[OscarPaz]

Good news - the Takstar factory started supplying new Pro 82s in both colors again.
TakstarAudio just got their shipment, but it's not clear how many Pro 82s will be available in this batch.

Another new driver...?

 

[SHAMuuu]

I compared the Pro 82 to the DT770 a bit. The Pro82 has nothing on it. 770 has better bass slam, texture, clearer mids, more treble detail, better imaging, better soundstage. [/COLOR][/SIZE]

.

Is there anything the pro82 does better? Comfort wise, which is better?
thx

 

[justmwa]

Is there anything the pro82 does better? Comfort wise, which is better?
thx

More neutral for sure (mids not recessed like 770). And I disagree with regard to soundstage/imaging. Both are very good for closed cans and I wouln't rate the 770 as superior in this regard. And comfort is better on the pro82 (way less clamp), plus detachable cable.
Given the price, one could say that you purchase both and make up your own mind Had I not decided to try them myself I would have kept the Brainwavz HM5 which are much inferior to my ears compared to both 770 and pro82.

 

[iancraig10]

The DT770 takes a lot more current than the Takstar which is quoted very low at 20mW. I think the Beyer is ‘deader’ with nothing playing. That and the DT150 are the two I’ve seen the most in studios over the past lord knows how many years. The DT150 can take so much power that they can be used as mini speakers on the desk.

Personally, I find the dt770 more ‘spacious’. Not sure about detail though. Both aren’t really detail magnets.

 

[iancraig10]

Another new driver...?

That could be the case. They’ve run out of drivers and moved on.....

Solderdude replaced the drivers in one and found that it still retained a lot of its original characteristics which seems to suggest that the cup shape has a large effect on its sound sig.

 

[nraymond]

Anyone compared these to the iSK HD-9999? Similar price point, and the HD-9999 are pretty well regarded in music production circles:

https://www.iskproaudio.com/products/hd-9999-headphones

 

[OscarPaz]

That could be the case. They’ve run out of drivers and moved on.....

Certainly they did, apparently without any official notice. They of course have the legal right to do so.

Solderdude replaced the drivers in one and found that it still retained a lot of its original characteristics which seems to suggest that the cup shape has a large effect on its sound sig.

I find this statement confusing, what does it really mean? Is it the case that their sound signature is mainly made up from sound reflections? I don’t understand... seems weird to me.

My bet is that they changed drivers because of production decisions or whatever, but that both drivers comply with the specifications required for it to be called Pro 82. I doubt that any other random driver installed in that same earcup would inmediately sound similar. Or perhaps I’m misinterpreting something...?

 

[iancraig10]

Oh dear. Don’t shoot the messenger. He’s there on DIYAH if you’re confused.

Yes, they can do as they like with their headphone as you quite rightly say. My bet is that they’ve found a cheaper supplier of the drivers or a driver that is similar, as Solderdude accidentally found.

Solderdude accidentally blew the drivers while testing them with square waves because they don’t take a lot of power. That’s why he sees them more as a portable headphone.

So he replaced them with some other drivers he had handy and got virtually the same sound sig. Quite a coincidence.

Here’s the confusing post .. http://diyah.boards.net/thread/1627/takstar-pro-82?page=7

 

[stryed]

I just ordered the FX audio dac X6. WIll see how it goes...
But the Takstar pro82 seem justfine without a dac/amp althought volume has to be pushed to the max sometimes on my surface pro 4.

 

[elkosith]

Would the Topping D3 be a good match for these?

I don't have Topping D3 but I have D2. I think they are quite similar but use different DAC chip.

The Pro 82 sounds good on D2. I don't have any other DAC to compare with, but it's surely way better than onboard soundcard on my laptop.

 

[weirdek]

I just ordered the FX audio dac X6. WIll see how it goes...
But the Takstar pro82 seem justfine without a dac/amp althought volume has to be pushed to the max sometimes on my surface pro 4.

