I’ve heard a lot of good things about these headphones throughout the ears and they’ve managed to capture my attention, so here we are.

Looks & Build Quality 

For their price these headphones are quite well built. They’re mostly built out of plastic, but the way they’re put together seems to make them durable and quite sturdy. They gave me the feeling I can trow them around without any serious consequences.

They’re semi-open headphones and they’re certainly not enough isolated for traveling, but they have a good isolation and I think you can listen to music without bothering someone near you at work or in your home.

The HD681 are very comfortable. I didn’t feel any pressure or discomfort while using them.

Listening Impressions

The tests were performed with   MSB Analog DAC  with Quad USB + custom lps ,  Audio Gd Master 9.

Bass

The bass on these headphones is interesting. Overall you can say it’s deep in some way, it’s fun and punchy. However, the depth is not necessarily quite there.

It seems to be the effect of some distortions, secondary harmonics, something that Sennheiser did on purpose with HD800S and  asked more money for this effect. Ok, it’s not on the same level of course, but it reminds me a little about that harmonic effect HD800S that gives the impression of “more” bass. These being said, the bass here on HD681 lacks some control and precision, but is’ fun, punchy and pleasant to the ears overall.

Mids

This is the strong point of these headphones. It presents good details here, good textures and a very pleasant and nice tonality. They remind me of K550 Mk2 in this regard. For the price, these headphones are excellent in this area and a really treat to listen to.

Treble

I have read many reviews stating that these headphones are harsh in the treble area. I can’t really say that about them. Personally, I certainly found Sennheiser HD800 to be more annoying in the treble area than Superlux HD681. This doesn’t mean that HD681’s treble is better than the one from HD800, just that I didn’t find it annoying as the sibilance from sennheiser. Overall the treble on Superlux HD681 was quite pleasant and not invasive, but there was indeed something not exactly right. I think there is a peak somewhere over 5 khz where the treble is not as clean as the rest of the frequency, taking away some clarity from the treble region.

Voices

The voices are a pleasure to listen to on these headphones. They’re present, have an excellent tonality and very good textures.

Details

These headphones also present quite a few details, well above their price range.

Soundstage

The soundstage is another area where they surprised me. It presents a great depth and width but also a good height. Besides the big size, the soundstage also presented with good holography. Listening to classical music was a real pleasure as I had everything I needed: details, natural tonality, good soundstage, good holography.

Tonality

I also like the tonality these headphones are capable of. Both instruments and voices sound natural and very pleasant to the ears.

Conclusions

I don’t know why people say these headphones are harsh on the treble. At least this pair in my system, managed to impress me by quite a bit. I find these headphones to be just excellent for their price.

I’ve enjoyed listening to a large variety of music from classical to rock and they were enjoyable with almost everything.

The Superlux HD681 wins my wholehearted recommendation.

Pros

• Fun punchy bass with the impression of good depth
• Very good midrange
• Overall good treble
• Very good voices
• Very good soundstage & holography
• Good details and textures
• Natural tonality
• Excellent price

Cons

• Bass lacks some control and definition
• Little dirt on the treble, but nothing too disturbing