HiBy W4 portable DAC and amplifier in orange

HiBy W4 portable DAC and amplifier in white, with round colour screen and clip

HiBy W4 portable DAC and amplifier in teal with a pink dial

HiBy W4 portable DAC and amplifier in black

HiBy W4 in orange, clipped on while listening with wired earphones

HiBy W4 in several colours on a table of fabric samples

HiBy W4

€120,00

The HiBy W4 gives a phone without a headphone jack a proper balanced output, wirelessly, receiving your music over Bluetooth and driving your earphones while the phone stays in your pocket. A small colour touchscreen shows your codec, volume and track, and the sound is clean and even, without adding colour. When you want the best quality, plug it in over USB and it becomes a wired DAC.

Color: Orange

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BlackBlack

Product variants

In stock · Free shipping

Delivery between Oct 28 and Oct 29

VAT and all taxes included · 2-year EU warranty

Auditioned and curated selection · Listen yourself

Shipping Returns policy

Pair it with

HiBy W4 MagSafe Magnetic Backplate

€10,00

7th Acoustics Ryusei

€129,00

AFUL Explorer

€110,00 €125,00

Letshuoer S12 Ultra

Mocha

€169,00

Our take

The HiBy W4 gives a phone without a headphone jack a proper balanced output, wirelessly, receiving your music over Bluetooth and driving your earphones while the phone stays in your pocket. A small colour touchscreen shows your codec, volume and track, and the sound is clean and even, without adding colour. When you want the best quality, plug it in over USB and it becomes a wired DAC.

What it'll drive :

Every earphone VividSound sells runs easily from the W4 — IEMs don't need much power, and the balanced output has plenty in reserve. It stays quiet enough for sensitive sets like the Mystic 8, and has enough headroom that even full-size headphones are on the table. In short: nothing in the lineup will out-muscle it.
What Bluetooth costs you here is a little ultimate resolution, not volume.

Streaming & compatibility

Your phone does the streaming, so every app works — Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, whatever you already use. What decides sound quality over Bluetooth is the codec, and the W4 supports the good ones: LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC. On an Android phone, LDAC or aptX pulls the most detail.
On an iPhone you're limited to AAC over Bluetooth — that's an Apple limitation, not the W4's, and it still sounds good. Want the best possible quality? Plug into your phone or laptop over USB-C and it runs as a straight wired DAC, skipping Bluetooth entirely. It clips on, or sticks to a MagSafe-compatible phone with the magnetic backplate.

Power & Battery

Two outputs, two gain levels: 125 mW from the 3.5 mm, 475 mW from the balanced 4.4 mm — comfortably more than any earphone here needs. Battery is the thing to know: the built-in 1500 mAh cell gives roughly 6 hours over Bluetooth on the 3.5 mm, and a little less on balanced or on the higher-quality codecs like LDAC.

Expect to charge it most days. Handy touch — an "Uncharge" mode lets it run off its own battery when plugged into your phone, so it powers your earphones without draining your phone.

Specs

DAC: dual Cirrus Logic CS43198
Amp: dual SGM8262
Bluetooth: Qualcomm QCC5181, Bluetooth 5.4
Bluetooth codecs: LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, aptX HD, aptX, AAC, SBC (Snapdragon Sound)
Wired (USB DAC) support: PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz, native DSD512
Outputs: 3.5 mm single-ended + 4.4 mm balanced
Output power: 125 mW (3.5 mm) / 475 mW (4.4 mm balanced)
Display: 2" colour touchscreen
Battery: 1500 mAh — approx. 6.3 h (3.5 mm) / 5 h (4.4 mm), continuous AAC; less on hi-res codecs
Extras: NFC pairing, USB-C (charge + data + digital input), mic for calls, "Uncharge" mode, clip + magnetic backplate
Dimensions: 66.15 × 65.1 × 21.5 mm (excluding clip)
Weight: 93.3 g

What others ask

Is the HiBy W4 powerful enough for planar IEMs and full-size headphones?

For IEMs, easily. The HiBy W4 puts out 475 mW from the balanced 4.4 mm output and 125 mW from the 3.5 mm, so a planar like the Letshuoer S12 Ultra runs without effort and nothing in my lineup will out-muscle it. There's enough headroom that some full-size headphones are on the table too. What Bluetooth costs you here is a little resolution, not volume.

Does the HiBy W4 hiss with sensitive IEMs?

No. The HiBy W4 stays quiet enough for the Letshuoer Mystic 8, which is the set in my lineup most likely to reveal a noisy source. It also has two gain levels, so you can keep low gain for sensitive earphones and save high gain for the hungrier ones.

Does the HiBy W4 sound worse over Bluetooth than over USB?

A little, and I'd rather say so up front. Bluetooth is never quite as pristine as a wired connection, even with the good codecs the HiBy W4 supports: LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless and aptX HD. The sound itself is clean and even, not coloured. When you want the best quality, plug it into your phone or laptop over USB-C and it runs as a straight wired DAC.

Does the HiBy W4 work with an iPhone, both wired and over Bluetooth?

Yes, both. Over Bluetooth an iPhone is limited to the AAC codec, which is an Apple limitation rather than a HiBy W4 one, and it still sounds good. For the best quality, plug it into a USB-C iPhone and it becomes a wired DAC. It clips on, or sticks to a MagSafe-compatible iPhone with the magnetic backplate, which I sell separately for €10.

How long does the HiBy W4 battery last?

Expect to charge it most days. The HiBy W4 has a 1500 mAh cell that gives roughly 6 hours over Bluetooth from the 3.5 mm output, and a little less on balanced or with higher-quality codecs like LDAC. One handy touch is its Uncharge mode, which lets it run on its own battery when it's plugged into your phone, so your phone doesn't drain.

HiBy W4 or a dedicated player like the HiBy R4: which should I buy?

Pick the HiBy W4 at €120 if you're happy streaming from your phone and want real power without a cable to your pocket. Pick the HiBy R4 at €249 if you want your music on its own device, away from notifications, with a longer battery and a bit more power on balanced. The W4 is the easy add-on, the R4 is the bigger step off the phone.