nraymond
500+ Head-Fier
If you like to order from Amazon, available in a variety of lengths, from $8 to $13:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0186LAWFC
Takstar Pro 82/GM200 Review, impressions and discussion thread
- Thread starter BenF
- Start date
If you like to order from Amazon, available in a variety of lengths, from $8 to $13:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0186LAWFC
Thanks, nraymond, I'll keep that in mind if the cable from Aliexpress doesn't work out.
Amazon has lost several of my orders in transit this year, so I'm starting to get annoyed with that.
Amazon has lost several of my orders in transit this year, so I'm starting to get annoyed with that.
Psiga
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2007
- Posts
- 134
- Likes
- 19
Throwing my review into the ring. (Might edit this liberally depending on how the forum tries to format all of the YouTube links... Apologies if it clogs up your computer or phone with embeds.)
Goin' in expecting a Cheap Chinese experience in some ways, but also expecting the new wave of Cheap Chinese which can legitimately impress a person. Goin' in knowing that this is the new Head-Fi-Approved Bargain Darling, with some pretty solid love vested in it... Which could mean that it's truly fantastic or it could mean that this Hype Train has an open bar serving the Kool-Aid. The latter would be very sad, but since I am completely satisfied with my last Head-Fi-Approved purchase of a VE Monk+ for all ultraportable uses, I'm hedgin' on happy hope instead.
ALERT1: Right off the top, I'll acknowledge that there are multiple variants of this headphone all by the same manufacturer and going by the same model name. Some people say "get the bright one!" and some people say "get the dark one!" and all I know is that I got what was on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/ammoon-Professional-Monitoring-Appreciation-Case（Black）/dp/B0785T1KTR?th=1 t'be exact). The box includes an 'Inspected By' card, but the card isn't signed or numbered. My box is white, and I get the impression that I've got a bright can, but am not certain.
ALERT 2: Throughout this review I'm going to be comparing these VERY directly to my Fostex TH-X00 Purple Hearts, in large part because another head-fier mentioned being willing to sell his TH-X00 Mahogany for this. It would delight me to be charmed into selling my favorite fun headphones for these double-digit underdog bastards.
ALERT 3: I am listening through a Geek Out 450 USB DAC/amp, and I've learned both from here and by personal experience that the Pro 82 is highly chain-dependent. Anything I say here might not ring true for you if you are, like, listening to a "dark" Pro 82 through your cell phone.
ALERT 4: I use Peace, a PC EQ application, for all of my headphones, and it's really hard to say whether my corrections would work for you, based on your personal hearing curve vs mine, your amp and DAC, and which iteration of Pro 82 you have.
Immediately upon first listen: Good grief are these wonderful for the price. I kinda wish that I had these in my teens and twenties. To anyone reading this who can't afford triple-digit cans right now: These are worth considering. I already, on first listening, know that I won't be keeping them; but these are special.
~A FeW Days LAteR~
Been a few days. When properly amped, they're impressively comparable to my existing Epic gear -- though in the very end, I'll still be keeping my Purple Hearts in rotation over the Pro 82s. The P82 is more clear and neutral in comparison, which reveals some lovely things that are obscured in the PH, but the PH has a more euphonic resonance, modestly broader soundscape, and deeper rumbling bass which all up the likelihood that I'll get goosebumps from a thing.
I believe the PH model that I have would normally have cost like $400 new, and the P82 are $82 new. 5x price difference! The trick of snoot-snoot audiophile and videophile gear, though, is that even if something is not clearly [X]x better or worse, there will be specific traits which either exist or don't. Like I said above, the PH will render some bass thunder that you simply don't experience in P82, and will do whatever ephemeral shimmering thing that it takes to cause frisson more often. Even if I can't say that it's 5x 'better' or 'worse', it still boils down to "Would I spend an extra few hundred dollars to feel goosebumps on more songs?"
Yeah, like, here we go: my surprise-benchmark on this is the time that I got frisson from a Ke$ha song on the Purple Hearts. I'd never felt that from an effing Ke$ha song before, and was left shaking my head in disbelief. So I just tested the song again on the P82, and got no goosebumps. Switched to PH, and boom, there they are. The P82 still makes me bob and sing along to an embarrassing degree, so it's not like it's BAD with the song -- it just fails to make that quantum leap. And yet, in contrast, the clarity and immediacy can make some things feel impressively intimate:
The PH sounds 'really good' with this, but I think the Pro 82 sounds 'great'.
