Takstar Pro 82/GM200 Review, impressions and discussion thread

Which headphones do you want Pro 82 to be compared with?


  • Total voters
    39
  • Poll closed .
May 14, 2017 at 6:16 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 4,531

BenF

Headphoneus Supremus
Joined
Jan 22, 2013
Posts
4,486
Likes
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===============================================
See the Takstar GM200 review here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...scussion-thread.849965/page-197#post-15148815
===============================================

I used to love Takstar Pro 80. In fact, I bought two of them (still have both).
I have even recommended them to some of my friends (who ended up being very happy with them).

However, Pro 80s were too U/V-shaped for me, and it took forever to burn them in to get rid of the extra hot treble.
I've moved on to better cans, but kept my eye on the inevitable replacement.

The replacement was teased for months, and as soon I saw one for sale, I jumped on it immediately.
This may be the first one to get out of China, but it's definitely not the last one...

Meet the Pro 82:
upload_2017-5-14_23-29-0.png

It comes in the famous Takstar case.

upload_2017-5-14_23-29-39.png

I chose the black ones over the silver ones - no regrets here!
Gorgeous headphones, plain and simple.

upload_2017-5-14_23-31-19.png

It comes with a soft case, 3.5mm/6.5mm adapter and a 2.2m cable (2.5mm inside the cup, 3.5mm on the other end).
Takstar continues the tradition of providing cables that are too long.
Edit 28 Dec 2017: in the new revision that is being currently sold,the cable has the perfect length - 1.6m.

upload_2017-5-14_23-40-48.png
upload_2017-5-14_23-41-6.png

upload_2017-5-14_23-41-19.png


upload_2017-5-14_23-41-35.png


Now let's get to it!

Comfort:
Comfort is greatly improved compared to Pro 80.
The pads are larger, thicker and made of better materials. They are fully "over ear" for me, when Pro 80 was a definite "on-ear". If the NVX XPT100 with the ComfortMax pads is 10 out of 10 comfort-wise, and Pro 80 is 6.5 at best - Pro 82 is an 8 at least.
Pressure on the head is acceptably delicate, yet the headphone sits securely.

upload_2017-5-14_23-54-20.png

Above you can see a ComfortMax pad sandwiched inside Pro 82.
As you can see, it is slightly larger, and quite a lot thicker.
Judging from my experience with Pro 80 (and others), putting much thicker pads instead of originals will
likely have a negative effect on the sound, but I may experiment later with other pads of similar thickness.

Isolation/Leakage:
There is very little leakage outside, if AC is on in the room - no one can hear what I'm listening to from 2 feet away.
Isolation from outside noise - these are perfect for a noisy office, but not for bus/train/plain.
Another reason not to replace pads - I'm quite sure other pads will result in worse leakage/isolation.

Bass
It's fantastic! Great impact with a full body, followed by a perfect decay.
Such bass is hard to find in headphones at any price, impossible at this price point.

However, to attract "bassheads", Pro 82 has a new feature - bass boost.
You can boost the bass 3dB or 6dB, and (according to Takstar) it shouldn't affect FR over 300Hz:
upload_2017-5-14_23-44-47.png


Well, this graph is absolutely incorrect. Using 6dB boost totally ruins the sound, and while 3dB
doesn't have as much of a negative effect, it's still unpleasant. Not only does the bass becomes flubby,
but the tonality of everything changes too, Pro 82 sounds hollow and honky. Strongly advise to stay away from this feature.

So is this not the headphone for bassheads? Not necessarily. Take a look at the graph above -
the bass is already boosted 5dB over the mids. So this is definitely a bass-heavy headphone.
It will still attract audiophiles, because it doesn't bleed into mids, and the quality of bass is up to the highest standards.

Going back to the graph above, don't expect the bass to be linear down to 20Hz - there is a drop-off below 80Hz.
The headphone is specced down to 10Hz - I could still hear quite a lot at 15Hz - so a healthy subbass is present.

upload_2017-5-15_0-19-45.png

Here you can see the bass ports closed (no bass boost)

upload_2017-5-15_0-20-23.png

Here can see the bass ports fully open - a 6dB boost.

