Superlux HD681 Wired Semi-Open Studio Monitor Headphones, 50mm Drivers, 32Ω | For musicians, gamers and home-studio creators; 50mm neodymium drivers, wide 10Hz–30kHz response and self-adjusting comfort.

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.

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: 6/10 Bass Impact: 7.5/10 Bass Texture: 7/10 (solid) Mids Quality: 6/10 Highs Extension: 8/10 Highs Quality: 7/10 (vivid) Highs Texture: 6/10 (fairly soft) Detail/Transparency: 6/10 (neutral/clear) Dynamics: 8/10 (natural) Soundstage: 6.5/10 Imaging: 6.5/10 Other: 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).

You can't beat these studio headphones...for the price. They have serious Bass and pretty nice soundstaging. They are a bit lacking in the mids but what can you expect when you're paying less than 40 dollars. Also noticed, and a contributing factor to the loss of one star, is the volume at which they start to distort. That isn't to say they don't get loud enough to cause hearing damage without distorting at all. It also isn't to say that when the bass hits hard (provided you have a high quality sound source) they don't shake. They physically shake my ears. The bass in blu-ray movies is AWESOME. Good quality cable, long, sturdy, straight cord. They are quite comfy, with exception to the pleather. I've noticed the heat issues others are complaining about; it's not a big problem as I don't sweat a lot and I use them in an air-conditioned environment. It may bother some. I made it through a movie just fine and I'd like to think I'm picky. I'm not saying these headphones are simply a great buy for the price; for many people, these will be the nicest headphones they've ever listened to. They may easily be the most comfortable over-the-ear phones they've ever worn. I've owned Senn's and Bose's. I've listened to "Beats". They need a bit of time to burn-in before they come alive, as most large magnet phones do. If any issues arise under normal circumstances, I'll be sure to update!

These cans have been talked about in various places across the web for the past couple of years. Why? Because they are cheap, and sound great. I agree. FOR THE PRICE: Bass is tight, not overbearing at all, highs are crisp and mids have decent clarity. Will blow anything for the same price out of the water hands down. However, if you are a modder, BEWARE: If you recable these cans (like I have with mogami 2534), the phone overall gets a bit brighter, but the highs can be fatiguing after a while. I've been listening to them for about 4 months on and off after I've replaced the cables, and I tend to go back to my akg k240s (the phones they modeled these after) because the highs, especially when listening to classical, and music with a lot of cymbals can be taxing on the Superlux. There is a capacitor mod out there that will bring them back down, which would make it a much more pleasurable experience. For now I use them for gaming and computer use, and they work great. Comfort: I have these phones 3 stars for comfort because the pleather ear cushions get hot after a while, and they are quite shallow, so after a few hours, they get sweaty and my ears start hitting the driver cages which hurts the tops of my ears. This can be fixed with k240 velour pads, or dt770 velour pads (which are much larger and fluffier). Overall: If you are looking for a budget headphone, for $35, do not hesitate. I've got HD555s, the k240s mentioned above, hd448s, as well as some others, yet I still bought these, I definitely don't regret spending the money. Great buy.