About to get into some more elaborate track-for-track sound comparisons below, but aside from sound quality, I'll say that the Pro 82s are light and comfortable; they isolate reasonably; they're a little bit hot'n'stuffy to my Arizona ears, but not enough to cut listening sessions short; my wingy eartips gently touch the inner fabric, but not very distractingly; the cable is a bit microphonic up into the left cup, but I cease to notice once music happens.
While both are equally comfortable in their own ways, I'd rather be seen in public wearing the P82 than the PH -- even as the PH tries to be fancy with leather pads and wooden cups. Not a big surprise, I guess? The P82 is a Chinese knockoff of a Sony headphone engineered with public and professional use in mind, so all of the industrial design grunt work was done for them in advance; the PH on the other hand tilts more into the realm of hi-fi, with an expectation of personal satisfaction of possession over active public presentation.
Alright! One last heads-up if you hadn't noticed by now: I'm really into headphones giving me frisson, so that's going to come up maybe-obnoxiously a lot in these comparisons. And I don't have a standard testbed of songs to run things through, so brace yourself for a scattershot of weeby Japanesey stuff, things that Spotify horked at me from Discover Weekly, and other random crap. Onward:
Trapped - Tokyo Restricted Dream Catalogue
Frisson on both; more on PH. P82 conveys more immediacy and detail in the chimes, and the separation is more distinct. PH have more euphony, sense of upward space, and the sub-bass reaches deeper.
Deku Palace - Theophany
Same story as above. Basically every time the track transitions into a new segment, Purple Hearts give me another wave of goosebumps. P82 impresses, but not nearly as thoroughly.
Bitchcraft - Victor Love ft KMFDM
This is a benchmark for aggressive impact which also gets white-noisy and paper-cutty in congestion of highs. P82 holds together better to my ear, and PH is more fun. Neither seem like the ideal headphone for this track, though.
Collard Greens - Schoolboy Q
When bass port is open, it causes a one-note monotone in the lows that obscures some goodness. I wonder if I can EQ that out. (edit: tried a fairly dramatic -6db around 82Hz; it helped but not enough). Frisson and head bobbing. Eighty bucks is a bargain for this.
Timber - Pitbull & Ke$ha
Again, first time I listened to this on PH: "What?! I should NOT be getting frisson from a Ke$ha song!" That's how I knew I possessed a legendarily Fun headphone. That set a watermark which makes me shake my head to this day. This on P82 makes me bob my head; it does not give me frisson at all.
animus - FAMM'IN
Ohh, now this is a fascinating test-bed for comparison. Purple Hearts gave me frisson multiple times throughout this song, but would feel like a fustercluck during the really busy parts. Pro 82 kept the busy stuff from feeling overwhelming, but failed to blanket me in goosebumps when I was fresh off of the PH.
But then! Coming back to listen to it a day later, after having only used the P82 for hours, I was able to get frisson. So only in direct contrast to PH does it buckle, seemingly? In the same way that the intimate singing that I linked to a few paragraphs back would have sounded pretty great to me on the PH if I hadn't been comparing it directly to the P82.
Secret - TeddyLoid
Skipping to the boomy part of the song. Using Peace EQ, both PH and P82 accept like +6dB in the sub-bass, but PH imparts a notable and visceral thunder while P82 mostly just sounds louder than before.
LOVE SUPREME - Have A Nice Day!
(First off: Ugh, sorry, the youtube video destroys a lot of this since it's such a busy/compressed song.) Frisson on both, but less from P82. PH gives it more air to breathe in. P82 takes the edge off of some sibilance in the hissy sh sound of the singer's ESL "supreme", but lacks the euphony.
10,000 - Elliot Root
(edit: the forum code is breaking this embed for some reason. It's at /watch?v=QzjsrqHXwJI if you really care for some reason.)
More frisson and euphony and air from PH. P82 places things in a more workmanlike manner. I'm pretty sure this is a track that will ultimately need a fully open can to really live up to its potential, but PH wins in the meantime.
To You - Young Wonder
PH = thunder, euphony, headspace. P82 = unnecessarily increased accuracy, less engagement.
Cherry - Luna Shadows
PH handles the long deep bass better. P82 handles separation of voices during the choruses better. PH gets the nod for its euphony (do I sound like a broken record yet?).
