This hobby is an escapist's dream. Escape from daily routine and distress that's causing you via something as sincere and everlasting as listening to music. I believe that the power of music is still not fully understood since it works in mysterious ways. Allow it to do its magic on you and let your worries dissolve in melody.
Having had the possibility to try so many different sets in a relatively short time I felt obliged to go ahead and express my gratitude by trying to help some lost souls out there, just as I was when I first stumbled upon this weird hobby about wired earphones – so yesteryear! … I thought. Possibilities are seemingly endless and only by getting to meet the right people did I manage to jump onboard the train heading the 'right' direction without getting off-track thousands of times along the way. Make sure to understand the helping person's preferences and you too can find your footing and hit the ground running in no time.
Quick Intermezzo About Me
I won't bore you for too long with personal trivia, however my quick & short background resume goes as follows. Currently I am 27 years old and more in awe of sheer power of music by the day. I have always been moved by music just that slight bit more than average, I'd say. My spending started with a roughly 200€ Bose bluetooth speaker back in my first grade of highschool. What an extraterrestrial thing that was in early 2010s. And it keeps on playing to this day – a true testament of quality. Also sounded fantastic back then, nowadays … yeah, not so much. Lots of BT speakers, TWS, car audio speakers, IEMs, etc., later bring me to this day when I truly consider myself an audiophile. What brings me the most joy beside listening to music is singing, so I am currently participating in a choir and challenging myself with solo vocal covers (check the links in my signature to hear my projects). Unsure where all this leads, but the journey itself is marvelous and life is nothing but a journey.
My preferences lie somewhere in the
neutral camp with just an ever so slight bass boost, but I try to keep an open mind and truly appreciate any
outliers that dare do it differently. Our ears vary, so do our brain and tastes. I am an advocate for
respectful discourse, especially in topics that don't even have many objective undeniable truths. Audio is one of those.
My most listened genres are, in no particular order: jazz, singer/songwriter, slow-paced electronica, ambient, rock, metal, blues, trance, techno & pop.
Disclaimer: I have been lent the DITA Project M from a friend after wanting to hear it for months and months and nearly buying it a few times already. DITA was always interesting to me as a company and the huge praise the M has been getting was increasingly tougher to ignore.
How My Reviews Are Structured
I will start off by mentioning the
packaging, accessories, design & comfort, then continue by placing the showcased IEM in my special
trademarked graphs & graphics, give it a
score on certain qualities, and
describe the main sound categories to reach the final star score. Those that are seriously considering the Project M, please do not hesitate to
ask for any specifics you want me to answer via private messaging.
I have listened to songs of varied genres to better convey what one can expect from the Project M. As sources I have been using my FiiO BTR7, Venture Electronics Megatron, iBasso DX180, and Venture Electronics RA2B-FE + Prime DAC (in short, called the 'VE Stack'). Certainly no lack of power and quite a different taste on all. Listening was (mostly) done at a volume ranging between 75-85dB. I am using the stock cable and Feaulle H570 tips (after quite a bit of tip-rolling).
Here is the quick and rough description of how I understand
various star ratings:
Do not even think about it
It has too many drawbacks and gets demolished by competition
This item has the potential but feels a bit too bland and has multiple issues
Wonderful item with rare and mostly subjective drawbacks
Eargasmic performance with all the aspects covered at an incredibly high level
Keep in mind these ratings are certainly affected by the
item's price in the overall assessment too. Sometimes that will result in slightly higher score than based solely on my scoring of bass, mids, and treble, while other times it results in a slight penalty if I deem the item a tad overpriced.
In layman's terms - anything rated below 4 stars overall does not get a space in my regular rotation and is either stored and revisited some time later again just to see if my thoughts have changed, or it gets gifted.
The Warmly Welcomed Changes I Have Incorporated
Instead of going through a million songs and describing what I hear in real-time, I have started doing it differently. I'll describe individual aspects briefly in whole.
Should you have
any specific questions regarding any genres/songs in particular, feel free to contact me via private messaging.
I am still catching my stride on how to describe the sound aspects in
a clearer way. It is a slow but enjoyable learning curve. I am attempting to make my reviews as
ballast-free as possible. The graphics were the step in the right direction, I feel. Capturing the essence of sound characteristics in a less wordy way is next on the list. We all have our own busy schedules and I understand reading a review for 15+ minutes is in (nearly) no-one's interest.
Let's Get Going!
... but before we do, a quick word.
