Superlux HD681 Semi-Open Back Wired Over Ear Headphone with 50mm Neodymium Driver, Single-Sided Cable for Professional Monitoring Recording Headset & Mixing for Guitar Podcast

These headphones are fairly well reviewed in many audio websites and in this forum, so I'll try to keep this brief and just rate their various qualities (as I see them) on a scale of 1-10:Aesthetics: (2/10) The headphones look very good but Superlux gets only two points from me here - simply because, aesthetically, the HD681 are less refined AKG (K-240) clones, though the red accents are a nice touch. Cable is one sided but unlike the K240/K240MKII the cable is hard-wired (not detachable).Packaging: (5/10) The headphones are packaged around a piece of cardboard and wrapped in a plastic wrapper. Not that you'd expect more at their price point but the way they sit in that piece of cardboard makes the cardboard dig into the ear-pads. The indentations left in the ear-pads do begin to fade in time.Built Quality: (7/10) The HD681 are made of plastic and feature vinyl ear-pads and a metal-wire bridge. The self-adjusting support head-band is also made of some type of vinyl. Overall they feel quite sturdy, the cable is fairly long (about 8ft) and is terminated with a small 1/8in jack. A screw-on 1/4in jack is included. Both jacks are gold-plated. Also supplied is a carrying bag.Comfort: (6/10) The ear-pads are somewhat on the small size (although they do go around the ears) but they are pretty stiff and they do cause (at least to me) some discomfort. In addition the vinyl makes them get hot even when worn for short periods of time. The HD-681 are very light weight and the self-adjusting head-band works well. Felt/Velour replacement pads from some AKG (and Beyerdynamic) models should work for HD681 but they will likely be more expensive than the headphones.Sound Quality: (7/10) The HD681 use unexpectedly large drivers (50mm) for their price point. Out of the box the sound is very bright (despite having a lot of bass) and a little rough around the edges. After about 20hrs (although not quite fully broken-in) their true sound signature begins to emerge: dynamic, fairly clear (still slightly veiled in the mid range) with vivid highs and a remarkable amount of bass for a semi-open design. The highs texture is fairly soft (not rough or grainy) but they are emphasized excessively (in the 8-12kHz range), so some type of equalization is necessary there. Frankly I find the bass to be too much as well but some people may find that desirable. Also, the bass is not surprising only in quantity but in quality as well as it has a solid feel and is well controlled (even when used with a relatively high output-impedance headphone-amp such as my 5ohm Matrix M-Stage - not the best amp choice for 32ohm headphones). Initially I thought there were some distortions in the lower-mids (depending on the source material) but on repeat listening they seem to be largely gone now. Also, the mid range seems to have gained in heft when compared to the highs and the initial cloudiness has lifted for the most part. I'm assuming they will mellow out some more with prolonged use although it is likely they will remain fairly bright. Overall, for sound quality I'd break things down like this:Bass Extension: 6/10Bass Impact: 7.5/10Bass Texture: 7/10 (solid)Mids Quality: 6/10Highs Extension: 8/10Highs Quality: 7/10 (vivid)Highs Texture: 6/10 (fairly soft)Detail/Transparency: 6/10 (neutral/clear)Dynamics: 8/10 (natural)Soundstage: 6.5/10Imaging: 6.5/10Other:Isolation: 4/10 (semi-open design)Portability: 3/10 (large size)Improvement w/ Amplification: 4.5/10 (Note: It can be easily driven by portable devices to fairly loud levels.)Value: (10/10)All-in-all, an interesting offering from Superlux (a manufacturer of pro-audio gear): they are not quite balanced/neutral enough to be proper studio-monitors but not quite aimed at the audiophile crowd either (more like straddling the fence). My take: for the money (less than $30 shipped), you'd be hard pressed (really hard) to do better. Five star.UPDATE 07/12/2013: (Ear-pad Replacement with AKG-K240 Pads)Much as I like the sound of these headphones (second only to my newly acquired Beyerdynamic DT990-Pro headphones) the discomfort due to their ear-pads being somewhat on the small side for my ears, have led me to the decision to replace the pads with those for the AKG-240 (I've also tried the Beyerdynamic EDT990-VB, velour pads, but these do not fit these headphones). The AKG pads are the same size overall, but the pad "doughnut," so to call it, is a little thinner than that on the original Superlux pads and, as a result, the inner opening is larger at 60mm (rather than the approximately 54mm on the original HD681 pads). The new pads fit my ears much better, since now my ears can actually fit inside the pad completely and there are no more uncomfortable pressure points on my ear-lobes. Otherwise, the AKG pads could get just as hot (with prolonged use) as the original HD681 pads (they are made from the same material: leatherette). From this point of view the Beyerdynamic headphones are much better since their velour pads do allow some air flow. One more note: the new AKG-240 pads are available here on Amazon (for about $32) but I sourced them from Sweetwater (for a more reasonable $20 shipped). With these pads, these headphones are now about $50 - but either way, they still are a smoking deal!SQ: The sound quality remains largely the same as with the original pads save for a bit more bass impact. The original pads did provide very good low end on these headphones but with these new pads my ears are slightly closer to the driver, and perhaps that (closer acoustic coupling) may account for the perceived tightening/improvement of the bass response. The new pads don't seem to tame the highs more than the original pads, so some EQ is still necessary there, though with continued use (I have now more than 120-140 hrs on these cans) the high end has mellowed somewhat. To conclude, the replacement of the stock ear-pads on these headphones with AKG-K240 pads was (to me) well worth the added expense (which nearly doubled the cost of the headphone).