Stoopid Rich - Crankdat & Havok Roth (feat. TITUS)
Interesting. I think the P82 holds this track together better than the PH. I tend not to even want to hear the whole song when listening on PH, due to some glare up top, but this was engagingly cohesive to me throughout on the P82.
VCR - kid lizard
Similarly, P82 holds this with more cohesion. However! I had to up the EQ in the 4kHz range by multiple decibels for this one (and going back over some previous tracks with this new 3dB bump at 4k, I like it, and will leave it in my custom Peace preset for this can). PH has a bigger soundstage that starts feeling a bit too ephemeral, with intermittent bursts of harsh high glares.
Oh. Darn it. I should've seen this coming, I guess. The "immediacy" of the Pro 82 can make ASMR feel more transfixing. Here I was already so ready to let PH be the overall winner. Will root through that now (and if you're not an ASMR person, just skip this trash):
Rappeler cutting hair - she's got a $2k 3Dio Freespace Pro II but may not be using it here
The P82 "immediacy" handles these subtle and close sounds pleasantly.
Frivvi/Lauren singing softly, which I linked far above - definitely using her $2k 3Dio Freespace Pro II here
PH has a softer focus; its emotion is present but slightly more diffuse than P82. This is definitely less ASMR and more frisson though.
brightgrey/Elsa tweezing - $120 Yeti
PH wins this with a larger soundscape, some deep bass abberations that the Yeti produces, friendlier presentation of the white noise, and some sharper clicks which are actually what can make music with lots of high frequency energy seem fatiguing on the Purple Hearts. The P82's immediacy and accuracy has less to work with on this cheap Yeti, where it extracts more from the 3Dio II.
Yvette/Ashley doing mostly visual triggers - $120 Yeti again
As suspected, P82 doesn't reproduce the white noise of the Yeti as attractively as the PH's "softer focus".
Latrece playing with slime right on the mic - $250 Yeti Pro
The Yeti Pro doesn't produce nearly as much self-noise as the regular Yeti. But again, PH holds larger soundscape and that neat sub-bass abberation. (The sub-bass creates AMAZING effects with a Kannon, aside from the fact that these first gen Kannons don't have limiter circuits and so some of those "sub-bass abberations" can cause it to clip and make weird noises.)
On the topic of Kannons, I'll do some short comparisons of Pro 82 to a few of the other cans I have recent experience with:
Taction Kannon: P82 is wildly cheaper and notably more comfortable. To me, it renders literally every sonic thing better than the Kannon, hands-down. I want a next-gen Kannon to be made with Pro 82s rather than the Audio-Technica or whatever that they're based on presently. In the meantime, P82 has practically zero tactility by itself, and thus Kannon wins 100% for thunder lovers, loses 100% otherwise.
Mitchell & Johnson MJ2: P82 is cheaper, much-much more comfortable, doesn't require sickening amounts of break-in, and even though the MJ2's tweeter can render some sincerely impressively articulate, nuanced, and clear treble, the P82's treble is still better than most in its own right. Absolute nod to P82 from me.
Sony MDR-MA900: MA900 is obviously wildly superior in soundstage, though equally obviously weaker in deep bass, impact, clarity, and immediacy. P82 is less comfortable, which is really saying something when ya think about it! There is a special airy, smoky, non-fatiguing aspect to MA900 (ASMRphones like whaaaat). Can't really call a winner, but MA900 is out of production, so there's that.
[JVC HA-RX900 is a can that I had for years some time go, but don't have it now and don't even remember what happened to it. Maybe take this comparison with grain of salt. Either way: it is definitely stupid-ugly to wear. I recall a bigger sound than the P82, but less sense of quality overall? P82 is somewhat of a monitoring headphone, so it strikes a balance between accuracy and engagement -- some folks who prefer to maximize engagement can find that 'accuracy' aspect to mean 'sterile'. I don't remember the RX900 being remarkably accurate/immediate/sterile, but I do remember bigger sound and pretty good engagement? Question mark? Oh! I didn't have my Geek Out back then, so I have no idea how it took to better DAC and amp. If the difference is as big as the difference between phone P82 and Geek Out P82, then I may as well say that I've never really heard what the RX900 is capable of. Putting this in a block because unlike the others, I'm only comparing based on distant memory. Feel free to disregard this, frankly.]
