[BenF]

Here are some active coupon codes for the Summer Sale on Aliexpress (active in all stores):
"get6"coupon for 6$ off 50$
"AMSUMMER7" coupon for 7$ off 50$
"AMSUMMER10" coupon for 10$ off 100$
"get10" coupon for 10$ off 100$
"get15" coupon for 15$ off 150$
Important - you have to use the correct case in the coupon codes!
All the coupons are probably for a one-time use.

Now with these coupons, Pro 82 and GM200 can be had for some crazy good prices:
Pro 82 with the "AMSUMMER7" coupon can be had for just 51$! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32808454492.html
GM200 with the "AMSUMMER7" coupon can be had for just 53$! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33012705103.html
These prices are unbelievable for a guaranteed Pro 82 v2 (and not v0.9 that some stores peddle), and a genuine GM200 (fakes without the bass ports have been sold in other stores)

Or if you buy both Pro82 and GM200 (they compliment each other), you can take 16$ off the order with "6$ off 65$" select coupons and "AMSUMMER10" or "get10" coupon, so the average discount per headphone is 8$ - 50$ for Pro 82 and 52$ for GM200.

 

[BenF]

I finally tried the "SA9023A + ES9018K2M" Lusya DAC from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32932392383.html

This DAC has no buttons, only the USB and 3.5mm ports.

My first impression when using it with O2 in high gain was - wow, for ~20$ it sounds dangerously close to SMSL Idea, which costs 4 times as much.
Maybe a little warmer and narrower sounding, but still very close.

I went through my usual tracks and encountered a weird issue - on HAIM's "Falling" bass was heavily distorted in the beginning of the song. Only happened in the FLAC version, not Youtube or Deezer. Similar issue happens on Craig Armstrong's "Weatherstorm". When I tried just the DAC without O2 - the distortion didn't happen! What the hell!?

I decided to try the Lusya DAC with O2 again, but this time I set the DAC to the same volume level I used without O2 - about 30-35% instead of 100%. The distortion was gone again!
I tried different volumes levels, and found that distortion starts to happen at ~75% volume.
When I was keeping the volume at this level with O2, sound quality improved overall, not just the bass. I suspected that this might be a new synergy combo, but I wasn't sure.
So I decided to test Lusya and Idea side-by-side, and the difference in sound quality was dramatic. Idea sounds much wider, the timbre and transparency are perfect.
It was very obvious on songs like Lindsey Webster's "Fool Me Once".

Lusya is still a significant upgrade over a typical laptop/smartphone output, and at ~20$ it's a great value.
It does everything right, from bass to treble - and sounds great without an amp.
When used standalone, you will never encounter the distortion with Pro 82/GM200, because you will never have to use volume anywhere near 75%.

P.S. Now that I have found this distortion at high volume with this DAC, I will re-test their more expensive version with ES9038Q2M - at 80$, it sounded horrible.

P.P.S. Turns out @Aibo had the exact same distortion issues with his unit:

 

[XLR8]

@BenF
Is this your review?
https://iiwireviews.com/fever-dac-a-25-game-changing-stick

 

[BenF]

@BenF
Is this your review?
https://iiwireviews.com/fever-dac-a-25-game-changing-stick

I think it's @Aibo's - it's linked under the video review above.

 

[BenF]

Hilidac Audirect Beam 2 is in da house:

 

[klogg4]

I think that songs like "Take Me Home" are not the best choice the test headphones.

What I would personally use to test headphones is the album Awake (1994) by Dream Theater. The reasons are:
1. Music is very complex,
2. Chunky and twangy distorted guitar with super fast attack (the hardest part for most headphones and speakers in my opinion but it's worth it, it sounds amazing);
3. The whole production is absolutely amazing in this album in my opinion.

The album is worth listening in lossless because its sound can be easily destroyed with lossy compression, easier than with other albums. 6:00 and Scarred are the most interesting songs for testing headphones in my opinion. The part at 4:08 in Caught in a Web is worth listening as well because of many instruments playing at the same time.

The trick here is that the whole mix is trebly, so headphones like Pro 80 ruin the whole sound just by playing bad treble, ruining cymbals, hi-hats and vocalist sibilants. I'm interested how Pro 82 and GM200 deal with that kind of music. I've ordered GM200 myself priorly for gaming, but its music possibilities are super interesting for me.

