Superlux HD681 EVO PART II

This is the PART II of the 2-part-series of Superlux HD681 EVO headphone review. The complete unboxing and overview can be found here - HD681 Unboxing. On our unboxing we also tackled the build quality of HD681 and price/performance ratio and of course my initial impression. Bottom line, I was impressed with HD681, for Php1,990 HD681 is already a steal!

Isolation & Comfort

Superlux HD681 EVO have a good sound isolation but does not totally cancel the outside noise. Using this combo on my office I can still somehow hear my colleague chatting but I cannot eavesdrop on what they are talking about. It also bleeds quite a bit so my colleague can sometimes hear some of my crappy choice of music.

The stock pleather pads is kinda irritating to me though, especially if I used it in a non air conditioned room. It tends to heat up very quickly and rubs below my ears. It also squeezes my jaw that makes me uncomfortable over a period of 30 minutes. There are available replacement pads out there that will easily fit Superlux HD681 EVO like the AKG K240 velours and the Shure SRH 940 velours, that's based on my research because I really cannot tolerate the sweat and all and I'm hoping to get some improvement on the bass and treble too.

Sound Quality

Natural sound, clear, wide soundstage and a little bass - or on a much better term, not over powering. Those are the quick positive things I can easily drop for HD681. Superlux tends to be piercing on previous cans but surprisingly this one is not, the treble is just enough and not fatiguing. The bass for me is just right but sometimes I felt it's lacking on the boom boom on some RnB tracks, especially on the "gapang"

The reason why I separated the unboxing to this was the burn in process - and now I'm done. I think on my estimate I already clocked 100 hours and my impressions now are:

• The bass was well pronounced, can go a little deeper now
• Improved soundstage, a little more open than stock
• achieved a few notch of accuracy and improved detail

I mean the improvement was not life altering experience but the overall feel you can definitely say that it has an improvement after the burn in period.

I also took this outside and asked a few good friends from headphiles.org and able to got a few insights from them. Most of them already owns and used high end headphones and gears so checking cans below Php2k mark makes them a little doubtful but don't get me wrong, the guys from headphiles have tried all sorts of cans and iems from different price range that's why they are the best people to ask. Most of them replied to me that "it's OK" "a it detailed" "not bad for 2k" "little less on the bass" "ITS BIG!!!!!" and another guy said to me that this was a major upgrade from the previous version. But hey, they tried the superlux after trying all these highend cans in the pictures below, - and HD681 EVO is 10x cheaper :)

One thing that made me really happy about this cans was when I used HD681 to check the full album of Foo Fighter's Skin and Bone, it's a 15-track set recorded live acoustic gig with expanded lineup of Foo with added violin, keyboard, and percussion. The experience was so different! The separation of the instruments and the soundstage was just right and amazing. Again it's very enjoyable.

Conclusion

Superlux HD681 EVO's sound is mind-blowing for the price. It's not the best headphone out there but it's best headphone for the under Php 2000. My only qualms are the sweat on my ears after prolonged use, I am now hunting for velour pads to replace the stock pleather pads. If you want your desktop setup more enjoyable at home, HD681 EVO will not disappoint you.

And here's my desktop setup:

• FiiO E09k
• FiiO E17
• and a nice looking mini isolation plinth

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