And so, to wrap: They're mid-fi quality for low-fi price. A solid deal, however they're chain-dependant, some folks find them sterile, some worry about the plastic parts, and we can't easily tell one notable iteration from the next. To spin that kindly, I'd say that they're intriguing entry-level cans for people just getting into the hobby (Sorry For Your Wallet™), because they teach you the ropes and scale in a gratifying iterative way when upgrading your signal path. (To spin it unkindly, I'd say that the Purple Hearts sound quite nice even out of a cheap older phone, so fsck that "iterative" nonsense.)
In the end, my immediate first take was right-on: "Good grief are these wonderful for the price. I kinda wish that I had these in my teens and twenties. To anyone reading this who can't afford triple-digit cans right now: These are worth considering. I already, on first listening, know that I won't be keeping them; but these are special."
Goin' in expecting a Cheap Chinese experience in some ways, but also expecting the new wave of Cheap Chinese which can legitimately impress a person. Goin' in knowing that this is the new Head-Fi-Approved Bargain Darling, with some pretty solid love vested in it... Which could mean that it's truly fantastic or it could mean that this Hype Train has an open bar serving the Kool-Aid. The latter would be very sad, but since I am completely satisfied with my last Head-Fi-Approved purchase of a VE Monk+ for all ultraportable uses, I'm hedgin' on happy hope instead.
ALERT1: Right off the top, I'll acknowledge that there are multiple variants of this headphone all by the same manufacturer and going by the same model name. Some people say "get the bright one!" and some people say "get the dark one!" and all I know is that I got what was on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/ammoon-Professional-Monitoring-Appreciation-Case（Black）/dp/B0785T1KTR?th=1 t'be exact). The box includes an 'Inspected By' card, but the card isn't signed or numbered. My box is white, and I get the impression that I've got a bright can, but am not certain.
ALERT 2: Throughout this review I'm going to be comparing these VERY directly to my Fostex TH-X00 Purple Hearts, in large part because another head-fier mentioned being willing to sell his TH-X00 Mahogany for this. It would delight me to be charmed into selling my favorite fun headphones for these double-digit underdog bastards.
ALERT 3: I am listening through a Geek Out 450 USB DAC/amp, and I've learned both from here and by personal experience that the Pro 82 is highly chain-dependent. Anything I say here might not ring true for you if you are, like, listening to a "dark" Pro 82 through your cell phone.
ALERT 4: I use Peace, a PC EQ application, for all of my headphones, and it's really hard to say whether my corrections would work for you, based on your personal hearing curve vs mine, your amp and DAC, and which iteration of Pro 82 you have.
Immediately upon first listen: Good grief are these wonderful for the price. I kinda wish that I had these in my teens and twenties. To anyone reading this who can't afford triple-digit cans right now: These are worth considering. I already, on first listening, know that I won't be keeping them; but these are special.
~A FeW Days LAteR~
Been a few days. When properly amped, they're impressively comparable to my existing Epic gear -- though in the very end, I'll still be keeping my Purple Hearts in rotation over the Pro 82s. The P82 is more clear and neutral in comparison, which reveals some lovely things that are obscured in the PH, but the PH has a more euphonic resonance, modestly broader soundscape, and deeper rumbling bass which all up the likelihood that I'll get goosebumps from a thing.
I believe the PH model that I have would normally have cost like $400 new, and the P82 are $82 new. 5x price difference! The trick of snoot-snoot audiophile and videophile gear, though, is that even if something is not clearly [X]x better or worse, there will be specific traits which either exist or don't. Like I said above, the PH will render some bass thunder that you simply don't experience in P82, and will do whatever ephemeral shimmering thing that it takes to cause frisson more often. Even if I can't say that it's 5x 'better' or 'worse', it still boils down to "Would I spend an extra few hundred dollars to feel goosebumps on more songs?"
Yeah, like, here we go: my surprise-benchmark on this is the time that I got frisson from a Ke$ha song on the Purple Hearts. I'd never felt that from an effing Ke$ha song before, and was left shaking my head in disbelief. So I just tested the song again on the P82, and got no goosebumps. Switched to PH, and boom, there they are. The P82 still makes me bob and sing along to an embarrassing degree, so it's not like it's BAD with the song -- it just fails to make that quantum leap. And yet, in contrast, the clarity and immediacy can make some things feel impressively intimate:
The PH sounds 'really good' with this, but I think the Pro 82 sounds 'great'.
About to get into some more elaborate track-for-track sound comparisons below, but aside from sound quality, I'll say that the Pro 82s are light and comfortable; they isolate reasonably; they're a little bit hot'n'stuffy to my Arizona ears, but not enough to cut listening sessions short; my wingy eartips gently touch the inner fabric, but not very distractingly; the cable is a bit microphonic up into the left cup, but I cease to notice once music happens.
