[Kammerat Rebekka]

Thanks for the initial impressions you guys! Not that it means I will experience the same when I effectively get mine, but it’s nice to hear that it fx isn’t made out of petrified mayo and matchsticks.
What makes me say something like this?
The fact that I’ve heard the hd600 described as bright, dark, quick, sluggish, bass light, bassy, detailed, muffled and just about everything in between.
I am eagerly awaiting this granted ugly duckling of a headphone

 

[Roderick]

there any foam inserted behind the back of the driver or is it fully open behind the grill?

No foam. Just a thin dust cover.

Four screws hold the driver in place.
Seal ring

Those screws hold the driver in one piece. DO NOT loosen those.

These will be difficult to mod. Cable has no extra lenght so driver does not move more than that.


Quite translucent.

 

[Miiksu]

@Roderick It seems where the driver is placed has too many holes around it and it bleed the bass out. Just my quess...

 

[volly]

No foam. Just a thin dust cover.

Four screws hold the driver in place.
Seal ring

Those screws hold the driver in one piece. DO NOT loosen those.

These will be difficult to mod. Cable has no extra lenght so driver does not move more than that.


Quite translucent.

I see, I would perhaps, try some acoustic foam dampening behind the grill then. Sorta like what they did with the 58x over at MD. Could trap some of that treble and bass. At least it's fairly cleanly built, looks to be a good platform upon which modder's might consider having a crack at! Sort of like the T50rp's back in the hey-days!

Do you have any Sennheiser HD600/650's? They seem to be a similar size and shape, could borrow some foam from the inner cups of the 600/650's and line it like this in the Takstars?!

 

[maxxevv]

I see, I would perhaps, try some acoustic foam dampening behind the grill then. Sorta like what they did with the 58x over at MD. Could trap some of that treble and bass. At least it's fairly cleanly built, looks to be a good platform upon which modder's might consider having a crack at! Sort of like the T50rp's back in the hey-days!

Do you have any Sennheiser HD600/650's? They seem to be a similar size and shape, could borrow some foam from the inner cups of the 600/650's and line it like this in the Takstars?!

I would suggest try sealing up the hole on the left of the pict if bass is what you are after. The gap between the ring and the driver. And any other significant gaps between the mounting ring and the driver. Reducing the airflow between outside and the driver won't help it sound good.

 

[volly]

I would suggest try sealing up the hole on the left of the pict if bass is what you are after. The gap between the ring and the driver. And any other significant gaps between the mounting ring and the driver. Reducing the airflow between outside and the driver won't help it sound good.

My AR-H1's aren't as open back as the Takstar! They have a fancy pattern-grill with foam right behind it. The driver is fully opened on the ear-side with only a dust cover from the ear pads.


Similar looking structure inside though! I dare say, they are identical and AR used the same drivers!

 

[stimuz]

So, first impressions. Like actual very first impressions as it just came in and I listened to it for like 15 minutes is it sounds a lot like the Aiva to me, but disclaimer I shelf boost bass on my THX monolith desktop. Build quality seems good to me, but headband pleather will peel in probably less than a year and I'm doubtful the chrome finish will last. Grills are pretty much identical in quality/build as most Hifiman (560/400 etc). Cables long, but crappy. It's significantly heavier than the Aiva, probably the magnets used? Actually might be the headband adjustment mechanism, seems extra thick and if it's running through the headband thats probably where the weight is coming from.

It's a very good purchase imo. I'm probably gonna try mods on it(rather, copy someone who actually knows anything about acoustics) or give it to friends or family because to me it's so similar to the Aiva. I actually prefer this and the Aiva to the HE560, but that's just personal pref.

One of thing is the top of my ears touch the driver guard on the Aiva but don't on the Takstar. It's actually more comfortable to me. China turning it up, hopefully they can get some good dynamics going.

Disclaimer: doesn't sound exactly like the Aiva but the characteristics are all there, decent bass, good highs, recessed lows.

2 hours~ of listening and A/Bing with Aiva, highs are very similar even more so with the cloth earpads but bass doesn't have as much kick with either earpads. Pretty sure the Sendy's almost semi-closed design helps them in that regard. For the price these things are amazing imo, very curious to see what people can do to them.

 

[stimuz]

No foam. Just a thin dust cover.

Four screws hold the driver in place.

https://i.redd.it/9paw4gvy63s21.jpg confirmed I guess

 

[stimuz]

My AR-H1's aren't as open back as the Takstar! They have a fancy pattern-grill with foam right behind it. The driver is fully opened on the ear-side with only a dust cover from the ear pads.