As you might realize by now, I am all in for a well done set that
dares to go a different way. Project M does just that. It's a 1+1 hybrid with a high quality full-range DD that is supported by the BA only in the highest octaves. The transparent shell allows us to see the internals and that DD sound tube looks enormous in comparison to some other sets. Now, how well does it do? We'll take a closer look with some help from my faithful graphics and describe them in more detail.
To clarify, it is the sort of set that will absolutely
not work for treble-shy (quantity of mid treble is pretty serious), because it is not afraid of putting its treble foot forward and bases the whole experience around it even though I'd argue its best range is bass. I can see bassheads being like, »oh, okay, this is niiice, but can we turn it up by maybe another 5dB?«. Consequently, this set is
highly dependent on genres and even more so on recording quality and brightness – choosing meticulously is the goal to happiness. Not for those who only listen to modern pop or metal. And not for those who listen loudly – the treble will simply be too much. Those of you who exclusively listen loudly or to pop and metal, run away now. What is interesting and keeps me entertained is the openness and midrange freshness of this tuning. Each note
has ample body and presence. Now sure, it won't be the most weighty-feeling of notes, nonetheless they keep the listener engaged.
Captivating is the main word.
... OK, back to scheduled programming
Packaging, Accessories, Design & Comfort
I will have to skip the packaging and accessories since this set was lent to me by a friend and he only added the bare necessities to ship it safely and let me experience it in its stock form.
All I can say is this cable is awesome to me and the way the termination secures is perfect. I swapped to the 4.4 immediately.
These should
fit just about everyone unless you've got small ears or dislike deep fitting IEMs. Even then, a set of one-size-smaller-than-usual tips should solve that. Their weight is also low enough not to feel too taxing on the ears.
I'll leave the
design for you to decide, but in person these are works of art. So much so that if I was richer I'd have these in my collection just to look at them. That DD and the DITA writing on it is gorgeous. That is also why I don't think their new 'candy' colourways are the right move, but I would like the design on both of those too had I not seen the OG before.
Graphics, Graphs & Scores
A
bright-leaning musical set with solid low-end support and good technicalities.
Sweet culmination of attributes.
As mentioned a little earlier, I have worked on trying to cut down on wordiness and all excess gibberish and rather improve upon my nikbr trademarked graphics to truly be able to compare IEMs visually since that offers an
easier-to-comprehend, more interactive and simply more appealing experience.
These truly cover most topics in a pretty straight-forward manner. I have described each of these in a bit more detail in my previous reviews. If anything remains unclear, here I am at your service.
Six Basic Traits
Magic Balance Boards
Soundstage Measurement Tool
Quarter Circle Playground
Overall scoring looks pretty good for the M. I still need to figure out how to judge sets more fairly while staying true to this sort of simplistic approach. Perhaps I'll need to turn it around – giving the set a score for bass/mids/treble and mention in positives and negatives why the score is as is.
Sound Descriptions
These were meant to be very concise, but I got
carried away and wrote way too much again. Excuse me, I swear I'll get better with time.
The obvious categories will be subcategorized into a few important aspects. It is impossible to just proclaim the bass as great or not,
there are levels to this hobby and since you're reading this review, you've obviously fallen deeper into this rabbit hole than many.
Bass
(some songs I used: Soldier of fortune by Deep Purple, Summer by Emeli Sande, I'm in Love by Ayo, House of the Rising sun by alt-J&Tuka, Infinity by DJ Pastis&DJ Ninu&Wasi Distorsion, Kuwait by Mazde, Drum solo by Manu Katche, Hislerim by Serhat Durmus&Zerrin, Animamundi by The spy from Cairo, Let the music flow by Sound Synthesis)
Quantity vs quality: This fits my taste to perfection. It's just right. There is ample quantity to never overstep or overshadow the midrange while also countering the lively treble. Quality is incredible. My previous favourite bass was that of the AuR Audio Aure. Project M polishes it further. The sense of ease and flow is second to none.
Rumble: While not ear(th)-shattering, it provides a beautiful base. This subbass region is responsible for a sense of spaciousness and ethereal playback. Those are two of Project M's strengths which I will cover more in technicalities. So, not a set that's necessarily focused on techno and hiphop, but it can do those respectably too.
Attack: Capable. Snappy, athletic, elastic, quick, effortless. It never feels stressed even in the craziest of bass lines. It unpacks information and presents it with sense of immediacy and urgency. As I said before, incredibly capable bass overall. Movement of the DD's membrane must be so well controlled.
