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Takstar Pro 82 Review (Headphone)

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Takstar Pro 82 headphone. It was kindly purchased by a member and drop shipped to me. It costs US $90 on Amazon but I believe member got a better price.

The Pro 82 looks quite stylish despite its low price:

Takstar Pro 82 review headphone.jpg


The soft touch material is indeed, quite soft. Maybe too soft. The pads are so soft that slightest touch deforms them. While this is good for initial comfort, not sure how long they will last before becoming totally compressed. There were also some fine scratches on the cups.

An unusual feature of this headphone is a switch on each cup which is supposed to adjust bass. See my measurements later on effectiveness of it.

These headphones are quite light:

lightest closed headphone review 2021.png


Cup size is reasonable at 67x46x18 (height, width, depth).

Note: The measurements you are about to see are made using a standardized Gras 45C. Headphone measurements by definition are approximate and variable so don't be surprised if other measurements even if performed with the same fixtures as mine, differ in end results. Protocols vary such as headband pressure and averaging (which I don't do). As you will see, I confirm the approximate accuracy of the measurements using Equalization and listening tests. Ultimately headphone measurements are less exact than speakers mostly in bass and above a few kilohertz so keep that in mind as you read these tests. If you think you have an exact idea of a headphone performance, you are likely wrong!

Fitment on the fixture was easy the first time. On second try it was quite variable in bass due to the ultra soft pads.

Takstar Pro 82 Measurements
Let's start with the effect of the three-way bass switch:
Takstar Pro 82 bass switch vs Frequency Response Measurements.png


As you see, bass is increased but a dip is created around 350 Hz. At first I tried to EQ the lowest setting for bass and while that got me best compliance with the target, I just could not make it sound good. I tried the highest level and that didn't work either. So I settled for the middle setting:

Takstar Pro 82 Frequency Response Measurements.png


Takstar Pro 82 Relative Frequency Response Measurements.png


Bad news here is distortion especially around 5 kHz where we have a dip in the frequency response as well:

Takstar Pro 82 Relative distortion vs Frequency Response Measurements.png

Takstar Pro 82 distortion vs Frequency Response Measurements.png


Group delay doesn't show much:

Takstar Pro 82 Group Delay Frequency Response Measurements.png


Sensitivity is above average:

Most sensitive headphone reviewed.png


Impedance is quite low:

Takstar Pro 82 Impedance vs Frequency Response Measurements.png


Still, you should be able to play this with many portable devices and get reasonable volume.

Takstar Pro 82 Listening Tests and Equalization
With the switch at its lowest setting tonality was decent. But attempts at equalization just made the mid to high frequencies sound grungy and not desirable. As I noted, I went back to the switch being in the middle. That did better but at the end, I am not really happy with the performance:

Takstar Pro 82 Equalization EQ Parametric.png
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There are no spatial qualities and I just didn't enjoy listening to these headphones.

Conclusions
I spent three times more effort on this headphone than any other I test. At the end it left me frustrated. I am usually able to make just about every headphone sound good with EQ. This one is one of the few that defeated me. The common thread appears to be distortion in the 3 to 5 kHz range.

I can't recommend the Takstar Pro 82 for reasons mentioned.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 

Attachments

  • takstar pro 82 frequency response.zip
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To import this PEQ profile into 'Equalizer APO', use:
Preamp: -4.9 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 144 Hz Gain -6.0 dB Q 2.0
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 400 Hz Gain 5.0 dB Q 3.0
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 4500 Hz Gain 5.0 dB Q 2.5
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 8618 Hz Gain -6.0 dB Q 5.0
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 13500 Hz Gain -7.0 dB Q 4.0
Otherwise, see my PEQ guide.
..................................................................................................................
For those who don't have PEQ-capable app, and want to use GEQs instead:
See my GEQ guide for 10-band, 31-band, and 127-band GEQ profiles.
 
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I've seen this headphone hyped as a good value set on forums, I've kept wondering if this is really the case. Now I know. Thanks Amir!
 
I have this and its clone Cooler Master MH751, they don't sound very good for music but they are great for playing competitive video games. They are the most comfortable sets of headphones I've ever owned.
 
… but they are great for playing competitive video games. They are the most comfortable sets of headphones I've ever owned.
Can you please elaborate on that? What’s good for gaming apart from the comfort?
 
@amirm Is this fail of equalization is due to difference between measurement rig and your ear or something else (3-5 kHz distortions)? Possible method of checking this is comparation of recording of headphones, equalized to flat, with source track.
 
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Can you please elaborate on that? What’s good for gaming apart from the comfort?
Oh yeah I forgot to expand on that because I thought I already did :). I play a lot of CSGO and Valorant which rely heavily on the pinpointing on the position of the footsteps in game. These cans are so revealing I can pinpoint every footsteps with ease and they are so much better in this aspect better than my other headphones (HD660S, ATH-A700X, HD668B, Onkyo A800, M1060 and several other headphones and IEMs). The $9 ZX110 comes really close with EQ but sounded a little muffled if you have to listen to multiple footsteps at once. I don't really care about bass on gunshots, they're detrimental for competitive FPS games, so I just turn the bass knob to the min.
 
Thanks fir the warning Amir. The unacceptable broad distortion in the 3k-5kHz range makes it a failure, in audiophile, irreparable wallowing muddiness in the vocals.;)
 
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This does not look like a well engineered headphone. On Aliexpress it costs 45€, and I think more would be too much.
 
Shining a flashlight at an angle into the earcup should allow you to see through the cloth protection material and identify the type of driver. I think the older one had a blue ring and the newer ones not (?)
 
Maybe I'm influenced by your review:
I don't know why, these HP have the kind of look you can find in electro-DIY shops (and I'm not sure it's a compliment).
 
This looks suspiciously like ATH-M50s but with different pads. Even the drivers look similar. Frequency response as well.

EDIT: Frequency response is largely the same as well. I wonder if this is basically a "backdoored" M50?
1626042303835.png

index.php
 
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