First impressions: This product is amazing... for the price. I was until recently using a set os USB 7.1 Surround Sound headphones from R***r, and I was getting some bad electrical contact and signal from them. Then I upgraded to these bad boys, and they are amazing. Pros: I'd say that they're bass is clean and powerful, but not punchy. They sound they product is more natural; it doesn't feel like listening to headphones, but it feels more open, like I'm listening to a conversation when I'm watching a YouTube video online. Progressive Metal, female vocals, electrical guitars all sound amazing, and explosions also are incredible with these. They're a bit high on the treble, but you can fix that on the equalizer in music or on your soundcard settings (I'm using onboard on my motherboard, and they still sound amazing). I don't mind the fact that they don't include a microphone, since included microphones tend to be terrible anyways. Cons: The clamping force is a bit high, and the pads tend to be a bit stiff. Maybe they'll soften over time, but they're a bit hard for me out of the box. The headband tends to be a bit noticeable, since I have a larger head. You have to bend the headphones back a bit until you can barely feel the headphones on your head, and that's when it'll be most comfortable. Everyone has a spot for that, and it takes some getting used to. I would like some replaceable pads, though. It doesn't eliminate all sound from the outside, though, so if you're in a noisy environment, that may be a con. But for me, I need to listen to what others say while I'm gaming, since it may be important. And that for me is a plus, besides the way they sound because they're semi-open. But it may be a con for some. Included cable is not detachable. Conclusion: Overall, here it is: I really, really like them. They are awesome for the money, and overall. Before you go out and buy some other 300$ headphones, try these out. They're probably more than what you'd expect to get at this price-point, but they'll really surprise you. And buying this might be all you need to get the effect you want, and between spending 300$ and suffering from buyer's remorse or spending 30$ now and possibly avoiding that later, this is a good way to dip your toes into a better audio experience even with an onboard audio solution on your phone, music player, tablet or computer. (It won't need an amp, but it'd definitely help to get higher volume!) I think my recommendation is, if you want some headphones that work well in a variety of music types, and you want crystal clear vocals (especially female vocals) and don't mind a bit or higher treble, but don't want excessively punchy bass, these are the headphones for you. =) I do regret I didn't get the HD 668B's, though, but I still think I made an amazing deal buying these for around 30$.

These headphones sound fantastic for the price, and I can just about guarantee you will not be disappointed if you are looking for great sound on a low budget. I was not expecting much from these, but took a chance based on the positive reviews, and I'm glad I did; the first time I put these on, I was floored that such inexpensive headphones could sound so good. (I should note that I listen to them using a Fiio L11 line-out connector and E11 headphone amp with bass boost, using high-bitrate audio from an iPhone). These headphones offer clear, dynamic, sparkling highs, and deep resonant bass that does not wander into other frequencies or drown them out. They have a very wide soundstage, and excellent instrument seperation and clarity for most music types. Vocals sound great, as does live and non-synthesized music. These also have great spatial arrangement, and when listening to an orchestra you will feel as though instruments are playing all around you, not just "in your head" like with many low-end closed-back headphones. The only drawbacks are that the mids are a bit recessed, and the highs can be overwhelming and too sharp sometimes. These would not get my highest recommendation for rap or trance (even though I personally enjoy listening to both with these), because I think that if those are your main genres, headphones with less sparkle and more "punchy" bass would probably be preferred. I do find these to be great for other electronica, though, and are one of my all-around favorite pairs for all types of music. Now for comfort, stlye, and build quality. I have a large head, and I find these to be very comfortable, and the self-adjusting headband works flawlessly. The style of these headphones looks a bit like low-budget AKG's, but I personally enjoy the big, round, matte black and red cups, and the somewhat retro, purpose-built design; like 80's studio cans... They are lightweight and plastic, but appear to be well constructed. The cheap pleather ear covers do get warm, but not enough so to annoy me -- I generally forget these are on after a few minutes. Lastly, although I know I might get some backlash for this, I want to give one final opinion in the form of a comparsion: I think that these sound similar to, and actually better than, Grado SR80i's (for my personal listening tastes). Reason being, they have a similar (semi)open design that allows for the wide soundstage and fantastic clarity throughout the highs that are characterstic of both pairs, but for me the Grado's lack fullness in the lower frequencies. These HD681's have a more well-rounded sound, with a much greater low-end response, and almost as good performace in all other sound ranges, just not quite as much clarity and warmth. I still love my Grado's for rock, jazz, and classical, and understand why they are regarded as among the best in the $100 range, but I find myself getting much more use out of these $30 HD681's.

