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 .
Apr 14, 2018 at 9:21 AM Post #1,756 of 4,604
Comparison of Pro 82 against M40x in Monitoring and Music enjoyment

Build wise, I feel that the Pro 82 will be more prone to destruction than the M40x, but the Pro 82 has smoother articulation on its moving parts. No squeaky squeaky sounds at all.

On Comfort, Pro 82 wins easy, it was , the only point the M40x would be tolerably comfortable is by the usage of a younger kid. I tried to let my little sister wear my M40x and she has no complaints. Level of isolation is similar to both cans.

In my SQ Evaluation, I plugged both Pro 82 and M40x in a Phonic Mixer Console plugged into Wharfedale Speakers. In my listening outside the console, I use my Cayin N3.

In my experience on the Mixer, M40x sounds accurate on the vocals on my A/B test with headphones on and listening to speakers alternately, but the Pro 82 reveals hissy audio equipment.

SQ Wise, M40x is more of a Mature listener's headphone to the point where some people would call it boring, You won't easily convince a basshead or a normal music lover to go buy new headphones when you let them audition those(Minus the "Audio-Technica" branding, probably). M40x sounds very boring on Eurobeat tracks and Classical Tracks are quite dull on those. Pro 82, on the other hand, has more quirks(like the bass switch), but they seem to be not compromising the quality of the sound as well, and the microdetails, transients are easier to perceive on the Pro 82 than the M40x. You have a basshead friend? Flip that switch on the Pro 82s and convince your basshead friend to our little world of Quality audio(Yes, flipping it all the way may distort other frequencies and may sound fatiguing, but for me it is alright and I believe this was meant for the Basshead audience, to destroy the conception of Audiophiles are mere trebleheads who listen to tube amps on their vinyl full of violin and choral tracks). Sound stage and imaging, I will give it to Pro 82 though the Pro 82 can project sound images outside the cups asymmetrically(like the sound on the right is more present than the left and vice versa) on some tracks to the point that your inner channel imbalance OCD will probably get triggered, making you adjust the placement of cups in your ears.

I would trust M40x in Mixing the final mix, but I would enjoy the results of the mix in Pro 82(And probably use the Pro 82 if I have overdone my mixes in the bass or treble region).

Takstar Pro 82 are a good pair of cans, but They are too much fun to be used in a Studio Setting for me, but then the Pro 82 has more detail retrieval that even your average Monitoring Cans struggle to extract.

IMHO, Takstar Pro 82 should be renamed as "Takstar Fun 82" because of it's fun sound signature.

I equally like both of these cans though.
 

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Apr 14, 2018 at 3:57 PM Post #1,757 of 4,604
Here are measurements of Takstar Pro 82 Black #3 (from the second batch).
This time, to minimize the influence of placement, I have measured each side 10 times instead of 5:
upload_2018-4-14_22-42-53.png


upload_2018-4-14_22-43-34.png


Here are both sides, averaged:
upload_2018-4-14_22-44-42.png


Both sides are totally aligned up to 4.5kHz, with small differences above that.
Looks like the channel imbalance below 50Hz was due to not having enough measurements on each side to cancel out the placement effects.
As you can see from the first 2 graphs, each single measurement can differ quite a lot in that area from the others, so choosing any 5 of them may result in a very diverse set of averages.

Here is the comparison of two Pro 82s I measured so far (each headphone averaged both sides):
upload_2018-4-14_22-51-51.png

Black #3 - 20 total measurements averaged
Silver #2 - 10 total measurements averaged

So far, Pro 82 drivers look much more consistent than LCD-4 and Utopia measured by Tyll and Katz: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...iscussion-thread.849965/page-78#post-14005821
Three more Pro 82s to go - 1 from the second batch, and 2 from the first one.
 
Apr 15, 2018 at 12:34 AM Post #1,760 of 4,604
IMG_20180415_112224.jpg

Put a custom cable on my Pro 82. I originally bought the cable for Audio Technica TAD 300, so it was soldered into each cup. The head band of the TAD 300 is broken so I took the cable out and soldered a 2.5 mm jack.

Sound wise, almost no difference compared to stock cable, maybe just a tiny bit clearer on the treble, but maybe it's just placebo

It uses 6.5 mm jack so it's more convenient to connect the Pro 82 to my DAC
 
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Apr 15, 2018 at 5:31 AM Post #1,761 of 4,604

Put a custom cable on my Pro 82. I originally bought the cable for Audio Technica TAD 300, so it was soldered into each cup. The head band of the TAD 300 is broken so I took the cable out and soldered a 2.5 mm jack.

Sound wise, almost no difference compared to stock cable, maybe just a tiny bit clearer on the treble, but maybe it's just placebo

It uses 6.5 mm jack so it's more convenient to connect the Pro 82 to my DAC
Hi!, did you use a 3-pole or 4-pole 2.5mm connector? I’m still wondering why nobody played with it to see if the headphones are intrinsically ready for a balanced connection. I find it intriguing...
 
Apr 15, 2018 at 10:01 AM Post #1,764 of 4,604
Comparison of Pro 82 against M40x in Monitoring and Music enjoyment

Build wise, I feel that the Pro 82 will be more prone to destruction than the M40x, but the Pro 82 has smoother articulation on its moving parts. No squeaky squeaky sounds at all.

