[BenF]

In order to enjoy some phone to the full extent, I need considerable time spending with that phone.
Some times it might take a year to be familiarized with the phone.
As the statement of David Hilbert of the greatest mathematician of 20th century, "to know some thing is to get used to or to be familiarized with it" ( it might not be the exact his statement though).
The process of getting familiarized with requires training period of time, which can be observed in any discipline like mathematician basket ball player, or pianist.
It might require every day practice.
I think there is no difference for this hobby.
What we know about some phone is simply " being trained onto the phone".
I still try to understand Pro-82 to the fullest extent so that what BenF knows about pro-82 can hopefully be mine someday.

If you'll purchase the two currently available synergy combos (Idea with O2 and EL-D01 with P10), you will greatly accelerate your familiarization with Pro 82.
Comparison of DACs/Amps
Each will show you how great Pro 82 can be, but in a different manner.

And if you want to see Pro 82 for the detail monster it can be - switch the Idea with Oppo HA-02SE or SMSL IQ (but keep O2).

Basically these are the 3 faces of Pro 82:
1) Detail monster with ultimate transparency.
2) Transparent, yet lively.
3) Same as the second one, with a bit of extra warmth.

I prefer the second one, but I'm glad I got to see all three.

 

[Joong]

With my set of Fx audio dac x7 -> Yulong A18-> pro-82, It has better transparency, and speed than Nighthawk, or Th-900.
It seems to scale up with better gears.
Only linearity has trouble with scaling up with volume in comparison to Night hawk.
I might be improved with SMSL IQ.

 

[BenF]

With my set of Fx audio dac x7 -> Yulong A18-> pro-82, It has better transparency, and speed than Nighthawk, or Th-900.
It seems to scale up with better gears.
Only linearity has trouble with scaling up with volume in comparison to Night hawk.
I might be improved with SMSL IQ.

The DAC X7 looks very interesting, has 3 digital interfaces (4 if you count each USB port) and can be used as DAC only or amp only.

How is its headphone output? Is it much worse than A18?
Can you use all three 3.5mm/6.5mm/RCA outputs simultaneously? If yes - is there any performance degradation in power/SQ?
I think RCA is variable, not fixed - did you try plugging Pro 82 to RCA through adapter? It produces much nicer results for me with NFB-11.32.

 

[BenF]

There is a sale on Aliexpress now, SMSL Idea can be had for just 70$ (after store's coupon): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/SMS...OS-SABRE9018Q2C-DSD512-32Bit/32809153098.html
Never saw it so low before, so buy before the sale end in 5 days.

 

[Joong]

The DAC X7 looks very interesting, has 3 digital interfaces (4 if you count each USB port) and can be used as DAC only or amp only.

How is its headphone output? Is it much worse than A18?
Can you use all three 3.5mm/6.5mm/RCA outputs simultaneously? If yes - is there any performance degradation in power/SQ?
I think RCA is variable, not fixed - did you try plugging Pro 82 to RCA through adapter? It produces much nicer results for me with NFB-11.32.

I used X7 as USB dac through ifi nano usb3.0, and the SQ is as good as Gustard A20h ( according to my memory).
The amp section is as good as Yulong A18 which has Xrl output so that I use it for Nighthawk.
The sound quality of X7 is transparent, which means it does not add any warmth or subtract any tonal contents with grain free high.
X7 has both functions of Dac and amp, which is basically refined version of X6 but the RCA has variable outputs.
I didn't try the variable output of RCA for driving any phone.

The headphone ports can be used simultaneously without any degradation when I tried for short period of time so that I am not very sure for this.

A18 has add some warm and fuller sounding and smooth on high (at least not deteriorating the output of x7).
A18 allows driving both outputs, whereas it does not allow both inputs (RCA and XRL)

 

[BenF]

I used X7 as USB dac through ifi nano usb3.0, and the SQ is as good as Gustard A20h ( according to my memory).
The amp section is as good as Yulong A18 which has Xrl output so that I use it for Nighthawk.
The sound quality of X7 is transparent, which means it does not add any warmth or subtract any tonal contents with grain free high.
X7 has both functions of Dac and amp, which is basically refined version of X6 but the RCA has variable outputs.
I didn't try the variable output of RCA for driving any phone.

The headphone ports can be used simultaneously without any degradation when I tried for short period of time so that I am not very sure for this.

A18 has add some warm and fuller sounding and smooth on high (at least not deteriorating the output of x7).
A18 allows driving both outputs, whereas it does not allow both inputs (RCA and XRL)

You should try using X7 with USB/SPDIF converter like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CM6...nvertor-designed-by-weiliang/32480495360.html
It maid a huge difference for my NFB-11.32 - especially when listening through the variable RCA out.

Can you double check using 2/3 output ports simultaneously?

 

[Joong]

You should try using X7 with USB/SPDIF converter like this: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CM6...nvertor-designed-by-weiliang/32480495360.html
It maid a huge difference for my NFB-11.32 - especially when listening through the variable RCA out.

Can you double check using 2/3 output ports simultaneously?

2 Headphone jacks have sound and the RCA has no power.
Either of the phone out port is connected to phone and the RCA has no output.

 

[BenF]

2 Headphone jacks have sound and the RCA has no power.
Either of the phone out port is connected to phone and the RCA has no output.