The Superlux HD 681 is an semi-open, over-the-ear headphone. The design bears a resemblance to the AKG K240 headphones as well as the Samson SR850 headphone. The headphone has an impedance of 32 Ohms so it can be driven easily by on-board computer audio, mobile phones and etc. The packaging is extremely simple, the headphones are wrapped in plastic with a piece of cardboard. The package includes the headphone, a 1/4 adapter, and a carry bag. The headphones are very light and feel pretty comfortable on your head. The clamping force is fairly low, but has enough force to stay on your head securely. It is made of mostly plastic and the cord is fairly thick. The ear pads are made of a semi soft vinyl and is pretty deep. I feel that these headphones have a very "V" like sound signature, meaning lots of bass, recessed mids, and sharp highs. The quantity of bass on these headphones is amazing, when EQ'd up a bit, they will rattle your skull! The mids feel a little recessed but vocals can be still be heard fairly well. The highs are painfully sharp, so much that I had to EQ them down quite a bit for comfortable listening. The Superlux HD 681 offers a lot of value for what you pay for. Unfortunately, these headphones suffer from 2 major flaws. The first are the ear pads. They are very uncomfortable and feel somewhat rigid. I would highly recommend replacing them with either the Creative Sound Blaster World of Warcraft ear pads if you like pleather, or the AKG K240 velour ear pads if you like a velvet material. The second issue are the painful highs, they are very fatiguing unless you EQ them down a bit. These observations are subjective but the fact still remains that for the price, you really can't do worse.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first. The price of these makes them affordable and attainable by just about everyone. As many others have already said, the sound quality is very, very good. I was pleasantly surprised at the details produced by the HD-681's as well as the way they handle every type of music I tried. The amount of bass is excellent. The entire range of the sound spectrum is here because these headphones are only going to give you what you run through them. My library was setup with lossless WAV files, so I'm hearing all the original recordings have to offer. Bad recordings sound bad, and good recordings sound amazing. The downsides are that the HD-681's don't fold up at all. These aren't suited to be used outside of the home. The looks aren't the greatest, but the sound is what is important. The high notes are bright and fatiguing on certain recordings, but not all. This isn't a blanket statement because the HD-681's perform very well as "studio monitors." They reproduce the sound accurately. It looks like the pads might have a short life span. If there is a set a velour pads out there that fits these, I'd purchase them immediately. The pleather / vinyl generates a lot of heat; more heat than any other headphones I own. Being a somewhat "open" design, there isn't a whole lot of noise isolation for you and others can hear what you are listening to as well. All in all, I'm glad I took a chance on these. I'm extremely happy with the build quality and the sound quality. This is an easy decision, but my opinion is very subjective. Take it with a grain of salt and try to decide if these are right for you.