While both are equally comfortable in their own ways, I'd rather be seen in public wearing the P82 than the PH -- even as the PH tries to be fancy with leather pads and wooden cups. Not a big surprise, I guess? The P82 is a Chinese knockoff of a Sony headphone engineered with public and professional use in mind, so all of the industrial design grunt work was done for them in advance; the PH on the other hand tilts more into the realm of hi-fi, with an expectation of personal satisfaction of possession over active public presentation.
Alright! One last heads-up if you hadn't noticed by now: I'm really into headphones giving me frisson, so that's going to come up maybe-obnoxiously a lot in these comparisons. And I don't have a standard testbed of songs to run things through, so brace yourself for a scattershot of weeby Japanesey stuff, things that Spotify horked at me from Discover Weekly, and other random crap. Onward:
Trapped - Tokyo Restricted Dream Catalogue
Frisson on both; more on PH. P82 conveys more immediacy and detail in the chimes, and the separation is more distinct. PH have more euphony, sense of upward space, and the sub-bass reaches deeper.
Deku Palace - Theophany
Same story as above. Basically every time the track transitions into a new segment, Purple Hearts give me another wave of goosebumps. P82 impresses, but not nearly as thoroughly.
Bitchcraft - Victor Love ft KMFDM
This is a benchmark for aggressive impact which also gets white-noisy and paper-cutty in congestion of highs. P82 holds together better to my ear, and PH is more fun. Neither seem like the ideal headphone for this track, though.
Collard Greens - Schoolboy Q
When bass port is open, it causes a one-note monotone in the lows that obscures some goodness. I wonder if I can EQ that out. (edit: tried a fairly dramatic -6db around 82Hz; it helped but not enough). Frisson and head bobbing. Eighty bucks is a bargain for this.
Timber - Pitbull & Ke$ha
Again, first time I listened to this on PH: "What?! I should NOT be getting frisson from a Ke$ha song!" That's how I knew I possessed a legendarily Fun headphone. That set a watermark which makes me shake my head to this day. This on P82 makes me bob my head; it does not give me frisson at all.
animus - FAMM'IN
Ohh, now this is a fascinating test-bed for comparison. Purple Hearts gave me frisson multiple times throughout this song, but would feel like a fustercluck during the really busy parts. Pro 82 kept the busy stuff from feeling overwhelming, but failed to blanket me in goosebumps when I was fresh off of the PH.
But then! Coming back to listen to it a day later, after having only used the P82 for hours, I was able to get frisson. So only in direct contrast to PH does it buckle, seemingly? In the same way that the intimate singing that I linked to a few paragraphs back would have sounded pretty great to me on the PH if I hadn't been comparing it directly to the P82.
Secret - TeddyLoid
Skipping to the boomy part of the song. Using Peace EQ, both PH and P82 accept like +6dB in the sub-bass, but PH imparts a notable and visceral thunder while P82 mostly just sounds louder than before.
LOVE SUPREME - Have A Nice Day!
(First off: Ugh, sorry, the youtube video destroys a lot of this since it's such a busy/compressed song.) Frisson on both, but less from P82. PH gives it more air to breathe in. P82 takes the edge off of some sibilance in the hissy sh sound of the singer's ESL "supreme", but lacks the euphony.
10,000 - Elliot Root
(edit: the forum code is breaking this embed for some reason. It's at /watch?v=QzjsrqHXwJI if you really care for some reason.)
More frisson and euphony and air from PH. P82 places things in a more workmanlike manner. I'm pretty sure this is a track that will ultimately need a fully open can to really live up to its potential, but PH wins in the meantime.
To You - Young Wonder
PH = thunder, euphony, headspace. P82 = unnecessarily increased accuracy, less engagement.
Cherry - Luna Shadows
PH handles the long deep bass better. P82 handles separation of voices during the choruses better. PH gets the nod for its euphony (do I sound like a broken record yet?).
Stoopid Rich - Crankdat & Havok Roth (feat. TITUS)
Interesting. I think the P82 holds this track together better than the PH. I tend not to even want to hear the whole song when listening on PH, due to some glare up top, but this was engagingly cohesive to me throughout on the P82.
