[BenF]

Hi, My GM200 has a Mic off button which is on the cable but it doesnt semm to work. im using Gm200 on Creative Sound Blaster Omni usb sound card on my pc. i tested it with Windows Voice Recorder, even when Mic button off, still i can hear my voice.
should this button work ?

Sound Blaster Omni has built in dual microphones - you are probably using them, not the GM200 microphone

 

[morefilling]

I'd like a short cable to use with the Pro 82s. Like 18". I've searched this tread. Some people mentioned it may be possible to use a 3 pole instead of a 4 pole connector. Has anyone done this? I've looked for 2.5mm 4 pole to 3 pole 3.5mm wires but don't see any. I also can't find 3 pole 3.5 to 4 pole 2.5 adapters. It looked like someone made their own cable which I may be able if I have to. Any help figuring this out would be appreciated.

 

[BenF]

Hidizs S9 review

Left to right - FIIO BTR3K, SMSL Idea, Hidizs S9.

Build:
It's comparable in size to SMSL Idea, but it has Type-C USB port instead of Micro USB, and has a 2.5mm balanced port in addition to the 3.5mm single-ended port.
Unfortunately, there are no buttons at all - you have to control S9 using your OS/music player.

Sound quality:
Standalone, it sounds a bit colored, with a slight veil - not very transparent. Definitely justifies the "Velvel Sound" moniker.
It's not the typical warm coloration, like SMSL Idea/Sabaj DA2 - it doesn't sound warm, but there is some timbral shift.
This coloration is typical to the "home audio" AK products - 4490EQ and 4493EQ.
However, FIIO BTR3K (dual AK4377A) and Earstudio ES100 (dual AK4375A) both don't have this coloration, and sound perfectly transparent. FIIO BTR3 (single AK4376A) is somewhere in the middle coloration-wise.
Because of this coloration, vocals (especially female ones) sound a bit off.
Pairing with O2 (using S9 in DAC mode - at 100% volume), S9 sounds more transparent -less veil and coloration, tonality is much more natural.

Bass is very good standalone- full bodied with deep impact, almost perfect.
Surprisingly, the bass still improves when paired with O2.

Despite the improvements when paired with O2, it doesn't display synergy with Pro 82 v2, just a really good sound overall - no magical component here.

Comparisons:
SMSL Idea (DA2) standalone sounds better than S9+O2, more transparent and natural, the bass has more body.
FIIO BTR3K standalone sounds even better than Idea/DA2, and provides Bluetooth functionality.

S9 costs 109$, DA2 is available at 56$, and BTR3K is available at 66$ (after the 4$ coupon in the first post).
I can see why some people may choose S9 over Idea/DA2 - addition of 2.5mm port, and a much higher single-ended output - 90mW vs 36mW into 32Ohm.

Compared to BTR3K, S9 looks bleak. Both have the 2.5mm port, and BTR3K has a much better sound coupled with a Bluetooth capability, including APTX-HD and LDAC. BTR3K also has a great app, which allows to customize its sound by choosing different digital filters and EQ. The only advantage S9 has is its power output - 90mW vs 25mW into 32Ohm single ended, and 125mW vs 78mW balanced.

Conclusion:
Frankly, I don't see a point to a 109$ tiny DAC/Amp without a battery and without a Bluetooth functionality.
Its form-factor seems to suggest usage with smartphones, but it will eat your phone's battery to provide that high output power.
And who exactly walks around with a DAC/Amp tied to their phone? Bluetooth is the only way to go with smartphones, LDAC provides 990kbps bandwidth - good enough for FLAC.

At 109$, there are better sounding and cheaper options - I can't recommend S9.
FIIO BTR3K at 66$ : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000849710696.html (use the coupon in the first post)
Sabaj DA2 at 56$ : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32825193760.html

 

[klogg4]

I have recently ordered FIIO BTR3K to pair it with my ATH-M50x - figured out BenF is loving it for Pro 82 and GM200, so I got interested in testing it with my Shades

 

[BenF]

Don't know about M50x (it may be the weak point in your new sound chain), but it does sound great with the Shade (GM200).
Do you still have Pro 82 too?