(I'm in Canada, so factor prices accordingly) Some quick background: I am NOT an audiophile (at least when it comes to my wallet), but I do consider myself a "budding enthusiast". I've been through a bunch of dollar store earbuds and headphones, a few sub $15.00 headphones and a pair of "Onn" brand bluetooth headphones from Walmart (those sub-$30.00 ones I'm sure you've seen). With a budding interest in more critical listening at home, I got the bug again to splurge on a set of headphones for home use. After reading a bunch of reviews both here and other sites (rtings has great objective data if you're a data-driven nerd like me) it seemed like these were going to be untouchable in the price class. Although this is my only set outside of "cheap chinese headphones" in the past 25 years, from what I can see the reviews are right. I've only been using them for about 45 minutes or so trying to critique them and here are my findings. My point of reference are the "Onn" brand $25-ish bluetooth headphones which seem to be better than all the dollar store headphones/earbuds I've tried. I'm playing these either via my computer with a Gigabyte motherboard circa 2016 and an FX8300 processor or a mid-tier smartphone. First up was "Ants Marching" by Dave Mathews Band (streamed via amazon music) as I felt the percussion and overall "brightness" of the song would be a good opener. The first thing that struck me was the clarity and detail of these headphones. The music is very vibrant with a great balance between the bass, mids and treble. The Onn's were "muddy", lacked the same clarity, and leaned toward emphasizing the bass too much at the expense of the mids. Next I wanted to delve into the classical realm so I went to youtube'd "Emma Kirkby Rise Glory Rise" a classical piece composed by Thomas Arne. Emma Kirby is a fantastic soprano and I have to say this song sealed the deal for me on these headphones. She took center stage as I listened and was absolutely amazed at the clarity of her voice, the orchestra, and the amazing interplay between herself and the instruments. If you go to youtube (so you can make the same comparison with the same kind of input source) listen to the vocal run she makes starting at about the 2:15 mark. They absolutely blew the Onn's out of the water in terms of clarity and this is a great place that demonstrates how my cheaper headphones allow the instruments to compete for the attention. Another point that amazed me was around 6:11 when she goes to hit that note near the top of her range. I don't know how to describe it but in the cheaper headphones it sounds like she is really straining to hit that note (distortion?) but with HD681's it was more like "yeah, you heard what you heard, and I STILL got some range above this!" thanks to the clarity and lack of distortion. Finally, using foobar2000 I tried to see if I could tell the difference between a 192kbps MP3 and a 24 bit, 192kHz FLAC of the same song: "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush. These HD691's do tease out differences, but its subtle. The MP3 was slightly more silibant on some words and the MP3 seemed to invoke some dynamic compression as the MP3 had a hint less subtlety and "warmth" than the HD FLAC recording. The cheapie Onn headphones couldn't tease this difference out. Again, it was subtle but I heard it. I imagine with a better DAC you could hear more of a difference (the inexpensive LiNKFOR DAC I ordered could not versus my PC, FYI). From a comfort point of view, they feel light on the head with a reasonable clamping force to keep them in place. You know they're on your head, but they're not annoying or intrusive to your experience. As I was analyzing Emma work her magic the fact I was wearing headphones moved to the background as I enjoyed the responsiveness of the headphones. When not actively listening to music through the headphones you can have conversations with others in the room thanks to the semi-open nature. Being semi-open there seems to be enough dampening that when the music is on external noise seems adequately attenuated. I had the better half turn on the tv at a comfortable listening volume in the living room and I was able to enjoy rock music without the TV interfering. Classical lovers may need less background noise but I never took advantage of my listening opportunity to compare. The cable is about 8' long and a step up in quality versus cheaper headphones. Its long enough that I can swivel and lean back in my chair as I enjoy music, but not so long I risk a tangle or tripping. I was out of the headphone game for a good 25 years (as a point of reference, the last good set of headphones I had was from the Radio Shack pro line at a time when they were just rebranded quality headphones (pro-25 or pro-35? I forget, they were lost to history long ago) so for all intents and purposes I was a noob looking to get into the quality headphone game. The subjective reviews said these were incredible value for the money and the objective benchmarks showed these were the best under $50USD headphones out there. For the comfort and sound quality these are a steal at $58.99 (Canadian Dollars). I could absolutely believe they can compete with headphones at 2-3 times the price. If you are new to critical listening (like me) and you're just not sure if your ears have the training to appreciate those m50x's you're drooling over (like me) you absolutely WILL NOT GO WRONG using these to start your acoustical journey.

رائع جدا لعشاق الصوت قيمه مقابل سعر ممتازه وينافس الاعلي منه سعرا بمراحل...يجب الحفاظ عليه والتعامل معه بحرص.لعدم متانة خاماته

