[Claus-DK]

Great review..

 

[biggbenn74]

Great review..

Thank you. and thank you again for introducing me to these wonderful headphones.

 

[Keller1]

These seem to be using the ATH-AD1000/AD2000 Driver ( the hi2050 )

Apparently it's also a 53mm driver that happens to have the same grille as the takstar speaker.

Edit:  Nope, it's just the same grille design.

 

[zest]

They're not yet OEM manufacturer for ATH.

 

 

[Simcon]

These seem to be using the ATH-AD1000/AD2000 Driver ( the hi2050 )


Apparently it's also a 53mm driver that happens to have the same grille as the takstar speaker.


Edit:  Nope, it's just the same grille design.

THAT would have been insane , but how's the dimensions? Would it be possible to replace it with an AD2000 driver ^*?

 

[Keller1]

Quote:

THAT would have been insane

, but how's the dimensions? Would it be possible to replace it with an AD2000 driver ^*?

it's apparently exact down to the millimeter. if you can get your hands on an ad2000 driver there'd no problem i guess..

I'm not sure you can remove the takstar driver from the housing easily though.

 
takstar driver
 

AD2000 Driver

 

[Simcon]

it's apparently exact down to the millimeter. if you can get your hands on an ad2000 driver there'd no problem i guess..


I'm not sure you can remove the takstar driver from the housing easily though.



takstar driver



AD2000 Driver

http://www.head-fi.org/t/651490/ad900-ad2000-driver-transplant-mod
, could be interesting to see if someone would mod them ^^. But it was mainly the depth I was concern about since the ad2000 driver is quite thin, so is the depth also roughly the same?

 

[arecibo]

For anybody looking for good prices on the Takstars, the Technical Pro HPT 990 (identical to Takstar HI 2050) is now just $50 on amazon through adorama.  Also, the Gemini HSR-1000 seem to be back to 80 or less on amazon as well.  Either way, you are getting a decent price, much closer to the aliexpress prices with quicker shipping.  
 
http://www.amazon.com/Technical-Pro-Professional-Headphones-Controller/dp/B0057CW4UU/
 
So far, I find the Hi 2050 competes well with my Jaycar and Grado SR60 headphones.  They are much more comfortable than the Grados.  My only complaint so far, is that some of my music tracks can be a bit bright with them.  Often these are on poor MP3 rips, so it is partially due to the quality of my files.  All in all, a good headphone, especially for the price.   

 

[vormhat]

So I've had my Technical Pro HPT-990s aka Takstar HI-2050 for about 3-4 months now and thought I'd do a review of them. I don't have a ton of audio experience with headphones but have recently gone through a spat of buying a bunch of cans and selling the ones that didn't make the cut. The ones I've kept are: Beyer DT770 Pro 80ohms, Senn Amperior, AKG K422, and of course these little value monsters. The K422s are the only other open pair I have.

Build Quality:
The most obvious comparison are to the Beyers. They look like DT880s but with long oval shaped cups instead of the rounder Beyers. Compared to my DT770s they are very comparable in how well they are built. It's really amazing how well built they are for the low price asked. The forks are metal while the majority of the cup is a shiny black plastic. The large, open grid on the side of the cups are all metal. I'm not sure what's actually inside the head band because its wrapped in a permanent soft pleather-y cushion. Unlike the Beyers which use buttons to hold the head cushion in place (making it replaceable), the HPT990s seem sewn into place. From the band to the cups are 2 fabric wrapped wires which stick out. My particular pair have a slight creak when I swivel them. All in all, its not quite as solid feeling as the DT770s but it blows away many other headphones that sell for 2x-3x its price range!

Accessories: Included are the standard 1/8" to 1/4" adapter. Herein lies the biggest difference between the Technical Pro and the Takstar version of these. The Technical Pro includes a fairly large hard shell pro gear case with latch. I'm talking about the black ones with metal trim everywhere. Its a *very* nice case however, it doesn't work well for portable use being way too large. If you really, really want to protect your headphones and transport it to say a friend's house, you'll be all set.

SQ: Ah yes. The sound.. the most important part! I hate to preach to the choir, but yes, they punch very high above their weight. In terms of the maturity of the sound and refinement, they can hang with the DT770s and the Amperiors though with a different sonic signature than both. I listen to a very wide variety of music and have tested with all of them including synthpop, EBM/industrial, baroque classical, big band, new age, outlaw country, traditional irish music, and movie soundtracks. I'll focus on comparing the 3 in terms of SQ.

