I have Yoga CD-990 and 2 of its clones - NVX XPT100 and Brainwavz HM5.
They all have identical sound, and they are the original CD-990 design, meaning they are identical to FA-003, not FA-003Ti.
I prefer XPT100 because:
1) CD-990 isn't available for purchase (unless you order at least a 1000).
2) XPT100 costs 80$ instead of 139.5$ that HM5 costs
3) XPT100 has superior pads
4) XPT100 includes both flat and angled pads, while HM5 comes with 2 pairs of flat pads.
The only disadvantage XPT100 has, is that's it's unavailable outside of US and Canada.
You'd have to use a forwarding service to acquire XPT100 from abroad, but considering the price difference with HM5 - it may still be worth it.
Comfort:
XPT100's headband padding is slightly wider, yet narrower than Pro 82's.
Quality of materials is equally high.
The ComfortMax pads are slightly longer and wider, and a lot thicker.
They are extremely comfortable, more than the standard Brainwavz pads.
XPT100 comes with both flat and angled pads - you should try both!
The pads are mounted on the cups using the plastic rings.
Be careful - if you purchase pads separately - they will come without the rings.
So if you purchase a bunch of Brainwavz replacement pads - you will have to move the rings around.
Despite the truly great pads, XPT100 isn't very comfortable at first.
The headband is too small, causing significant pressure on the head.
To achieve perfect comfort, you will have to stretch the headband for a while.
Out of the box, NVX's comfort is 7-7.5 out of 10 (Pro 82 is 8.0-8.5)
Once the headband is stretched, NVX's comfort is 10 out of 10.
Sound:
Out of the box, XPT100 sounds sucked out in the mids, too thin.
A short brun-in (10 hours) makes it sound like it should.
Flat pads sound a bit boring, and very "headphone-y"- I don't feel that I am experiencing a live performance, it's just music being played at me.
Angled pads are much more fun, bass is meatier when "fat" side is in the front.
Soundstage/imaging improve greatly with angled pads
Oppo HA-2 sounds great with angled pads, flat pads need a bit tube magic.
Nobosound NS-02E makes them sound great.
Little Dot MKIII warms them up too much from the headphone out, pre-amp out is much better
NFB11.32 is the same as Little Dot MKIII - headphone out is too warm/veiled, variable out sounds great.
I recommend using a transparent yet natural sounding DAC (e.g. Oppo HA-2) with a delicate tube amp.
Bass:
XPT100 has a very tight bass, with a neutral quantity.
It takes a bass boost very nicely, but you will never get the same rumble as in Pro 82/80.
The bass just gets louder, without changing its nature.
Angled pads do improve the bass a lot.
Mids:
OOT, the mids sound plain bad - thin and sucked out.
After burn-in, the situation improves dramatically, but the timbre is off.
Using Nobosound NS-02E or Little Dot MKIII's pre-amp out gives them a near-perfect timbre.
When using angled pads, the need for the tubes isn't as big as with the flat pads.
Treble:
XPT100 is slightly more sibilant than Pro 82, other than that - the treble is really good - clear, detailed and extended.
Soundstage/imaging:
Very headphone-y with the flat pads, much better with the angled pads (fat side in the front)
Accessories:
XPT100 comes in the same box as CD-990, with a whole lot of padding.
It has a 1.2m and 3m cables, 6.5mm adapter and 2 sets of pads.
Overall:
Comparing with Bosshifi B8 and Takstar Pro 82, this is a 3-way tie.
All three outperform their price point (70-80$) tremendously.
Each has it's strong points:
Takstar Pro 82:
Very fun sound, with bass that the others can't match, and mids, that despite the slight recession, might still be the clearest among the three headphones.
Bosshifi B8:
Excellent for long sessions of relaxed listening
NVX XPT100:
The most neutral of the three, sound can be tuned by using flat/angled pads, the only one that benefits from tubes, amazing comfort.
If you are planning on buying a 300-400$ headphone from a major brand, just buy these 3 instead and keep the change.
They all have identical sound, and they are the original CD-990 design, meaning they are identical to FA-003, not FA-003Ti.
