Long story short, I found out about the Takstar Pro 82 Headphones on shady china thread when they first appeared a while back. I was an owner of the Sony MDR-1A Headphones previously. With that said, I just had to make a review about the Takstars while putting them in contrast to the MDRs due to the uncanny resemblance of their design cues and also the jarring difference in price with the MDRs retail price standing in around US$119.99 to US$249.99 while the Takstars stands at US$69.99 to US$79.99 also depending on whether you ordered it with the box or not.
Predecessor:
The Takstar Pro 82 obviously is the successor of the Takstar Pro 80 which were modeled after another famous pair of headphones which were the Beyerdynamic DT880 Headphones. Takstar succeeded in replacing the already good Pro 80 with an even better headphone which just nails the top award for price to performance ratio in my opinion. Lets find out why.
The Good:
First and foremost, these are extremely comfortable to wear as it is. No modding, no pad exchange necessary. Comfort always comes to my mind after being spoiled by good cushions (brainwavz etc). Are they more comfortable than the MDRs? Maybe. It depends on personal preference, but these two are pretty on par with one another for all comfort is concerned. The MDRs are one of the most comfortable headphones you could buy on the market, now let that sink in.Oh yeah, the image above, I stuck Velcro on the headphone for a detachable microphone. A man needs his mic.
Now on to the cable, manufacturers usually screw up with proprietary cables that are either too long or a nightmare to keep in your pockets when bundled up. Cables of the Pro 82 are just the right length at 1.6m long with decent coat and not so much of a memory when bent.
The sound. In car buying terms, imagine buying a car that can run and feel somewhat as good as a nice BMW whilst paying less than half of what the nice BMW costs. This is what it feels like owning the Pro 82 after having the MDRs. It sounds V-ish to me.
Tracks Used:
1.Joe Goddard – Lose Your Love
2.Blade Runner- Hans Zimmer
3.Julie-O - Break of Reality
4.The Battle - Hans Zimmer
5.Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machines
Lows: There are Bass Ports on both cups which can be selected in positions I would call "closed", "Stage 1 boost" and "Stage 2 boost".
Closed - tight punchy bass that comes standard with good presentation but lacking in mass.
Stage 1 boost - Overall adds more mass to the bass (especially the Mid-bass section being more present)
Stage 2 boost - Bass bleeds and muddles the other ranges but is evermore emphasized.
My preference is at Stage 1 boost. Gives things a little more weight which i like.
Mids: Clear and well defined albeit recessed like a wide U from what my ears could tell. Lower Mids could use a bit more umph.
Highs: Surprisingly good. It has a lot of reach I can tell you that, but occasionally sibilance could be heard if the track is pushing the highs.
The Bad:
A 4 pole 2.5mm jack which no one knows why it happens to be that way. The drawback is mostly towards the fact that its a 2.5mm jack that terminates at the Headphone side of the cable. This limits the options of getting a replacement cable BUT it still is good news that this is a generic 2.5mm jack and not one of those proprietary terminations Sennheiser or Sony uses in some of their products.
Plastic for the hinges. This somewhat compromises durability in theory. Compared to the MDRs, I wouldnt want to keep throwing these into my bag on the go frequently. I could give the MDR an 8/10 for durability and a 6/10 for the Takstars from what I could feel. But hey, the Takstars are 10/10 for its affordability. So, bear that in mind too.
The Ugly:
If i could stick a Sony logo on there, I would.
Conclusion:
Like I said, In my opinion, yes. These are the best bang per dollar headphones on the market right now. Especially when compared to its other china counterparts. This reminds me of the SHP9500 hype. An absolute must try for the price.
Predecessor:
The Takstar Pro 82 obviously is the successor of the Takstar Pro 80 which were modeled after another famous pair of headphones which were the Beyerdynamic DT880 Headphones. Takstar succeeded in replacing the already good Pro 80 with an even better headphone which just nails the top award for price to performance ratio in my opinion. Lets find out why.
The Good:
First and foremost, these are extremely comfortable to wear as it is. No modding, no pad exchange necessary. Comfort always comes to my mind after being spoiled by good cushions (brainwavz etc). Are they more comfortable than the MDRs? Maybe. It depends on personal preference, but these two are pretty on par with one another for all comfort is concerned. The MDRs are one of the most comfortable headphones you could buy on the market, now let that sink in.Oh yeah, the image above, I stuck Velcro on the headphone for a detachable microphone. A man needs his mic.
Now on to the cable, manufacturers usually screw up with proprietary cables that are either too long or a nightmare to keep in your pockets when bundled up. Cables of the Pro 82 are just the right length at 1.6m long with decent coat and not so much of a memory when bent.
The sound. In car buying terms, imagine buying a car that can run and feel somewhat as good as a nice BMW whilst paying less than half of what the nice BMW costs. This is what it feels like owning the Pro 82 after having the MDRs. It sounds V-ish to me.
Tracks Used:
1.Joe Goddard – Lose Your Love
2.Blade Runner- Hans Zimmer
3.Julie-O - Break of Reality
4.The Battle - Hans Zimmer
5.Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machines
Lows: There are Bass Ports on both cups which can be selected in positions I would call "closed", "Stage 1 boost" and "Stage 2 boost".
Closed - tight punchy bass that comes standard with good presentation but lacking in mass.
Stage 1 boost - Overall adds more mass to the bass (especially the Mid-bass section being more present)
Stage 2 boost - Bass bleeds and muddles the other ranges but is evermore emphasized.
My preference is at Stage 1 boost. Gives things a little more weight which i like.
Mids: Clear and well defined albeit recessed like a wide U from what my ears could tell. Lower Mids could use a bit more umph.
Highs: Surprisingly good. It has a lot of reach I can tell you that, but occasionally sibilance could be heard if the track is pushing the highs.
The Bad:
A 4 pole 2.5mm jack which no one knows why it happens to be that way. The drawback is mostly towards the fact that its a 2.5mm jack that terminates at the Headphone side of the cable. This limits the options of getting a replacement cable BUT it still is good news that this is a generic 2.5mm jack and not one of those proprietary terminations Sennheiser or Sony uses in some of their products.
Plastic for the hinges. This somewhat compromises durability in theory. Compared to the MDRs, I wouldnt want to keep throwing these into my bag on the go frequently. I could give the MDR an 8/10 for durability and a 6/10 for the Takstars from what I could feel. But hey, the Takstars are 10/10 for its affordability. So, bear that in mind too.
The Ugly:
If i could stick a Sony logo on there, I would.
Conclusion:
Like I said, In my opinion, yes. These are the best bang per dollar headphones on the market right now. Especially when compared to its other china counterparts. This reminds me of the SHP9500 hype. An absolute must try for the price.