Sounds interesting. I'm looking to purchase an AK4490 based DAC/Amp, currently the choice is between X7 and Xduoo XD-10.
XD-10 doesn't have coaxial input or dual headphone output, but it has Bluetooth output instead, plus gain switch, bass boost and a battery.

The Aliexpress listings say 120mW output power for X7, but the product's page says 500mW at 32Ohm: http://www.szfxaudio.com/view.php?ID=24
XD-10 is no slouch either, with 250mW at 32Ohm.

Has anyone compared these two?

 

[BenF]

Let's talk about Reloop SHP-8.

Here are the measurements (smoothed 1/12th):

Looks pretty standard, but the bottom around 4Khz is deeper than expected.
Let's take a look at the non-smoothed one:

Left goes down to 33dB (51dB lower than 1Khz), and right goes down to 54dB (30 dB lower than 1kHz).
For comparison, I've added a non-smoothed re-measured Pro 82 v1:

Both channels go down only to 62dB on non-smoothed graph, 65dB on a 1/12th smoothed one.

Other than that 4kHz bottomless pit, SHP8's FR looks exactly like v1.
Since both SHP8 drivers exhibit the same issue, this is not a result of a random QC failure.
Either Reloop bought some cheaper drivers that weren't good enough to bear Takstar's name, or there is a change in dampening.

The good news are, this drop is narrow enough for most people not to hear it - I certainly didn't.
SHP8 sounds as good as Pro 82 v1, no audible issues.

Should you buy it?
Only if you really like the dark grey color and the large logo - it's much more expensive than Pro 82, and the only accessories are a 2.2m cable and a 3.5/6.5mm adapter.
Or maybe you want a headphone that was "designed in Germany"

 

[OscarPaz]

Should you buy it?
Only if you really like the dark grey color and the large logo - it's much more expensive than Pro 82, and the only accessories are a 2.2m cable and a 3.5/6.5mm adapter.

Also for those who didn’t have the chance to grab a Pro 82 unit from the 1st batch?

Thanks for the measurements and comparison!

 

[Hal Rockwell]

Are there any aftermarket cables that fit PRO 82?

 

[FYLegend]

Bought these last week as they were on sale from Amazon.ca for 90$ CAD. It is a white box version manufactured on May 16, 2018. Impressions after the first week are very good - the headband adjustment is somewhat loose out of the box when lifting them but doesn't affect wearing them. Very comfortable and there's little to no creaking of the hinges, although I do hear occasional clunking sounds as the earcup hits the side of the hinge and possible the loose headband adjustment area. Sound is rather bright with a wide soundstage for a closed headphone - reminds me somewhat of the MSR7 but not as mid-forward (unfortunately I can't do a direct compairson).

Any recommendations for a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter? Would like to have some more variety for cable support, the ones I've seen for sale here appear to be too wide at the base. I tried one from London Drugs the other day that seemed narrow, but it turned out to be not narrow enough still so I had to return it. Sanding it down might work but I didn't want to risk that. M50x's 1.2m cable fits very nicely although it looks rather awkward.

 

[BenF]

Are there any aftermarket cables that fit PRO 82?

I use this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Upg...ack-Cable-Mic-For-Bose-Quiet/32810246600.html

 

[BenF]

Bought these last week as they were on sale from Amazon.ca for 90$ CAD. It is a white box version manufactured on May 16, 2018. Impressions after the first week are very good - the headband adjustment is somewhat loose out of the box when lifting them but doesn't affect wearing them. Very comfortable and there's little to no creaking of the hinges, although I do hear occasional clunking sounds as the earcup hits the side of the hinge and possible the loose headband adjustment area. Sound is rather bright with a wide soundstage for a closed headphone - reminds me somewhat of the MSR7 but not as mid-forward (unfortunately I can't do a direct compairson).

Any recommendations for a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter? Would like to have some more variety for cable support, the ones I've seen for sale here appear to be too wide at the base. I tried one from London Drugs the other day that seemed narrow, but it turned out to be not narrow enough still so I had to return it. Sanding it down might work but I didn't want to risk that. M50x's 1.2m cable fits very nicely although it looks rather awkward.

Welcome to the club!

Finding an adapter is going to be tough, most of them won't be slim enough.

 

[lyrean]

Bought these last week as they were on sale from Amazon.ca for 90$ CAD. It is a white box version manufactured on May 16, 2018. Impressions after the first week are very good - the headband adjustment is somewhat loose out of the box when lifting them but doesn't affect wearing them. Very comfortable and there's little to no creaking of the hinges, although I do hear occasional clunking sounds as the earcup hits the side of the hinge and possible the loose headband adjustment area. Sound is rather bright with a wide soundstage for a closed headphone - reminds me somewhat of the MSR7 but not as mid-forward (unfortunately I can't do a direct compairson).

Any recommendations for a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter? Would like to have some more variety for cable support, the ones I've seen for sale here appear to be too wide at the base. I tried one from London Drugs the other day that seemed narrow, but it turned out to be not narrow enough still so I had to return it. Sanding it down might work but I didn't want to risk that. M50x's 1.2m cable fits very nicely although it looks rather awkward.

So which one do you prefer soundwise, MSR7 or Pro 82 (if you remember how MSR7 sounded)? I haven't seen many comparisons between these two.