Kurz zu meinem Hintergrund: Ich habe mich schon vor Jahren fast ausschließlich auf Kopfhörer verlegt und besitze aktuell Spitzen-Kopfhörer wie Beyerdynamic T1 (1. Gen.), T5p (1. Gen.), T90, DT-990 und DT-880 Edition 2005 (alle kabelgebunden) sowie AKG K845BT und B&O H7 (Kabel/Bluetooth). Sennheiser (HD650, HD800) und Ultrasone (Signature Pro) sind mir auch nicht unbekannt, entsprechen aber nicht 100%ig meinem Geschmack. Per Kabel höre ich im Regelfall an hochwertigen Kopfhörerverstärkern (z.B. Lehmann Audio Black Cube Linear) und Zuspielern (Marantz SACD-Player, PC-Soundkarte M2Tech HiFace + Musical Fidelity VDAC) bzw. an hochwertigen Mobil-Playern (Astell & Kern AK100). Dies nur vorweg, nicht um zu "protzen" (das liegt mir fern), sondern damit ihr wisst, "woher ich komme" und welche Kaliber ich hier zum Vergleich auffahre. Die genannten Kopfhörer liegen in einer Preisspanne von rund 250 bis 1000 Euro und sind - nach meiner Meinung - alles hervorragende Vertreter ihrer Zunft. Wer würde denn jetzt glauben, dass man für rund 20 Euro einen Kopfhörer kaufen kann, der es schafft, diesen Boliden das Wasser zu reichen? Niemand, und auch ich habe den Rezensionen und einschlägigen Testberichten nicht wirklich geglaubt, bis ich mich aus reiner Neugier entschloss, die rund 20 Euro aus reinem Spaß an der Freud' mal zu investieren. Und dann kommt er, der Superlux HD681, natürlich ganz unprätentiös in einer Blister-Verpackung, nicht in einem schicken Karton oder gar in einer edlen Alu-Box. Klar, war so zu erwarten. Auch nachdem man den Superlux aus seiner Verpackung geschält hat, kommt noch keine Begeisterung auf: Material- und Verarbeitungsqualität sind dem Preis angemessen, also ziemlich billig, aber immerhin sogar besser als erwartet. Die Anschlussstecker (3,5er Klinke und 6,3er Schraubadapter) sind immerhin vergoldet. Das Kabel ist zwar fest am Hörer montiert (da muss man bei einem Defekt halt basteln oder gleich den ganzen KH austauschen, aber egal bei dem Preis), jedoch immerhin kein ganz dünner Klingeldraht. Also auf den Kopf mit dem Ding. Und sich gleich mal wundern, dass der Superlux eigentlich recht bequem sitzt. Einstellen muss man nichts, das flexible Kopfband fixiert die Ohrmuscheln an der richtigen Position und bietet ausreichend Spielraum für kleine und große Köpfe. Der Anpressdruck ist erst einmal relativ hoch, aber noch angenehm, und dürfte sich im Laufe der Zeit auch noch mindern. Jedenfalls gibt es schon mal keine Stelle, wo der KH sofort unangenehm drücken würde, selbst als Brillenträger. So weit, so gut. Also rein den Stecker in den Black Cube und den Superlux mit ordentlichem Material füttern. Die Vorhaben für den Rest des Tages kann man dann getrost knicken, denn man kommt aus dem Staunen kaum heraus und ist die ganze Zeit damit beschäftigt, den Mund wieder zuzukriegen. Was ist DAS denn? Sofort merkt man: Dieser Superlux hat ein lebendiges, präzises, detailreiches und souveränes Klangbild wie ein "Großer" aus der Ober- oder gar Spitzenklasse, für den normalerweise mehrere Hundert Euro über die Ladentheke gehen. Kaum zu glauben, mit welcher Lässigkeit dieser KH jede Musikrichtung auf ganz hohem Niveau reproduziert. Bass? Check, vorhanden, und zwar trocken, klar und konturiert, leicht betont, aber noch nicht überbetont. Tiefbass? Check, kann er. Stimmenpräsenz? Check, klar und ausgewogen. Höhen? Check, klar und brilliant, nicht nervig. Bühne, Tiefenstaffelung, Details? Check, reichlich vorhanden. Angesichts des lächerlichen Preises kann man diese Erkenntnis nur als sensationell bezeichnen! Als i-Tüpfelchen ist der HD681 auch noch so effizient, dass er problemlos selbst an Quellen mit geringer Ausgangsleistung noch mit beachtlicher und völlig ausreichender Lautstärke aufspielt. Niemals zuvor habe ich einen Kopfhörer für unter 250 Euro gehört, der so nah an die Qualitäten meiner Beyerdynamics-Boliden