[RPGWiZaRD]

Wooo!

Listen to me listen to me!

Fixed for ya, well that's the only thing I'd personally hear when opening up the box. xD

 

[DigitalFreak]

Alright, I've had a good hour of listening to music on the Dido. Early impressions, warm, fluid and lots of wub wub. Tons of mid and sub bass, these cans definitely belong to the basshead nation. Enjoy the sexy pics:
 

 

 

[DigitalFreak]

Oh yeah, so that everyone knows, I'll be putting the Dido through its paces using the Aune T1 with standard tube, the CLAS-db paired with the ALO RX MKIII-B and the iFi iCan with the CLAS handling DAC duties. For mobile, the AK120 and the HiSound Studio V 3rd Anniversary Edition. So far I've only driven the Dido with my AK120 and it seems to be a rather nice pairing. I'll report back later concerning everything else. The only can i have on hand that can be said to be a bass head can would me the V-Moda M-100. I'll probably be drawing comparisons to it when I throw my final review up. My dead center reference point will be my neutrals which are my Alpha Dogs and my Paradox.

 

[PXSS]

Sweet! Thanks for the pics, and early impressions. Can't wait to read the full review

 

[DigitalFreak]

Taken From The Audio Journal Of A DigitalFreak
 
Sound Byte: The Perfect Sound D901 Dido
 
Testing, testing, I haven't done one of my audio journal entries in a dogs age. Here we go,.............
 
The Dido is probably one of the more interesting cans I've run across. As a rule, I've usually been rather unimpressed with most offerings on the market concerning fashion headphones. The Dido with its rather loud appearance and flashy packaging falls firmly in the realm of a fashion oriented headphone. The good news, its far more competent then the average run of the mill fashion headphone. Although the appearance may be overly flashy the build quality isn't to bad with its all metal form factor. The materials used in its build seem firm and well put together for normal everyday at home use. The one gripe I have concerning the build is how creaky it seems when moving around with it or trying to reposition it on my head. To much head bobbing or handling of the headphone and the creaking can become quite annoying while music is playing. It's not a deal breaker as far as the product is concerned but the problem is there and it would be in Perfect Sounds best interest to try and address the issue in future. Something else I didn't like, the pads aren't removable. Don't get me wrong the pads are quite nice and plush but after a few years, as with every headphone, those pads will need to be replaced and that poses a big problem for the owner. Some of the pluses, as far as build and aesthetics is concerned: The option of plugging the cord into either side of the headphone is an awesome option to have in my opinion. Also, the cable can easily be replaced with any after market cable which lends to allowing the owner to further customize the can to their liking. Fit is very good, for me, when wearing the Dido. Although slightly heavy weight distribution isn't to bad so long listening sessions won't cause fatigue to my neck ears etc. I did find that to much head movement could dislodge the headphone from optimum positioning onto my ears and head but it was easy enough to remedy once I got more used to wearing them and became aware of what to expect. What I'm trying to say is the Dido isn't a headphone thats a hard clamper therefore a little care should be practiced especially when head bobbing to your music. Oh, almost forgot, the Dido could be quite fit dependent on me. If I didn't take the extra minute or two to position them just right on my ears the seal could be quite lack luster and the bass and highs would be impacted.
 
