Hiby Yacht 10 Experience - Loves it loud!

During the past months, there are, at least from my lens, two IEMs that have been getting the hype: Apos Audio's Rock Lobster, and Hiby's Yacht 10 [Y10]. Both have single,10mm dynamic drivers, and are priced competitively. Personally, the Y10s got and sustained my attention because of the unique look.

Meet Hiby Yacht 10

Internationally, the IEM retails for USD 129.00. On Shopee, it is priced for roughly PHP 6.3K.

GIZGUIDE got its hands on the Y10, and this is our review for you.

Unboxing/Accessories

The packaging

Clad in a grey/black/orange color theme, with mecha anime graphics, the Y10 ships in a heavy carton box with a slip-off/slip-on outer sleeve. This early, you can conclude that the unboxing will be highly-satisfying, and classy.

Unboxed

Inside the box are the Y10s securely cradled in a foam tray. Adjacent to the tray you will find a sturdy faux-leather carrying case with orange stitching and an embossed Hiby logo. Internally, the case is divided into three sections to organize the earpieces, cable and the detachable connectors.

Cable connectors

The cable connectors are interchangeable, and come in 2 variants: 3.5mm single-ended and 4.4mm balanced. The 4-pin connectors plug into the cable, and is securely locked to the cable via a screw mechanism. As long as you have this tight and secure, there is no fear of losing the connectors. Also included is a cleaning tool that you can use on the earpieces and on the connectors. Minor gripe, I wish that Hiby made the carrying case to match the mecha anime visuals of the Y10, though.

Underneath the foam layer, you have a slim plastic box with the Hiby logo. Here you will find the 2 sets of IEM tips in 3 sizes. You have a choice between white silicone, and black foam. I tested both but settled on the foam tips.

Build Quality/Design

Hiby started their anime collab trend with their stunning Evangelion themed R4 DAP. Although not linked to a particular anime title, the Y10s sport the same vibe. The matte-grey earpieces are CNC-ed out of sturdy aluminum - hefty and solid. Visually, if you're familiar with anime, you'll immediately grasp the angular-mecha visual aesthetic.

The orange faceplates, and orange accents on the connectors and chin slider all work to achieve this look. I'm not a fan of brown as the color choice for the cable, but it works great with the overall look and design. In short, the Y10s feel and look awesome and unique. As an anime fanboy, I would have bought this for the looks alone!

Comfort/Isolation

Despite the angular-mechanical look, the Y10s are light and comfortable for daily use and extended listening. The angular design is well-balanced on the ear, and there are no angles that can cause discomfort. I got the best isolation and sound with foam eartips. Visually, the black foam eartips look best on the Y10s.

Performance

I first tested the Y10s plugged directly on my laptop. Spent a couple of days streaming music on YouTube. A recent discovery and recommendation, is the "Unreal Rock Songs" YouTube channel. They have full albums of new artists doing 70s-era psych, stoner rock and heavy metal. The Y10s acquitted itself quite well with well-defined mids and highs with above-average detail retrieval. I am not a bass head but what immediately stood out for me was the tight bass. This tuning on the bass surprised me, as I was not expecting bass of this quality.

I then moved on to my Aune M1S DAP. With its balanced, yet intricate and spacious sonics, the M1S is a must-have for anyone passionate about mobile personal audio. The Y10s on the M1S was just a joy to listen to. The instrumentation on albums like Steely Dan's "Aja, and Dire Straits' "Love Over Gold" came through with the right amount of clarity and slam. Again, that tight and taut bass was even more precise on my M1S. The bass was present to power the song and yet it did not take your attention away from the overall soundscape.

If you're thinking that the only highlight of the Y10 is the bass, it's not! Overall, the Y10 has a V-curve tuning with slightly-lifted mids and highs. It is also quite revealing in the context of how your source is tuned. For example, plugging the Y10s directly into my Onkyo DPX1 instantly reminded me why I always preferred my DPX1 with an external DAC or AMP. For all of the DPX1's stellar clarity, stunning musicality, fluency and soundstage, it lacked emotion and slam when listening to my kind of tuneage. I remedied this by inserting my Chord Mojo 2 in between the DPX1 and the Y10s.

I have a couple of Rush albums in 24bit/96KHz FLAC. With the Chord Mojo 2 in the chain, the tight bass and drums had even better control and imaging. Particularly in tracks like the textured "Closer to the Heart", and the slow-fast pace of "New World Man". Likewise, the soundstage expanded with better defined instrument placement.

These became even more evident on Band-Maid's "Band-Maiko" EP - where the impossibly hard-rocking 5-piece kicked back, and incorporated wagakki elements into their core sound. Even as the percussion, voice and guitar was the spotlight, the organic tone of Japanese folk instruments shone through to accurately convey what Band-Maid was trying to achieve with this unique mash-up.

If you want more tonal specifics, the Y10s is both dynamic and resolving on vocals. Again, on "Band-Maiko", Saiki's vocal versatility is on full display - as Saiki's vocals can be both powerful and emotionally captivating [even on the same song!]

For male vocals, I went for my favorite Black Sabbath album, "Master of Reality". The Y10's enhanced midrange made Ozzy Osbourne's vocals sound dark yet introspective. On the other hand, the down-tuned guitars, bass and drums were huge and chunky but with enough space to highlight the tight musicianship on this landmark album from 1971.

One more observation on the Y10 is that it loves being cranked up. Listening at above average levels significantly opens up the sound. You'll be getting more of that addictive organic-analog sound.

Our thoughts

All these being said, the Y10 performs way beyond its asking price.

Even as there are tons of V-sounding IEMs in the market, the Y10 distinguishes itself from the herd with the unique ability to convey an organic, analog and lively [yet not shouty] musical presentation.

This is huge since the media we consume is digital. For the most part digital media tends to have this "glare" that can be fatiguing with extended listening. In closing, I'd go as far as to say that Y10, has a lot of sonic similarities to my single DD benchmark; the CampFire Audio Vega. 

So yeah, get the Yacht 10 and play it...loud!

Build/Design - 5

Comfort/Isolation - 5

Sound - 5

Average - 5/5