@Roderick , thank you for the detailed and thoughtful review!
I have added a link in the post #3.
Just a few notes:
...The negative: First thing that comes to mind is soundstage. I saw the Z-review video and guy kept saying "I can't believe I'm listening to headphones". Well, I can. The soundstage on pro82's is very small and even with good imaging listening can get tiresome especially with recordings with lot of stereo panning. Zeppelin, hendrix, beatles and stuff like that. It is not that it is a minor downfall it is a big deal. Soundstage and whole presentation is "closeted". It is a big negative change after pro80's that had a good soundstage especially if one uses thicker aftermarket pads.
I think you may be confusing the fake soundstage that many V-shaped headphones produce with the real soundstage.
It's a known trick - ramp up the treble, and it will create an illusion of soundstage. Try listening to music that doesn't have much treble or high mids, and you'll see Pro 80's "soundstage" shrink.
Pro 82 provides a consistently large (for a portable headphone) soundstage.
...Another negative is the bass. It is not bad bass. It's punchy and extends low but the headphones housing does not do justice for the capable driver.
Pro80 and hi2050 had excellent damping materials inside the cups that removed the unwanted resonances and reverbs.
If I open a bassport on pro82's I can clearly hear resonances within the housing. Bass becomes honky and with bassports closed I get barely enough bass to my liking.
Not that it's bass light but it is about 80% that I would prefer. I don't understand what Takstar engineers where thinking when they ditched the idea of proper cup dampening.
Pro 82 is not for bassheads. If you need more bass, you must use HW-based one in your amp, otherwise SQ will suffer:
Highs... well, this is a thing that will surely divide people. I find pro82's rather dark sounding headphones.
You are certainly the first to call Pro 82 "dark". Although the second revision (which you have) was tuned to be even more linear than the first one, it has plenty of treble energy:
You probably are less sensitive to treble than the average Joe, which makes you prefer treble-heavy (mostly V-shaped) headphones.
It's not good or bad, it's just how you hear.
I red these were compared to Fostex th-900 soundsignature and I find it hard to believe.
I have not heard th900 but from what I get by reading reviews is that th900 is a v-shaped headphone with allmost piercingly bright highs.
The first revision resembled TH900Mk2 much better than the second one does:
But even the first revision had much better linearity than TH900MK2, so it probably wouldn't be enough of change for you to like them.
...That is pretty much opposite what I get with pro82's. With most headphones highs can become a bit too much with metal music.
I was listening to children of bodom and amorphis and pro82's just sound mellow up top.
These don't fix the issue on bright recordings instead they make music sound as exciting as yesterdays cold porridge.
I probably should add to the first post that metalheads shouldn't apply. Metal usually shines on V-shaped headphones with high distortions.
Pro 82 is super transparent and natural sounding, on a level that only electrostats and AB-1266 can compete with (from those I've heard).
I can't imagine a headphone less suitable for metal than Pro 82.
Makes perfect sense - that's why you wish Pro 82 had more bass and treble, making it more V-shaped.
My advice to you - sell Pro 82 and use proceeds to mod your Pro 80 into Pro 81 - it will still be V-shaped (less though), with increase in comfort and real soundstage.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/tak...scussion-thread.849965/page-104#post-14077061
You'll also avoid the SQ hit that Brainwavz pads create - bass will be just as tight and deep as with the original pads.