 

[klogg4]

I do, that's why I'm gonna get a try

 

[Sebasistan]

My P10 Little Bear synergy c-c-c-c-combooooo has arrived.

My PC needs more USB ports. Alternatively would be real nice if there was one bluetooth controller for all my BT peripherals... Why does every little thing need its own port. Anyway. Completely unrelated to the actual device.

It's... Yeah. It's good. It delivers an overall cleaner and clearer sound than my ZEN DAC / Loxjie P20 combo does on balanced. Which is interesting since the Loxjie / ZEN DAC is a balanced setup throughout. And yet the P10 manages to open the 82 Pro up just that last little stretch more. The overall sound is a little less "veiled" - a little crisper. The bass has a tad more resolution overall, finer gradations. I still have to put it through motions beyond my "test-drive" tracks. But uh, yeah. Kinda puts the whole notion of balanced sound always being superior to single ended to shame.

I am however not regretting having the other stack. It isn't BAD with the 82 Pro, just not quite as good as the P10 combo. And it goes marvelously well with my Meze 99 Neo and Hifiman 400i on balanced. But the Takstar 82 Pro? Yeah there's a reason this is a synergy combo. This sounds too good. Shouldn't be legal at this price.

 

[Sebasistan]

I'm getting very faint interference on the P10 on one channel. I wonder if that's the PSU. Irregular, very faint "beeps" or "whistles" of sort. Maybe the tube needs adjusting...?

Another thing I was wondering...
For the most part I ran my Pro82 balanced. But sometimes I had to use the 3.5mm stock cable. And especially now with the P10 having no balanced option... I am wondering if the Pro82 just don't gain much from running them balanced? On my Shanling M6 the difference in sound is honestly marginal between balanced and single-ended.

 

[BenF]

My P10 Little Bear synergy c-c-c-c-combooooo has arrived.

Congrats!

My PC needs more USB ports. Alternatively would be real nice if there was one bluetooth controller for all my BT peripherals... Why does every little thing need its own port. Anyway. Completely unrelated to the actual device.

Why do you need more than one BT controller? Maybe some of your peripherals are actually 2.4Ghz, and not Bluetooth?
Usually, even if a Bluetooth peripheral comes with its own receiver, you can use it with your built-in BT controller instead.

It's... Yeah. It's good. It delivers an overall cleaner and clearer sound than my ZEN DAC / Loxjie P20 combo does on balanced. Which is interesting since the Loxjie / ZEN DAC is a balanced setup throughout. And yet the P10 manages to open the 82 Pro up just that last little stretch more. The overall sound is a little less "veiled" - a little crisper. The bass has a tad more resolution overall, finer gradations. I still have to put it through motions beyond my "test-drive" tracks. But uh, yeah. Kinda puts the whole notion of balanced sound always being superior to single ended to shame.

Synergy is far more important than the type of the connection. Once you find the synergy, it takes you to a magical place, where better specs (S/N ratio, channel separation, power) mean nothing, it's just you and the music.

I am however not regretting having the other stack. It isn't BAD with the 82 Pro, just not quite as good as the P10 combo. And it goes marvelously well with my Meze 99 Neo and Hifiman 400i on balanced. But the Takstar 82 Pro? Yeah there's a reason this is a synergy combo. This sounds too good. Shouldn't be legal at this price.

Can you please post impressions of Pro 82 on the P10 + EL-D01 vs Meze 99 Neo and Hifiman 400I on Zen DAC + Loxjie P20?
It will help more people to make the right decision (on both headphones and amps/DACs).

 

[Sebasistan]

Synergy is far more important than the type of the connection. Once you find the synergy, it takes you to a magical place, where better specs (S/N ratio, channel separation, power) mean nothing, it's just you and the music.

Yeah, it seems the Pro82 synergize better / as well with my Shanling M6 on single-ended as they do on balanced. I did not try them single-ended with the Loxjie P20 since I keep reading that its single-ended performance is lacking, especially compared with the dual-tube driven balanced out.

Can you please post impressions of Pro 82 on the P10 + EL-D01 vs Meze 99 Neo and Hifiman 400I on Zen DAC + Loxjie P20?
It will help more people to make the right decision (on both headphones and amps/DACs).

