Takstar HF 580 Planar Headphones
Aug 14, 2019 at 1:47 PM Post #587 of 1,250
Welp, I tried modding as my own expertise can go and I can't suppress the ringing enough. I put them up on ebay. I'm sad, these have so much potential idk, I feel strange.

I removed the outer mesh that covers the driver facing the outside of the cup. I added a square of felt size of the driver square and then put double sided tape which fits in between the lines to keep it in place and I have no ringing issues. Sounds sublime.
 
Aug 18, 2019 at 2:57 PM Post #588 of 1,250
After a some mods and stock form, i can say that these headphones are very hipped, the mids are missing, the highs dirt and the bass hit very hollow, compared with my DT1990pro, M1060, Fostex t20 mkiii modhouse, and others 6-7 pairs of dynamics, my mods: a thin felt behind the drivers, HM5 pads, angled and straight, felt on front or cotton behind, the last one almost fix the hollow bass but no more.
I've been using my HF 580 for three days now and my sensations are very much the same as you. I have four dynamic headphones, much cheaper than the HF 580, all of them. And the dynamic ones offer better overall sound: clearer and more vivid sound. Only aspect I would say the HF 580 are superior is they have lower distortion and very good materials / quality of construction (matching their price).
 
Aug 19, 2019 at 1:31 AM Post #589 of 1,250
I've been using my HF 580 for three days now and my sensations are very much the same as you. I have four dynamic headphones, much cheaper than the HF 580, all of them. And the dynamic ones offer better overall sound: clearer and more vivid sound. Only aspect I would say the HF 580 are superior is they have lower distortion and very good materials / quality of construction (matching their price).

Strange I find the HF580 very good. I did put extra material on the outside of the driver + the Sendy pads. I would put the SQ greater than $400+ headphones. Really articulate treble and imaging.
 
Aug 19, 2019 at 2:24 PM Post #590 of 1,250
Strange I find the HF580 very good. I did put extra material on the outside of the driver + the Sendy pads. I would put the SQ greater than $400+ headphones. Really articulate treble and imaging.
Hmm... Strange indeed. I have been listening to music for hours now. And I don't know if it is my brain, that it is getting used to the HF 580 or something else, but to be honest, I am enjoying the listening. I am perceiving many details, a good soundstage and overall the sound I am getting is clear and vivid, as I expect it to be.

I have not changed the audio source. Since I started using the HF 580, I have had them plugged into the out jack (amp) of my Asus Xonar Essence STX.
 
Aug 19, 2019 at 2:46 PM Post #591 of 1,250
Hmm... Strange indeed. I have been listening to music for hours now. And I don't know if it is my brain, that it is getting used to the HF 580 or something else, but to be honest, I am enjoying the listening. I am perceiving many details, a good soundstage and overall the sound I am getting is clear and vivid, as I expect it to be.

I have not changed the audio source. Since I started using the HF 580, I have had them plugged into the out jack (amp) of my Asus Xonar Essence STX.

It's probably the fact that the phones are new and need some time to reach their top performance. Common with transducers like phono cartridges and speakers. When I bought another glorified pair of my BossHifi B8 dynamics, the SIVGA 006 I was disappointed, too at first. I let them play at high volume for a day without listening and now they sound great.
 
Aug 19, 2019 at 2:51 PM Post #592 of 1,250
My personal opinion is that they still do lack some vividness at the middle even when fully modded. Not much but slightly. You don't even notice it and miss if you don't know any better. So it's not a big issue for me atleast. They have a great bass and extension, a good midrange and nicely balanced treble.
 
Aug 21, 2019 at 4:57 PM Post #593 of 1,250
Yes, they feel simply lifeless and detailless, i enjoy more my $15 Aliexpress "Graphene" drivers mounted in my SA1000 second chassis whitch sound incredibly similar to my Philips X2HR but with less detail, than the Takstars, for the Price i just cant recomended, except for the build, they feel very solid.
 
Aug 21, 2019 at 5:58 PM Post #594 of 1,250
This headphone seems to be an odd duck. I have read through this entire thread and there are really polarizing opinions here, more than most headphones. Kind of similar to the M1060 when it first came out, but with that their were legitimate QC issues that were hurting the experience. Along those lines I'm wondering how much if any unit variation there is with these? However, this doesn't seem that likely because I think I remember seeing that @stimuz has two pair (a 580 and a 3050) and didn't see him comment on huge differences.

As for comparisons, it's been kind of crazy. I've seen comparisons to almost every headphone in the price range (and several outside it) with almost every single headphone being both "better" and "worse" than the HF 580 depending on the person. For example, someone says Sundara beats the HF 580, hands down and another responds that the Sundara is a significant downgrade compared to the HF 580. This is different from most headphones that I own and have read reviews for. There usually seems to be a "bell curve" where the majority of people agree the headphone sits on the performance chart with outliers on either end of the spectrum. The HF 580 doesn't seem to follow this pattern and unlike some other polarizing headphones, this isn't an issue of unusual sound signature, at least as far as I can tell, unlike headphones like the Elear and Nighthawk.

