Superlux HD681 Semi-Open Studio Headphones, Wired Over-Ear with 50mm Neodymium Drivers, Single-Sided Cable, 10-30,000Hz, for Monitoring, Recording, Mixing, Podcast, Music

(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

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

Bought these as I was looking for a good pair of headphones to couple with a mod mic setup I was looking in to. I am not an audiophile by any means so super high quality wasn't what i was looking for. The key was comfort and durability. The build of the headphones themselves are very solid and sturdy, no part feels like it's about to "break off" or snap suddenly if a stiff breeze comes over it.The headband which rests on the top of your head is comfortable and secure without applying painful or discomforting amounts of pressure. So it doesn't hurt with extended sessions (10 hours+) or leave that classic "Headphone" look at the top of your head. The noise cancelling is superb, it takes out most background noise when I am listening to music or watching something, but I can still know when someone is trying to get my attention in the house. The cable and jack (Standard 3.5mm Jack) is also sturdy and well made. There have been no issues with the sleeve for the wire or the house for the jack itself. After a year of constant use (and being rolled over by my chair) the wire and sleeve are still perfect and I have no issues with it. The Jack itself is also in perfect condition despite several trip incidents pulling it from the Jack slot of my PC as well as pulling it out and placing in back in when I change machines. That being said, that is the one downside (Or positive depending on how your situation is) - The cable for this headphone set is *quite* long - so for those at a desktop quite close to their setup, you will end up running over the cable and sometimes tripping over it ripping it from the connection slot on the PC. I would highly advise cable mangement or consideration of where you thread your cable to avoid this. Since the long cable issue can be easily avoided and not that much of a con, it doesn't merit reducing the 5* review for this. Overall Pros - Comfortable for many many hours. - Solid build quality with no issues after almost a year of use and abuse. - Easy to attach a Mod Mic setup due to the design of the headphones. - Long cable with good sleeving can reach all but the stupidest of places and will survive the classic chair rollover and trip Cons - Super long cable that without management or good location can cause chair rollover or tripping

Wow! Just wow! This is really a great headphone. It's very affordable, so I didn't expect much. I just bought it because someone said it would blown me away, and it's true. The sound is very balanced and clear. It's not muffled or weak. I'm very surprised with the sound quality.