The sonics of this headphone is mostly in line with what I expected, its a bass head can. The bass on the Dido goes deep and its lush, phat and has plenty of hard hitting slam to it. Although on the thicker side, the bass is quick with only minor blurring. Because its able to hit so hard, you guessed it, the mid bass has quite a peak to it in comparison to the rest of the lower end sonics. Because of it the overall sound signature is warmed up, especially in the lower mid section. The overall mid section is warm, fluid and quite well behaved compared to the lower end. Now, although a bit on the thick side for my liking I have to say that detail retrieval is fair to quite good depending on the music and genre I was listening to. The upper mids were quite well behaved and sibilance control was very good in my opinion. Because of its warmish nature I found it played quite wonderfully with badly mastered material. Overly compressed crapola such as the song Hanging By A Moment by Lifehouse was very listenable and the opening vocals were no longer a hiss fest, like on other headphones, which could sound like nails being driven into my cranium. A caveat concerning the mids, with well behaved music the Didos mids performed quite admirably but with music containing tons of bass look out boys and girls your brain is going to be slammed all over the inside of your cranium with tons of mid/sub bass and the mids will be overshadowed by the lows. In comparison to the Didos elevated low end the highs, like the mid range, is also well behaved  although just a bit elevated in comparison to the lows. The end result is a sound signature which sounds slightly U shaped. Even so, I would never compare it to a traditional U shaped signature like say my Sennheiser HD25. The highs themselves sound rather smooth with a slight gentle roll off in the upper registers. Although I would say they're quite acceptable for my tastes I would have liked a little more air in the upper registers. Of coarse that's just me, you all have to understand I'm coming from headphones such as the Q701 and the Alpha Dogs as well as the Paradox which, for me, is the headphone which has the most realistic treble I've ever heard. The soundstage on the Dido is firmly out of your head and is very nice overall. Instrument placement is quite respectable and I found its ability to image to be quite good overall.
 
Final verdict, the D901 Dido is a nice sounding bassy headphone that's fun to listen to. This headphone isn't a monitor and it isn't the type of headphone a traditional audiophile would like. This headphone is all about fun and phat bass in your face. As such, I have no qualms saying this headphone is a good headphone for the bass head crowd. Would I buy this headphone? Probably not, but, as a general rule, this isn't the sound signature I usually like to gravitate towards when buying a headphone in the Didos sub 800 bone price bracket.
 
Side Notes:
 
Gear Used
 
All my gear drove the Dido quite well but the best pairing, for me, was the ALO RX MKIII-B with the CLAS-db doing DAC duties. In mobile, the AK120 was the better sounding DAP out of what I had although the Studio V was no slouch. The best overall pairing would go to the AK120 by a hair over the CLAS rig. The CLAS rig, technically, probably bought more out of the mids and controlled the low end better but the AK120 made the music sound a tad more holographic and imaging was better on the Dido with the AK120.
 
Dido vs M-100
 
The M-100 is almost as bassy as the Dido. The Dido has far more mid bass and seemed to extend a bit better then the M-100. The M-100 highs are also smooth, similar to the Dido, but had a bit more sparkle then the Dido. The M-100 mids weren't as detailed as the Dido although the Didos mids sounded warmer then the M-100's. Both cans really lit it up with electronica music and could really slam. The Dido though, because of its mid bass peak, could slam harder though and the sub bass rumble seemed stronger against the M-100's low end. The M-100 though didn't overshadow the lower mids as much with music containing heavy bass as the Dido did. Low end speed, no comment. both cans seemed pretty quick for bassy cans. The differences between the two are negligible in my opinion.

---

I'm going to be mailing these out at the end of the week to the next person. Over the next few days I will be posting an unboxing video as well as a review video on my YT channel. If anyone has any questions please ask away.

 

[sloomingbla]

[COLOR=FF0000]Taken From The Audio Journal Of A DigitalFreak[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]Sound Byte: The Perfect Sound D901 Dido[/COLOR]

Testing, testing, I haven't done one of my audio journal entries in a dogs age. Here we go,.............

