Hiby Digital M500 DAP Player Review – Almost Smartphone Convenience With Audiophile Ambitions
Hiby Digital M500 is a $319 USD Digital music player that can come either as a standalone Wifi DAP or even support 4G networks. As this one is heavily themed on Hatsune Miku and anime graphics in general, I will consider it an odd one out while doing the comparisons, which will include other DAPs close in price including Surfans F35 (349 USD), Hiby R4 (249 USD) and FiiO M21 (329 USD)
Introduction
While I work on a Visual Novel and absolutely love anime, using Crypton Future Media’s Hatsune Miku as such a heavy theme for the M500 is a daring move from Hiby and their Hiby digital department. This is because anime enthusiasts are necessarily always audiophiles, and I mean, I am one, but I am not necessarily a rule to go by. At any rate, this is a product I likely am slightly biased about because I like the idea and find it cute, neat, but at the same time I don’t want it to be just that, a cute idea, and I want it to win fair and square via sound quality and versatility, so comparisons will be a bit more rough than usual. You can purchase Hiby and Hiby Digital products from the Hiby online shop as they have frequent sales with great deals in their shop.
As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, and using the purchase links in my reviews helps me maintain this website and Youtube Channel. Audiophile-Heaven has no Ads and our Youtube Channel has no midroll ads, and our work is supported by Affiliate Links and Donations. Huge thanks to Hiby and Hiby Digital for providing the sample for this review, in exchange for my honest opinion.
Product Link
Hiby Digital M500 – https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-digital-m500
Build Quality – Design
To be fair, this is a part where I mostly copy the data from the official page, so you can read more or scroll down to the USB DAC and Subjective usage for M500. Technical data is sparse and not easily available online, so I was not fully able to determine what it does and what it got inside beyond a lot of the marketing materials talking about the UI and how much Hatsune Miku is inside. M 500 does have some modern adaptations like support for hi-res Bluetooth including SBC, AAC, aptX, AptX-HD, aptX Adaptive, and LDAC.
I can confirm that the M500 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 SOC, has a 4 GB RAM and 64 GB Storage with a Hybrid OS based on Android 14. It uses HIFI grade Dual DACs, the CS43198 in dual combo, and Hi-Performance OP-AMPs. There are dual outputs, fully balanced 4.4mm and 3.5mm single ended, and it has a 5″ display. Playback time as tested by me is around 10 hours of playback for the balanced output, while Hiby Digital promises up to 26 hours of playback for the single ended output, and over 558 hours of standby time. As this is an android device, really similar to an android smartphone, it will self drain while turned on, even if it is not doing something obvious.
Really rare compared to other DAPs, but we have built-in dual microphones, built-in camera and built-in speakers on the M500. With a really small 3100 mAh battery and Dual Band WiFi, it has only Bluetooth 5.0,. But it does have support for hi-res Bluetooth streaming. While Android 14 might seem old, multiple companies have pointed out that using an older Android can sometimes have significant sonic improvements compared to using the latest android version if the newest forces SRC resampling or other processing onto the user.
Amplification is provided by four SGM8261 OP-Amps, and there are multiple power levels, depending on the output used. Balanced output has a max output level of 449 mW for high power, and this increases the Noise floor from 1.3 uV to 1.9 uV. SNR also degrades a bit if using high power, but channel separation improves from 99dB to 105 dB. This is in line with what I hear from most sources. There is a camera inside of the M500, but the quality is not very good, as it is a 13mPx camera, with no information about the colors, sensor, equivalent focal distance or anything available. M500 does have dual Speakers and dual glass panels, but at least for me, I would’ve preferred having a fast 120 Hz or 144 Hz display as the one it currently has works at around 30 fps, which feels quite stuttery.
USB DAC – Subjective Usage
I am surprised that the M500 is such a complete DAP, and indeed, you could almost replace a smartphone with it, if you purchase the variant that comes with a GSM slot. If any company in the audiophile industry was going to make a phone, Hiby was most definitely it, and the one phone moondrop made does not count as I only saw some prototypes at hi-End munich and no working sample ever. M500 feels really ergonomic and fun, a bit retro, having physical buttons, and in a sense, it is quite like a cassette player rather than a phone. It is wide, not very tall, and it is also very green, cyan colored and with a strong Miki Hatsune accent. Despite the display being far too small for me, M500 is easy to type on and I make very few displays, indicating a high quality digitizer.
All apps feel a bit bootleg, with calculator, clock, Hiby Music and calendar being the only apps that look familiar. File explorer is a Cx File explorer which feels rather odd, it also has Files, FM Radio and Playstore installed from the factory. RAM is 4GB, ROM is 64 GB, and it feels very decent for the internal build, with many updates available right away. For the missing bits, there is no youtube installed, but you can really easily install everything via google app store, which is installed. It all really feels a bit like the whole DAP is complete, although operation is really slow for me as I’m used to very fast refresh rates and its 60 Hz display sometimes stutters resulting in a rather slow overall operation. Basically, the Chinese market restricts certain apps so M500 does not come with certain apps and features from the factory, but you can easily install everything and it does support everything under the sun.
