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This is a review of modified DITA The Answer with Whiplash Audio (http://www.whiplashaudio.com/) replacement Modular cables.
At the beginning there was The Answer, followed by an improved cable version of The Truth, and evolving into The Balanced. We are talking about the same DITA drivers and three different headphone versions due to limitation of non-removable cable. The housing of DITA IEMs is machined from a solid aluminum piece where detachable connector doesn’t flow with ergonomics of the design. As a result, to improve the performance of The Answer, you have to trade up to The Truth with an upgraded (silver? or silver plated?) cable, or if you want to take full advantage of balanced output in A&K DAPs – The Balanced version will have the same upgraded cable wired balanced with 2.5mm TRRS instead of 3.5mm TRS connector.
When I reviewed DITA The Answer, I was certainly very impressed with their spacious soundstage and detailed balanced tonality where I felt everything was about quality rather than quantity. As a matter of fact I noticed right away how bass reveals itself only when called upon in the song and how detailed the sound was across entire FR, even pushing a little toward thinner analytical sig. Also, the sound shaping was definitely eartip and source dependent. I know we all hear things differently, and I have read other impressions with some aligned and others slightly disagreeing with my sound assessment of DITA, but one thing for sure – nobody was able to call DITA a basshead delight. Nobody, until now!
Having non-removable cables was the most common “Cons” comment mentioned in most of the DITA reviews. Not too long ago when I discovered the power of replacement cables, it became my second most important sound shaping tool after tip rolling. With a series of my recent reviews and comparisons using Whiplash Audio Pure Silver and Pure Copper cables across various Westone IEM models and my fascination with their Modular Cable system that uses RSA/ALO 4-pin balanced inter-connects (http://www.whiplashaudio.com/all-new-whiplash-audio-modular-cable-system.html), I contacted Craig (the president/owner of Whiplash Audio) and presented to him a challenge of re-cabling The Answer into The Modular. Knowing that Craig has re-cabled everything under the sun, I was curious if he and his team will be able to crack open that solid aluminum shell. Apparently it wasn’t easy, but they managed to do it and were able to get to the driver in order to replace the original wires. Unfortunately, there was no way to add a connector (2pin or mmcx) due to a unique shape of DITA, and the shell’s cable opening was not wide enough for a thick replacement cable such as Whiplash latest v3 series that uses 24.5 gauge wires.
I know some people might get around by cutting cable short at the base and connectorizing it externally. But in this Modular “surgery” no shortcuts were taken and the new replacement wire was soldered directly to the driver. To work with a narrow cable opening (the grommet to fit the wire through), Craig suggested to use their popular TWag v2 Gold wire (26 gauge) which is an alloy with 99% silver and 1% gold (http://www.whiplashaudio.com/new-twag-v2-gold-non-om.html). In my experience of using Silver wires I always found them to brighten the sound with a new level of details, while Copper adding warmth to a sound. I have never experienced but did hear that Gold helps significantly with bass impact, thus it made sense to me as an upgrade.
Re-cabling details after the “surgery”:
The whole idea of Whiplash Modular cable design consists of 3 wire sections joined by 4pin balanced RSA/ALO connectors where you have the main “body” of the cable, the headphone extension connected to headphones, and the tail end going to your source. The modular nature of the cable allows you to interchange between 3.5mm TRS connection and 2.5mm TRRS balanced connection since all 4 wires are separated and twisted/braided together. With my TWag v3 cable I have a number of extensions with mmcx, 2pin, 2.5mm, and 3.5mm connectors to accommodate many different types of headphones. In case of DITA, that portion of the cable is fixed since it can’t be detached from the shell, but you can still use the cable in the future with other extension attachments.
Modular cable:
Due to limitation of using 26 gauge wire, the short headphone extension attached to DITA is TWag v2 Gold, while I can still mix’n’match it with my 24.5 gauge TWag v3 cable (the main and the tail-end connector parts of it). It made me feel like a mad scientist mixing thicker silver cable with a thinner alloy silver/gold to build a new Frankenstein cable version. Basically, you go from the only available “mod” option of tip rolling, to opening up a whole new world of sound customization. It’s a big step up from the original attached “basic” The Answer cable to a new DITA The Modular system.
Plus, you are no longer limited to use only sources with either 3.5mm or 2.5mm (balanced) connection since you can go easily between these two with a switch of a cable.
An example of use with 3.5mm/2.5mm AK120ii and 3.5mm QLS QA360:
Sound analysis.
So what is an impact of this replacement cable on a sound signature? If you prefer your current DITA sound – this will not be for you. But if you are ready for a drastic change – the sound becomes warmer, thicker, and even pushing L-shaped envelope with a bigger low end impact and slightly recessed upper mids. It’s hard to go by memory since I can’t do a true a/b comparison anymore, but this really felt like a night'n'day transformation where the original balanced airy sound with revealing brighter details and bass that I could only describe in quality rather than quality all of a sudden became Westone-smooth warm and lush sound with a very impressive bass performance.