The Dido is probably one of the more interesting cans I've run across. As a rule, I've usually been rather unimpressed with most offerings on the market concerning fashion headphones. The Dido with its rather loud appearance and flashy packaging falls firmly in the realm of a fashion oriented headphone. The good news, its far more competent then the average run of the mill fashion headphone. Although the appearance may be overly flashy the build quality isn't to bad with its all metal form factor. The materials used in its build seem firm and well put together for normal everyday at home use. The one gripe I have concerning the build is how creaky it seems when moving around with it or trying to reposition it on my head. To much head bobbing or handling of the headphone and the creaking can become quite annoying while music is playing. It's not a deal breaker as far as the product is concerned but the problem is there and it would be in Perfect Sounds best interest to try and address the issue in future. Something else I didn't like, the pads aren't removable. Don't get me wrong the pads are quite nice and plush but after a few years, as with every headphone, those pads will need to be replaced and that poses a big problem for the owner. Some of the pluses, as far as build and aesthetics is concerned: The option of plugging the cord into either side of the headphone is an awesome option to have in my opinion. Also, the cable can easily be replaced with any after market cable which lends to allowing the owner to further customize the can to their liking. Fit is very good, for me, when wearing the Dido. Although slightly heavy weight distribution isn't to bad so long listening sessions won't cause fatigue to my neck ears etc. I did find that to much head movement could dislodge the headphone from optimum positioning onto my ears and head but it was easy enough to remedy once I got more used to wearing them and became aware of what to expect. What I'm trying to say is the Dido isn't a headphone thats a hard clamper therefore a little care should be practiced especially when head bobbing to your music. Oh, almost forgot, the Dido could be quite fit dependent on me. If I didn't take the extra minute or two to position them just right on my ears the seal could be quite lack luster and the bass and highs would be impacted.

The sonics of this headphone is mostly in line with what I expected, its a bass head can. The bass on the Dido goes deep and its lush, phat and has plenty of hard hitting slam to it. Although on the thicker side, the bass is quick with only minor blurring. Because its able to hit so hard, you guessed it, the mid bass has quite a peak to it in comparison to the rest of the lower end sonics. Because of it the overall sound signature is warmed up, especially in the lower mid section. The overall mid section is warm, fluid and quite well behaved compared to the lower end. Now, although a bit on the thick side for my liking I have to say that detail retrieval is fair to quite good depending on the music and genre I was listening to. The upper mids were quite well behaved and sibilance control was very good in my opinion. Because of its warmish nature I found it played quite wonderfully with badly mastered material. Overly compressed crapola such as the song Hanging By A Moment by Lifehouse was very listenable and the opening vocals were no longer a hiss fest, like on other headphones, which could sound like nails being driven into my cranium. A caveat concerning the mids, with well behaved music the Didos mids performed quite admirably but with music containing tons of bass look out boys and girls your brain is going to be slammed all over the inside of your cranium with tons of mid/sub bass and the mids will be overshadowed by the lows. In comparison to the Didos elevated low end the highs, like the mid range, is also well behaved  although just a bit elevated in comparison to the lows. The end result is a sound signature which sounds slightly U shaped. Even so, I would never compare it to a traditional U shaped signature like say my Sennheiser HD25. The highs themselves sound rather smooth with a slight gentle roll off in the upper registers. Although I would say they're quite acceptable for my tastes I would have liked a little more air in the upper registers. Of coarse that's just me, you all have to understand I'm coming from headphones such as the Q701 and the Alpha Dogs as well as the Paradox which, for me, is the headphone which has the most realistic treble I've ever heard. The soundstage on the Dido is firmly out of your head and is very nice overall. Instrument placement is quite respectable and I found its ability to image to be quite good overall.

Final verdict, the D901 Dido is a nice sounding bassy headphone that's fun to listen to. This headphone isn't a monitor and it isn't the type of headphone a traditional audiophile would like. This headphone is all about fun and phat bass in your face. As such, I have no qualms saying this headphone is a good headphone for the bass head crowd. Would I buy this headphone? Probably not, but, as a general rule, this isn't the sound signature I usually like to gravitate towards when buying a headphone in the Didos sub 800 bone price bracket.

[COLOR=0000CD]Side Notes:[/COLOR]

Gear Used

All my gear drove the Dido quite well but the best pairing, for me, was the ALO RX MKIII-B with the CLAS-db doing DAC duties. In mobile, the AK120 was the better sounding DAP out of what I had although the Studio V was no slouch. The best overall pairing would go to the AK120 by a hair over the CLAS rig. The CLAS rig, technically, probably bought more out of the mids and controlled the low end better but the AK120 made the music sound a tad more holographic and imaging was better on the Dido with the AK120.