Several have commented that the timbre is pretty good, even straight out of the box. That's an indicator to me that it isn't the driver's fault. More evidence of this is the much more expensive headphones that use the same (or very similar drivers). Mods seem to improve the performance but seem to a little more complex than mass loading a baffle or adding a layer of foam here or there. There doesn't seem to be a general consensus on pad swapping either, unlike the M1060 where the Vegans alone helped the vast majority of the issues most people had with the sound signature.

Disclaimer: I have been in this hobby for almost 10 years so I'm no stranger to this everyone-hears-differently business, this headphone just seems like an extreme example without a definable reason. I would be interested to hear if others have noticed the same extra-polarizing opinions or if I'm just making a mountain out of a mole-hill, so to speak.

With all of that being said, I'm still tempted to pick these up since they are quite reasonably priced for a full-sized planar headphone. Maybe I will use my birthday as my excuse to spoil myself. :D
 
Aug 22, 2019 at 1:04 AM Post #595 of 1,250
This headphone seems to be an odd duck. I have read through this entire thread and there are really polarizing opinions here, more than most headphones. Kind of similar to the M1060 when it first came out, but with that their were legitimate QC issues that were hurting the experience. Along those lines I'm wondering how much if any unit variation there is with these? However, this doesn't seem that likely because I think I remember seeing that @stimuz has two pair (a 580 and a 3050) and didn't see him comment on huge differences.

As for comparisons, it's been kind of crazy. I've seen comparisons to almost every headphone in the price range (and several outside it) with almost every single headphone being both "better" and "worse" than the HF 580 depending on the person. For example, someone says Sundara beats the HF 580, hands down and another responds that the Sundara is a significant downgrade compared to the HF 580. This is different from most headphones that I own and have read reviews for. There usually seems to be a "bell curve" where the majority of people agree the headphone sits on the performance chart with outliers on either end of the spectrum. The HF 580 doesn't seem to follow this pattern and unlike some other polarizing headphones, this isn't an issue of unusual sound signature, at least as far as I can tell, unlike headphones like the Elear and Nighthawk.

Several have commented that the timbre is pretty good, even straight out of the box. That's an indicator to me that it isn't the driver's fault. More evidence of this is the much more expensive headphones that use the same (or very similar drivers). Mods seem to improve the performance but seem to a little more complex than mass loading a baffle or adding a layer of foam here or there. There doesn't seem to be a general consensus on pad swapping either, unlike the M1060 where the Vegans alone helped the vast majority of the issues most people had with the sound signature.

Disclaimer: I have been in this hobby for almost 10 years so I'm no stranger to this everyone-hears-differently business, this headphone just seems like an extreme example without a definable reason. I would be interested to hear if others have noticed the same extra-polarizing opinions or if I'm just making a mountain out of a mole-hill, so to speak.

With all of that being said, I'm still tempted to pick these up since they are quite reasonably priced for a full-sized planar headphone. Maybe I will use my birthday as my excuse to spoil myself. :D

I think it's just the stock pads take getting used to. I couldn't, so I just have a pair of brainwavz angled sheep's hm5 on my 3050 and aiva pads on my 580s. as far as the ringing I don't really notice it even looking for it so I'm not too sure what that's about. I do have the bass eqd via the eq on my monoprice thx 788, but no mods at all. I'll eventually do a cable mod if I ever ruin the stock cable, but in genuinely happy with these. my 1060c, hd 650 and he 560 have been in a drawer for the most part since I got these.
 
Aug 27, 2019 at 4:04 PM Post #597 of 1,250
Guys, which dac/amp would you recommend for the HF 580?
Aliexpress has some deals going on and i would like to buy a combo.
I love my refurb FiiO E7S with a great Wolfson DAC. But I guess they are not available anymore. Maybe get the Andes. FiiO rules IMO.
 
Aug 28, 2019 at 12:42 AM Post #598 of 1,250
Whelp, I took the plunge and ordered a HF 580 for $172 on the AliExpress sale that's happening right now. The price was just low enough to bite. I'm no stranger to modding so I'm pretty sure I can improve the sound with a bit of elbow grease. Hopefully I can tolerate the cable because my soldering skills aren't great.
 
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Aug 28, 2019 at 2:53 AM Post #599 of 1,250
Whelp, I took the plunge and ordered a HF 580 for $172 on the AliExpress sale that's happening right now. The price was just low enough to bite. I'm no stranger to modding so I'm pretty sure I can improve the sound with a bit of elbow grease. Hopefully I can tolerate the cable because my soldering skills aren't great.
I feel like a easier alternative would be to cut off most of the wire on both sides, solder on female connectors on both sides and secure with epoxy and heat shrink, sort of like the superlux system.
 

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