Out of box they sounded very good, FAR better than other similar $ headphones. I would not say "hi-fi" but WAY better sound definition than most headphones under $100. They are not bass-heavy, rattle your noggin cans. They are more in the lane of "reference" or neutral. I thought they had slightly forward highs, occasionally sibilant, perhaps ... but that's a big word and hardly fair for headphones we paid <$40 for!!! Bass was there and controlled but recessed a bit on some tracks I listened to. For example, a cello won't sound booming, but will sound very real, and right there. For classical or critical listening, that's great; if you want to feel the bass from pop, R&B etc in your gut, these aren't for that. If you can afford over $80, sure, there are better options for critical listening, for example Phillips 9500 which are an amazing deal for the price, and you can sometimes score an audiotechnica M40 on sale or refurb for just a bit more.My son bought these to replace some skull candy and originally missed the bass those had. But, over a couple weeks he says the superlux are so much clearer, cleaner, and spacious sounding, he doesn't like the skull candy anymore. He says he can hear all sorts of detail in music he never heard before (and he likes it...). My experience lines up with that from the few tracks I listened to with these (though I don't put his skull candy on my head ... ever). Everyone will be different.... so look up more details elsewhere. But $ for sound, these surprized me in a really good way.Build quality doesn't look exceptional. They don't look fragile, just like they are "just adequate" and not more. My son usually tears things up pretty quick, headphones not withstanding. Hence he paid for these himself ... 2 pairs from dad in <2years and you're on your own, Jack. So far, a couple months of frequent use (he uses them every day, several hours per day ... some days I think he has these on more than he doesn't) and they are holding up okay.My son listens to them with a generic MP3 player and they sound fine, so no amp needed ... but if you add a little juice, they do perk up and shine. But so do most good headphones. I let him listen to these on a class A solid state and then a tube headphone amp, and his jaw dropped. He tried his skull candy on those and went "meh, yeah, better, but ... not like the superlux" The point is, these are surprisingly good headphones for "cricial listening" if it's not blasphemy to say such about a sub $50 headphone, but you get out of them what you put into them. On a marginal source, you may not notice a big difference between these and a typical $40 set but as the source improves, they start to really separate from other similar priced cans.Be aware, if you aren't familiar with semi-open/ open, that means they leak sound - in and out. You can still hear things around you AND others can hear YOUR music even if it's not cranked up. The tradeoff is, again if you are not aware, is that the design makes them sound really spacious. Open/semi-open headphones are rarely this cheap, so in case you wondered into reviews of this Superlux looking for a "cheap but decent" pair of cans to wear on the train while commuting ... hmmm ... think on that a bit.I have a lot of far better headphones ... but for the money, I've not heard anything this "good." It looks like these bounce up and down in price. If these were $70 you could do better for a couple bucks more and would be well to do so (phillips 9500 again). We scored these for less than $40. At that price I'd buy them again any day!! 5 stars for VERY good sound at a CRAZY, CRAZY low price. If $50, I'd say 4 stars because there are other competitors at that price that have better build quality better comfort, and better sound. Hit $75 and I'd drop to 3 stars - too close to Phillips, Sennheisser, and Audiotechnica options that edge these out.

They sound decent especially for the price. Ive noticed a lot of people saying that the earcups are way too shallow and firm. I have to disagree as they fit my head very well and they dont become too uncomfortable after wearing them for hours at a time. The extra long cable is nice too as I no longer have to worry about accidently ripping it out on my pc. As for the sound, they dont sound bad overall. Im most impressed with its very neutral and direct sounding profile. The bass sounds absolutely incredible, super crisp and clear. The treble on the other hand, is on the louder side than what im used to and sounds a bit harsh. But, EQing the the 5-20kHz range down a bit makes it sound perfect.

Fantastic product great for beginner audiophiles