Low end perked up in quality and quantity with a deeper smoother sub-bass and a punchier mid-bass, though a balance now is skewed a little more toward sub-bass. Mid-bass attack is not too slow or too fast but rather somewhere in the middle with a moderate speed. Also, it feels now like there is some mid-bass bleed into lower mids.
Lower mids are thicker and warmer, adding to a body of the sound, and upper mids and clear but not as detailed as before. The warmth of overall sound takes away from a thinner analytical sig present with original cable. Upper mids do sound a little recessed and pushed further out feeling like they got a little more reverb. Before they were airy, but now this airiness turned into slightly enhanced reverb effect pushing vocals further out into 3D space – actually pretty cool!
Treble is crisp and extended. No harsh peaks or a hint of sibilance. Quantity of treble is nicely balanced with mids, thus creating a bit of L-shaped signature rather than V-shaped.
Soundstage still has a great level of width and depth, but no longer as airy since sound is warmer and darker. Also, as an artifact of that, separation and layering is a bit congested, especially in complex song passages. Furthermore, I didn’t find any microphonics with a new cable, and as a matter of fact the fitment was a lot better than a stock cable due to soft wire flexibility.
Now with this new sound signature, I figured that DITA The Modular would make a great comparison to my recently reviewed Westone IEMs.
DITA Mod vs UM Pro 50 - Pro 50 has less sub-bass and a little faster mid-bass, lower mids are a bit thinner and upper mids are more upfront. Treble is a little rolled off in comparison. Soundstage has a little less width and depth.
DITA Mod vs W60 - W60 has less sub-bass and a very similar mid-bass, lower mids are similar while upper mids are more upfront and higher in quantity. Treble has slightly less extension. Soundstage has a similar width but less depth.
DITA Mod vs W50 - W50 has very similar sub-bass quality but a little less quantity and mid-bass has just slightly faster attack and comes in more quantity, lower mids are a little thinner/cleaner, upper mids are more upfront, and it has slightly less treble extension. Soundstage has a similar width but less depth.
Conclusion.
It's hard to say if this is a Must-Have mod because it will all depend on your sound preference. I preferred TWag v2 Gold cable because I wanted a warmer sound with a bigger bass impact. Others might want a transparent sound change to add more revealing details and to have an option for easy switch between 3.5mm and 2.5mm connectors. You also have to be realistic that such re-cabling will void your manufacturing warranty. But on the other hand, you can have a "golden" opportunity to transform your DITA into a brand new sounding IEM that can even make a basshead happy! Craig/Whiplash Audio is very flexible, and perhaps they can suggest some other modular combinations. The bottom line - you are no longer limited to tip rolling in order to fine tune your DITA sound, and now have a chance to make a more drastic change!
At the beginning there was The Answer, followed by an improved cable version of The Truth, and evolving into The Balanced. We are talking about the same DITA drivers and three different headphone versions due to limitation of non-removable cable. The housing of DITA IEMs is machined from a solid aluminum piece where detachable connector doesn’t flow with ergonomics of the design. As a result, to improve the performance of The Answer, you have to trade up to The Truth with an upgraded (silver? or silver plated?) cable, or if you want to take full advantage of balanced output in A&K DAPs – The Balanced version will have the same upgraded cable wired balanced with 2.5mm TRRS instead of 3.5mm TRS connector.
When I reviewed DITA The Answer, I was certainly very impressed with their spacious soundstage and detailed balanced tonality where I felt everything was about quality rather than quantity. As a matter of fact I noticed right away how bass reveals itself only when called upon in the song and how detailed the sound was across entire FR, even pushing a little toward thinner analytical sig. Also, the sound shaping was definitely eartip and source dependent. I know we all hear things differently, and I have read other impressions with some aligned and others slightly disagreeing with my sound assessment of DITA, but one thing for sure – nobody was able to call DITA a basshead delight. Nobody, until now!
Having non-removable cables was the most common “Cons” comment mentioned in most of the DITA reviews. Not too long ago when I discovered the power of replacement cables, it became my second most important sound shaping tool after tip rolling. With a series of my recent reviews and comparisons using Whiplash Audio Pure Silver and Pure Copper cables across various Westone IEM models and my fascination with their Modular Cable system that uses RSA/ALO 4-pin balanced inter-connects (http://www.whiplashaudio.com/all-new-whiplash-audio-modular-cable-system.html), I contacted Craig (the president/owner of Whiplash Audio) and presented to him a challenge of re-cabling The Answer into The Modular. Knowing that Craig has re-cabled everything under the sun, I was curious if he and his team will be able to crack open that solid aluminum shell. Apparently it wasn’t easy, but they managed to do it and were able to get to the driver in order to replace the original wires. Unfortunately, there was no way to add a connector (2pin or mmcx) due to a unique shape of DITA, and the shell’s cable opening was not wide enough for a thick replacement cable such as Whiplash latest v3 series that uses 24.5 gauge wires.
