DITA PROJECT M: Neutral, Clarity and Competent Technical Performer

DITA AUDIO is an audio company based in the land of Merlion, Singapore. And this company has an extensive years of experience of producing and crafting audio products way back in the 70's. This audio establishment is considered as a boutique brand as it produces some of the well-crafted and meticulously engineered in-ear earphones in the market. The first set that I know from DITA is the Perpetua but I didn't test it out personally as I only saw it on some audiophile forums and also in audio review sites that its asking price is rather quite intriguing for a single dynamic driver set-up.

And then one day, a DITA rep happens to also be my online friend who offers me to do a review on their latest product and without any hesitation, I accept it as it is my opportunity to test out some DITA products.

Then finally, I finally got this new product and this one is DITA's latest midrange set that will be priced around US$325 as they are aiming to grab some market share in an ever increasingly competitive audio market which is now almost dominated by audio companies from Mainland China.

This is DITA PROJECT M and this set has a hybrid driver configuration consisting of a single self-developed PM1+ dynamic driver in a 9.8mm diameter and a custom Knowles full-range balanced armature driver. The dynamic driver has a dual cavity configuration with a high-grade neodymium magnet with a composite diaphragm on it, and this driver will solely handle the low frequency part, while the Knowles full-range tweeter will be responsible for the rest of frequency sections like midrange and highs.

These drivers were encased in a specialised well-designed and augmented acoustic chamber made of stainless steel as this material is known for its acoustic properties to influence by balancing its overall frequency bands for permitting a well-refined tuning from its drivers. With all of the implementation of these audio technologies, it will deliver a full-range sound with a deep punchy bass and an exceptional clarity and detail on midrange and treble sections.

Then the acoustic chamber is again  encapsulated in a clear high quality resin shell in a modified UIEM-type form factor that really looks very sophisticated with a DITA Audio logo on its faceplate and a metal alloy nozzle where we will look upon the acoustic tube connected to the acoustic chamber. It appears that DITA PROJECT M uses a TFZ/NX7-type of 2-pin connector which is quite unusual as I only see it on TFZ sets and some few ones from NICEHCK and KBEAR.

In terms of wearability, The DITA PROJECT M offers a very comfortable and cosy fitting into my lugholes as it provides an excellent passive noise isolation. That passive noise isolation was possibly achieved due to a good proper sealing that is able to block some external noises from the outside surroundings.

The stock cable of DITA PROJECT M has a modular feature as we can attach/detach its interchangeable termination plugs between 3.5mm single end and 4.4mm. This cable was provided by Cardas, a US-based audio cable manufacturer and this one has 2-core with 16-strands with high grade copper in litz array that are coated with an environmental-friendly PVC insulator layer. That cable is quite supple and flexible with some resistance against entanglement and not a hint of microphonics on it.

The DITA PROJECT M is pretty well-accessorised that a midrange should have while its overall product packaging is quite a minimalist.

Inside of its packaging box, aside from its stock cables,  it also some like a good quality stock cable, it also included some luminous ear tips and small tool box-like storage case provided by a German firm, Tanos which is known to provide rugged, durable and environmentally-friendly Systainer storage models.

Here are the following contents inside of DITA PROJECT M packaging box:

• Pair of DITA PROJECT M IEM transducers
• Stock cable by Cardas
• 3.5mm termination plug adaptor
• 4.4mm termination plug adaptor
• Tanos Systainer Storage Case
• Five (5) pairs of balanced bore ear tips in different standard sizes (XS,S,M,L,XL)
• Paperwork like product brochure and warranty card.

With a rating of 32 ohms and a sensitivity of 107dB, The PROJECT M can be driven by some devices with a normal gain mode but pairing it to a source with a good quality Hi-Fi DAC/Amp will truly show its full capabilities as it scales it pretty well to have better dynamic and fuller sound.

As for its sound profile, it seems that the PROJECT M has a mild U-shaped sound which is quite closer to a reference-neutral/ neutral-ish-bright type of tuning. I'm a type of audio enthusiast who really adheres to neutral-sounding sets and this one seems pretty aligned with my preferred type of tuning target curve.

(Graphs were provided by [USER=516219]@baskingshark[/USER] and [USER=575648]@mars chan[/USER], credits to them on their effort)

LOWS/BASS:

As a neutral sounding set, its bass response is quite tight, precise and incisive with some reverberation with it.

The sub bass appears to be given more prominent in this particular frequency section as I definitely clearly hear those rumbling ang reverberations that were generated by sub bass-focused instruments like drum machines, synthesisers and low tuned bass guitars and double basses. Then, the mid bass of this one appears to have rather sufficient just to give an enough note weight to some bass-focused instruments like bass guitars, bass kick drum and bass trumpets.

The bass guitars have resonant and a bit weightless sound while bass kick drums have a sustaining and thudding sound on every hit on its pedal. Deep male vocals like bass and bass-baritones have less heft and depth but I clearly heard its vibrato on its end enough to give some semblance of a dusky sound characteristic. Overall, the bass quality of this one is well-segregated and clean sounding that makes this set commendable.

MIDRANGE:

The midrange presentation of this set is presented in a neutral and almost linear manner but it is transparent, clean and properly energetic that makes it enjoyable to listen to some types of vocals like high octave tenors, countertenors, some mezzo-sopranos and sopranos, and also string and woodwinds instruments to sound more accurately closer to its natural sound.

While male vocals might sound a bit lean and less textured especially on baritones but it retains some its smoothness and sweet traits particularly on light and lyric baritone voices. Tenors have some bright, clear and graceful on both leggero and lyric tenors while countertenors have more velvety and tender sound with some added intensity on it. On female vocals, like the baritones, the contraltos has lack of volume and depth on this vocals but it has some rounded a tad smokier one. Mezzo-sopranos have more expressive and fiery vocals from them. Projecting soprano vocals is probably the strongest asset of PROJECT M as it can deliver a crystalline, gleaming and silvery sound to give more expressive, energetic and spacious sounding vocals which is good coloratura and lyric sopranos.