herankommt. Zur Ehrenrettung dieser Boliden sei gesagt, dass sich im direkten Vergleich doch noch Unterschiede offenbaren: Zumindest T1, T90 und T5p weisen den HD681 in seine Schranken; sie liefern hörbar mehr Details, höhere Präzision und klingen in allen Lebenslagen noch etwas "unangestrengter" als der Superlux. Allerdings sind die Unterschiede so gering, dass sich nicht ganz unberechtigt die Frage stellt, ob die "Großen" ihren happigen Aufpreis wert sind. Denn es ist kaum zu fassen, was für eine Klanggüte man für einen Verkaufspreis von 20 Euro realisieren kann! Wobei ... ein leichtes Geschmäckle hat das Ganze schon, denn in Forschung und Entwicklung hat der asiatische Hersteller garantiert nicht investiert, sondern stattdessen wohl einfach von etablierten Produkten "abgekupfert". Auch wenn das gemäß der asiatischen Mentalität als "Ehrung" für das plagiierte Produkt zu verstehen ist, sollten wir ein solches Geschäftsgebaren nicht allzu sehr auf die leichte Schulter nehmen, denn konsequent zu Ende gedacht, zerstört es Arbeitsplätze in Europa und Amerika und hemmt in der Folge die Innovationsfähigkeit der etablierten Unternehmen. Außerdem liegen bei Material- und Verarbeitungsqualität sowie dem Komfort Welten zwischen dem Superlux und den Boliden. Einen großen Beyerdynamic kann ich viele Stunden auf den Ohren haben, ohne dass er mir lästig wird. Beim Superlux muss ich nach 1-2 Stunden pausieren, weil er dann doch anfängt, hier und da zu drücken. Empfehlenswert ist die "Aufrüstung" des HD681 mit den optional (z.B. bei Thomann für ca. 9 Euro) erhältlichen Velourpolstern, die den Komfort etwas steigern und einen haltbareren Eindruck machen als die serienmäßigen Kunstlederpolster. Fazit: Wer nur ein sehr kleines Budget, aber hohe klangliche Ansprüche hat, kann mit der Anschaffung des Superlux HD681 rein gar nichts falsch machen. Mehr Klanggüte pro Euro (und damit ein besseres Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis) gibt es nirgendwo. Der Klang des Superlux hält mit jedem (mir bekannten) Kopfhörer bis ca. 250 Euro locker mit oder klingt gar besser! Abstriche sind beim Komfort sowie der Material- und Verarbeitungsqualität zu machen. Angesichts des geringen (Wieder-)Beschaffungspreises ist der Superlux auch erste Wahl in Situationen, in denen eine hohe Verlustgefahr irgendeiner Art besteht, man aber trotzdem auf erstklassigen Klang nicht verzichten mag. PS: Der HD681 ist später noch in etwas veränderten Versionen auf den Markt gekommen, die wohl etwas anders abgestimmt sind. Ich würde jedoch immer wieder zum "originalen" HD681 greifen, da dessen leicht "spaßige" Abstimmung meinem Hörgeschmack und wohl auch dem der meisten anderen Menschen am ehesten entsprechen dürfte. Baugleich zum HD681 (aber auch etwas teurer) soll übrigens der Presonus HD7 sein.

took a chance on these ...... but unfortunatly the single cable for right side stopped working after 3 to 4 weeks use.

Compré este producto basándome en las referencias de otros compradores por equipo semejante, que comentaban que estos audífonos valen su peso en oro, y que son buenísimos comparativamente hablando, y que son mejores que otros equipos de marcas más conocidas y precios más altos. Hasta el momento, coincido en que el sonido es genial (realmente no soy audiófilo como para que mi opinión sea tomada demasiado en serio). Dicho eso, mi única queja es que por diseño son un poco inconvenientes para los que usamos lentes, y por diseño de auricular que cubre todo el oído, es un sufrimiento usarlos a menos que enciendas el AC a todo lo que da (cosa que ocurriría con cualquier otro tipo de audífonos del mismo diseño, así que realmente no es una queja, sino más bien una observación si estás comprando y tienes el mismo problema de la climatización que yo). Eso sí, estoy escuchando cosas que jamás había escuchado antes en mi celular y PC.