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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-26 · 8 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a pair of open-back clip-on headphones that turn a phone, DAP or home rig into a wide, airy listen with real low-end weight, choose Aune AC45; if you need a portable USB DAC/amp that unlocks true 384KHz/32-bit hi-res playback and gives your 4.4mm balanced headphones a clean, powerful signal, choose Cubilux HC-4.
• Aune AC45 — biggest strength: a 40mm W-shaped bio-fiber composite diaphragm with roughly 70% more vibration area than typical clip-ons, paired with an independent linear surround and a high-dynamic symmetric motor, so the bass doesn't collapse the way it often does in open clip-on designs.
• Aune AC45 — biggest trade-off: it's a wired 3.5mm open-back headphone with no noise control and no built-in amplification, so it leans on whatever you plug it into and it leaks sound both ways.
• Cubilux HC-4 — biggest strength: a 384KHz/32-bit PCM DAC feeding a 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced output with dual RT6863 amps, plus a 3.5mm TRRS mic input and a live LED sampling-rate indicator.
• Cubilux HC-4 — biggest trade-off: it's a converter, not a headphone — no DSD support, no phantom power or preamp for microphones, and it does nothing for you unless you already own 4.4mm or 3.5mm gear to plug into it.
• Who each pick is for: Aune AC45 is for someone who wants the actual listening device; Cubilux HC-4 is for someone who already has good headphones and a weak, noisy or downsampling source.
The AC45 is Aune's attempt to fix the oldest complaint about clip-on headphones: they sound thin. The company's answer is structural rather than cosmetic. A 40mm W-shaped bio-fiber composite diaphragm gives the driver roughly 70% more vibrating surface than a conventional clip-on, and the independent linear surround is tuned specifically to the excursion behavior of an open-back clip-on so the mid-bass stays solid instead of hollow. Behind that sits a high-dynamic symmetric motor that keeps things stable when the music gets loud and busy.
The sound signature Aune describes is warm, smooth and full-bodied, with bright and airy highs and a transparent tonal base. That tracks with the open-back, clip-on architecture: sound waves diffuse naturally, so you get a free, spacious stage and natural imaging rather than the boxed-in feel of a sealed design. Vocals, acoustic material, pop and light music are the obvious targets. The frequency range runs 20Hz to 40,000Hz, which comfortably clears the bar for hi-res playback chains, and the 3.5mm wired connection means it works with a DAP, a phone with an adapter, a laptop or a home system.
Who should buy it: listeners who want an open, breathing presentation and don't want something jammed into their ear canal, plus anyone building a portable hi-fi stack around a DAP. Who should skip it: anyone who needs isolation. There's no noise control here at all, and an open clip-on leaks in both directions, so it's a poor fit for commuting, open offices or anywhere you need to disappear into your own bubble. One more thing worth knowing — it's a passive headphone, so if your source is weak, the AC45 will show you exactly how weak. That's a real argument for pairing it with something like the HC-4 rather than against it.
The HC-4 is a different animal entirely. It's a USB dongle DAC and headphone amp that accepts PCM audio up to 384KHz/32-bit and outputs through a 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced jack. Balanced output is the headline here: it gives you better channel separation, more power and a cleaner signal path to demanding IEMs and headphones. Dual RT6863 amps supply the current, and Cubilux explicitly positions the HC-4 as capable of driving harder-to-power headphones with clarity.
The second feature is the one gamers and streamers will care about most. There's a dedicated 3.5mm TRRS microphone input sitting alongside the hi-fi output, so you can listen through a proper balanced headphone chain and still keep clear voice chat for gaming, streaming or video calls. Two caveats from the spec sheet: microphones that need phantom power or a preamp won't work, and the device decodes PCM only — no DSD.
Third, there's a real-time sampling rate monitor. An LED shifts color to tell you what your system is actually feeding the DAC: green for CD-tier 44.1/48KHz, blue for hi-res 88.2–96KHz, aqua for ultra-hi-fi 176.4–384KHz. That's a genuinely useful diagnostic, because it exposes when your operating system is quietly downsampling your audio. To avoid that, Cubilux recommends Exclusive Mode on Windows and bit-perfect players on mobile. The aluminum alloy housing doubles as an EMI/RFI shield, and it's plug-and-play over USB-C and USB-A across Android, iOS, iPadOS, Windows and macOS.