On Comfort, Pro 82 wins easy, it was , the only point the M40x would be tolerably comfortable is by the usage of a younger kid. I tried to let my little sister wear my M40x and she has no complaints. Level of isolation is similar to both cans.

In my SQ Evaluation, I plugged both Pro 82 and M40x in a Phonic Mixer Console plugged into Wharfedale Speakers. In my listening outside the console, I use my Cayin N3.

In my experience on the Mixer, M40x sounds accurate on the vocals on my A/B test with headphones on and listening to speakers alternately, but the Pro 82 reveals hissy audio equipment.

SQ Wise, M40x is more of a Mature listener's headphone to the point where some people would call it boring, You won't easily convince a basshead or a normal music lover to go buy new headphones when you let them audition those(Minus the "Audio-Technica" branding, probably). M40x sounds very boring on Eurobeat tracks and Classical Tracks are quite dull on those. Pro 82, on the other hand, has more quirks(like the bass switch), but they seem to be not compromising the quality of the sound as well, and the microdetails, transients are easier to perceive on the Pro 82 than the M40x. You have a basshead friend? Flip that switch on the Pro 82s and convince your basshead friend to our little world of Quality audio(Yes, flipping it all the way may distort other frequencies and may sound fatiguing, but for me it is alright and I believe this was meant for the Basshead audience, to destroy the conception of Audiophiles are mere trebleheads who listen to tube amps on their vinyl full of violin and choral tracks). Sound stage and imaging, I will give it to Pro 82 though the Pro 82 can project sound images outside the cups asymmetrically(like the sound on the right is more present than the left and vice versa) on some tracks to the point that your inner channel imbalance OCD will probably get triggered, making you adjust the placement of cups in your ears.

I would trust M40x in Mixing the final mix, but I would enjoy the results of the mix in Pro 82(And probably use the Pro 82 if I have overdone my mixes in the bass or treble region).

Takstar Pro 82 are a good pair of cans, but They are too much fun to be used in a Studio Setting for me, but then the Pro 82 has more detail retrieval that even your average Monitoring Cans struggle to extract.

IMHO, Takstar Pro 82 should be renamed as "Takstar Fun 82" because of it's fun sound signature.

I equally like both of these cans though.
Excellent comparison, added the link to it in post #2.
 
Apr 15, 2018 at 10:55 AM Post #1,766 of 4,604
It’s a cable that is often used in studios because of long runs and the possibility of interference. This idea was adopted by Hi-Fi people who say that they hear differences in the clarity of sound. Basically, each side works independently rather than sharing the same ground so left signal and ground go directly to left earpiece and right signal and a separate ground from the left goes to the right.

I don’t personally hear any difference but c’est la vie ........

Each to his own, but be careful of delving into this when the cable costs a packet.
 
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Apr 15, 2018 at 12:56 PM Post #1,767 of 4,604
It’s a cable that is often used in studios because of long runs and the possibility of interference. This idea was adopted by Hi-Fi people who say that they hear differences in the clarity of sound. Basically, each side works independently rather than sharing the same ground so left signal and ground go directly to left earpiece and right signal and a separate ground from the left goes to the right.

I don’t personally hear any difference but c’est la vie ........

Each to his own, but be careful of delving into this when the cable costs a packet.

Snake oil mostly.

The concept of a balanced headphone is both left and right channel are design for their own ground. The idea is that by using a common ground, there is a chance for cross talk and additional resistance from the ground. Which may lead to feedback and audio degradation. For badly done single ended setups or with very long cables this may happen.

Then there is the other side of the equation. Most consumer balanced amps don't really do balanced internally right either. Lots of discussions on this subject around here.
 
Apr 15, 2018 at 1:00 PM Post #1,768 of 4,604
Exactly. It’s one of those subjects that causes chaos when discussed so I feel nervous even talking about it. :wink:

Only time I used it was while working as a musician where interference could be an issue. Most engineers thought me daft to even consider it for a home amp for the very same reason that you’ve mentioned.
 
Apr 15, 2018 at 1:16 PM Post #1,769 of 4,604
As you said...........C'est la vie !
I've always been interested in listening to music as an "audiophile" - I have a decent set of speakers (Polk RTiA5), but would like to spend some time listening with an eadphone
I have a RHA ma750i that I use most likely when I travel (music, movies) and it sounds great on top of isolating from aircraft noises
But I was thinking about getting a system when I'm home (headphone, dac, amp)
Not really sure where to start though................!
 
Apr 15, 2018 at 1:22 PM Post #1,770 of 4,604
It’s very easy to get anxious because whatever you get or like, someone else might not like it and you go in ever decreasing circles.

I’ve done magic circles for nearly 50 years and more often than not, I listen on a portable setup because it has more uses around the house. Good for sitting and listening and can carry on listening while cutting the lawn or whatever!!

However, with Hi-Fi, no matter what someone recommends, someone else will say they’re wrong and the circle begins to take the shape of a spiral, with hundreds of pounds or euros floating down inside the middle......

I get the biggest changes in sound by changing the headphone.
 
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