Great review again Leo. Your review has finally convinced me to pull the trigger and order the M5E!

Not that it matters, but for anyone curious on the switch config. Thank you for the nice review

One day some high-end manufacturer will produce something amazing with great sound, comfort, useability, good battery life, and modular (incl. replaceable batteries). I can't wait for that day and would happily pay > 2k for something nice. After all you can throw out your high-end cable(s), DAC, and amp.

drftr

Great review and thanks for the coupon code, littlenezt!

One of the nicest review I've read, Bravo! Your HP and amp stable is unbelievable. I also have the WA8 and original Empyrean, I never realized my real impression on this duo but you clearly put out words that define it quite good. I mostly use the Empyrean with my Unison SH desktop tube amp and Orchid tube DAC, love the sound it produces.

I think you just sold me on the Atrium closed with this review. I've been thinking about closed HP for a while and these may well be the best complement to my Empyrean while maintaining a similar sound signature I love, smooth and refined.

@Loftprojection Hey, thanks! Glad you enjoyed the review and, indeed, I'm very grateful to have the headphones and amps I have. Interesting you found the same thing with the Empyrean/WA8 combo. The Empyrean is so good on so many things and the WA8 is so great with so many other headphones, so I'm still not sure why they're not quite a good fit for each other. I'll have to try the Unison and Orchid tube DAC sometime. I sold my iFi DAC recently and am looking at getting a tube DAC - the Linear Tube Audio Aero has piqued my interest for sure.

And oh yeah, if you get the Atrium Closed, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's pretty awesome. I have two and may sell one at some point if you'd be interested.

Great review and amazing photos. Thank you for the detailed comparison

@Bleuciel,
So sorry have not heard the Dunu Glacier.

Amazing IEM, sounds fantastic, especially with the NiceHCK SpaceCloud cable!

@Nick24JJ,
They really are complete and wonderful! Cheers!

I have had so many IEMs over the years and sold them all. I am always trying new things and as I only have one pair of ears, I found having many IEMs is just a waste of money. Having said that, the Dita Project M will be with me for a long, long time and if not forever. The quality, beauty, craft and performance for the price is just unbeatable. It proves that you don't need to spend an arm and a leg with multiple drivers configuration to get an amazing TOTL sound.

@ATunner70 - 100% agree, incredible IEM for comparatively low cost… hardly a day goes by without me listening!

Hi David. Best place to buy it in EU?

I would have to disagree with your conclusion. The HE-R9 is probably the worst mis-step that Hifiman has made in recent memory. The bloated, boomy bass that overwhelms everything else cannot be shrugged off. It colors everything and ruins any song that has prominent bass to begin with. Also, the build is mediocre and laughable if you consider the original retail price, but it is at least serviceable.

What the HE-R9 does have is potential. There's nothing wrong with the drivers. These can be used as a good starting point for anyone willing to spend the time to modify them. It took JM Audio eight tries to get something they think is worthwhile, so if you are going to keep the original cups, you've got your work cut out for you in modding, but that is part of the fun. I'd suggest going the route I took, which was removing those ridiculous, cavernous, echoey plastic cups and replacing them with wooden cups. Turning them into semi-open headphones lets the drivers have the air they need.

You are right, that the bass is too much and I also usually add a section to my reviews discussing simple 'Modifications' e.g. with the HE400SE I added a section with reference to some of the simple mod to tweak the treble region on that Hifiman.
But with this one, I did look at JM Audio and CustomCans but any modification looked difficult, time consuming and expensive. I think what those guys do is amazing but in this case, in my opinion, it would be better to just buy a different headphone. What I did find was very specific recordings (mainly live) worked well even with the boomy bass (or at least a simple bass reduction). So, it might be my nostalgia for a live gigs, maybe I used to stand too close to the speakers at gigs but for that particular 'fun' experience I thought it worked well. I do have friends who actually like 'boomy bass' and they also like quirky looking stuff hence why I thought I would mention it in the review.

Love the shot of the glow in the dark tips!

Awesome, but shouldn't one of the cons be its not available to buy?

I do not know if you should have to pay more for Dita Project M
or way, way less for the generality of its actually chifi (and not) competitors.

some wortds about soundstage depth and layering, which is what generally differentiates dac/amps soundwise besides tonality?

Honestly, I don't think I hear anything different between plugging my Zero:Red directly to my phone or listening to them through the BTE-222. Other than the volume getting louder, I think they sound identical. Or perhaps even slightly better ? Great Suggestion bro. I think I'll need more DAC/Amps so I can compare them. I'll definitely post an update once I got a new DAC/Amp.

Nice review...

@STRATEGIST thanks!

Beautiful review. Nice work.

Beautiful writeup and beautiful picture. The SD5 looks very interesting.

@AlekhyaD666 Indeed Man. Serious stuff.