Soundstage: When comparing their soundstaging, being open cans, they are better than both. The DT770s are pretty good for closed headphones but nothing beats an open pair for soundstaging. For any type of classical music or movie soundtrack, I prefer the HI2050s to both the others just because of this.

Image: Of all 3 cans, the Amperiors take the win and the Technical Pros bring up the rear. Being basically an upgraded Senn HD25, they have no soundstage but their treble resolution is top notch, a bit harsh for those who are treble sensitive. And because of they're superior treble resolution, the imaging is very strong. I would say compared to the DT770s, the Technical Pros have more *treble sound* but are a little more grainy giving up resolution compared to the smoother DT770s. Oddly enough, on a frequency response graph, the DT770s are shown to be very bright. Either my old pair is different or its because how refined the Beyers are up top.

Treble: These are not quite as bright as the Amperiors but soune as like they have more treble energy than the DT770s. I owned the Adidas version of the HD25 and from what I remember, they are comparable to those in both brightness and resolution. The Amperiors' treble is a refined version of the HD25's resulting in a bright sound with less grain up top and high resolution. The DT770s are bright as well but they are have less grain/distortion sound compared to the HPT-990s. Its tough to rank these, but keep in mind all three are my "winners" and I like the sound of all of them. If I had to rank them, I would give them last because of that aforementioned grain. The Amperiors and DT770s are just more refined here.

Mids: Very smooth and nice with very good detail! Being a bright pair of headphones, they do take a backseat to the treble but not as much as the Amperiors do. The quality is there as I could hear using a Chesky Test CD track that focuses on mids. The song is called "Grandma's Hands" and is sung a capella. You focus on the fingers snapping sound to hear the mids. You can hear on both the HI2050s and the DT770s the full "snap" of the skin and bone as opposed to just a simple beat noise from lesser cans. The detail is excellent here in the mids, crisp and not too prominent nor recessed.

Bass: Very different presentations here for all 3 headphones. The Amperiors have not a lot of sub-bass but a very fast mid-bass hump. The DT770s are more neutral through the lows and have the ability to reach very low when asked. Here, the HPT-990 are more neutral than the Amperiors but can't reach as deep as the DT770's. I would say that the bass is definitely there but this isn't a basshead can. The transient speed here is very good as well; not the tightest bass you can get but definitely not slow either like the ATH-M50 (since sold) can be.

Overall SQ: The sound quality is just amazing for this price. Keep in mind the Amperiors go for $250-$300 and the DT770 for about $200. The fact that they hang in the same company is a testament to this. The treble isn't quite as refined as the pricey headphones but overall its a very neutral can IMO with a bit of lift up top. I love listening to these at home and they are in my rotation.

Verdict: How do they do it for this price? Excellent build quality, a free pro quality hard case, and excellent sound. Maybe these are FOTM. Who cares? They sound amazing. For the asking price, wow!

 

[pro1137]

How would the Pro 80 compare to the Ultrasone PRO750? Are the mids better with the Pro 80 or PRO750?
How much bass does the Pro 80 deliver in comparison to the DT770 Pro?
How portable is the Pro 80?

 

[Keller1]

Quote:

How would the Pro 80 compare to the Ultrasone PRO750? Are the mids better with the Pro 80 or PRO750?
How much bass does the Pro 80 deliver in comparison to the DT770 Pro?
How portable is the Pro 80?

They're close except the ultrasone 750 has much more and more intrusive bass. I have the Hi2050 and in terms of SQ the only differences are the quantity of bass and the harshness the hi2050 has..

 

[pro1137]

Would it be an upgrade to my Hi2050 if I were to get the DT880 Pro?
What about the K701?

 

[Claus-DK]

A very small upgrade IMO, but it also depends on your musical taste which phone you like the best..
In my experience the "do I like this phone" is just as much a matter of signature as it is the actual technical abilities of the phone..

 

[biggbenn74]

Finally got my computer to work! (somewhat) So, here are some pictures for you guys!
 
 

 
Here are the Brainwavz HM5 pads on the Pro80. Looks more aesthetically pleasing than stock. Good improvement in comfort over stock.
 
 

 
Carrying case. Not too practical, but still a nice thing to have. cool to display.
 
 

 
Headphones fit nicely in box.
 
 

 
Very sleek looking from the front. I love these things.
 
 

 
Hope you enjoyed the pics!

 

[Claus-DK]

I had a wonderfull time, thanks