The HiBy FD3 II is a desktop gaming audio centre, bringing a DAC, a headphone amplifier and a Bluetooth receiver together in a single unit. It is built for desks buried under a mess of cables and drivers, for switching seamlessly between gaming and work, and for HiFi sound quality without being tethered by cables.

Connected to a computer, console or DAP via the Type-C USB port, the FD3 II becomes a high end desktop gaming soundcard, capable of directly driving HiFi over ear headphones or active loudspeakers, creating a low latency immersive gaming environment. Gaming sounds arrive with pinpoint accuracy, low latency, low noise and clear voice comms.

Output priority runs headphone out before line out. When outputting to speakers via line out, plugging in earphones will mute the line out device and play sound through the headphones.

The FD3 II can switch to Bluetooth audio input at the touch of a button, using Hi-Res Bluetooth codecs to connect immediately to any other Bluetooth source such as a smartphone, tablet or TV, decoding and driving their content through connected headphones or speakers. Supported codecs are SBC, AAC, LDAC and UAT.

Equipped with dual CS4302 DAC chips in an independent left and right channel decoding architecture, the FD3 II delivers a cleaner background and a more expansive stereo soundstage. It effortlessly drives various mainstream headphones, ensuring deep, steady bass and warm, full bodied vocals.

Up to 1125mW per channel at 32Ω of output power effortlessly drives almost all headphones and earphones, taking on the grandest gaming scenes without breaking a sweat and presenting with full dynamic range.

The pure Class A mode presents with full dynamics and immediate impulse response, driving high impedance headphones with a full, solid sound imaging comparable to flagship component amplifiers. The Class AB mode is designed for in ear earphones and other light loads; highly adaptable, it has high electrical efficiency and good sonic control.

Some utility power supplies are poorly grounded or otherwise poorly wired, causing irritating power line noise and hum. The FD3 II uses a fully isolated DC power supply, and also uses hi precision OPA1652 op amps to realise active power supply noise rejection and voltage stabilisation. Erecting physical barriers to ground loops and interference suppresses computer audio noise, for clean, pure sound.

Equipped with separate 45.1584MHz and 49.152MHz low phase noise femtosecond grade audio crystal oscillators, the FD3 II supports all common sample rates directly with vanishingly low jitter, driving high quality from the source.

Supporting up to PCM 768kHz/32 bit, DSD512 and MQA 8X unfolding, the FD3 II offers professional support for professional HiFi audio formats, and mainstream lossless media are all supported as well. It carries both Hi-Res and Hi-Res Wireless certifications.

MQA 8X unfolding requires a player app supporting MQA on the computer or smartphone, such as HiBy Music or TIDAL, where the player is responsible for MQA decoding and the first 2x unfolding and the FD3 II carries out a further 4x unfolding for an 8X product.

The FD3 II supports plug and play operation on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, and on consoles including the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, via both UAC1 and UAC2 support. It moves seamlessly from smartphone to computer to console use, melding HiFi listening into daily life.

The FD3 II carries 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced headphone ports directly on the device, with a 6.35mm port adapter provided to suit all headphones and earphones. The 3.5mm headphone port supports microphone input and wired remotes. Separate 3.5mm and 4.4mm line out ports are included as well, supporting connection to amplifiers, active speakers and dedicated headphone amplifiers.

An aluminium alloy chassis is paired with a glass top plate. The OLED colour display shows volume, source, format and rate directly, and a hardware knob provides 100 steps of volume control for fine adjustment. The display also lights up and changes colour depending on the audio format and sample rate in use.

With low noise, active, thermally controlled fan cooling coupled to an aluminium heatsink, the FD3 II runs continuously at maximum sound quality in all conditions, even at full output power.