Superlux HD-681 B

I've tried most of the cheap Superlux headphones and in my opinion this is the best sounding one by far. Also the most comfortable ones. I've not been too happy with any of the others, mostly due to harsh sounding highs.

These ones though, wow, I'm actually amazed that such great sounding headphones can be made this cheap. They're not flat or precise enough for mixing and being an open model they are obviously not suitable for tracking but simply for "fun" listening they are great! They do leak a lot of sound, like all open models, so not suitable for listening on bus/plane/work/etc.

So what's the catch? The cable! Like all these cheap Superlux headphones the cable is unbelievable poor quality. They ALWAYS break at the joint to the jack plug. And it's VERY difficuly to solder a new plug because the wire they use is the thinnest kind you'll ever seen and breaks at even the slightest touch.

If the cable had been better, or at least of the removable kind, these headphones would be AMAZING value. Unfortunately it's hard to recommend something that will probably break within a few weeks, or even days. A bit sad really, because they sound like 100 euro headphones.

There is a simple trick to make all of these cheap Superlux headphones last longer though: Stiffen the jack joint with a generous amount of duct tape. It won't look good but it's the only way to make these headphones last longer than a few weeks.

I can't recommend something that's more or less designed to break but they could provide excellent value if the duct tape trick is used from day1.