Mids:
The mids are somewhat recessed - this is a U-shaped headphone, but not as much as Pro 80.
The timbre of voices is nearly perfect. If only they would step forward a bit!
I think it's because of the recessed mids that I find myself listening at slightly higher than usual volume - at lower
volume Pro 82 doesn't sound as impressive.
You can improve the mids by using foam disks - Tuning Pro 82 with easy mods

Treble:
This is the most surprising part.
Pro 80 had a very hot treble, which took several months of heavy usage to tame.
Still, it could be too hot sometimes, and sibilance would raise its ugly head occasionally too.
Pro 82's treble is as detailed and brilliant as Pro 80s, but it doesn't get too hot, and it avoids sibilance like a ninja.
Here is a great track to test sibilance:

Even before Taylor Swift starts singing, Brad Paisley (the host) sounds like a love child of Duffy Duck and Silvester on most headphones.
Not on Pro 82! All the detail is still there (this is not a dark headphone), but sibilance is totally gone!

Gaming:
I am not a gamer, but I can promise you this:
a) With Pro 82's bass quantity and quality, explosions will be EPIC!
b) With Pro 82's clarity, you will have no problem hearing your teammates/enemies
c) Pro 82 has a larger soundstage than Pro 80, but keep in mind - this is a music-oriented headphone, so it may not be the best in directional cues
d) You can use a BoomPro cable (if you have one already) with a 3.5/2.5mm TRS adapter,
or you can buy this 2.5mm/3.5mm cable with a microphone:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Upg...ack-Cable-Mic-For-Bose-Quiet/32810246600.html
Also, you can just buy a proper USB microphone.
You'll get better audio too.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32931005654.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32891160203.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000064329195.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000899186256.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32950415980.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000614534190.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32783207436.html

Driveability:
It's 32Ohm and 96dB - fairly easy to drive.

Conclusion:
This is a huge improvement over Pro 80 - all over the frequency range.
Comfort and isolation are improved as well.

All of the impressions are OOTB through Oppo-HA2 .
I'll put it to burn-in, but I honestly can't see it improving much over what I'm hearing.

Once it's burned in, I'll compare it to some of the other closed/semi-open headphones I have - you can vote (up to 3 votes per user) which headphones you want to compare with Pro 82.
I will do at least 5 comparisons - so every vote counts!
The poll (on top of the page) is limited to 10 items, so I had to make some choices for you :)
I also have these:
Takstar TS-670
Edifier H850
ATH-ESW9A
Bosshifi 6/7
ISK HD9999

If there will be enough demand, I'll consider them too.
(see the post below for links to comparisons)

Also coming: impressions of tubes/SS, different DACs/Amps.

Where to buy:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32808454492.html
For Chinese New Year Pro 82 celebration, please see here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...iscussion-thread.849965/page-80#post-14011105

Great news!
TakstarAudio has extended their Head-Fi discount to SMSL Idea, both standalone and together with Pro 82:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SMS...OS-SABRE9018Q2C-DSD512-32Bit/32809153098.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...g-K-song-game-stereo-headset/32808454492.html

New discounts are provided regardless of coupons and "seller discounts" available - just write "Head-fi" in the order message after placing the order and wait for the price to be adjusted!
Pro 82 (without case) + SMSL Idea - final price 138$ when using "free" shipping options
Pro 82 (with case) + SMSL Idea - final price 146$ when using "free" shipping options
Pro 82 (without case) - final price 65$ when using "free" shipping options
Pro 82 (with case) - final price 75$ when using "free" shipping options
SMSL Idea - final price 78$ when using "free" shipping options
If you choose the non-free shipping option, the price will be adjusted accordingly to reflect the shipping price.

Pro 82 with Idea seems like the best deal - total discount of 22$ from the list price!
And the best part - now you'll get them at the same time, and won't have to wait for one, having received the other!


EDIT of December 27th 2023:

Aliexpress has made some changes that prevent stores from issuing coupon codes, so this time we have links to some private coupons that need to be clipped. It works for the best, as now you can combine these coupons with Aliexpress discount codes during sales.
These coupons are valid until March 18th 2024, to be used for Takstar Pro 82 v2 / GM200 / HF580 and FIIO BTR3K from the TakstarAudio store:
5$ off 60$ - https://a.aliexpress.com/_onU32Zk
10$ off 100$ - https://a.aliexpress.com/_onYeoiQ
20$ off 200$ - https://a.aliexpress.com/_oFVd6Oq

Don't forget to ask Ellie to mark a lower package value to avoid customs.

