Dita Audio – The Revolutionary Truth Replacement Cable

Ergonomics:

It is not the most comfortable cable I own, the protection shielding wrap that used on the original IEM has made its way to this product as well. The cable discomfort isn’t due to irritation, not at all the discomfort is in how the cable has a mind of its own when it comes to wanting to stay straight.

I like the ear guide used, it has no memory wire and it is very comfortable. Micro phonics is low however it can be eliminated if you know how to wear it.
I find the plug size to be the same as the current popular after market jacks however what makes it bulky is the locking collar, more on this later.

Sound:

When it comes to sound I admit that I do not have the sophisticated hearing that most of your favourite reviewers have. I am not sophisticated enough to tell you I hear changes at let’s say 500 hertz or anything like that, by merely changing cables. When I listen to music I just play my favourite tracks and see how sound changes. My method is something like this: Plug the earphone to Lotoo paw gold, increase the volume till I reach a comfortable listening level, and swap the cable while maintaining the same volume. Adjust volume if require to reach the same level of comfortable listening and note changes. With that let’s discuss sound!

When it comes to getting to know the cable material component of Dita replacement cable there isn’t much information available. What is known is that the design is based on a 3T Van Den Hul patented design. What is that you might ask, I don’t know. There isn’t much available and it is a well kept secret. And reading into it will not make things more clear. For example according to the only link I have found about 3T and direct quoting from there “No application of Platinum, Gold, Silver or Copper in any percentage. This avoids product price changes due to wild market speculation.”
All I know it is an alloy and I have no idea of what. Here is the link for those who like to read more about it: http://www.vandenhul.com/cable-technologies/3t-true-transmission-technology

I am told both cable has the same internal 3T core design. What makes them different is the final cable coating. One has a copper coating and the other has a silver coating.

To my ears the transparency of both the silver and copper variety is identical. They are both able to reveal the Grea in the tests tracks I used. However at louder volume the two cables to my ears sounded different. For instance when I had the copper coated cable installed on the Ultrasone IQ an increase of volume enhanced the bass quantity. But in higher volumes the treble definition and I dare say extension of IQ improved when I had the silver model plugged. Also the silver variety sounded slightly brighter at the louder volumes. But that was only in loud volumes and at normal volumes I wasn’t able to detect any sonic difference between the two cables.

Another thing that will separate the two models is the silver variety requires more power. I find myself that I needed to increase the volume dial of my Lotoo Paw Gold when I swapped to the silver variety, playing the same tunes and using the same IEM.

When it comes to vocal the copper variety places more emphasis on the vocal and places them more forward whereas the silver variety has a better emphasis on string based instruments, but I really had to listen for them to hear them in such manner.

Now if I was to be perfectly honest I doubt I would be able to tell the two models apart in a blind A/B test.

As I said before I will not be the one who will say ‘when I added this cable an entire spectrum of sound was opened to me, it is like I never heard those music before’. In my opinion it is not the job of the cable to do this. Sure a good cable will improve on the sound but how do we define that improvement?

In my view cables should have the least alteration in the sound. A cable job is to be as transparent and least coloured as it can be. Great cables are able to remain uncoloured and at the same time reveal all the detail in the recording, of course assuming the source is able to extract those detail from the recording to begin with.
To me cable upgrade is the last thing an enthusiast needs to look into. After all a cable is just a bridge from the line out of your source to whatever it is attached too and if the source is lacking than the cable cannot magically add to the sound.

If you believe in the 90% syndrome that most audiophile believe in to me Dita model will easily fill in that last 10% in a cost effective manner. Imagine having one cable to cover all cases, whether you like to use a single ended source, balance you really have no reason to buy another entire cable. This is why to me this cable is price very reasonably. The technology behind the cable has a name that is trusted in the audio industry. You can be sure you are not just buying someone hobby, which is in no way a bad thing. What you are paying is a price for a cable that offers versatility for the futures. At this stage the unit comes with 3.5mm singled ended jack and 2.5mm TRRS balance jack so for now if you belong to those two group you are covered but I am sure they will release more accessories in the near future.

Recommendation:

If I was to recommend something to Dita it would be to see if they can perhaps introduce a smaller plug to screw on, as I find it a little awkward to pocket. Perhaps a straight plug can allow for reduction in dimension as I feel this might unintentionally put too much strain on the 3.5mm jack due to slightly bulky design. In terms of the overall dimension they are identical to most main stream high end after-market plugs, what makes them bulky is the locking collar which is very solid and firm. Perhaps by shortening the body of the plug in the lower portion after the locking collar it will bring the collar closer to the actual jack and as a result the bulk becomes less noticeable and it will place the collar in a position where its centriod isn’t too much of a strain to the fragile metal jacks. Whether that is possible I don’t know, as the saying goes ‘easier said than done!’

I am very happy about the cable that Dita has produced. Its modular design is future proof, and what that means is at the end in long term the end user will be the one saving more money as they no longer need to order more cable due to the unpredictable markets of the future.

I am told Dita is busy working to release various other connectors, with a new DITA 4.4mm to be release around Singapore Canjam 2017, which is where they will also be revealing their Dream product name Dita Dream, hopefully more to come about that in a near future. Need to mention what I just said isn’t directly sourced from Dita but from my sources who are close to Dita Audio.

 

Over all I cannot wait to see what they can come up with next. Will they ever enter the portable amplification world or perhaps the DAP world? Who knows and I can only hope they do.

Disclaimer: I purchased the silver cable however Dita was kind enough to also send in the copper variety for testing. I like to thank Ted from Dita audio for his patience regarding my endless questioning.