Similar looking structure inside though! I dare say, they are identical and AR used the same drivers!

100% same driver between the 3, but interesting thing as the AR and Aiva are pretty closed out for open headphones. I tested by covering the grills completely with my hands on the takstars(btw these EQ really well like the sendy, no idea why!) and it doesn't suck out the SQ just makes it sound really small. If I do that even partially blocking my HE-560 bass 100% disappears and it starts sounding like old phone speakers. That's interesting because adding more damping materials seems to be a viable option or even close backed I bet these things would be pretty good.

 

[volly]

100% same driver between the 3, but interesting thing as the AR and Aiva are pretty closed out for open headphones. I tested by covering the grills completely with my hands on the takstars(btw these EQ really well like the sendy, no idea why!) and it doesn't suck out the SQ just makes it sound really small. If I do that even partially blocking my HE-560 bass 100% disappears and it starts sounding like old phone speakers. That's interesting because adding more damping materials seems to be a viable option or even close backed I bet these things would be pretty good.

My edition X's are built different to these and if you cup them, then yes, the SQ changes dramatically! I dare say, AR and Sendy may have noticed this when testing. These drivers also take on more power really well too! Edition X is fine and loud on low gain, where as the H1's takes the Mjolnir head on and ask for more, whilst becoming a beast of a headphone with the more power thrown at it! I like think, these Takstar's will be the same and being very open, then I dare say, you'll need to throw more power for it to really shine!

I'd suggest modding with just a bit of foam behind the grill first to see if it changes the frequency response. Should be easily reversible as you've already demonstrated how easy they are to dissemble. Disclaimer: I've only modded T50rp's!

Are you using the leather pads? I would think the velour pads would make these sound very bright but fast/tight bass?!

 

[stimuz]

My edition X's are built different to these and if you cup them, then yes, the SQ changes dramatically! I dare say, AR and Sendy may have noticed this when testing. These drivers also take on more power really well too! Edition X is fine and loud on low gain, where as the H1's takes the Mjolnir head on and ask for more, whilst becoming a beast of a headphone with the more power thrown at it! I like think, these Takstar's will be the same and being very open, then I dare say, you'll need to throw more power for it to really shine!

I'd suggest modding with just a bit of foam behind the grill first to see if it changes the frequency response. Should be easily reversible as you've already demonstrated how easy they are to dissemble. Disclaimer: I've only modded T50rp's!

Are you using the leather pads? I would think the velour pads would make these sound very bright but fast/tight bass?!

I switched to the cloth pads and they do brighten up a bit, but it oddly doesn't effect the bass that much. That wasn't me who took them apart, Roderick did. Pretty excited about these though, since I doubt anyone would wanna mess with modding a pair of $600 headphones that don't look like they disassemble easily.

 

[volly]

I switched to the cloth pads and they do brighten up a bit, but it oddly doesn't effect the bass that much. That wasn't me who took them apart, Roderick did. Pretty excited about these though, since I doubt anyone would wanna mess with modding a pair of $600 headphones that don't look like they disassemble easily.

Looking forward to hearing more impressions mate!

 

[Roderick]

I won't be modding these (except pad rolling). If I keep them they're more usefull for me in their stock form. These won'tbe getting much headtime as I have lcd3, hd800 etc. But hf580 can be a nice reference among $200 headphones. I just opened these to show people what is inside.

I was looking for the driver OEM. I did not find it but I found out that there is atleast one headphone with the same driver on taobao.

https://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=592028923415&spm=a21wu.10013511-tw.3.1

I think it is same as sivga planar headphones. http://www.sivgaaudio.com/us/planar...-over-ear-headphones-silver-woodgrain-93.html

Sivga wants $650 for it. Taobao model is $400(propably $600 it were available outside taobao). Ar-h1 and sendy $599.

I'm impressed how low takstar managed to push the price.

EDIT: I'f I was to mod these I'd try to remove the silver ring and see if grille can be removed from the outside. Then replace the grille with more open mesh and add some foam behind it. If the driver is not a utter mess quite basic dampening should do the trick.

For comparison here is lcd3. If you don't count the The fazor system all that is there is a piece of foam.

 

[filthyweeb]

 

[heavyharmonies]

Either these are opening up a bit or I'm just acclimating to them. Soundstage is considerably wider than the Audeze Mobius. I still prefer these with a bit of V-shaped EQ at the far ends rather than flat. Keep in mind that I'm over the age of 50, so treble boost for my aging ears may not be what younger folks require.

They're at a point where I have no complaints at this price point with respect to the audio quality... rubberized attached cable is still craptacular though.