DITA-The Truth, review expatinjapan

This article I first published on the Head-fi forums.

I have since upgraded from their earlier design in 2013 to their smaller, and imho better sounding present rendition of the DITA-Truth.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------




I received a set of DITA - The Answer (Truth Edition) from the designers in late October, 2013.

My first impressions were very positive but I wanted to give them a bit time to `loosen up`.

There are two choices of DITA `The Answer` and `The Answer - Truth edition`. The difference is in the high quality cable made by Van den Hul that comes with the Truth edition.

http://www.ditaaudio.com/index.php

General specs:

Driver - One ultra- wide width 10mm transducer.
FR - 18-25,000 Hz.
Impedance - 16ohms.
Sensitivity 102db.
Color - Satin Black
Cable - The Truth custom made by VDH 1.2m.
Solder VDH Lead-free silver solder.

Accessories
3 pairs small bore tips S/M/L (sweeter highs).
3 Pairs medium bore tips S/M/L (reference tuning).
3 pairs large bore tips S/M/L (airier highs).
1 pair double flange tips.
1 custom flight adapter.
1 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapter.
1 premium leather carrying case.
1 casual carrying case.




The DITA Truth Edition is a single driver dynamic in ear as described on their website `The Answer uses a single ultra-fast, ultra-wide bandwidth transducer, purpose built to handle any musical genre`.



Everything about the DITA is quality, from the design to the packaging. A few photos for the package fetishists.


And also comes with a choice of two cases, one hardback and another in stylish leather.

Well what of the sound? Well we will get to that, take small bites and chew throughly to get the full flavor and enjoyment from our food shall we?

The single driver is connected by a weaved almost custom cable cable set in what i would guess is a durable form of shrink wrap, the solid part of the cable as seen in the first photo has a small window where one can visibly see the quality of the cable contained within.



It is not a detachable cable which may turn of some people, but this is standard for single drivers whilst detachable is often more seen in multi driver IEMs. Don`t view me as an apologist either, for although I can agree with the fears of spending a good bit of pocket money on an expensive in ear from a new company on the block I must say that the Dita is built solidly.

In these days of a wide variety of multi driver IEMs why would one even consider the back to basics of a single driver (I love my ATH-CK10 btw), can a single driver even approach the dynamics and deep sonics on a multi driver IEM? In the case of the DITA Answer (Truth Edition) I think it has come close, how close my hobbyist ears can`t exactly say, and I am not one to over elaborate or pontificate on audio products.

Am I happy with the sound? Yes.

Tokyo Headphone Show 2013.
The DITA crew.


As mentioned earlier initial impressions were positive from the early demo unit I tried at a show in early 2013 to the final product I received for review in October 2013.

I have mainly used the DITA -Answer Truth edition with my Hifi-m8>Venturecraft lightning cable> touch 5G using Flacplayer app. Using the supplied reference tips which suited my tastes most of all.

The DITA Truth seems a very balanced all rounder without skimping on any particular sonics, the bass is solid and present without being flabby or over bearing, the mids are present and add a fullness to the music yet don`t dampen down the the musicality by being overly warm, the highs are present without any sibilance or over bearing screeching that seems to accompany many in ears.

The DITA does detail well, but not at the expense of enjoyment. It seems to tread that fine line between pleasing everyone and it does it very well.

I found riding on the train and subway that they were fairly good at isolating sound, after listening for longer periods I did not have any listening fatigue.

At the risk of this seemingly appearing as a suspicious semi sponsored fan fest pre-solicited volunteer head-fier review - I must admit I have drunk the kool aid on this one, but as other head-fiers know I am generally of few words and dont feel a long drawn out review is more precious than short and sweet.

I await impressions from Currawong, hopefully Anakchan, If Joker could get his hands on a pair for his lengthly and voluminous IEM thread on head-fi that would be perfect and I heard innerfidelity will perhaps do a fuller review than here. Also DITA appeared at the recent Mook headphone festival so hopefully we will get some impressions via there.



Summary.

The DITA Answer (Truth Edition) is a well made in ear by a young and upcoming company, it is well packaged and solidly built.
The sound is full and does not scrimp on revealing the micro details of the music tracks thrown at it.
If one is at home or commuting the result is pleasing in both situations in terms of isolation.
The variety of tips included is sufficient and also means one can tailor the signature to suit their own individual tastes.
Being a single driver means it plays well with the majority of source devices and does not demand a 1ohm output source to perform at its optimum as multi driver IEMs do.

The DITA is a quality product so it will favor being used with a similar tier source, and accompanying files.

Possibles and probables:
The bass might be too full for some people at various times, but I will put that down to possible individual taste rather any design short comings. I found it clean and full myself.
Danny from DITA wrote `We strongly believe that earphones should closely mimic their two channel counterparts especially in the highest levels of audiophiledom.  My personal goal is to have a very high level of 2-channel audio system available on the go.  If you go to RMAF or CES and have a listen to really high end audio systems, you always feel the bass.  It's impactful and uncoloured.  Never muddy or slow`.

The cable of the Truth is a weave and contained within a wrap, I found mine to be coiled somewhat serpentine but was assured that production models with be more pre-shaped and without that problem.

In short form I believe the DITA to be a quality product in presentation, sound and built quality and am happy to have had the opportunity to try them out.

Photos are mine and also from the Dita website (with their permission).

Dita website

Thanks for reading

Regards
expatinjapan.

*I originally posted this review on head-fi.

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post