Dido vs M-100

The M-100 is almost as bassy as the Dido. The Dido has far more mid bass and seemed to extend a bit better then the M-100. The M-100 highs are also smooth, similar to the Dido, but had a bit more sparkle then the Dido. The M-100 mids weren't as detailed as the Dido although the Didos mids sounded warmer then the M-100's. Both cans really lit it up with electronica music and could really slam. The Dido though, because of its mid bass peak, could slam harder though and the sub bass rumble seemed stronger against the M-100's low end. The M-100 though didn't overshadow the lower mids as much with music containing heavy bass as the Dido did. Low end speed, no comment. both cans seemed pretty quick for bassy cans. The differences between the two are negligible in my opinion.
[rule]I'm going to be mailing these out at the end of the week to the next person. Over the next few days I will be posting an unboxing video as well as a review video on my YT channel. If anyone has any questions please ask away.

Nice review!

Cant wait till my turn T.T

 

[Makiah S]

Nice review!

Cant wait till my turn T.T

Oh crud who I am after >.>
 
I should have my fully modded D2k back by March... let's hope the Didio can hold off till then :3 if not I might have to compare it to my Balanced HE 4... which would be ineteresting 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

   
I'm going to be mailing these out at the end of the week to the next person. Over the next few days I will be posting an unboxing video as well as a review video on my YT channel. If anyone has any questions please ask away.

You wouldn't have any experience with Ultrasone Signature DJs do you? ^^

It starts sounding a bit like these Didos may even have slightly too much bass for what I'm looking for, it sounds like these are entering the extreme basshead segment if they have significantly more bass than M100 for example which peaks at 9dB boost already (compare 10dB Beats Studios or 15dB Sony XB series, ofc quality of it will vary, Beats Studios is more like 13dB percieved bass boost due to bad quality etc). I'm roughly looking for 8~10dB bass boosted headphones. 10dB+ starts becoming a bit too much, the ideal quantity vs quality goes IMO around 8~10dB or so, the TH-900 are perfect example that you can still provide a very great quality headphone with a ~10dB measured bass boost due to exceptional engineering to keep the quality of the bass response high but that would be in the very upper-end of physical laws whit "perfect engineering" behind it.

 

[Makiah S]

 
You wouldn't have any experience with Ultrasone Signature DJs do you? ^^

It starts sounding a bit like these Didos may even have slightly too much bass for what I'm looking for, it sounds like these are entering the extreme basshead segment if they have significantly more bass than M100 for example which peaks at 9dB boost already (compare 10dB Beats Studios or 15dB Sony XB series, ofc quality of it will vary). I'm roughly looking for 8~10dB bass boosted headphones. 10dB+ starts becoming a bit too much.

The 901 sounds like maybe the love child of the Sony XB 500 and the Signiture DJ 

 

[Oregonian]

 
You wouldn't have any experience with Ultrasone Signature DJs do you? ^^

It starts sounding a bit like these Didos may even have slightly too much bass for what I'm looking for, it sounds like these are entering the extreme basshead segment if they have significantly more bass than M100 for example which peaks at 9dB boost already (compare 10dB Beats Studios or 15dB Sony XB series, ofc quality of it will vary, Beats Studios is more like 13dB percieved bass boost due to bad quality etc). I'm roughly looking for 8~10dB bass boosted headphones. 10dB+ starts becoming a bit too much, the ideal quantity vs quality goes IMO around 8~10dB or so, the TH-900 are perfect example that you can still provide a very great quality headphone with a ~10dB measured bass boost due to exceptional engineering to keep the quality of the bass response high but that would be in the very upper-end of physical laws whit "perfect engineering" behind it.

I do have experience with Sig DJ's and I'm next on the list for the Dido.