Driving power is FAR higher than I expected, it can easily deliver kick and punch with an Arya Stealth, so it would be good to set it to revert to a base volume after its been off, just in case you’re switching between IEMS and Headphones. It also can very quickly adjust volume for many steps, feature which is downright missing from most DAPs. For me, M500 feels like the closest to the perfect DAP I’ve had in this price range for a really long while.
Only downsides worth mentioning are that the speakers are not that strong, and do not sound that good, and that the buttons are not protected even when a case is installed. This being said, I had M500 as my main DAP at CanJam NYC. It sat for days at the bottom of my bag with a 3KG laptop, clothes, and many cables and chargers, IEMS and headphones, and it is not just scratch free, but perfect. So it will survive use and abuse better than you might expect. It has proper glass on the display and I just really like the Miku Hatsune Theme honestly. Having to use Hiby Music as my main app is excellent, but right now there is no USB DAC function that I can find.
Sound Quality
Pairings – Hiby Digital M500 is being paired with most recent Headphones and IEMs that I’ve reviewed, including Lily Audio Genesis One, Raptgo LEAF D01, Palma DHS-1, KBEar Cepheus, Crosszone CZ-10 Enhanced, Erzetich Thalia, TinHIFI T7, NFAudio NE4, Sivga Peng, Crosszone CZ-8a Enhanced, Tangzu TianPeng, Soundz Flame, YanYin Canon PRO, Dunu Vulkan 2, Letshuoer Mystic 8, Moritz Aura, HarmonicDyne Romantic, Hiby Digital Yume, HIFIAN HE600, HIFIMAN Audivina LE, HIFIMAN Ananda Unveiled, Westne Mach 80, BQEYZ Winter II, Fosi Audio IM4, Aune AC55, Oriveti Bleqk PureCaster and Noble Knight.
Not only does it have more than enough power to drive all of them, but it has an insane dynamic range, kick and punch. Hiby Digital M500 has a super fast slew rate, technically revealing sound with a strong and warm bass, vivid midrange and a slightly smoother, silkier treble. This means that even when paired with brighter and more open sounding IEMS and headphones like Moritz Audio Enzo or Hiby Digital Yume, it will have good control and not a very sharp or fatiguing sound. I am unable to hear any background noise or
Overall Signature – At its core, M500 is a really sweet, bassy sounding DAP with a strong and bold bottom end, and a vivid, present vocal range. It has a smoother, relaxed and silky treble that is never too present nor fatiguing. I love its tuning to bits when it comes to pop, EDM, even rock and metal. It is simply stunning for ACG, and considering the Miku Hatsune Theme I can guarantee it works well with VTuber songs as well as Utsu-P, an artist mainly focused on creating metal tracks using Vocaloid voicing.
Bass – You can definitely tell that bass is a focus point for M500, as it has a really bold, deep and powerful low-end. It is impressive in both resolution, impact and layering, offering simply the best bass out of a DAP around this price point, provided you like extra boom, extra nuance and extra presence of that low-end. You will hear bass even in rock and metal tracks, it simply adds it and reveals it even if the song had a more limited sound, so you have to be ready to feel it in your head, and besides using the Hiby App EQ, there is no way to really tone it down.
Midrange – You will find a sweet, delightful voicing for M500, which sounds open, vivid and delivers both male and female voices with nuance, contrast and impact. It brings voices forward in the mix, to about the same position as the bass, and it gives vocals life, strength and a delightful presentation. This means that it will also slightly alter each song, emphasizing majors and undermining minors, it will make sad songs feel happier, and happy songs feel bright, like a sunny day with your favorite friends just chilling and drinking beers. It got quite unique of a tuning, and not a straightforward transparent one for sure.
Treble – top end is smooth, slightly silky, not very present but not entirely subdued either. M500 can deliver extension and a crisp treble, but it will not sound very bright at any given time, it is limited in how much treble it renders, and will often feel a bit rolled-off and relaxed. This is actually welcome for the main music style it is designed for, ACG, which is often far too bright, far too fatiguing and harsh in mixing / mastering. M500 will make especially poorly recorded J-Rock and J-Pop sound sweeter, more fluid, and much more enjoyable. I love how it blends voices with a bit of extra air to give music space and width, but without rendering too much top end.
Dynamic Range And Textures – M500 has a dynamic, punchy sound with no dynamic compression. It renders exactly the dynamic range that is fed into it, and can deliver a far wider dynamic range than most competition into both IEMs and headphones, thanks to its exceptionally large power delivery and nice voltage / power saturation gradient. Adding the high slew rate to that, and it is revealing, creating a natural, but detailed texture, pleasing to the ear, but sharp enough to be engaging.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – M500 is very consistent and presents exactly the same sound, same tuning and same THD at all volume levels. It produces not just a segment but a whole beach of volume levels from a grain of sand all the way to a true laguna of power, delivering what can only be described as enough for IeMs and headphones. You are very unlikely to try powering something it won’t be able to drive and it will sound consistent, the same, with everything.
