[XLR8]

Just order my Takstar pro 82 V1 with the 2.2m cable and 3.5mm/6.5mm adapter.

What can I expect compared to my L300 Stax and Grado headphones?
(see signature)

Thnx to @BenF for all his posts

Tia.

 

[BenF]

Just order my Takstar pro 82 V1 with the 2.2m cable and 3.5mm/6.5mm adapter.

What can I expect compared to my L300 Stax and Grado headphones?
(see signature)

If you prefer Grados over Stax L300, Pro 82 probably won't be to your liking.
Granted, I only heard SR80, but Grados do have a "house sound".

Pro 82 v1 sounds very close to L300 - they have equally great transparency and timbre.
Pro 82 v1 has a much better bass, better than all the modern Lambdas - L300/L300LE/L500/L700. Only 009 has equally great bass.
However, L300 has a greater WOW-factor - its endless treble can be addicting (although tiring).
Pro 82 (either version) provides a much more balanced sound, better comfort and isolation.

For best results, I highly recommend the SMSL Idea and O2 (1.0/3.3 gain) - best synergy with Pro 82!
SMSL Idea isn't being manufactured anymore - so you better hurry and snatch one before it disappears completely!
This store seems to still have stock: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32953053570.html

Thnx to @BenF for all his posts

Glad I could help!

 

[XLR8]

BenF

Kudos to your insightful replies.
A million thanks.

Happy listening and will update a mini review when I get them next week.

 

[XLR8]

Look what arrived

 

[XLR8]

EDIT:1
Just burning them in at the moment.

Edit:2
First impressions....
Excellent balanced sound;
Have them at the 1st setting for bass;
Isolation from external noise is excellent ;
Comfort is superb;
Sound-stage /imaging has good width and height .
Win so far!!!

EDIT:3
An amazing set of cans;
The settings for the bass are very important. I use the 1st setting as it tames the treble and brings the bass up making for a more balanced sound;
You basically have 2 cans in one - Use the no bass setting for analytical listening or use the 1st setting for balanced reference sound
You get a suit case to travel the world how do they do it for the $$$ ?
Sound quality is stupendously good with amazing transparency and bass impact to die for;
The nuances are extracted with ease with pin-point focus and an excellent sound-stage;
Mid-range and tops are balanced with the 1st setting, more treble heavy with no bass setting
TBH, am blown away with them & can't put these cans down; I ordered another pair

 

[BenF]

...Sound quality is stupendously good with amazing transparency and bass impact to die for;
The nuances are extracted with ease with pin-point focus and an excellent sound-stage;
Mid-range and tops are balanced with the 1st setting, more treble heavy with no bass setting

Excellent impressions, added them to post #3.
Will be interesting to see your comparisons to Stax L300 and higher end Grados.

...TBH, am blown away with them & can't put these cans down; I ordered another pair

Welcome to the club!

 

[saebasan]

For those who are interested. I remembered in the review from z reviews why he couldn't understand the 4 pole 2.5 connector. And 3 pole 3.5 mm input.

Yes it has a balanced input.
But the trick of the negative is done in the cable itself.

Ps.
Maybe useless information. And you allready knew. But did my own observations

Yes, the trick is done in the cable. You can confirm on the cable that the sleeve and the ring next to it of the 2.5 balanced jack are connected together, and correspond to the sleeve of the 3.5 unbalanced.
BUT....
for whose who want to re-cable it, in order to not do damage anything, I’ d like to warn them.

I found out that the pinout order of the jack connector is not what is shown on the printed circuit board.
L+ L- R+ R- WRONG

The CORRECT cabling is
L+ R+ L- R- (from tip to sleeve)

 

[saebasan]

 

[saebasan]

Not appropriate for the jack connector cabling order.

 

[BenF]

I don't quite understand what is the problem - the cable? The internal wiring?
I bought this cable https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32919156482.html and it works great.

 

[BenF]

There is a sale going on Aliexpress for another 10 hours (till midnight PST).

You can get a free "2$ off 15$" coupon here: https://sale.aliexpress.com/__pc/top100must-haves201907.htm

Pro 82 is now for sale for 59.5$ (instead of 62.5$), and with this coupon you can take it down to 57.5$ - for a guaranteed v2.

There is also a "6$ off 69$" coupon you can get in the app in exchange for 1000 coins:

You can use it to lower price of SMSL Idea (before it disappears off the shelves) or SMSL IQ.