VCR - kid lizard
Similarly, P82 holds this with more cohesion. However! I had to up the EQ in the 4kHz range by multiple decibels for this one (and going back over some previous tracks with this new 3dB bump at 4k, I like it, and will leave it in my custom Peace preset for this can). PH has a bigger soundstage that starts feeling a bit too ephemeral, with intermittent bursts of harsh high glares.
Oh. Darn it. I should've seen this coming, I guess. The "immediacy" of the Pro 82 can make ASMR feel more transfixing. Here I was already so ready to let PH be the overall winner. Will root through that now (and if you're not an ASMR person, just skip this trash):
Rappeler cutting hair - she's got a $2k 3Dio Freespace Pro II but may not be using it here
The P82 "immediacy" handles these subtle and close sounds pleasantly.
Frivvi/Lauren singing softly, which I linked far above - definitely using her $2k 3Dio Freespace Pro II here
PH has a softer focus; its emotion is present but slightly more diffuse than P82. This is definitely less ASMR and more frisson though.
brightgrey/Elsa tweezing - $120 Yeti
PH wins this with a larger soundscape, some deep bass abberations that the Yeti produces, friendlier presentation of the white noise, and some sharper clicks which are actually what can make music with lots of high frequency energy seem fatiguing on the Purple Hearts. The P82's immediacy and accuracy has less to work with on this cheap Yeti, where it extracts more from the 3Dio II.
Yvette/Ashley doing mostly visual triggers - $120 Yeti again
As suspected, P82 doesn't reproduce the white noise of the Yeti as attractively as the PH's "softer focus".
Latrece playing with slime right on the mic - $250 Yeti Pro
The Yeti Pro doesn't produce nearly as much self-noise as the regular Yeti. But again, PH holds larger soundscape and that neat sub-bass abberation. (The sub-bass creates AMAZING effects with a Kannon, aside from the fact that these first gen Kannons don't have limiter circuits and so some of those "sub-bass abberations" can cause it to clip and make weird noises.)
On the topic of Kannons, I'll do some short comparisons of Pro 82 to a few of the other cans I have recent experience with:
Taction Kannon: P82 is wildly cheaper and notably more comfortable. To me, it renders literally every sonic thing better than the Kannon, hands-down. I want a next-gen Kannon to be made with Pro 82s rather than the Audio-Technica or whatever that they're based on presently. In the meantime, P82 has practically zero tactility by itself, and thus Kannon wins 100% for thunder lovers, loses 100% otherwise.
Mitchell & Johnson MJ2: P82 is cheaper, much-much more comfortable, doesn't require sickening amounts of break-in, and even though the MJ2's tweeter can render some sincerely impressively articulate, nuanced, and clear treble, the P82's treble is still better than most in its own right. Absolute nod to P82 from me.
Sony MDR-MA900: MA900 is obviously wildly superior in soundstage, though equally obviously weaker in deep bass, impact, clarity, and immediacy. P82 is less comfortable, which is really saying something when ya think about it! There is a special airy, smoky, non-fatiguing aspect to MA900 (ASMRphones like whaaaat). Can't really call a winner, but MA900 is out of production, so there's that.
[JVC HA-RX900 is a can that I had for years some time go, but don't have it now and don't even remember what happened to it. Maybe take this comparison with grain of salt. Either way: it is definitely stupid-ugly to wear. I recall a bigger sound than the P82, but less sense of quality overall? P82 is somewhat of a monitoring headphone, so it strikes a balance between accuracy and engagement -- some folks who prefer to maximize engagement can find that 'accuracy' aspect to mean 'sterile'. I don't remember the RX900 being remarkably accurate/immediate/sterile, but I do remember bigger sound and pretty good engagement? Question mark? Oh! I didn't have my Geek Out back then, so I have no idea how it took to better DAC and amp. If the difference is as big as the difference between phone P82 and Geek Out P82, then I may as well say that I've never really heard what the RX900 is capable of. Putting this in a block because unlike the others, I'm only comparing based on distant memory. Feel free to disregard this, frankly.]
And so, to wrap: They're mid-fi quality for low-fi price. A solid deal, however they're chain-dependant, some folks find them sterile, some worry about the plastic parts, and we can't easily tell one notable iteration from the next. To spin that kindly, I'd say that they're intriguing entry-level cans for people just getting into the hobby (Sorry For Your Wallet™), because they teach you the ropes and scale in a gratifying iterative way when upgrading your signal path. (To spin it unkindly, I'd say that the Purple Hearts sound quite nice even out of a cheap older phone, so fsck that "iterative" nonsense.)