Will do when I have the time to. (And I need to decide which tubes to use... Oh tube amps... Always so special...)

OH AND - The Little Bear came with a strip of four rubber nubs. Are those "feet"?

 

[MaxSong]

OH AND - The Little Bear came with a strip of four rubber nubs. Are those "feet"?

Yes, but I think you don't want to bother with them since they hold on badly.

I'm getting very faint interference on the P10 on one channel. I wonder if that's the PSU. Irregular, very faint "beeps" or "whistles" of sort. Maybe the tube needs adjusting...?

You should keep your phone and PC at least 1 meter away from P10 at all times. Especially the phone - it creates a lot of interference even in the standby mode.

 

[Sebasistan]

You should keep your phone and PC at least 1 meter away from P10 at all times. Especially the phone - it creates a lot of interference even in the standby mode.

OH WOW that thing isn't shielded at all huh. I just tried this out just holding my phone next to it and it started to pick up interference. (I mean, obviously it's not shielded, it's basically just a board with a tube and a "roof" without "walls" so I guess that's to be expected...)

In other news, the GM200 I ordered along with the other stuff arrived too. Time to take them through the motions as well.

A bit odd, they are branded "Liberty Gamer SHADE" on the box, but they are the genuine Takstar product I've seen on here, bass ports and all. - And I double checked, the Takstar Official store on Aliexpress lists them as Takstar GM200 - but the images in the description of the item also refer to them as "Liberty Gamer SHADE" so... All's well I guess.

First impressions on the GM200s is, well, they ain't subtle, are they? They are the jock brother to the more sophisticated sound of the baseline 82Pro. They'll make good outdoor cans. Need to spend some more time with them. Probably good for metal and maybe techno, though I can see the bass becoming a bit obnoxious, especially after I got used to the more gentle sound of the 82Pro.

 

[Sebasistan]

Hm. So the packaging slip ("manual" is a bit of a misnomer) mentions that the P10 should only be run for a few hours at a time. I do notice that if I use it for longer periods, one channel will eventually give up. Maybe it runs too hot?

 

[Sebasistan]

Careful early impressions: I think the GM200 match actually quite well with my ZEN DAC / Loxjie P20 stack on balanced. Better than with the Little Bear combo, which I feel like brings a bit too much pressure overall.

The Little Bear combo does however sound superior with the Pro 82.

IDK if that's just my initial impression... Will keep an eye... I mean... Ear... On it.

So, this keeps happening for reasons I don't get. Occasionally the right channel of the P10 will... Not cut out, but become really quiet. First time it happened I just turned it off and let the little guy cool down and it was OK. Now it just happened randomly when turning it on and I couldn't turn out how to fix it - and then it was just gone and now it's working. I wish I could figure out what's causing this...

And another edit:
I think the culprit is PROBABLY the crappy old RCA => 3.5mm cable I'm using. I found it at the bottom of my cable drawer, and have no idea where that even came from or how long I had it. Ordered a replacement now... Fingers crossed.

 

[klogg4]

Don't know about M50x (it may be the weak point in your new sound chain), but it does sound great with the Shade (GM200).

I liked the M50x + BTR3K combo more than GM200 + BTR3K, but that's just my comparison of headphones actually. GM200 and Pro 82 have very smooth upper treble which is good because of soft warm sound without sibilance, but M50x is both more detailed (flatter 2-8 khz in my opinion) and more fun because of punchy bass (if the recording doesn't have boosted bass ofc, because M50x are indeed very boomy cans). They're absolutely not analytical in any way, but neither are Pro 82/GM200 so doesn't matter here. For analytical sound I use AKG K612 Pro at the moment and they're my favourites.

It was more interesting for me to compare BTR3K to MOTU M4, because I don't believe in such thing as "synergy combos", but I believe that amp circuits do matter for a good sound. And I was very impressed with BTR3K in the end because it sounds neutral just like M4 but it's super small and has strong Bluetooth functionality with a lot of codecs. It even drives my K612 Pro the same way M4 does. I'm more impressed with it than I ever was with Takstar headphones actually. Such a cool thing for a reasonable price.