I prefer XPT100 because:
1) CD-990 isn't available for purchase (unless you order at least a 1000).
2) XPT100 costs 80$ instead of 139.5$ that HM5 costs
3) XPT100 has superior pads
4) XPT100 includes both flat and angled pads, while HM5 comes with 2 pairs of flat pads.
The only disadvantage XPT100 has, is that's it's unavailable outside of US and Canada.
You'd have to use a forwarding service to acquire XPT100 from abroad, but considering the price difference with HM5 - it may still be worth it.
Comfort:
XPT100's headband padding is slightly wider, yet narrower than Pro 82's.
Quality of materials is equally high.
The ComfortMax pads are slightly longer and wider, and a lot thicker.
They are extremely comfortable, more than the standard Brainwavz pads.
XPT100 comes with both flat and angled pads - you should try both!
The pads are mounted on the cups using the plastic rings.
Be careful - if you purchase pads separately - they will come without the rings.
So if you purchase a bunch of Brainwavz replacement pads - you will have to move the rings around.
Despite the truly great pads, XPT100 isn't very comfortable at first.
The headband is too small, causing significant pressure on the head.
To achieve perfect comfort, you will have to stretch the headband for a while.
Out of the box, NVX's comfort is 7-7.5 out of 10 (Pro 82 is 8.0-8.5)
Once the headband is stretched, NVX's comfort is 10 out of 10.
Sound:
Out of the box, XPT100 sounds sucked out in the mids, too thin.
A short brun-in (10 hours) makes it sound like it should.
Flat pads sound a bit boring, and very "headphone-y"- I don't feel that I am experiencing a live performance, it's just music being played at me.
Angled pads are much more fun, bass is meatier when "fat" side is in the front.
Soundstage/imaging improve greatly with angled pads
Oppo HA-2 sounds great with angled pads, flat pads need a bit tube magic.
Nobosound NS-02E makes them sound great.
Little Dot MKIII warms them up too much from the headphone out, pre-amp out is much better
NFB11.32 is the same as Little Dot MKIII - headphone out is too warm/veiled, variable out sounds great.
I recommend using a transparent yet natural sounding DAC (e.g. Oppo HA-2) with a delicate tube amp.
Bass:
XPT100 has a very tight bass, with a neutral quantity.
It takes a bass boost very nicely, but you will never get the same rumble as in Pro 82/80.
The bass just gets louder, without changing its nature.
Angled pads do improve the bass a lot.
Mids:
OOT, the mids sound plain bad - thin and sucked out.
After burn-in, the situation improves dramatically, but the timbre is off.
Using Nobosound NS-02E or Little Dot MKIII's pre-amp out gives them a near-perfect timbre.
When using angled pads, the need for the tubes isn't as big as with the flat pads.
Treble:
XPT100 is slightly more sibilant than Pro 82, other than that - the treble is really good - clear, detailed and extended.
Soundstage/imaging:
Very headphone-y with the flat pads, much better with the angled pads (fat side in the front)
Accessories:
XPT100 comes in the same box as CD-990, with a whole lot of padding.
It has a 1.2m and 3m cables, 6.5mm adapter and 2 sets of pads.
Overall:
Comparing with Bosshifi B8 and Takstar Pro 82, this is a 3-way tie.
All three outperform their price point (70-80$) tremendously.
Each has it's strong points:
Takstar Pro 82:
Very fun sound, with bass that the others can't match, and mids, that despite the slight recession, might still be the clearest among the three headphones.
Bosshifi B8:
Excellent for long sessions of relaxed listening
NVX XPT100:
The most neutral of the three, sound can be tuned by using flat/angled pads, the only one that benefits from tubes, amazing comfort.
If you are planning on buying a 300-400$ headphone from a major brand, just buy these 3 instead and keep the change.
I enjoyed mine while I had them, but with two complaints...
1)The clamp was significantly less than the Brainwavz version, which changed the sound heavily. Bass impact was most notably affected.
2) Due to the cups, there was a distinct hall-like reverb effect that wasn't necessarily off-putting, but could be distracting.
Nitpicking here... The NVX is a great can for first-time headfiers.