In the end, my immediate first take was right-on: "Good grief are these wonderful for the price. I kinda wish that I had these in my teens and twenties. To anyone reading this who can't afford triple-digit cans right now: These are worth considering. I already, on first listening, know that I won't be keeping them; but these are special."
Last edited:
letlive
Head-Fier
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Will the price still be discounted with the Code "Head-fi" when I order at Takstar Store on AE?
BenF
Headphoneus Supremus
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Current price is already lower than the "head-fi" price, so no reason to apply the code unless you are buying Pro 82 with SMSL iDea.
BenF
Headphoneus Supremus
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Excellent review, added it to the third post.
Where did you get it for 82$? It's usually sold around 60-65$ on Ali.
Hope you at least got a proper v1 for that price, and not v0.9.
On the topic of frisson - it's a two-way street. PH is a v-shaped headphone, and it's hard to replicate the exact same "wow" moments with a much more linear Pro 82 - another v-shaped headphone would do that better.
On the other hand, PH (or other v-shaped headphone) would have a hard time to replicate Pro 82's shining moments - for me it's mostly live recordings, even if it's bootlegs.
Last edited:
J Mirra
100+ Head-Fier
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I have been using the Sony MDR MA900 for gaming while it has been hot, they give a nice wide sound stage it quite epic.
While the Black Ops 4 beta was on it has cooled some so I put the Pro 82's back on for gaming using the acoustic sensor perk to sound whore and the difference for pin pointing the enemy is incredible and why I gushed about these in the first place.
I would use them all the time if they were not ear warmers
Autumn and winter gaming is going to be crazy good again playing Blops 4 with these and the acoustic sensor perk.
While the Black Ops 4 beta was on it has cooled some so I put the Pro 82's back on for gaming using the acoustic sensor perk to sound whore and the difference for pin pointing the enemy is incredible and why I gushed about these in the first place.
I would use them all the time if they were not ear warmers
Autumn and winter gaming is going to be crazy good again playing Blops 4 with these and the acoustic sensor perk.
BenF
Headphoneus Supremus
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Look what I've got:
"Designed by Reloop Germany"...
"Designed by Reloop Germany"...
Psiga
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Mh, the $82 price is for one with the hardcase, shipped directly from Amazon. I think it woulda been like $75 for me to get Pro 82 + hardcase from Aliexpress, with a 2~3 week wait for shipping and a return would be at my expense. ~Or~ spend like seven bucks more, get it in a couple'a days with Amazon Prime, and have free return if I decide to.
Not sure which version I have, but like I said in my review: "ALERT1: Right off the top, I'll acknowledge that there are multiple variants of this headphone all by the same manufacturer and going by the same model name. Some people say "get the bright one!" and some people say "get the dark one!" and all I know is that I got what was on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/ammoon-Professional-Monitoring-Appreciation-Case（Black）/dp/B0785T1KTR?th=1 t'be exact). The box includes an 'Inspected By' card, but the card isn't signed or numbered. My box is white, and I get the impression that I've got a bright can, but am not certain."
My box is white, and it sure sounds like a bright phone, so I presume that it's v1.0. But dunno for sure.
At any rate, it's interesting that you're more into live renditions of things, Ben. As y'may notice from my dogpile of embeds, there's very little live stuff. Based on listening to some of your examples, I can hear why the Pro 82 wins out for you. If I root through some of my own live picks, let's see what I learn...
BEATBoX SAX - Bach Cello Suite
Mmmyep! I'm giving the nod to Pro 82 on this one. That's impressive.
Dream, Priscilla Ahn
P82's articulation makes that acoustic guitar sound just that much more like a real object in space; PH adds a light harmonic glimmer to the performance that I enjoy quite a bit.
Adieu, Enter Shikari cover
Busy and low quality recording. They both suffer. P82 helps differentiate the voices better; PH is more euphonic, as usual, which causes things to blend together in a way that is flattering but less accurate.
Make Love to Myself, Lauren Ruth Ward
P82 feels impressively more 'in a real space' than PH; PH feels more engaged in the music though, for the same reason as above. I enjoy both in their own way.
Wheel, Stolen Jars
P82 yet again renders the instruments better but really mishandles that male vocal in my opinion; PH is more fun to me.
Kiss Me Kill Me, La Bouquet
P82 renders the reverb with more nuance; PH gave me goosebumps that the former did not, though.
