, and isn’t the same as a regular iem in its use case. Not entirely anyways. I’ll try my best, but I wouldn’t expect one of my usual reviews here. Usually this is the point in the intro that I state how many amazing sets range within its price point. However, after careful examination and my own due diligence I can assuredly say that the Xeno is sort of… one-of-a-kind. Or at least one of a small number of earphones which is presented in this manner. Again, hard to place, and I think that’s where a crowd funded effort helps a new brand like Hiby Digital to find their crowd, find their market, find their demographic, and it’s a solid way to find out where this tech fits in the grand Audioverse. Like, who is it for? Is the price reasonable and are there alternatives which could be a better fit? I have to admit that I have many more questions. Lucky for me I get to do what I enjoy while figuring it out. With that, I think this intro is about finished and I’m ready to try my shot at explaining the Hiby Digital Xeno. So, without further ado, the Hiby Digital Xeno everyone…
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Disclaimer:
I received the Hiby Digital Xeno from Hiby as a review sample, and in exchange I will conduct a full review and feature at Mobileaudiophile.com. I have not received any payment or any other form of compensation for this review. Also, Hiby has not requested to pre-read any review and doesn’t have any control over “what” or “when” anything gets published to mobileaudiophile.com. All thoughts within this review are my own, though please take note that I will always have my own biases. This is impossible to get around. I try to be as objective as my subjective self can be, but this is an opinion piece folks. Thank you to the very kind people of Hiby, and thanks for reading.
Xeno Pros
-Very light, ergonomic, great for long sessions
-Two popular and highly regarded dac chips (CS43131 / ES9018C2M)
-Highly customizable PEQ settings
-Super for phone calls
-Almost no latency for gaming, videos (<15ms)
-Use of Cowell xMEMS drivers (really a nice driver tech)
-Sound is very clean, precise, neutral when EQ’d
-Great energy across the mix
-Fast punchy bass or deep guttural bass (your choice)
-Detailed and vibrant midrange
-Clinical, airy, detailed, and well extended highs
-Detail Retrieval
-Separation of instruments
-Imaging is fantastic, fantastic for gaming (says my son “expert”)
Xeno Cons
-Made of plastic
-Look may not be for everyone
-Non-removable cable and cable is springy
-Stock tuning isn’t the best (for me)
-Need to know (or learn) how to use a parametric equalizer
-Fit may not be perfect for everyone too
Packaging / Accessories
Unboxing
Well, this will be wildly short lived. I say that because I didn’t get a package with this set. I suppose because I was an early reciever of the Xeno and maybe the packaging has yet to be crafted. Anyways, all I got was the carrying case and inside was the earphones and some eartips. I’m quite positive that Hiby Digital will provide an actual box for you, but I cannot explain that here today.
Eartips
The Xeno comes equipped with three sets of eartips (S, M, L). Or at least my early set came with three. I’m assuming your will too. Anyways, the Xeno’s eartips are almost identical to KBear 07 eartips. However, they are all white/opaque colored and they too have a semi-wide bore. Actually, very good tips. That said, I didn’t use the included tips when using the Xeno. I actually went through a slew of tips as most of them broke the seal for me. What I ended up using was Final Audio E-Tips. I found that they helped the Xeno to fit perfectly in my ears and also helped the Xeno out sonically. Obviously, you may be entirely different from me and have a completely different experience. You may get a good and comfortable fit with most any set of tips, how is one to know? Still, the eartips which come included are very nice and very serviceable for a collection.
Carrying case
I was glad to see that Hiby Digital provided a carrying case with this set as you do need a place to store the Xeno. Otherwise, you will be wadding them up into your pockets which is never a promising thing. That’s if you don’t want them to break. Nevertheless, Hiby did add in a nice leather case. This case is black in color and has a narrow shape, rectangular, with a flap that closes over two pins. Inside simply feels like leather. Soft enough, protective. What I like about this case first is its size. I can fit this one in my front jeans pocket with no issues whatsoever. No weird bulge. Next, I like that the case is sturdy without being made of plastic or some other more rigid material. This case really will protect your earphones while feeling soft. I guess I have no real good reason for liking this other than it’s different. Lastly, it’s cool looking.
Cable
Like I said, the cable is a non-removable style with fixed earphones attached. I know I know, we don’t generally like this. However, it really isn’t a bad cable. You can tell it’s made to last as it has some toughness to it. The fittings attached to the cable feel robust enough for daily use as well. The cable is all black like the earphones and covered in fabric. The cable is a silver-plated copper cable (SPC). At the end of the cable is a type-c connector and in the middle of the cable is the control panel which features four buttons in total. It has a volume down, volume up, play/pause/answer/hang up, and a multi-function button. It’s really not a terribly bad fixed cable folks. It certainly doesn’t feel ultra cheap or anything. You shouldn’t expect some fat braided cable for a situation like the Xeno. This is something that needs to be hardy, durable, and should be used more for its purpose rather than its design. That said, the design isn’t bad at all, and the control panel is pretty neat with all that it houses inside.
Downsides of the cable
Again, it is non-removable and so that is a huge problem for people that have grown accustomed to being able to swap out earphones or swap cables. That’s the first thing. Next, it is hard to gather together and wrap up in that, the second I put that freshly hand-wrapped cable down, it just springs open. I don’t really like that. So, what I’ve had to do is place it immediately into the carrying case while still wound up in my hand. Again, not a bad cable and this is the 1st iteration of this product and so there will be minor growing pains. I suppose as long as you know what you are getting it’s great.
Controller (Control Panel)
Like I already stated the controller has four buttons; volume down, volume up, play/pause/answer/hang up, and a multi-function button. Three of the buttons are pretty cut n’ dry and obvious. However, the multi-function button gives the user the ability to switch between different sound filters on the fly. Those being “Gaming Mode/Cinema Mode” (Purple Flash), “Hi-Fi Mode” (Yellow Flash), and “Bass Boost” (Orange Flash). I’m sure Hiby will add some functionality moving forward and hopefully I have listed off all the uses for this button correctly. In truth I haven’t been given much info on this set and so my reporting may not be perfectly reflective of what the Xeno is capable of in this regard. So, the button layout is very easy to feel and extremely intuitive. So much so that after a few minutes I can quite easily blindly choose the button I’d like. I mean, look at this control panel, it’s pretty large and the buttons are also pretty large which helps tremendously.
Inside the controller
Something that I find pretty impressive is that Hiby Digital stuffed a lot of techs inside of that square controller panel. Inside you have a few mics (which are very good by the way) as well as two well-known dac chips (CS43131 & ES9018C2M) used in tandem with each other (I’ll get into that in a bit), and dual amplifiers. I don’t have info on any of the other particulars but folks, this is impressive. Now, it may not be the prettiest thing hanging on your chest (or maybe you think it looks rad), but the fact that Hiby Digital had the presence of mind to centralize everything inside the controller is nice to see. Again, every usable function besides the PEQ is able to be changed right at the panel. The Independent volume rockers are one of the best additions I’ve seen too. I absolutely love this! It’s features like that which make the Xeno a solid buy and one which has many use cases.
