[skysoul]

  300 dollar upgrade from the non balanced to balanced truth
 
300 dollar upgrade from balanced truth to k10
 
400 dollar upgrade from balanced truth to the ref 1 ( probably gonna be another 1k if you add the uber cable)
 
My point is, if the 300 dollar upgrade from the truth balanced to the k10 is negligible putting them in the same price bracket, so is the 300 dollars from the truth to the balanced version
And the ref 1, especially with the uber cable which it needs to sing, is pretty darn expensive

300 upgrade to K10 = future cable upgrade unlimited
300 upgrade to balanced truth = Zero future cable upgrade. ( ....Ouch)
400 upgrade to ref 1 = Ok now I have a ticket to heavenly sound with uber cable 

 

[efftee]

Ref 1 + new Uber = USD3,230 = 2.5 Answer with Balanced Truth. Did I mention it comes with a 2.5-3.5 cable adaptor?

 

[WCDchee]

  300 upgrade to K10 = future cable upgrade unlimited
300 upgrade to balanced truth = Zero future cable upgrade. ( ....Ouch)
400 upgrade to ref 1 = Ok now I have a ticket to heavenly sound with uber cable 

 
You are not going to buy it because you don't think it is worth the money, fair enough, nothing wrong with that. 
 
However, I hope that for anyone else looking to buy any of Dita's products, you won't go away thinking that the items are overpriced. Are they cheap? Hell no, they definitely aren't. But at $650 I feel that the answer competes very well with many TOTL iems. The truth makes improvements in most areas, but it is up to you whether you would like those differences. If you would like to know more about what the differences are, feel free t drop me a PM.
 
The balanced version gives very similar changes to the truth as was the case from the answer to the truth, and in similar magnitude. And from that standpoint, I believe that the asking price isn't exactly unreasonable. Of course, it isn't a cheap item, and some would definitely prefer to pay more for other iems. But in its own way, Dita brings something to the table that many other equally priced, or more expensive iems fail to -  tonal accuracy. If you want the largest soundstage, the biggest bass slam, or the lushest or smoothest mids, I'm afraid you are probably not going to get that (that is not to say that they don't do well in these areas because they do). But the Ditas manage to make cellos sound like cellos, and flutes sound like flutes, and if that's what you want, Dita won't disappoint you.

 

[twister6]

^ Amen to that!
 
And btw, I updated my DITA Review with addition comment and a few dozen of new detailed pics of the DITA (this time a full unboxing of retail package and more close ups).  http://www.head-fi.org/products/dita-audio-the-answer/reviews/11993 - just scroll to the bottom of it.

 

[Ditti]

  For a typical TRS 3.5mm unbalanced headphone, you will have two wires (+,-) per driver joining at the y-split, where the negatives are combined together as common; this results in only three wires from the y-split to the 3.5mm jack. There won't be any reason for a standard TRS 3.5mm to have all four wires run all the way only for the negatives to be terminated together to a 3-connection TRS (and even moreso with "exotic" cable materials where every inch costs plenty), so the unbalanced TRS Truth edition should have a cheaper cable materials-wise compared to the balanced TRRS version

Hi There,
 
Thought I'd chime in a bit on this.  The non-Balanced Truth also uses four runs of the same cable. The TRRS or Balanced uses the same four runs of cable.  Yes it's true we could have saved substantial costs when we designed the original Truth wiring but for various reasons, both technical and otherwise, we did not want to scrimp on that cost.  So FYI, there is no difference in the number of cables used in both the Balanced and Non-Balanced Truth Editions.
 
Best,
D.

 

[Skyeriding]

Hi There,

Thought I'd chime in a bit on this.  The non-Balanced Truth also uses four runs of the same cable. The TRRS or Balanced uses the same four runs of cable.  Yes it's true we could have saved substantial costs when we designed the original Truth wiring but for various reasons, both technical and otherwise, we did not want to scrimp on that cost.  So FYI, there is no difference in the number of cables used in both the Balanced and Non-Balanced Truth Editions.