 

[BenF]

What I would personally use to test headphones is the album Awake (1994) by Dream Theater. The reasons are:
1. Music is very complex,
2. Chunky and twangy distorted guitar with super fast attack (the hardest part for most headphones and speakers in my opinion but it's worth it, it sounds amazing);
3. The whole production is absolutely amazing in this album in my opinion.

The album is worth listening in lossless because its sound can be easily destroyed with lossy compression, easier than with other albums. 6:00 and Scarred are the most interesting songs for testing headphones in my opinion. The part at 4:08 in Caught in a Web is worth listening as well because of many instruments playing at the same time.

The trick here is that the whole mix is trebly, so headphones like Pro 80 ruin the whole sound just by playing bad treble, ruining cymbals, hi-hats and vocalist sibilants. I'm interested how Pro 82 and GM200 deal with that kind of music. I've ordered GM200 myself priorly for gaming, but its music possibilities are super interesting for me.

Welcome to the club!

If Dream Theater represents the kind of music you listen to most, Pro 82 v2 is a better choice. GM200 has a bass boost that may cause some tracks to sound too warm. If not mastered properly, they can appear mushy with the wrong amp/DAC.

Pro 82 v2 does a better job of separating the instruments and preserving the tonality.

Even more important with Dream Theater, is the DAC/Amp choice. I would recommend to stay away from the "synergy" combos, and go for the most transparent (but never harsh or metallic sounding) combo - O2 with Khadas Tone Board. This combo sounds much better that O2 + Idea with Dream Theater. Instrument separation is top notch, and the sound has some "brilliance" to it, much more interesting.

Luckily, you can buy Khadas Tone Board with a case at a pretty unheard price - and it's shipping from Russia! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000340881392.html
It's 101$ with the case (usually 115$), and you can take off 6$ with Select Coupons and another 7$ with AMSUMMER7 code - bringing it down to 88$!

As great as Khadas is, it doesn't do a great job driving headphones (even such easy ones to drive as Pro 82/GM200) - you really need an amp.
The 109$ O2 is here: https://www.jdslabs.com/products/167/objective2-headphone-amplifier-b-stock/
I recommend to order the 1.0x/3.3x version and use it in high gain.

Look here for a 52$ guaranteed Pro 82 v2: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...ns-and-discussion-thread.849965/post-15679119

If you can't afford all three, it's more important to buy Khadas + O2. Pro 82 wouldn't make much difference over GM200 without them anyway.

 

[jasswolf]

Welcome to the club!

If Dream Theater represents the kind of music you listen to most, Pro 82 v2 is a better choice. GM200 has a bass boost that may cause some tracks to sound too warm. If not mastered properly, they can appear mushy with the wrong amp/DAC.

Pro 82 v2 does a better job of separating the instruments and preserving the tonality.

Even more important with Dream Theater, is the DAC/Amp choice. I would recommend to stay away from the "synergy" combos, and go for the most transparent (but never harsh or metallic sounding) combo - O2 with Khadas Tone Board. This combo sounds much better that O2 + Idea with Dream Theater. Instrument separation is top notch, and the sound has some "brilliance" to it, much more interesting.

Luckily, you can buy Khadas Tone Board with a case at a pretty unheard price - and it's shipping from Russia! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000340881392.html
It's 101$ with the case (usually 115$), and you can take off 6$ with Select Coupons and another 7$ with AMSUMMER7 code - bringing it down to 88$!

As great as Khadas is, it doesn't do a great job driving headphones (even such easy ones to drive as Pro 82/GM200) - you really need an amp.
The 109$ O2 is here: https://www.jdslabs.com/products/167/objective2-headphone-amplifier-b-stock/
I recommend to order the 1.0x/3.3x version and use it in high gain.

Look here for a 52$ guaranteed Pro 82 v2: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...ns-and-discussion-thread.849965/post-15679119

If you can't afford all three, it's more important to buy Khadas + O2. Pro 82 wouldn't make much difference over GM200 without them anyway.

No time for the Schiit Magni 3+? Or the JDS Atom for that matter.

 

[BenF]

No time for the Schiit Magni 3+? Or the JDS Atom for that matter.

I only purchase devices that I think may be useful to me.
O2 is a legendary amp, created by a legendary engineer: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html
It works great with any DAC/Headphone, and has amazing synergy with Pro 82 and Idea.

JDS Atom has slightly better measurements than O2, but the differences are beyond audible.
Schiit scares me, they have too many dangerous issues:
https://www.headphonesty.com/2020/01/schiit-overheat/
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/what-causes-this-amp-related.562736/

I see no reason to buy other amps, as long as O2 is available for sale.