These are exclusive coupons, please don't share them outside Head-Fi!

Takstar Pro 82 v2 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32808454492.html
Takstar GM200 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33012705103.html
FIIO BTR3K - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000849710696.html
Takstar HF580 - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32997885429.html

Important: It's best to use Aliexpress Standard Shipping, because the store have experienced a few situations where Pro 82/GM200 was returned by the customs when using China Post, but never Aliexpress Standard Shipping. Also, it's A LOT faster now during the pandemic, as Aliexpress has direct deals with the local post offices in many countries.

Don't forget, the 99$ O2 is here: https://www.jdslabs.com/products/167/objective2-headphone-amplifier-b-stock/

Warning about some other stores:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...iscussion-thread.849965/page-30#post-13871997
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...iscussion-thread.849965/page-62#post-13966787
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...iscussion-thread.849965/page-18#post-13644155
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...iscussion-thread.849965/page-15#post-13590199

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...or-Computer-recording-K-song/32811235476.html


EU residents can buy from Headphoniaks (79 euro with a case): https://headphoniaks.com/en/shop/takstar-pro82-2/
Looks like Headphoniaks have v1 though.

Couple hints for purchasing at Aliexpress:
1) Purchase from a seller that offers ePacket. Usually the free shipping options (China Post, Singapore Post and Aliexpress Standard Shipping) take 3-6 weeks to deliver worldwide.
ePacket usually takes 2-4 weeks.
2) Purchasing using Aliexpress mobile app gives an extra 1% discount.
Sometimes, there are additional mobile-only discounts.
 
Last edited:
May 14, 2017 at 6:30 PM Post #2 of 4,531
 
Last edited:
May 14, 2017 at 6:31 PM Post #3 of 4,531
reserved #2


Peicille's initial impressions - a true basshead's perspective #1
Peicille's initial impressions - a true basshead's perspective #2
Peicille's impressions after a week - a true basshead's perspective #3

OscarPaz's initial impressions
OscarPaz's in-depth impressions/comparison Pro 82 vs. Philips X2
OscarPaz's impressions on tuning Pro 82

Orkojonazos's initial impressions

Letlive's initial impressions

Miguelbazil's initial impressions
Miguelbazil's further impressions
Miguelbazil's impressions on the effects of the tuning foams

Sito Lupian's initial impressions

Elkosith's initial impressions #1
Elkosith's initial impressions #2

HerrWallen's initial impressions

J Mirra's initial impressions
J Mirra's impressions, including comparison with Sony MDR900MA, Phillips X2, Monoprice M1060, Denon D7000, Beyerdynamic T1
J Mirra's further impressions
J Mirra's further impressions
J Mirra's further impressions

Myrra's impressions, including comparison with Sony MDR-1A and Beyerdynamic DT-1350
Myrra's impressions on the effects of burn-in

Ahmadfaizadnan's initial impressions
Ahmadfaizadnan's full review, including comparison with Fostex TH-900, Fostex TH-X00 Purpleheart, Sennheiser 800/6xx, Beyerdynamic T90
Ahmadfaizadnan's further impressions
Ahmadfaizadnan's further impressions (including cotton ball mod for the pads)

Dartas' initial impressions

Heavyharmonies' initial impressions
Heavyharmonies' comparison with Fostex TH-X00 Mahogany
Heavyharmonies' further impressions + selling the Fostex

Liztor21's initial impressions

Trellus' initial impressions #1
Trellus' initial impressions #2

Detectit's initial impressions

Chellity's initial impressions

Weirdek's initial impressions #1
Weirdek's initial impressions #2
Weirdek's impressions on the effects of burn-in

Random54's initial impressions (including cotton ball mod for the pads)

Ryder78's Initial impressions (including comparison with JVC HA-S680)

Clemmie21's impressions on the effects of burn-in on subbass

Meetoo1's impressions on using Pro 82 with/without a high quality Amp/DAC

Joshuadapitan's initial impressions

Roderick's impressions

Saus@ge's impressions

dhruvmeena96's impressions

Psiga's initial impressions

Den.Vr's initial impressions

Tysun's impressions

Bigjim's initial impressions

XLR8's initial impressions

Groovybasslines' initial impressions on GM200

Sebasistan's initial impressions
 
Last edited:
May 15, 2017 at 3:28 PM Post #6 of 4,531
I used to love Takstar Pro 80. In fact, I bought two of them (still have both).
I have even recommended them to some of my friends (who ended up being very happy with them).

