These arrived yesterday. Very nice fit and finish. Nice package. I've had chance to listen and A/B for about 3 hours with my daily driver, the Takstar HI-3050, which is the predecessor to the HF-580, which uses the same driver as the M570, Blon, and Sendy Aiva. I also have an actual HF-580, but haven't used it much and it's not handy to A/B with the other two. Visually, the HF-580 and HI-3050 are identical other than the model number etched into the adjusters, and Takstar has told me the two are identical, with the HI-3050 being intended for the domestic market in Asia and the HF-580 intended for other markets. Whether that's true or not, I'm not sure.
I don't want to make too many premature assessments about the M570 until I've had a long acclimation/adjustment time, but my initial impressions in no particular order, both cans stock, no EQ, driven by a Marantz HD-DAC1:
Comfort: Takstar wins this one. They're a bit lighter and have less clamping force. Both have traditional headbands, not suspension like the Blon and Sendy. I prefer traditional headbands. The earholes in the pads on the M570 are shorter but wider. I find the pads on the Takstar more suited to my ear structure.
Cable: No contest, the M570 wins this. Smooth braided cable sleeve, no kinks or memory, and the key: detachable.
Sound: Very similar, as one would expect given the same driver. I've heard reviewers complain about the Takstar compared to the Sendy and Blon, saying the Takstar are "tuned differently", but the veil that they complain about I've never heard in person, so I don't know if my ears are shot, there's extreme variance in production tolerances, or the HI-3050 does in fact have differences from the HF-580. Others have said the m570 is extremely close to the Blon and Sendy in sound signature, and the Takstar and m570 are SO close IMO, that I question the different tuning theory. I find the Takstar to be a bit more open with respect to soundstage, but the m570 to have a bit more texture to the sound. I don't notice major differences in treble or bass extension, but being over age 50 the natural degradation of hearing range with age makes me the wrong person to assess treble extension. The bass and midbass on the m570 have a bit more meat/texture to it than on the Takstar, but it's very subtle.
Right now they are so close to one another in signature IMO that the differences could very well be to pads and cups rather than any tuning or deliberate design decisions.
Supposedly the Takstar are a great platform for modding due to the way they are constructed and their low entry cost. I'm not a modder, so I cannot assess how the m570 compares on that front.
So the jury is still out and will be for a while, but nothing strikes me immediately as being inherently subpar or superb, comparatively speaking. Like many others, I would be interested to introduce the Audeze LCD1 into the comparison, but I want to wait for a cheaper price point.
My m570 cost US$254 delivered and the Takstar were US$161 delivered, so both are very attractively priced compared to competition (I prefer both of these to any of the LCD series, Hifiman, and Fostex that I previously owned; I won't compare to the Koss ESP-950 as that's a completely different animal), but in terms of raw bang for the buck, the Takstar being $100 cheaper is a major consideration as long as you can live with the attached rubberized cable.
To be continued...