 

[PXSS]

 


You wouldn't have any experience with Ultrasone Signature DJs do you? ^^


It starts sounding a bit like these Didos may even have slightly too much bass for what I'm looking for, it sounds like these are entering the extreme basshead segment if they have significantly more bass than M100 for example which peaks at 9dB boost already (compare 10dB Beats Studios or 15dB Sony XB series, ofc quality of it will vary, Beats Studios is more like 13dB percieved bass boost due to bad quality etc). I'm roughly looking for 8~10dB bass boosted headphones. 10dB+ starts becoming a bit too much, the ideal quantity vs quality goes IMO around 8~10dB or so, the TH-900 are perfect example that you can still provide a very great quality headphone with a ~10dB measured bass boost due to exceptional engineering to keep the quality of the bass response high but that would be in the very upper-end of physical laws whit "perfect engineering" behind it.

I do have experience with Sig DJ's and I'm next on the list for the Dido.

Cant wait!

 

[DigitalFreak]

 
You wouldn't have any experience with Ultrasone Signature DJs do you? ^^

It starts sounding a bit like these Didos may even have slightly too much bass for what I'm looking for, it sounds like these are entering the extreme basshead segment if they have significantly more bass than M100 for example which peaks at 9dB boost already (compare 10dB Beats Studios or 15dB Sony XB series, ofc quality of it will vary, Beats Studios is more like 13dB percieved bass boost due to bad quality etc). I'm roughly looking for 8~10dB bass boosted headphones. 10dB+ starts becoming a bit too much, the ideal quantity vs quality goes IMO around 8~10dB or so, the TH-900 are perfect example that you can still provide a very great quality headphone with a ~10dB measured bass boost due to exceptional engineering to keep the quality of the bass response high but that would be in the very upper-end of physical laws whit "perfect engineering" behind it.

Sorry, I have absolutely no experience involving Ultrasones. I have owned the XB500 and still own the XB700 though. I haven't listened to the the XB500 in a dogs age but going by memory the XB500 has far more sub and mid bass then the Dido, As for the XB700, the Dido has better bass then the 700. I didn't compare them directly but from what I remember about the 700 the Dido has more extension, slightly less mid bass, better speed, nowhere near as recessed in the mids as the 700, less stridentcy in the highs. The Dido has slightly more elevated bass then the M100, I'm taking a wild guess by saying 10 to 11 db in bass boost.

 

[Makiah S]

  Sorry, I have absolutely no experience involving Ultrasones. I have owned the XB500 and still own the XB700 though. I haven't listened to the the XB500 in a dogs age but going by memory the XB500 has far more sub and mid bass then the Dido, As for the XB700, the Dido has better bass then the 700. I didn't compare them directly but from what I remember about the 700 the Dido has more extension, slightly less mid bass, better speed, nowhere near as recessed in the mids as the 700, less stridentcy in the highs. The Dido has slightly more elevated bass then the M100, I'm taking a wild guess by saying 10 to 11 db in bass boost.

Hmm that's nice to hear, I loved my XB 700... well until I felt it had To much bass for my tastes. Looking forward to Orge's comparison of the Dido with his army of Modded Denons! 

 

[DigitalFreak]

  Hmm that's nice to hear, I loved my XB 700... well until I felt it had To much bass for my tastes. Looking forward to Orge's comparison of the Dido with his army of Modded Denons! 

You may not like the Dido then. It has better bass then the XB700 but it still has more sub bass and only slightly less mid bass. Again I'm only going by memory. My XB700 has beenlying in a box in the back of closet somewhere for a few months now.The only can bassier then the Dido I've heard would be the XB500. mind you the XB500 is nothing but bass

 

[Makiah S]

 
You may not like the Dido then. It has better bass then the XB700 but it still has more sub bass and only slightly less mid bass. Again I'm only going by memory. My XB700 has beenlying in a box in the back of closet somewhere for a few months now.The only can bassier then the Dido I've heard would be the XB500. mind you the XB500 is nothing but bass

Well I'll see how it is when I get ahold of it. 
 
I'm am deeply interested in the JVC DX 1000 as well