However, Pro 80s were too U/V-shaped for me, and it took forever to burn them in to get rid of the extra hot treble.
I've moved on to better cans, but kept my eye on the inevitable replacement.

The replacement was teased for months, and as soon I saw one for sale, I jumped on it immediately.
This may be the first one to get out of China, but it's definitely not the last one...

Meet the Pro 82:

It comes in the famous Takstar case.


I chose the black ones over the silver ones - no regrets here!
Gorgeous headphones, plain and simple.


It comes with a soft case, 3.5mm/6.5mm adapter and a 2.2m cable (2.5mm inside the cup, 3.5mm on the other end).
Takstar continues the tradition of providing cables that are too long.
Luckily, there is no shortage of cheap shorter replacement cables, that should fit just fine:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ven...io-Cable-Gold-Plated-1m-Blue/32484944726.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ven...dio-Cable-Gold-Plated-1m-Blue/1979650668.html








Now let's get to it!

Comfort:
Comfort is greatly improved compared to Pro 80.
The pads are larger, thicker and made of better materials. They are fully "over ear" for me, when Pro 80 was a definite "on-ear". If the NVX XPT100 with the ComfortMax pads is 10 out of 10 comfort-wise, and Pro 80 is 6.5 at best - Pro 82 is an 8 at least.
Pressure on the head is acceptably delicate, yet the headphone sits securely.


Above you can see a ComfortMax pad sandwiched inside Pro 82.
As you can see, it is slightly larger, and quite a lot thicker.
Judging from my experience with Pro 80 (and others), putting much thicker pads instead of originals will
likely have a negative effect on the sound, but I may experiment later with other pads of similar thickness.

Isolation/Leakage:
There is very little leakage outside, if AC is on in the room - no one can hear what I'm listening to from
2 feet away.
Isolation from outside noise - these are perfect for a noisy office, but not for bus/train/plain.
Another reason not to replace pads - I'm quite sure other pads will result in worse leakage/isolation.

Bass
It's fantastic! Great impact with a full body, followed by a perfect decay.
Such bass is hard to find in headphones at any price, impossible at this price point.

However, to attract "bassheads", Pro 82 has a new feature - bass boost.
You can boost the bass 3dB or 6dB, and (according to Takstar) it shouldn't affect FR over 300Hz:


Well, this graph is absolutely incorrect. Using 6dB boost totally ruins the sound, and while 3dB
doesn't have as much of a negative effect, it's still unpleasant. Not only does the bass becomes flubby,
but the tonality of everything changes too, Pro 82 sounds hollow and honky. Strongly advise to stay away from this feature.

So is this not the headphone for bassheads? Not necessarily. Take a look at the graph above -
the bass is already boosted 5dB over the mids. So this is definitely a bass-heavy headphone.
It will still attract audiophiles, because it doesn't bleed into mids, and the quality of bass is up to the highest standards.

Going back to the graph above, don't expect the bass to be linear down to 20Hz - there is a drop-off below 80Hz.
The headphone is specced down to 10Hz - I could still hear quite a lot at 15Hz - so a healthy subbass is present.


Here you can see the bass ports closed (no bass boost)


Here can see the bass ports fully open - a 6dB boost.

Mids:
The mids are somewhat recessed - this is a U-shaped headphone, but not as much as Pro 80.
The timbre of voices is nearly perfect. If only they would step forward a bit!
I think it's because of the recessed mids that I find myself listening at slightly higher than usual volume - at lower
volume Pro 82 doesn't sound as impressive.

Treble:
This is the most surprising part.
Pro 80 had a very hot treble, which took several months of heavy usage to tame.
Still, it could be too hot sometimes, and sibilance would raise its ugly head occasionally too.
Pro 82's treble is as detailed and brilliant as Pro 80s, but it doesn't get too hot, and it avoids sibilance like a ninja.
Here is a great track to test sibilance:

Even before Taylor Swift starts singing, Brad Paisley (the host) sounds like a love child of Duffy Duck and Silvester on most headphones.
Not on Pro 82! All the detail is still there (this is not a dark headphone), but sibilance is totally gone!

Driveability:
It's 32Ohm and 96dB - fairly easy to drive.