I know some people might get around by cutting cable short at the base and connectorizing it externally. But in this Modular “surgery” no shortcuts were taken and the new replacement wire was soldered directly to the driver. To work with a narrow cable opening (the grommet to fit the wire through), Craig suggested to use their popular TWag v2 Gold wire (26 gauge) which is an alloy with 99% silver and 1% gold (http://www.whiplashaudio.com/new-twag-v2-gold-non-om.html). In my experience of using Silver wires I always found them to brighten the sound with a new level of details, while Copper adding warmth to a sound. I have never experienced but did hear that Gold helps significantly with bass impact, thus it made sense to me as an upgrade.
Re-cabling details after the “surgery”:
The whole idea of Whiplash Modular cable design consists of 3 wire sections joined by 4pin balanced RSA/ALO connectors where you have the main “body” of the cable, the headphone extension connected to headphones, and the tail end going to your source. The modular nature of the cable allows you to interchange between 3.5mm TRS connection and 2.5mm TRRS balanced connection since all 4 wires are separated and twisted/braided together. With my TWag v3 cable I have a number of extensions with mmcx, 2pin, 2.5mm, and 3.5mm connectors to accommodate many different types of headphones. In case of DITA, that portion of the cable is fixed since it can’t be detached from the shell, but you can still use the cable in the future with other extension attachments.
Modular cable:
Due to limitation of using 26 gauge wire, the short headphone extension attached to DITA is TWag v2 Gold, while I can still mix’n’match it with my 24.5 gauge TWag v3 cable (the main and the tail-end connector parts of it). It made me feel like a mad scientist mixing thicker silver cable with a thinner alloy silver/gold to build a new Frankenstein cable version. Basically, you go from the only available “mod” option of tip rolling, to opening up a whole new world of sound customization. It’s a big step up from the original attached “basic” The Answer cable to a new DITA The Modular system.
Plus, you are no longer limited to use only sources with either 3.5mm or 2.5mm (balanced) connection since you can go easily between these two with a switch of a cable.
An example of use with 3.5mm/2.5mm AK120ii and 3.5mm QLS QA360:
Sound analysis.
So what is an impact of this replacement cable on a sound signature? If you prefer your current DITA sound – this will not be for you. But if you are ready for a drastic change – the sound becomes warmer, thicker, and even pushing L-shaped envelope with a bigger low end impact and slightly recessed upper mids. It’s hard to go by memory since I can’t do a true a/b comparison anymore, but this really felt like a night'n'day transformation where the original balanced airy sound with revealing brighter details and bass that I could only describe in quality rather than quality all of a sudden became Westone-smooth warm and lush sound with a very impressive bass performance.
Low end perked up in quality and quantity with a deeper smoother sub-bass and a punchier mid-bass, though a balance now is skewed a little more toward sub-bass. Mid-bass attack is not too slow or too fast but rather somewhere in the middle with a moderate speed. Also, it feels now like there is some mid-bass bleed into lower mids.
Lower mids are thicker and warmer, adding to a body of the sound, and upper mids and clear but not as detailed as before. The warmth of overall sound takes away from a thinner analytical sig present with original cable. Upper mids do sound a little recessed and pushed further out feeling like they got a little more reverb. Before they were airy, but now this airiness turned into slightly enhanced reverb effect pushing vocals further out into 3D space – actually pretty cool!
Treble is crisp and extended. No harsh peaks or a hint of sibilance. Quantity of treble is nicely balanced with mids, thus creating a bit of L-shaped signature rather than V-shaped.
Soundstage still has a great level of width and depth, but no longer as airy since sound is warmer and darker. Also, as an artifact of that, separation and layering is a bit congested, especially in complex song passages. Furthermore, I didn’t find any microphonics with a new cable, and as a matter of fact the fitment was a lot better than a stock cable due to soft wire flexibility.
Now with this new sound signature, I figured that DITA The Modular would make a great comparison to my recently reviewed Westone IEMs.
DITA Mod vs UM Pro 50 - Pro 50 has less sub-bass and a little faster mid-bass, lower mids are a bit thinner and upper mids are more upfront. Treble is a little rolled off in comparison. Soundstage has a little less width and depth.
DITA Mod vs W60 - W60 has less sub-bass and a very similar mid-bass, lower mids are similar while upper mids are more upfront and higher in quantity. Treble has slightly less extension. Soundstage has a similar width but less depth.
DITA Mod vs W50 - W50 has very similar sub-bass quality but a little less quantity and mid-bass has just slightly faster attack and comes in more quantity, lower mids are a little thinner/cleaner, upper mids are more upfront, and it has slightly less treble extension. Soundstage has a similar width but less depth.
Conclusion.
It's hard to say if this is a Must-Have mod because it will all depend on your sound preference. I preferred TWag v2 Gold cable because I wanted a warmer sound with a bigger bass impact. Others might want a transparent sound change to add more revealing details and to have an option for easy switch between 3.5mm and 2.5mm connectors. You also have to be realistic that such re-cabling will void your manufacturing warranty. But on the other hand, you can have a "golden" opportunity to transform your DITA into a brand new sounding IEM that can even make a basshead happy! Craig/Whiplash Audio is very flexible, and perhaps they can suggest some other modular combinations. The bottom line - you are no longer limited to tip rolling in order to fine tune your DITA sound, and now have a chance to make a more drastic change!
