This is my comparative review of the 2 DITA versions, The standard Answer, and the Truth edition. Just the comparison, no general impressions or comparisons to other IEMs, I think that's been done enough. Disclaimer: no affiliation with and member of the DITA company, just a satisfied audiophile who happened to purchase both versions.
INTRO
Initially I had purchased my first pair of DITA's back at the start of 2014, choosing to buy them over other top-of-the-line offerings like the Shure SE846 and AKG K3003. I had demoed them for little over an hour, and dropped the cash for them on the spot, a whole $600+, for a complete mystery of a product, from a brand-new company in a market filled with so many reliable and well-regarded IEMs. Why? Because the SOUND was there. That was it. The DITAs sound amazing, and I've since purchased the Truth edition as well, hoping to further immerse myself into the DITA sound.
At the time of my first purchase I thought very lowly (admittedly) of the audacity of charging $300 for a simple cable upgrade, and questioned very extensively of the sanity of those whom had actually shelled out the $999 for the same IEM at $649. But after actually testing the 2 side by side on some really good set-ups, I had come to the conclusion that the Truth Cable really did make a serious difference, and decided on the upgrade.
I had still expected a very slight difference between the Answer and Truth, but after upgrading my source, as well as cleaning up my music collection, I have no doubt in my mind that these 2 are VERY different products, with 2 very different purposes;
The Answer:
Is exactly that, it's what you WANT to hear, what you want to be told, sweet words with an unassuming smile, the version of reality that you'd most like to live in.
It's for a more smooth, forgiving, generally appealing sound, the sort of thing most people would like, and the sort of technical capability that matches well with any source.
The Truth:
Not always a pretty sight, the reflection of reality as it is, the harsh, brutal facts of the world, no sugar coating, no hand-holding.
Just like real life, the Truth isn't for the faint of heart, it's built with the purpose of surgical musical precision, no rolled-off anything, decidedly resolving, mercilessly exact, but if fed properly, an absolute joy to listen to.
In light of these differences, and a general practice that seems to involve lumping the 2 versions together as the same thing, I've decided to give a nice little comparison of the 2 units, and hopefully help somebody out there who's still picking between the 2.
So, here is my COMPARATIVE review:
THE BUILD
In terms of the build, the 2 units are almost identical, bar the cables. The Answer has a sort of brushed/blasted aluminium look, industrial and beautiful, while the Truth version is clad in a slightly glossy and smooth layer of black paint. Do note that this layer can chip and scratch, it doesn't seem to be an anodized finish. Personally I still prefer the Answer's finish, but hey, the looks don't matter too much since you can't see them in your ears anyways.
The Van Den Hul cable on the Truth version is far stiffer than most IEM cables, it retains it's coiled shape even while using it, so it can loop and writhe about as you attempt to shove the excess cable into your bag/pocket/etc. Slightly frustrating, but not a deal breaker, plus the Truth's cable is built like a tank, I doubt I could snap this cable with anything short of a pair of shears (or similar cutting instrument), which is a plus for peace of mind.
The Answer's cable on the other hand is a joy to use; flexible, soft, not too thick nor too rubbery. It doesn't inspire me with ironclad confidence like the Truth's cable though, but it it is by no means a flimsy cable. One important point to note is that the stress relief of the Driver side of the cable may be rather fragile, I've had to send in a pair of Answer's for RMA due to an internal wire fault near the stress relief. However, as a side note, customer service was excellent and I got a brand new Answer in under 3 days. Kudos to that!
THE SOUND
This is where stuff gets interesting, and opinions get complicated. For ages the "Pro-cable" folks have squared off against the "Anti-cable" folks, with varied opinions and impressions ranging the whole spectrum of responses. I've come to settle myself into another camp, the camp of people who don't buy cables for sound improvements, because logically, I'd rather sink more money into a new pair of headphones/IEMs, with completely different drivers, for a possible improvement in sound, than throw money at wires of varying exotic compositions, hoping for "improved clarity, bass depth and tightness". This is NOT to say I don't believe that cables can CHANGE the sound of an IEM, I just believe that the price to payoff ratio is so ridiculously skewed that it's simply not a very practical way to spend your money in search for a better sound.