Who should buy it: anyone whose headphones already sound good but whose laptop, phone or PC jack doesn't — and anyone who wants one dongle to handle both hi-res listening and microphone input. Who should skip it: people who don't own 4.4mm or 3.5mm wired gear, DSD collectors, and anyone expecting it to make bad headphones good.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for an open, spacious soundstage → Aune AC45. The open-back clip-on design is the whole point; the HC-4 can't create space that your headphones don't have.
• Best for bass in a clip-on form factor → Aune AC45. The increased diaphragm area, linear surround and symmetric motor are all aimed squarely at the low-end weakness clip-ons are known for.
• Best for gaming and streaming → Cubilux HC-4. The 3.5mm TRRS mic input is the deciding feature; the AC45 has no microphone at all.
• Best for use with a DAP or home system → Aune AC45. A wired 3.5mm headphone is the simplest possible thing to plug into a dedicated player.
• Best for cleaning up a noisy laptop or phone output → Cubilux HC-4. The aluminum shielding and balanced architecture target exactly that problem.
• Best for a complete chain → both, in sequence. The HC-4 as the source-side converter, the AC45 as the thing on your ears — though note the AC45 terminates in 3.5mm, so you'd use the HC-4's mic/3.5mm side for it, not the balanced jack.
• Best for someone who owns nothing yet → Aune AC45. You can't listen to a DAC.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the Aune AC45. My reasoning is simple: it's the product that actually makes sound, and the engineering story behind it — a 40mm W-shaped bio-fiber diaphragm with around 70% more vibrating area, an independent linear surround tuned for open clip-ons, and a high-dynamic symmetric motor — addresses the real weakness of the category rather than adding features around it. The 20Hz–40,000Hz range and wired 3.5mm connection make it the flexible, low-friction choice for a DAP, laptop or home setup. That said, if your headphones already sound good and your problem is the source, the Cubilux HC-4 is the smarter purchase: 384KHz/32-bit PCM, a 4.4mm balanced output with dual RT6863 amps, and a mic input that the AC45 simply doesn't have. Different jobs, both done well.
what is hi res headphones
Hi-res headphones are headphones whose reproduction range and design let them carry the extended frequency content of high-resolution audio rather than cutting it off early. In practice, look at the stated frequency range — the Aune AC45 is rated 20Hz to 40,000Hz, well beyond the 20Hz–20,000Hz ceiling of ordinary listening. The headphone also has to be fed a genuinely hi-res signal, which is where a DAC like the Cubilux HC-4 comes in.
what is hi res audio headphones
The phrase usually means the same thing: a headphone intended to partner with high-resolution audio sources rather than compress or truncate them. Hi-res audio itself is PCM or similar content sampled above CD quality, and the Cubilux HC-4 accepts PCM from 44.1KHz all the way to 384KHz/32-bit. Its LED indicator shows green at CD rates, blue at 88.2–96KHz and aqua at 176.4–384KHz, so you can confirm when you're actually in hi-res territory.
what are hi res headphones
They're headphones built so that the driver and enclosure don't become the bottleneck in a high-resolution chain — open-back designs, large diaphragms and wide frequency ranges are common markers. The Aune AC45 fits that description with its 40mm W-shaped bio-fiber composite diaphragm, independent linear surround and 20Hz–40,000Hz rating. Notably, it's passive, so its hi-res potential depends on the quality of whatever you plug it into.
which headphones support hi res lossless
Any wired headphone with a wide enough frequency range can carry hi-res lossless content, provided the source delivers it. The Aune AC45 qualifies on range at 20Hz–40,000Hz and connects over a wired 3.5mm jack. The catch is the chain behind it: to get lossless PCM up to 384KHz/32-bit you need a capable converter like the Cubilux HC-4, and on Windows or mobile you may need Exclusive Mode or a bit-perfect player to stop the operating system from downsampling it. Remember the HC-4 handles PCM only — no DSD.
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