Best,
D.

Hello, thank you for the clarification. Kind of surprised to hear that especially since the non balanced was released first.

Sorry I was wrong, skysoul..

 

[Ditti]

  Extra soldering on an existing ground wire to a cheap plug doesn't appeal to me to pay $300 more. I close my case. I myself audited the balanced Dita truth and yes the sound does make the AK240 sounds good. But then again I rather pay for something equivalent on value for money like the K10 or Ref 1 than a company that is trying to rip the consumer off for no obvious technology improvement or upgrade.
 
Im ok if they had priced their Limited Gold edition higher, similar to the AK240 gold edition with gold cradle or Blue Note with extraordinary effort blues collection.
 
But No No No No...normal black edition 300 more for a cheap plug? Well they should get a good marketing guy to do a better job than this. 

Dear SkySoul,
 
Thank you very much for your support of our products.  Honestly, this hobby of ours knows no bounds and compared to most regular music lovers, the stuff we spend on our gear is ridiculously expensive.
 
I thought I'd like to say a little about the cost of the Balanced termination which is quite closely tied to our design philosophy for the Balanced models.
 
1. We used a moulded plug for the Balanced models because we imagined that most users of the newer AK players would be plugging the earphones directly into their players.  As such, a moulded plug is the most streamlined and compact way to achieve a practical and convenient package.
 
2. There were reports of some users who experienced static on their 2.5mm TRRS terminations when used on the AK players.  Our testing and research indicates that the best way to prevent this is to mould over the front of the plug base.  The best way to do that is use a moulded plug because that design aspect would not be practical on our existing 3.5mm plug design with the added step.
 
3. For those of us that have tried our hands at simple and basic DIYing, the 3.5mm TRS plug is a piece of cake.  Now, try this with a cable like our Truth cable on a 2.5mm TRRS plug.  It is exceedingly difficult to do reliably.  For some models of earphones that require the use of more than 4 cables, that's an even more daunting task!  I truly respect those guys and I can assure you, whatever they charge is probably worth their time in doing it right.  As a manufacturer, we cannot perform the transition to a 2.5mm TRRS like a DIYer would.  When you do it yourself and it fails, you have no one to blame but yourself.  So you go back to your bench and do it again.  You may even need a new plug with the 2.5mm TRRS because the insulation and the soldering points are so small.  Add our VDH silver solder that requires special soldering techniques and high temperatures and that task starts to get more and more difficult fast.
 
4. We also included a 2.5mm TRRS to 3.5mm TRS adaptor for that that still want to use some of their other players and amps.  The adaptor is made using the same Truth cable and it is also terminated in our custom 3.5mm TRS plug.  
 
I hope this helps clear up some doubt.  Thanks to all for reading.
 
Best
D.

 

[skysoul]

 
Dear SkySoul,
 
Thank you very much for your support of our products.  Honestly, this hobby of ours knows no bounds and compared to most regular music lovers, the stuff we spend on our gear is ridiculously expensive.
 
I thought I'd like to say a little about the cost of the Balanced termination which is quite closely tied to our design philosophy for the Balanced models.
 
1. We used a moulded plug for the Balanced models because we imagined that most users of the newer AK players would be plugging the earphones directly into their players.  As such, a moulded plug is the most streamlined and compact way to achieve a practical and convenient package.
 
2. There were reports of some users who experienced static on their 2.5mm TRRS terminations when used on the AK players.  Our testing and research indicates that the best way to prevent this is to mould over the front of the plug base.  The best way to do that is use a moulded plug because that design aspect would not be practical on our existing 3.5mm plug design with the added step.
 