I also ordered the X6, supposedly it's the best sub-100$ combo. However I ordered it for the AKG K712 since it will need a bit more power, while the Pro 82 is fairly easy to drive but scales decently. The only thing to note is that output impedance of the X6 is 10 Ohm, and the Pro 82 are 32 Ohm headphones which isn't really ideal. Hopefully it doesn't bloat any of the frequencies.

In my experience amps and DACs mostly affected the low end of the sound spectrum and imaging/separation, atleast the one's I've tried. Haven't used tubes so can't comment on that.

 

[OscarPaz]

My bet is that they’ve found a cheaper supplier of the drivers or a driver that is similar, as Solderdude accidentally found.

Takstar is a big ODM company, they are their own supplier. It may well be the case that these drivers in the Pro 82 were designed following strict specifications from another firm, and that Takstar tweaked them slightly and installed them in the Pro 82. We will hardly ever know...

So he replaced them with some other drivers he had handy and got virtually the same sound sig. Quite a coincidence.

This sounds very s-t-r-a-n-g-e to me.

 

[Blinxat]

I am comparing the Pro 82 to the H7. I think the sound is more or less on the same level, they have about the same treble presence, but the H7 is a little bit better in seperation and a touch more crisp. The Pro82 sounds a bit smoothed off at the very top. The H7 does not have the mid treble haze that I hear on my Pro82.

The bass has more texture on the H7, but is a bit bloated, the Pro82 has better balance to about 2khz. While staging is similar, the Pro82 sounds a tad less congested. Pro82 is certainly more neutral through the lower mids up to 1khz where the H7 is awkwardly forward sounding. (I think B&O did this so it makes phones calls a little clearer).

I still think the H7 resolves better starting from 2khz up to the top, where the Pro82 just sounds mushy. But not by a lot.

 

[BenF]

I am comparing the Pro 82 to the H7. I think the sound is more or less on the same level, they have about the same treble presence, but the H7 is a little bit better in seperation and a touch more crisp. The Pro82 sounds a bit smoothed off at the very top. The H7 does not have the mid treble haze that I hear on my Pro82.

The bass has more texture on the H7, but is a bit bloated, the Pro82 has better balance to about 2khz. While staging is similar, the Pro82 sounds a tad less congested. Pro82 is certainly more neutral through the lower mids up to 1khz where the H7 is awkwardly forward sounding. (I think B&O did this so it makes phones calls a little clearer).

I still think the H7 resolves better starting from 2khz up to the top, where the Pro82 just sounds mushy. But not by a lot.

H7 was one of my favorite closed headphone before I got Pro 82 (other one is B8).
They have quite similar sound, but Pro 82 scales up a whole lot better, or maybe I just didn't find the right synergy combo for H7 - although it sounds damn good from Oppo HA-2.
Comfort-wise - there is no competition, H7's small round pads feel like a torture compared to Pro 82. I didn't mind H7's comfort before I got Pro 82 - now can't stand it for more than 2 hours

Still, it sounds very good for the 400 Euros (almost 500$) I paid for it - no regrets.
Wish I could say the same about H6 v1...

 

[BenF]

Last week I auditioned B&O H9, Bowers Wilkins PX and Sony WH1000XM2 (all were tested wired).

This was my second audition of H9, and my impressions were much better than first time.
Last September my impression of H9 was that it sounds mediocre, this time it sounded as good or even better than H7.
I wonder which one represents the true H9 sound, and what is the reason for this change:
1) Has H9 been silently updated recently?
2) Do US and Europe get differently tuned H9s?
3) Is this a variation in production?
4) Was the first H9 simply not burned in enough?


Or maybe H9 only sounded so great, because I was A/B it with Bowers Wilkins PX, which sounded horrible, more befitting some of earlier Beats headphones.
I absolutely loved Bowers Wilkins P7's sound quality, so this "upgrade" is a great disappointment.
Turns out I'm not the only one: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/bow...elling-over-ears.861606/page-80#post-13853794

Sony WH1000XM2's sound quality was somewhere in-between H9 and PX, nothing special.

The quest for a Bluetooth headphone that is both comfortable and sounds great continues...