Decay: Natural and plentiful, but wonderfully smooth and honey-like. No graininess, weird fluctuation or unexpected variance on same notes. Each note tells a story of its own. Just what a DD is supposed to do. This is where BAs just cannot compete – at least not in Project M's price segment or, heck, even at twice its price. It can do everything from wild electronica subbass decay to the intricate bass guitar solos.
Boominess: Nowhere to be found. This is often an achilles heel of sets that try to do it all by raising the midbass to achieve fake punch and muscle, while making DD's work way too difficult. How DITA have achieved it here is beyond impressive and it makes me so eager to hear their next creations.
Bloatedness: Not an issue. Low mids are sculpted wonderfully and allow for an overall very transparent signature despite intentionally taking a bold risk by cutting the upper midrange as much as they did.
Mids
(some songs I used: Creep by Haley Reinhart, Rosita by Coleman Hawkins&Ben Webster, Vidda by Ole Edvard Antonsen, Long after you are gone by Chris Jones, Writing's on the wall by Tom Ball, Dream on by Morgan James, Lonely island by Amble, Exhale the ash by Ulcerate, Free bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eyes don't lie by Tones and I, All about you by Sophie Zelmani, Shivers by Ed Sheeran)
Timbre: Getting this right is crucial in overall acceptance of any set. Always a sensitive topic. Timbre is not an easy one to unfold and pack into these little forms we call words. We also have a different understanding of 'correct timbre'. Hearing the instruments in multiple settings and played by different artists is a must to really get familiar with their intricacies. On the M, it starts off well in the bass and most of the midrange before derailing in treble. The treble makes higher-pitched instruments and their overtones sound just a tad off and wonky. Most noticeable on cymbals and brass. Even those would be passable in isolation, but feel incoherent to the rest of the mix, thus sounding out of place ocassionally. Piano changes character from the lowest to highest octaves. Just how annoying one finds this is down to music they listen to and sensitivity to timbral accuracy.
Forwardness: They aren't forward in their presentation nor in their placement. What is special, though, is just how weightless they remain despite that. While carefully threading in the background, they keep their composure and fill out the audible space.
Clarity: While not the best I have ever heard, the fact mids stay as clear as they do despite the chosen tuning approach is amazing. Not much detail escapes you. And it's all supported by healthy fullness – more in note weight section.
Vocals: Neither male nor female vocals lack much, but as expected, they won't soar as freely as on sets with more aggressive pinna and high mids. Therefore, my decision whether I enjoy the vocals or not is rather difficult and I have no straight answer. I enjoy the lack of shout and sibilance, but at the same time miss some of that soul and bite. Singer-dependent for sure.
Note weight: I'm most sensitive to how the piano is played back. Hearing a grand piano live you can tell just how much body each note carries and how rich it is in under- and overtones. Note weight is one of those risky topics and it quickly segregates the field in two camps, those that prefer a thicker, rounder note weight and hence a more analog approach, and those preferring all-BA sets because those usually have a quicker, less hefty character and a more digital sound. Mind, those are very very severe simplifications of this layered, 50-shade-of grey topic just to carry my point across. Project M strikes a balance of note weight throughout the range, except treble, where they can get all haywire and crazy. Elsewhere, it's a happy medium, not the thickest and fullest of notes, but they don't seem hollow or lacking substance either. I am a fan. That said, this won't be my set of choice for piano arrangements.
Treble
(some songs I used: Vidda by Ole Edvard Antonsen, Want by The cure, All about you by Sophie Zelmani, Morning bird by Sade, Animali in Marcia by Gianluigi Trovesi, Ain't no love in the city by Robert Haglund, Barbados by Arne Domnerus, Oh Dear by Sophie Zelmani, Liberty by Kerenza Peacock&Timothy Ridout&Hum Watkins, Shivers by Ed Sheeran)
Crispness/sharpness: A mix of multiple qualities hidden all the way from upper mids high up into treble. There is no straight-cut rule to tackling this and having it fit all ears and preferences. Project M is a special blend of crisp and sharp. While it's not offensively sharp, it's incredibly crisp. That serves as a great tool to aid the poorer recordings. Old stuff that sounds muffled and poorly mastered gets invigorated. However, on the contrary, those songs that need no brightening will be just as affected by this crispness. That can result in a highly detailed listen, or so you think at first before fatigue creeps in. This mid treble tuning ends up sounding very planar-like (or at least, planars of the yesteryears) in that it's certainly energetic and attention-grabbing, but soon gets overwhelming. This hobby of ours is weird in that age has a huge impact whether we like it or not, thus older ears may appreciate this better.