THAT SAID, lets get to the heart of the matter; how much of a difference does the cable make?
Simply put, it makes a seriously obvious and distinct difference, and the Truth is definitely dissimilar enough from the standard version to warrant calling it a different IEM all together.
The Answer has a very distinct wide soundstage, with relatively good depth and imaging. Pretty much studio grade neutral to my ears, the Answer is my go-to palette cleanser IEM, nothing in the frequency range really sticks out, save a few spikes in the upper treble, which accounts for the common complaint that the Answers are sibilant. I personally don't find them sibilant, but on poorer recordings with edgier vocals there can be sibilance, though I wouldn't fault the IEMs. The important part to note is that the bass on the Answer extends quite far down, but rolls off towards the sub-woofer, head-shake, chest-rattle region of bass, and instead kicks a bit harder in the mid bass region. This makes it more forgiving on warmer/less neutral sources like mobile phones/iPods/Cowon players, and sound very cohesive as a whole. This is what makes the Answer very pleasant to listen to, it isn't particularly picky about it's source, and can handle poorer recordings with more "discretion".
Now comes the Truth, which boasts a similar wide soundstage, albeit with a slightly deeper soundstage and better imaging. But do note something important: The Truth is nowhere near "neutral". Yep, whoever has been touting these IEMs as neutral have something rather far up their rear end and might need some rectal readjustment. Jokes aside, the Truth really aren't neutral at all, they don't quite has a typical sound signature to speak off.
It just sounds "natural", and transparent. It sounds like what the music should sound like, what it feels like. They are like a window straight into the music, what ever you play will come straight back out at you. This is why different music will appear to make the Truth sound "V-shaped", "mid-centric", "bass-heavy". It's just giving you back what you feed it, pop music will sound mid-centric if it's recorded that way, classical will sound dead neutral if it's recorded and mastered that way; it's the gift and curse of the Truth, sometimes you like what you have, other times, not so much.
The main reason for the difference you hear is that on the Truth the bass goes ALL the way down, and when I mean all the way, I really do mean it, the power chords on guitars have weight, have atmosphere, just like in person. Drums push the air back in your head, and resonate in your chest. The piano sounds just like a piano, as if you were sitting there playing it yourself, the weight and press of each key felt in the music. This bass, on poorer, less quality sources will sound, as you'd imagine, bloated, loose, inaccurate. But through a really good source, you will hear the Truth shine like no other, and you will hear music like you never have before. Due to this superb bass, the realism and depth of the soundstage is magnified, though the width of the stereo image is pretty much the the Answer. Treble is the same on both, as far as I can tell, the Truth doesn't shine more or peak more, if you don't like the treble on the Answers and are thinking of jumping to the Truth in hope of an improvement, bad news, sorry.
That is the true key difference of the Truth and Answer; the Answer is polite with it's bass, well cultured and perfect in behavior; the Truth is unabashed and unrestricted, and needs to be properly tamed.
If you don't believe me, and think I'm spouting nonsense and feeding you hyperbolic, cable-based treachery, so be it, but I for one can say that 10/10 times on a blind test with the 2 DITA's matched to 2 identical players volume matched, playing the exact same file, I could tell one from the other. That makes the cable a factor change in my book. Does this mean I'm converted to a cable loving fan boy? No. But the Truth and Answer are very different IEMs, and hopefully this clears up the idea that they're simply the same deal.
Thanks for reading and hope this has helped at least one person out there, and if it doesn't, at least I managed to kill 2 hours.
Equipment used:
AK100 II player(s), playing WAV, mp3, and FLAC
DITA Truth and Answer
wink wink