On instruments, strings like violins, cellos and guitars and then, woodwinds like piccolos, concert flute and clarinets sound quite very natural on presenting their respective tonal colour as they sound more vivid, silky, lively, brilliant, airy and expressive respectively. Meanwhile most percussives like snare drums and tom-toms have more penetrating, precise and resonant sound on them. And then brasses like trumpets and trombones have some added brightness that they sound more brilliant and a tad metallic. Pianos seems to have balanced sound as it also has both mellow and bright tone as it has sweet, clear and brilliance sound on them.

HIGHS/TREBLE:

The treble response of this one has a good brilliance as I noticed that there are noticeable elevation on the upper-mids to presence region as it gives a good clarity and definition on highlighting vocals and attack of instruments. Sibilance of this one appears to be well-controlled but its on borderline that it produces some slight hissing coming from sibilant-laden tracks. Some treble-sensitive folk might set a bit too much on them duee to its intensity on some elevated upper-mids to presence treble but it doesn't still reach the stridency level of some treble-centric sets thats has overboosted parts on the treble region.

It has a good sparkle as it is intense pretty well with a substantial amount of harmonics with excellent treble air extension on the brilliance section of its treble region. I noticed the glistening and sizzling of cymbals and hi-hats. Glockenspiels have silvery and bell-like sound on them while celestas have glistening ansd shimmering sound.

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

Overall, the PROJECT M has an above-average to wide lateral span on its sound field with a good height ceiling and a good depth on it as it gives me a sufficiently spacious head room within my aural sphere.

On its stereo imaging aspect, it gives an atmospheric-feel dimension where I can panned out and pinpointing accurately the placement of instruments and vocals in clear, transparent well-layered soundscape with good spacing and separation of each element in sonic canvas.

The cohesive performance of hybrid drivers  is remarkable as the dynamic driver is pretty responsive while the BA driver delivers a clear and detailed sound without distortion. This set is quite pretty resolving in all of its resolution capability facets as it has a solid macro-dynamics while having a sharp definition on its micro-detail retrieval aspect as it able to capture some nuances and details like vocal ends, instrumental timbre tails and roomy effects like reverberations.

PEER COMPARISONS:

7HZ AURORA

• A bit more expensive.
• It has more drivers inside.
• Its has composite shell chassis that also have a gorgeous-looking shell chassis.
• While it has a modular feature on its stock cable. The overall build quality of its cable has thicker and heftier profile with easier to do attach/detach termination plug.
• Almost similar tuning profile as this set is also veering towards a brighter tuning.
• A bit more recessed in midrange presentation.
• Similar technical capabilities to do point they are going mano-a-mano on equal grounds.

HIBY CRYSTAL 6 MK.II

• It also has similar resin chassis that also has UIEM-type form factor.
• It uses an all-BA driver configuration and all of them are custom-made Sonion BAs specifically for HIBY.
• It is also pretty well-accessorised like the PROJECT M
• Like the PROJECT M, it also has a modular stock cable.
• Very picky on sources, it scales well with some devices with high gain/high impedance mode.
• Similarly tonality with PROJECT M as it also has bright-neutral sound profile.
• Equally excellent on techical capabilities from soundstage size up to the resolution capability although this set is a bit sharper on micro-detail definition.

To sum up my initial impressions regarding this unit, this set is one of the few sets that instantly register to my thoughts that it has an excellent tonal profile that aligns with my preference. And this set delivers it from a beautifully-crafted resin shell chassis up to the glow in dark ear tips that I find amusing to look at in terms of physical aspect.

Tonality-wise, this set proves that DITA Audio is well-verse and has a long experience on audio engineering on how they tuned as this set has a neutral, clean and pretty delineation on its overall sound quality with remarkable clarity and resolution along with its very competent technical performance.

Excellent job DITA! and I hope that you will release more sets in the midrange segment with even more polished and innovative features in the future.

DITA AUDIO PROJECT M is now available in Dita's official site and also in Musicteck and Bloom Audio website. Check out the links below:

★★DITA AUDIO OFFICIAL STORE★★

★★MUSICTECK★★

★★BLOOM AUDIO★★

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: DITA PROJECT M

IMPEDANCE: 32Ω

SENSITIVITY: 107dB

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2m

PIN TYPE: TFZ/NX7-TYPE 2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.75MM)

PLUG TYPE: (MODULAR) 3.5mm, 4.4mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER + (1) BALANCED ARMATURE DRIVER

PROS:

● Solidly-moulded high quality resin shell chassis

● It offers a well-optimised and ergonomic fit to most ear sizes.

● its overall aesthetics exudes elegance and sophistication.

● Pretty well-accessorised as it offers a lot of quality and quantifying amount of inclusions.

● Luminous ear tips.

● Modular stock cable.

● A neutral sound profile for neutral heads.

● Tight, precise yet clean bass response.

● A neutral, clean and energetic midrange presentation.

● Excellent for some tenors, countertenors, mezzo-sopranos and sopranos.

● Woodwind and string instruments specialist.

● Bright, clear and airy treble presentation

● Remarkable overall technical performance.

● Resolving and well-defined resolution capabilities.

CONS:

● Not for bass heads as it has lack of slam and authority

● Not a coloured sounding if you are looking for fun and musical tuning.

● Treble-sensitive folks might look somewhere else.

● Might be too lean sounding to some listeners.

Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

Type O Negative - Black No.1 *

Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **

Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *

Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to DITA AUDIO nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to KENNETH KOH of DITA AUDIO for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate his generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.