 

[jasswolf]

I only purchase devices that I think may be useful to me.
O2 is a legendary amp, created by a legendary engineer: http://nwavguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/o2-headphone-amp.html
It works great with any DAC/Headphone, and has amazing synergy with Pro 82 and Idea.

JDS Atom has slightly better measurements than O2, but the differences are beyond audible.
Schiit scares me, they have too many dangerous issues:
https://www.headphonesty.com/2020/01/schiit-overheat/
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/what-causes-this-amp-related.562736/

I see no reason to buy other amps, as long as O2 is available for sale.

The last statement is fair from your perspective, but you won't find a cleaner discrete amp anywhere near this price range than the Magni 3+, it's remarkable. I would class it well beyond what Schiit normally deliver.

 

[BenF]

The last statement is fair from your perspective, but you won't find a cleaner discrete amp anywhere near this price range than the Magni 3+, it's remarkable. I would class it well beyond what Schiit normally deliver.

Did you have a chance to compare Magni 3+ and O2 side-by-side?
O2 has been the benchmark of headphone amplification for 9 years now, it would be pretty hard to top it.

I used O2 with all my non-electrostats, and it sounds wonderful no matter what the load is - sensitive IEM or or a hard-to-drive planar magnetic (I always use the x3.3 gain).
O2 has no sound signature, It's just a "wire with gain" - I hear the headphone and the DAC, not O2 itself.
Of course, with Pro 82, I only hear the DAC. Switching DACs is very obvious with Pro 82 on O2.

 

[peskypesky]

Just received my new Pro 82's and I am psyched!!! They came in the case, which I didn't expect. Now I have two great headphone cases. Basically for free.

I am so happy to have these again. The comfort and sound quality are stunning for the $50 I paid. I prefer them to my brother's Grado PS1000's, which cost over a thousand dollars.

With my laptop, Penguin CMOY amp and Pro 82's, I am in listening heaven. But I do need to get a DAC/amp to take the sound up a notch further.

I have a NuForce Udac 2 somewhere in a box that I need to find.

 

[XLR8]

@peskypesky
Very happy for you.
You'll see that my/your comments have offended the grado fan group but hey that's what forums are for.

Enjoy them.
Weekend is here.

 

[peskypesky]

You'll see that my/your comments have offended the grado fan group but hey that's what forums are for.

?

 

[klogg4]

Welcome to the club!

If Dream Theater represents the kind of music you listen to most, Pro 82 v2 is a better choice. GM200 has a bass boost that may cause some tracks to sound too warm. If not mastered properly, they can appear mushy with the wrong amp/DAC.

Pro 82 v2 does a better job of separating the instruments and preserving the tonality.

Even more important with Dream Theater, is the DAC/Amp choice. I would recommend to stay away from the "synergy" combos, and go for the most transparent (but never harsh or metallic sounding) combo - O2 with Khadas Tone Board. This combo sounds much better that O2 + Idea with Dream Theater. Instrument separation is top notch, and the sound has some "brilliance" to it, much more interesting.

Luckily, you can buy Khadas Tone Board with a case at a pretty unheard price - and it's shipping from Russia! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000340881392.html
It's 101$ with the case (usually 115$), and you can take off 6$ with Select Coupons and another 7$ with AMSUMMER7 code - bringing it down to 88$!

As great as Khadas is, it doesn't do a great job driving headphones (even such easy ones to drive as Pro 82/GM200) - you really need an amp.
The 109$ O2 is here: https://www.jdslabs.com/products/167/objective2-headphone-amplifier-b-stock/
I recommend to order the 1.0x/3.3x version and use it in high gain.

Look here for a 52$ guaranteed Pro 82 v2: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...ns-and-discussion-thread.849965/post-15679119

If you can't afford all three, it's more important to buy Khadas + O2. Pro 82 wouldn't make much difference over GM200 without them anyway.

Thanks for an amazing answer BenF! Are there any alternatives for an O2 that one can order from Ali? I would first buy an amp and then choose a DAC if I'm not satisfied with a result.

Also, gonna give a try to GM200 still. I ordered these priorly for gaming, I just wanted them to be able to play music on a great level as well for fast listening. Maybe elevated bass is not bad cuz bass guitar would be more audible. Maybe it is bad. We'll see.

The most important thing you said is that Pro 82 are suitable for music like Dream Theater. That's worth a second pair!