Conclusion:
This is a huge improvement over Pro 80 - all over the frequency range.
Comfort and isolation are improved as well.

All of the impressions are OOTB though Oppo-HA2 .
I'll put it to burn-in, but I honestly can't see it improving much over what I'm hearing.

Once it's burned in, I'll compare it to some of the other closed/semi-open headphones I have - you can vote (up to 3 votes per user) which headphones you want to compare with Pro 82.
The poll is limited to 10 items, so I had to make some choices for you :)
I also have these:
Takstar TS-670
Edifier H850
ATH-ESW9A
ISK HD9999

If there will be enough demand, I'll consider them too.

Also coming: impressions of tubes/SS, different DACs/Amps.

Where to buy:
Current prices are about 70$ without the case and 80$ with the case.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...g-K-song-game-stereo-headset/32808454492.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Ori...or-Computer-recording-K-song/32811235476.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/132190489954


Hello,
I have a Cloud Core and wanted to know if there is a lot of sound difference between it and Takstar Pro 82. Is it worth me to replace my phone with Takstar Pro82?
thank you so much.
 
May 15, 2017 at 3:57 PM Post #7 of 4,531
Hello,
I have a Cloud Core and wanted to know if there is a lot of sound difference between it and Takstar Pro 82. Is it worth me to replace my phone with Takstar Pro82?
thank you so much.

Cloud Core is supposed to be an exact copy of Pro 80 (with an addition of a mic).
For me, the difference between Pro 80 and Pro 82 is pretty big in every range.

I will soon post a Pro 80 mod, that will make them sound much closer to Pro 82 (about 20$ cost).
This may be a good alternative, if the mic is critical for you.

Edit:
Actually, according to this https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/h...e-same-headphones.759851/page-2#post-11708404 Pro 80 does sound better than HyperX Cloud. So the mod may not have the same effect on the Core - you should consider purchasing Pro 82.
 
Last edited:
May 15, 2017 at 4:27 PM Post #8 of 4,531
Cloud Core is supposed to be an exact copy of Pro 80 (with an addition of a mic).
For me, the difference between Pro 80 and Pro 82 is pretty big in every range.

I will soon post a Pro 80 mod, that will make them sound much closer to Pro 82 (about 20$ cost).
This may be a good alternative, if the mic is critical for you.

Edit:
Actually, according to this https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/h...e-same-headphones.759851/page-2#post-11708404 Pro 80 does sound better than HyperX Cloud. So the mod may not have the same effect on the Core - you should consider purchasing Pro 82.

Hello, thank you very much for the information. Does Pro82 have better building materials compared to pro80? Does it look better built? Thanks.
 
May 15, 2017 at 4:46 PM Post #9 of 4,531
Hello, thank you very much for the information. Does Pro82 have better building materials compared to pro80? Does it look better built? Thanks.

Pro 80 has a pretty high build quality, but Pro 82 is better.
And I like its looks much more, it looks more "premium".
 
May 16, 2017 at 7:57 AM Post #11 of 4,531
How's the soundstage compared to the 80's? Would you recommend them for gaming?
I am not a gamer, but I can promise you this:
a) With Pro 82's bass quantity and quality, explosions will be EPIC!
b) With Pro 82's clarity, you will have no problem hearing your teammates/enemies
c) Pro 82 has a larger soundstage than Pro 80, but keep in mind - this is a music-oriented headphone, so it may not be the best in directional cues
d) You can use a BoomPro cable with a 3.5/2.5mm TRS adapter, but it will be cheaper to just buy a proper USB microphone.
You'll get better audio too.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MK-...ting-Singing-Skype-Recording/32735518891.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...unt-Holder-Clip-with-Locking/32773172782.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/USB...dio-Braodcasting-KTV-Karaoke/32767347400.html

This is an important topic, so I'll add this info to the first post.
 
May 16, 2017 at 11:16 AM Post #13 of 4,531
They "sound" too good to be true! I'm very interested.
 
May 16, 2017 at 12:44 PM Post #14 of 4,531
They "sound" too good to be true! I'm very interested.

What else would you expect from a Pro 80's successor?
Unless you are looking for a mids-forward headphone, these are hard to beat (at least under 500$).
 
May 16, 2017 at 1:04 PM Post #15 of 4,531
I cannot believe they come with an aluminum case. :hushed:
 

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