Closer Examination

HiBy's generosity continues with the cables, and the plural form conveys as much. IEMs in this price range typically come with a single cable and rarely allow options of the connector to the source at the time of order. Rarer even are IEMs with swappable plugs without costing a lot more. Instead, HiBy has included two cables that are fundamentally identical to each other but for the 3.5 mm TRS single-ended plug on one and 4.4 mm TRRS balanced plug on the other. Both are gold-plated for oxidation resistance, and I am glad the adoption rate of the 4.4 mm connector in lieu of the thinner 2.5 mm connector is rapidly increasing. The cables also use aluminium housings with the HiBy branding on some, and the conductor is Ohno Continuous Cast (OCC) high-purity copper that is typically 99.999% pure or higher. There are four braided strands, each with 30 individual wires that are 0.05 mm in diameter. The strands are not too tightly braided though, which leaves a sense of looseness, although I had no reason to believe they would actually come loose.

The dark brown color is a good choice, especially as it adds further contrast to the aluminium housings throughout, including on the splitter and cable cinch. No microphonics were felt in use, and the cable feels ready to be re-shaped without much resistance. There's a clear plastic sheath on top at the other end to form the ear hooks which then terminate in what HiBy and all retailers currently are referring to as MMCX or Pentaconn expanding MMCX, which is highly misleading. These are Pentaconn Ear connectors which are certainly not interchangeable with MMCX connectors. Pentaconn claims this is a more durable connector that is easier to fit and remove than MMCX, which is all fine and dandy. I have let HiBy know about this so they can confirm and correct the information on the product page as soon as possible lest customers find out the hard way by trying to use these cables with different IEMs, or another cable with these IEMs. Regardless, there are black and red accent rings in addition to L/R markings to identify the left and right channels for when you use these cables with the HiBy Lasya.


I mentioned how the HiBy Lasya comes in three color options, and these are green, blue, and purple courtesy skin-friendly dyes used on epoxy resin shells following multiple cycles of internal and external painting for a uniform, striking finish. I have the blue version here, which is a rich translucent blue on the shells that in turn use a resin mold and have face plates glued on top. HiBy is making sure to call out the CIEM-style housing, which means the shells are highly ergonomic and based on numerous 3D scans of ear canals, ear conchas, and the pinna in general. This runs the gamble of being very comfortable with a secure fit for some and resulting in a worse fit than some semi-ergonomic or just plain universal fit IEMs for others. But these are pretty IEMs, and the other colors appear to be just as vibrant.


We now get a closer look at the shells and face plates, which are used for branding with HiBy and Lasya printed in shiny lettering on the two face plates. The face plates otherwise match the shells with a background that has shades of blue and reminds me of the insides of abalone shells. The sides also show the ridge built into the shells that should fit into the spiral of the concha where it meets the antihelix and is part of the CIEM design. The translucent shells are thicker than you would expect though, so that might be a deterrent to the fit. It also allows a nice look at the dynamic driver and internal wiring, as well as the "L" or "R" marking for the respective channel. Next to it is the accompanying female Pentaconn Ear receptacle with a red ring on the right channel and black ring on the left, and as mentioned before, these will not work with MMCX plugs. The nozzle is fairly thick, and the inner side starts sloping quite early, too. There is a retaining lip at the end of the nozzle to keep the ear tips in place once installed, and this is the widest the nozzle gets at ~6 mm in diameter. We also see a pre-installed metal filter to prevent contaminants from entering the acoustic chamber.


Fitting the different ear tips is trivial, and that notch on the nozzle holds them securely. Seen above are the three silicone ear tip types in addition to the foam tips that come with the HiBy Lasya, all in size M and installed on these IEMs. Just make sure you go around the tips to ensure they are not in at an angle. Given the relatively wide nozzle, I did have to stretch the ear tips slightly to get the bore around it, although this is not tedious, and the silicone tips were much simpler to fit compared to the foam ones. Try out the various different tips and sizes, and keep in mind that it's not necessary for both ear canals to have the best seal with the same size or set, either.


Regardless of which tips you chose, the next step is to connect the cable by carefully identifying the matching channels and orienting the ear hooks around your ear when connecting the IEMs. Doing so is extremely simple since you just push the male ends of these Pentaconn Ear connectors into the female ones on the IEMs, at which point I realized this is a hybrid of the 2-pin and MMCX plugs in that it is a push or friction fit as with the former, but has free rotation as with the latter. There is no click as with MMCX plugs, and I dare say I felt more comfortable connecting and disconnecting these, too. It reminded me of the estron T2 plugs used on the Etymotic EVO cable and IEMs and means you have far fewer aftermarket cable options with the HiBy Lasya. Now simply connect to the source with the 3.5 mm TRS or 4.4 mm TRRS connector on the other end of the cable you chose! I know there are many who prefer using IEMs throughout, but I like to use over-ear headphones when sitting down and IEMs on the go. I paired the HiBy Lasya with many of the tested portable DAC/amps to date and personally like the cleaner profile and handy EQ options of the Qudelix-5K as the source with the 3.5 mm SE cable, in turn paired to my phone or laptop. There are plenty of excellent sources for the other cable option too, including the iFi GO blu for 4.4 mm balanced. But the obvious combo would be with the other part of the HiBy puzzle, the HiBy R5 (Gen 2) DAP, and I've separately talked more about how well the HiBy R5 (Gen 2) works in either SE or BAL, Class A amplification mode, and much more.