Sibilance: Very safely avoids it. Even in Shivers by Ed Sheeran which is recorded insanely crispy and bright even in all the risky areas. And while the M skillfully avoids sibilance in this song, it cannot escape sounding grainy and too enthusiastic in mid treble.
Naturalness: Due to the tuning I struggle calling this natural. I have yet to hear a concert or any live performances sound as aggressively bright in the upper register as the M. The treble quality itself is very enjoyable, though.
Air: Extension is not the greatest ever, but this will sound airy to most due to what happens before the 15kHz mark. Not an issue at all. In fact, I would like to see less of it because it can get a bit much with the mid treble excitement.
Technicalities
Soundstage: A very touchy subject with no objective truths, highly affected by source, and incredibly different from one pair of ears to another. Skipping the effect of our pinna, as IEMs do, is both a blessing and a curse. One has to figure out for themselves what tricks their brain into placing objects furthest away from their actual point source. While the M doesn't expand too much to the sides, it feels sufficiently deep and tall to avoid me calling it closed in or cramped. Soundstage-heads, look elsewhere.
Imaging: Potentially the most crucial technical aspect in IEMs. And this is the reason why I feel soundstage might be just a bit overhyped. The outer edges of where the sound is coming from are not as important to me as their localization and size of the image. Give me a more intimate soundstage with better presented individual sounds over a huge soundstage with more diffused imaging any day of the week. And yes, the M separates tremendously well despite not expanding too wide. Some of its imaging is down to just how forceful the treble is, but I believe it's mostly a function of great drivers and fantastic implementation.
Detail retrieval: A subject that should be cut into even smaller subjects to cover more easily, but I will try to explain it in one. Macro- and microdetails is how they are usually referred to. Macrodetails will be the larger items we can look into. Maybe something like a clap. How well is that clap separated and detailed in its onset and offset. While microdetails would mean delving even closer into that clap – how crisp is it, any minute detail that stands out, possibly the person is wearing rings and those hit each other when clapping. Project M passes with high marks in both micro- and macrodetailing. Especially the bass is so nuanced that it really made me appreciate certain bass lines even more. It also opened my eyes to what is possible at this price range while making me so curious about the high-end and just how far they can take the bass in this physically very limited space we call IEMs.
Cohesiveness: Such an important and often overlooked quality. We focus on bass, mids, treble, etc., but do they work together as a team or is it a bunch of talented individuals pulling to their sides? And Project M gets it slightly wrong. It's as if the attackers (treble) just don't feel like running back to help in defensive duties too. Bass and midrange work together wonderfully, but that is to be expected since they're driven by the single DD anyway.
Extra
Fun factor: Another tough one to simply close by saying either yes or no. It's fun until a treble-heavy song comes on. It's fun at low to mid volume and nothing but pain at higher volumes, even though the bass edges you on to turn that knob higher.
Q: What kind of source to pair it with?
A: Warmer preferrably. The DX180 is okay with all its neutrality, but does nothing to address the elephant in the room, the mid treble.
Q: What genres are its strength/weakness?
A: It's not as much down to genres as it is to individual songs and their recording & production. I can enjoy it with most genres, but would prefer more subbass for techno or hiphop if that's your thing.
Summing Up The DITA Project M
Thanks to the gentleman that is my friend who trusted me enough to lend me this IEM for me to have a go. Project M is a unique beast. Most are focusing on its treble, and I feel that can be the thing that both makes or breaks someone's experience with the M. It's right on the edge for me and requires careful musical choice. What stood out to me was the near-perfect bass and the fact the midrange works well despite the dip. I can recommend this one to certain audience only (and those that have the cash to risk not liking its sound, but buying it solely for the looks). As for others, wait and see what DITA comes up with next.
Thanks for reading and stay wonderful.
Perhaps, I was thinking, because I just switched from BQEYZ IEM (WIND) with the bone conductor technology. At first I wasn’t too impressed and was trying different eartips and different dacs/amps configurations. The more I listened however the more my ears got attuned to them and I started really liking what I was hearing and so one night I stayed until 2:30am (we’re talking 4.5 hrs of continuous listening here - which in itself speaks volumes) going through a lot of my favorite albums and really enjoyed the experience. I would describe the overall tuning as very clear and balanced; nothing stands out. It is however somehow restrained in upper mids and treble and the low frequencies lack some rumble.