3. For those of us that have tried our hands at simple and basic DIYing, the 3.5mm TRS plug is a piece of cake.  Now, try this with a cable like our Truth cable on a 2.5mm TRRS plug.  It is exceedingly difficult to do reliably.  For some models of earphones that require the use of more than 4 cables, that's an even more daunting task!  I truly respect those guys and I can assure you, whatever they charge is probably worth their time in doing it right.  As a manufacturer, we cannot perform the transition to a 2.5mm TRRS like a DIYer would.  When you do it yourself and it fails, you have no one to blame but yourself.  So you go back to your bench and do it again.  You may even need a new plug with the 2.5mm TRRS because the insulation and the soldering points are so small.  Add our VDH silver solder that requires special soldering techniques and high temperatures and that task starts to get more and more difficult fast.
 
4. We also included a 2.5mm TRRS to 3.5mm TRS adaptor for that that still want to use some of their other players and amps.  The adaptor is made using the same Truth cable and it is also terminated in our custom 3.5mm TRS plug.  
 
I hope this helps clear up some doubt.  Thanks to all for reading.
 
Best
D.

Dear D.
 
Thanks for your response and clarification of your rationale of using a molded plug in your Balanced version.
 
Firstly, no DIY topic is mentioned in my posts, don't get me wrong, your points is good to direct to the consumers.
 
Secondly, you can called it a complaint or feedback from my initial posts that the Balanced version of Truth price mark up is high. That's all, nothing against the original non balanced version of Answer nor Truth price or its sound. You may review or ignore my feedback on the new balanced version pricing.
 
Thirdly and lastly, my negative opinions on the new balanced pricing had triggered some loyal fans of yours as a bad publicity and one of them even wishing me to have a good life which I take it that he assumed i'm not having a good one now.
I hope you look at the whole episode in a different perspective which Im doing you guys a favour. As the saying goes, bad publicity is good publicity better THAN NO publicity.
 
Thank you and Regards,
Skysoul

 

[efftee]

Picked up the Answer Truth (Balanced) and listening to it for the past 4 hours off the Hugo-MBP (so I guess not really getting the 'balanced' improvements at the moment). Started with the medium bore tips on the earpieces, now changed to the large bore tips at the advice of a Dita expert. I was expecting the sound to be 'bad' since I was told the Answer needed a 500-hour burn-in -- the equivalent to 59 round trips to the moon or possibly 167 generations of mosquitoes. Though the sound is a little harsh, especially with the large bore tips, I thought the Answer Truth is very listen-able right out of the box!
 
I'll check in again after a couple hundred hours. Now back to Songs of Joy & Peace for a bit of that festive spirit...

 

[audionewbi]

Dita truth is my addiction and I am now thinking of getting the answer for outside use. I cannot risk taking and possibly losing my well burned in truth.
 
I hope the next model of dita comeout soon, something in line of balance armature. I am interested to see what is their take on such technologies. 

 

[Noobmachine]

I'm contemplating a similar situation, I'm considering a whole rig upgrade and moving on to the truth, but the thought of having to burn them in all over again just scares me!

 

[oknidius]

Don't mean to hijack this fascinating discussion of how many wires are used in the cable. So please continue. I just wanted to add some random thoughts regarding the (regular) Truth & Answers. 
 
Amping, rolloff, etc, are geeky concepts which I care little about. Not to say that people arguing over impedance and throwing statistics at each other aren't an interesting read. But I'm not an engineer (recording, or otherwise). I'm not a musician. I'm just a listener. All I care about in the end :
(a) are my earphones comfy?
(b) do they sound good?
and when something like The Truth costs more than my monthly rent:
(c) was it worth the money?
 
The short answers are
(a) yes
(b) hell yes!
(c) sad to say, but yes. 
 
 
(1) Service, presentation
I knew based on this thread and the pics/opinions posted previously that the packaging came signed by D & D, but it was still nice to open the box and see the cards. Adds a more personal touch than the generic packaging of nearly everything else I buy. And again, considering these things cost me more than a month's rent, that's nice touch.

