Sound Analysis and Comparison.

I analyzed Sun Dice and Copper sound with LGPT while playing a variety of my favorite test tracks, such as Agnes Obel “The curse”, Sandro Cavazza “So much better” (Avicii remix), C-Bool “Never go away”, Ed Sheeran “Shape of you”, Alan Walker “Darkside”, Galantis “Hunter”, Iggy Azalea “Black widow”, Indila “Boite en argent”, Dua Lipa “Love again”, Counting Crows “Big yellow taxi”, David Elias “Vision of her”, and Michael Jackson “Dirty Diana”.  I let both Dice and Copper burn in for over 100hrs before starting my sound analysis.

Dice/Copper have a relatively balanced signature with a natural organic musical tonality and open space sound.  Dice tonality is slightly warmer with a little more body in mids, while Copper is more transparent and a little leaner, especially in mids/vocals where I hear less coloring.  Also, this open space sound translates in a relatively wide soundstage and surprisingly good imaging, though Copper has a more precise placement of instruments and vocals.  While tonality is similar, their technical performance varies, especially noticeable in how laidback and smoother sound presentation of Dice is versus a faster, tighter, more layered sound of Copper with a blacker background.

Considering that these are sitting loosely in the concha area of my ear, outside of my earcanal without making a typical IEM-like seal, both have above neutral quantity natural bass which I can actually hear.  The bass itself doesn’t have a strong impact, typical of earbuds sitting outside of earcanal.  With Dice, bass is more relaxed and softer, with sub-bass rumble fading more into the background, and decay of bass notes being longer.  In contrast, the Copper has a tighter and more articulate bass with a little boost in sub bass rumble and faster and tighter mid-bass with shorter decay to give it more control.

I hear Dice to have a little more body in lower mids which gives the overall sound more relaxed warmth and smoothness while Copper has lower mids more neutral and upper mids more transparent and more detailed.  Another difference here is in presentation where Dice mids/vocals are smoother, more laidback and pushed a little back, while Copper mids/vocals are more forward, more transparent, and more layered.

Treble presentation between Dice/Copper is very similar, being smooth, natural, clear, maybe just with a little more airiness in Copper.  Both have a natural well controlled treble, with a good extension and a natural sparkle which gives overall sound a more open feeling and gives better definition to mids/vocals.

Sun vs Zen comparison

I always enjoyed Zen and its warmer fuller body smooth analog tonality.  The sound wasn’t very detailed or layered, but that was the charm of its tuning.  Sun sound is very different due to a noticeable change in tuning of the mids.  For starters, Sun’s soundstage is wider and deeper, creating a more holographic sound in comparison to Zen which has more depth than width.  Sun’s bass is tighter, even in Dice, and has more control without spilling into lower mids.  In contrast, Zen bass is analog and unapologetic, with a longer decay extending into lower mids, adding more body and thickness to the sound.  Mids is where I hear the biggest difference with Sun being more transparent, layered, detailed (or in case of Copper, more micro-detailed), while Zen is thick, smooth, musical, and overall warmer.  Sun’s treble also has more sparkle, while Zen treble is smoother.

VE Sun vs ZOE (Zen Omega Edition)

Pair up.

Here is how VE Sun, both Dice and Copper, pair up with various DAPs.

Cayin N6ii/E02 – great pair up with these 180ohm earbuds! Open, wide soundstage expansion, balanced signature with natural detailed smooth tonality.  Dice bass has a nice analog punch with a distant rumble, not exaggerated and well balanced with mids. Mids/vocals are smooth, natural, relatively clear and detailed, and the same with clear natural treble.  Copper expands soundstage wider, also I hear bass to have a lot more control, especially with tighter, shorter decay, mids/vocals are still smooth and natural, but retrieval of details a little better, and I even hear more sparkle in treble.  Overall, both Sun/Copper sound like full size headphones with E02.

iBasso DX160 – very balanced signature with a natural and more revealing tonality.  This pair up actually has a more detailed layered sound with retrieval of details that is approaching micro-detailed level, especially when it comes to Copper version with a tighter more articulate presentation of the sound.  Bass is linear, a little north of neutral, well controlled in both versions, though I hear more sub-bass with Copper, mids have leaner body but in a natural way, giving vocals and instruments more transparency (less coloring) and excellent layering with both Dice/Copper.  Treble is extended, with more airiness.  Great pair up, but I actually preferred Dice here since its mids/vocals were not as forward as Copper, making the sound presentation a little less intense and more relaxed.

A&K SP2000 – again, another example of a nicely balance signature with a natural detailed tonality and open soundstage that make you feel like you are listening to full size headphones.  But there is a difference between Dice and Copper pair up.  Bass is softer and less aggressive with Dice, while noticeable tighter, punchier, and with a better control and articulation (thanks to shorter decay) with Copper.  Mids/vocals are smooth, natural, very clear and detailed with either one, but Dice pushes vocals a little back while Copper brings them more forward.  Treble is very similar with both, being extend, natural, clear, with a little more airiness.

Lotoo Paw Gold Touch (LPGT) – closer to holographic soundstage expansion; balanced signature with a very natural tonality where Dice sounds more laidback and a little bit warmer while Copper has a more transparent, tighter, faster, more revealing sound.  Bass is closer to neutral and more relaxed with Dice while tighter and more articulate with Copper, plus definitely more control with Copper since it has a shorter decay.  Mids are natural as well, with Dice being a little smoother and warmer while Copper being more micro-detailed and more layered.  Both have a natural well controlled treble, with a good extension and natural sparkle.

Conclusion.

I know the question will be raised, which one is better, Dice or Copper, especially if you take the price into consideration (Dice $298 vs Copper $598).  But you have to look at this from a different perspective since the price difference here has nothing to do with one being better than the other.  The variation in material (aluminum vs copper), cable (OFC vs LCC), and other hardware elements is what driving the price difference.  But when you look at sound performance of Dice vs Copper, one is not better than the other, they are just different in a complementary way.  If you prefer a more laidback, smooth, relaxed, fuller body sound, Dice is the way to go.  And, if you want a faster, tighter, more articulate, and less colored sound, Copper version of Sun will get you there.  While the difference might not be night’n’day, it is still easy to spot regardless of pair up source.  And for sure, if you have been thinking about upgrading Zen while staying within VE family, follow the Sun because it is the next logical step!