SMSL IQ is on a CRAZY sale right now - 103.5$ instead of 140$: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32847472836.html
Plus the store has a "9$ off 80$" coupon, so together with the "6$ off 69$" Ali coupon the price is down to ... 88.5$ !!!!

You can get the IQ for the price of Idea!
IQ has a crystal clear sound, similar to Oppo HA-2SE's Line Out, plus it has a balanced output!
I often use it as a DAC for my electrostats.
Here is a short review: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...scussion-thread.849965/page-135#post-14280846

 

[saebasan]

I don't quite understand what is the problem - the cable? The internal wiring?
I bought this cable https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32919156482.html and it works great.

???

Great.
So, this information was not for you.

But there are a lot of DIYers out there, who eventually would like to know what is the correct pin mapping for this specific model. Whatever the cabling or connectors they would like to adapt this pair.
So, no problem. Just some precisions, and one warning due to the fact that the inscriptions on the printed circuit board are not showing the actual real correct order inside the jack connector itself... This is surprising and this could be misleading.

 

[BenF]

???

Great.
So, this information was not for you.

But there are a lot of DIYers out there, who eventually would like to know what is the correct pin mapping for this specific model. Whatever the cabling or connectors they would like to adapt this pair.
So, no problem. Just some precisions, and one warning due to the fact that the inscriptions on the printed circuit board are not showing the actual real correct order inside the jack connector itself... This is surprising and this could be misleading.

Wiring of the TRRS jack may differ depending on the jack size:
For 2.5mm TRRS jacks this is R-R+L+L- and includes: Astell&Kern AK70, AK240, AK300, AK320, AK380, AK100ii, AK120ii, KANN and many other A&K 2.5mm players, Fiio X5 3rd Gen, FiiO Q1, X7 (with AM3), Onkyo DP-X1, Pioneer XDP-300R, Cayin N5, The Bit Opus #1 DAC, Luxury and Precision L3 DAC, and some others.

For 3.5mm TRRS jacks this is L+R+L-R- and includes: Sony NW-ZX2, Hifiman HM-801, HM-901, LH Labs Geek Out V2, iFi Nano iDSD BL and some others.

For 4.4mm TRRRS jacks this is L+L-R+R- GND and includes: Sony NW-WM1Z, NW-WM1A, PHA-2A and TA-ZH1ES, and some others.
(from https://oidiosound.co.uk/balanced/ )

I bought the 2.5mm one, to use with SMSL IQ and ES100.

 

[muths66]

Previously i got the earmax balanced 2.5mm which is not working perfectly so i send it back and got other nicer 2.5mm balanced which also wont qork perfectly so I send to a local guy to check is due to wrong connection in the wiring now running fine.So seriously you need to tell seller what headphone you use or what connection you want.

 

[saebasan]

Wiring of the TRRS jack may differ depending on the jack size:
For 2.5mm TRRS jacks this is R-R+L+L- and includes: Astell&Kern AK70, AK240, AK300, AK320, AK380, AK100ii, AK120ii, KANN and many other A&K 2.5mm players, Fiio X5 3rd Gen, FiiO Q1, X7 (with AM3), Onkyo DP-X1, Pioneer XDP-300R, Cayin N5, The Bit Opus #1 DAC, Luxury and Precision L3 DAC, and some others.

For 3.5mm TRRS jacks this is L+R+L-R- and includes: Sony NW-ZX2, Hifiman HM-801, HM-901, LH Labs Geek Out V2, iFi Nano iDSD BL and some others.

For 4.4mm TRRRS jacks this is L+L-R+R- GND and includes: Sony NW-WM1Z, NW-WM1A, PHA-2A and TA-ZH1ES, and some others.
(from https://oidiosound.co.uk/balanced/ )

I bought the 2.5mm one, to use with SMSL IQ and ES100.

Mmmm
Wrong statement. Or at least, not totally exact.
The wiring of TRRS jack does not differ depending on the jack size only.
If it was that simple, everybody would be happy.

For some reason, Takstar has chosen L+ R+ L- R- for its Pro 82’s 2.5mm TRRS jack.... (and surprisingly not the up mentioned R- R+ L+ L-, nor even the internal circuit board printed order L+L-R+R- which is really unlikely)

Despite Sony using its own L+ R+ R- L-, it seems that there is more flavors of wiring ... like this somewhat original L+ R+ L- R- ...

Some people here would eventually diy’ their homemade cables.
Somes may ask pros to make it for them.
Some others would buy their cable, crossing fingers and pray. Sometimes it works great, sometimes not. For sure, this is a total mess. Trying to buy the correct cable could be quite an hassle.
There are so much options, and no standardization.