Better: a couple of days after I received them, Desmond sent me a message to ask how I find them. At this point, I was starting to really enjoy the VIP treatment. 

(2) Post-sale service
After a few weeks, I experienced a bit of a problem with one of the earphones. Contacted Dita through the website. A few hours later, Desmond offered an even better solution than I could have imagined. Less than a week after experiencing troubles, I could enjoy them again. (I'll skip on the details. I'm not comfortable posting that publicly, but suffice it to say that it was the best post-purchase customer service I've ever experienced with a consumer product) 


(3) Fit (including cables and ear loops)
These are the most comfortable things I've put in my ears in two decades of shoving stuff in my ear canals.
To relate the same anecdote I told Desmond back then: one day the album I was listening to finished playing. A little later a friend was talking to me, and I couldn't hear him well. At one point he says "Well you might hear better if you took out your earphones"
That's when I realized I still had them in my ears. They were so comfortable, I didn't even notice they were still on, even though the music had stopped.

That said, I find both models benefit from ear loops if you're moving around (whether just walking or anything more active).
The Answer's cable and splitter seem too heavy. The constant dangling dislodges them slowly from my ears, requiring a readjustment every 20-30 minutes. Moving the splitter piece a little up helps, but not enough.

The Truth is ok from that aspect: the more rigid cable keeps them in and I find it supports its own weight and the splitter better than The Answer.
The coiled material though is rough when looped behind the ear. The Truth gave me blisters behind the ear and that's one painful spot to have those.

Both issues are easily solved with a pair of rubbery ear loops. I used the ones sold by Paradigm, they can accommodate a larger cable than some other loops/hooks on the market.

(4) Sound
Ain't much to say here. For me, these things are as close to perfect as it gets. The soundstage could be a tad wider, but that's nitpicking.
The sound is rich. Highs, mids, lows. Everything is there in good amount and controlled proportions. I would not call them neutral, but they're tuned the way I like to listen to music. Not too bassy, not too bright, not too middling. 
Everything feels right. Instruments sound the way I would expect them to sound in person (I hesitate to use the term 'live' as that entails images of concert recordings).

What I found most impressive is how satisfying they are at low volumes. With most earphones, volume on my iPod is above the midway point when I'm outdoors. With the Ditas, I can easily listen and enjoy music at levels well below the mid point. They don't seem to lose any sound quality at lower volumes.

I find them good for most types of music, though I like them most with orchestral (soundtracks, classical) or hybrid/crossover (example: contemporary film scores, classical crossover, rock with orchestral backing). They play really well with other genres too, but I prefer slightly more boomy bass in dance/Latin pop (Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear or V-Moda M-100 type of bass) than either The Truth or The Answer delivers.
That said, I find them both - The Truth in particular - to be very satisfying with EDM.
 
My favourite thing is having something which so effortlessly allows me to switch from Tiësto to Tchaikovsky and still sound extremely good. No longer do I need to drag a pair of earphones for orchestral music, and another one for other genres. Either Dita works fine.
 
(5) Comparisons
Nah, not doing that. I'll just say that the DITAs are more to my liking than any other IEM I've tried (some of which were insanely expensive, two were even costlier than The Truth, and all of them by better-known manufacturers). 
 
That's it. In short, DITA = awesome.
 
Now, please continue discussing the number of wires in the cable. I won't interrupt again.

 

[Jobbing]

@Oknidius - thanks for your write up, I enjoyed reading. Keep them coming, keep hijacking threads I don't care about the number I wires as long as I can read comments from people genuinely enjoying their Dita's

 

[audionewbi]

No matter how many IEMS I try and buy I always seems to find my way back to Dita Truth. 

 

[deanderson]

Hey guys,

Do you know of any iPhone 6 cases that can support the size of the Dita truth termination?

I'm really loving the combo, but my case right now doesn't have enough room for it, so I keep having to take the case off when I listen to music.

Much appreciated!
Daniel