So, the slight 'rose colored glasses' effect of the Purple Hearts' cup resonance appears to contribute to its "fun" factor, and ability to make recordings of nearly any quality level feel engaging. I'm still deeply impressed that the Pro 82 sounds so good for so little money, but even though I could flip my Purple Hearts for a couple hundred bucks in profit, they're just too useful to me as a jack-of-all-trades can. (I'd still love a next generation Kannon to be made with a Pro 82, though. As it stands, the Kannon is meh for most music and not that comfortable.)
Not sure which version I have, but like I said in my review: "ALERT1: Right off the top, I'll acknowledge that there are multiple variants of this headphone all by the same manufacturer and going by the same model name. Some people say "get the bright one!" and some people say "get the dark one!" and all I know is that I got what was on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/ammoon-Professional-Monitoring-Appreciation-Case（Black）/dp/B0785T1KTR?th=1 t'be exact). The box includes an 'Inspected By' card, but the card isn't signed or numbered. My box is white, and I get the impression that I've got a bright can, but am not certain."
My box is white, and it sure sounds like a bright phone, so I presume that it's v1.0. But dunno for sure.
At any rate, it's interesting that you're more into live renditions of things, Ben. As y'may notice from my dogpile of embeds, there's very little live stuff. Based on listening to some of your examples, I can hear why the Pro 82 wins out for you. If I root through some of my own live picks, let's see what I learn...
BEATBoX SAX - Bach Cello Suite
Mmmyep! I'm giving the nod to Pro 82 on this one. That's impressive.
Dream, Priscilla Ahn
P82's articulation makes that acoustic guitar sound just that much more like a real object in space; PH adds a light harmonic glimmer to the performance that I enjoy quite a bit.
Adieu, Enter Shikari cover
Busy and low quality recording. They both suffer. P82 helps differentiate the voices better; PH is more euphonic, as usual, which causes things to blend together in a way that is flattering but less accurate.
Make Love to Myself, Lauren Ruth Ward
P82 feels impressively more 'in a real space' than PH; PH feels more engaged in the music though, for the same reason as above. I enjoy both in their own way.
Wheel, Stolen Jars
P82 yet again renders the instruments better but really mishandles that male vocal in my opinion; PH is more fun to me.
Kiss Me Kill Me, La Bouquet
P82 renders the reverb with more nuance; PH gave me goosebumps that the former did not, though.
So, the slight 'rose colored glasses' effect of the Purple Hearts' cup resonance appears to contribute to its "fun" factor, and ability to make recordings of nearly any quality level feel engaging. I'm still deeply impressed that the Pro 82 sounds so good for so little money, but even though I could flip my Purple Hearts for a couple hundred bucks in profit, they're just too useful to me as a jack-of-all-trades can. (I'd still love a next generation Kannon to be made with a Pro 82, though. As it stands, the Kannon is meh for most music and not that comfortable.)
BenF
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Priscilla Ahn is great! "Fine on the outside" is my favorite song of hers:
My preference for live recordings is a direct result of discovering Pro 82 - it transports me in both time and space straight to concert, I feel like I'm right there.
It's Pro 82's transparency that causes such an immersive experience, especially on any of the "synergy" combos.
Doesn't have to be a perfect recording, many bootlegs still result in me traveling through the time-space continuum.
My preference for live recordings is a direct result of discovering Pro 82 - it transports me in both time and space straight to concert, I feel like I'm right there.
It's Pro 82's transparency that causes such an immersive experience, especially on any of the "synergy" combos.
Doesn't have to be a perfect recording, many bootlegs still result in me traveling through the time-space continuum.
So I see you have some reloop headphone! I got the Reloop RHP-30 which is essentially the brainwavz hm9 but in all black. I modded them and they sound pretty good, nice warm sub-bass and midrange, soundstage I cannot describe since I am not toooo experienced with headphones but if I had to say its decent. Oh and BTW I picked them over the HD 25 for sitting back and listening to music. I got them for free at the Palm expo so even better.Look what I've got:
"Designed by Reloop Germany"...
BenF
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It's not just "some reloop headphone" - it's Pro 82 OEM.
I think Its a trend with reloop that all of their headphones are OEMS, really go look at their site.
BenF
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"Designed by Reloop Germany"
I would highly Doubt that phrase. Am not saying reloop sucks I mean they made the reloop touch which is pretty amazing (I have it). Rhp 30 is a fisher OEM and some of their other headphones are OEMs or copies.
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