Soundstage – M500 has a natural soundstage, it is natural-wide rather than small, and has exceptional imaging and layering for its price range. I find it great for modern music, EDM, Pop and Rock / Metal. While not exactly grand nor too big, for orchestral music, it works very well for classical and jazz. The presentation is more about emotion, the direct feeling and sounding alive rather than atmospheric and large.
Comparisons
Hiby Digital M500 vs FiiO M21 (319 USD vs 329 USD) – Theoretically, both have the same Snapdragon 680 CPU, both have Android with M500 having a newer Android 14 OS at launch, both have 4GB of RAM, both rely heavily on a microSD slot, but M500 has a bigger display, 5″ vs 4.7″, and M500 is a bit heavier, 220 grams vs 193 grams. Audio is different with M21 having a quad CS43198 DAC, while M500 has a Dual CS43198 DAC. Max driving power is almost double for M21 which can deliver almost a watt of power while M-500 can deliver up to 480mW of power. Battery life of M21 is larger, and it has a longer battery life, while bluetooth is similar, and both have a full android OS, but M21 has a bit perfect playback while M500 has systemwide resampling done by the Android core.
Sonically, M500 is more V-Shaped, more expressive, while M21 is flatter, more neutral, not quite as bright and bassy. Soundstage size is a bit bigger on M21, which sounds more expanded, has a stronger layering and separation, with more details, while M500 is more balanced and sonically more musical. M21 has a brighter treble, while M500 can roll off the treble slightly, which takes away edge and fatiguing elements from music, but can dampen on the resolution slightly, making M21 sound more detailed.
Hiby Digital M500 vs Hiby R4 (319 USD vs 249USD) – Hiby R4 is a bit older now, so it makes sense that it ships with Android 12, and a slower Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 CPU, and less RAM, just 3GB of RAM, and less internal storage, just 32 GB, but all of this will be plenty for music. R4 has a smaller display, and it has the same weight give or take, but the DAC is different with M500 having a Dual DAC while R4 has a Quad ES9018C2M DAC combo inside, and the AMP is a 4-way SGM8261 setup on M500, while it is a full Class A 4xOPA1652 + 2xOPA1612 for R4. Theoretically the max power is higher on R4. Speaking of which, R4 has a much larger battery life, 4500mAg vs 3100 mAh, but it falls short in battery life as it has to power a stronger AMP inside.
Sonically, like two hats woven from the same yarn, R4 and M500 feel similar, both are somewhat warm, not technically centric or focused, but a bit warm and smooth, silky, and vocally vivid. This being said, M500 is superior in every way, it is more detailed, more vivid in the midrange, has a deeper bass, more rounded presentation, a bit extra depth and bloom with a smoother treble. M500 is both pricier and a better purchase right now, both sonically and from a constructive point of view. It is more efficient and shows how Hiby has been improving through the years.
Hiby Digital M500 vs Surfans F35 (319 USD vs 349USD) – At their core, Surfans F35 and Hiby Digital M500 are very different. F35 has not publicly specified what OS it is running, what CPU it is using, and it has a smaller 4″ Display, with a single DAC, but running a more premium ESS Sabre ESS9038Q2M DAC. Max driving power is higher for F35, and it has the same battery size as M500, but a shorter battery life, about 25% shorter
Sonically, M500 and F35 sound comparable. Both are vivid, natural, and have a bloomy bass with a strong impact. While I like both a lot, I find F35 to sound a bit more balanced and less colored, while M500 is warmer, deeper sounding with a smoother and silkier treble. Between the two, F35 is a bit more technical and reveals more details. I would generally make the choice more focusing on the features and design, as the two are vastly different, sound is close enough for it to not be about the sound this time around.
Value and Conclusion
Hiby Digital M500 is rather expensive for a DAP, and it is not cheaper than the main Hiby stuff, so I am not fully sure if the idea of Hiby Digital being cheaper than the main Hiby Brand is still the main directive, but regardless of this, Hiby M-500 is a top product, with excellent build quality, an interesting and novel design, and with excellent sound, so value is top notch, and it is competitive in today’s market.
When browsing the internets for an excellent sounding DAP, you will often find Hiby DAPs at the top of the list of recommendations, so it is no surprise that Hiby Digital M500 is an outstanding piece of hifi equipment, and while the whole design seems fun and playful, it will produce a seriously good sound with a strong and reliable CPU and GPU powering it.
PROs
- Very good battery life and reliable usage
- Excellent sound and resolution
- Clean UI despite being heavily themed
- Balanced output
- Strong CPU at the back, allowing it to play games, and run any app you throw at it
- Crisp and clean tuning
- Versatile, can use external DAC AMPs, can do a lot of fun musical stuff without breaking the bank
- Decently sized display with reliable and fast wifi
- Solid choice for all music related activities
- Vivid vocals with a deep and bloomy bass
- Silky smooth treble
- Natural and balanced tuning
Cons
- Display is a bit small for me and my fingers
- There are rumors that Android is applying SRC resampling at a system level, but it has not been confirmed
Product Link
Hiby Digital M500 – https://store.hiby.com/products/hiby-digital-m500
--- Please remember to stay safe, and always have fun while listening to music!---
- If you have a dime to spare, please donate, and help us! It would make the day brighter for me and my wife-
Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
--- Contact Us ---
