HiBy W4 Portable DAC and Headphone Amplifier with Dual CS43198, Bluetooth 5.4, and 4.4 mm Balanced Output

What stands out in the W4’s architecture is not the headline component list but how conservatively HiBy has stitched the signal chain together. The choice of Cirrus Logic silicon hints at a voicing aimed more at low-level linearity and microdynamic finesse than brute-force slam, which aligns with the brand’s portable lineage. Dual clock domains for integer-related sample rates suggest an effort to minimize asynchronous conversion artifacts rather than relying on heavy PLL correction, a detail that usually matters more with high-rate PCM and native DSD playback than with mainstream streaming. In practice, this kind of clock discipline is often associated with cleaner transients and less “digital glaze” in the upper registers—an approach that contrasts with dongle-style DAC/amps that lean on oversampling and software mitigation instead.

Another interesting angle is how HiBy positions the W4 between wired purism and modern wireless convenience. Using Qualcomm’s newer Bluetooth platform places the device closer to contemporary TWS internals than to legacy receiver modules, which changes expectations around latency management and RF stability in dense environments. From a system-design perspective, offloading power and RF noise away from a smartphone while maintaining full transport control addresses a common complaint among mobile audiophiles: that the phone itself becomes the weakest link. This is less about chasing theoretical resolution and more about preserving signal integrity under real-world conditions—subway commutes, stacked devices, and variable grounding.

Viewed against similarly priced portable DAC/amps, the W4 feels less like a stripped-down accessory and more like a self-contained playback node that happens to accept multiple inputs. The presence of an onboard interface shifts user interaction away from the host device, which subtly changes how volume control, gain staging, and codec negotiation are handled. For listeners using sensitive multi-driver IEMs, this separation can be as important as raw output capability, since it reduces reliance on OS-level mixers and resamplers. Rather than chasing spec-sheet dominance, HiBy appears to be betting on coherence: a tightly controlled signal path that behaves predictably across both wired and wireless use cases.