[marone]

I live in China and shop on TaoBao. Yesterday I sent a personal message to every single seller of the Superlux 681, 30+ vendors in total.
The original Red Ring 681 (null) has been discontinued since at least early 2013, perhaps longer. There are no sellers of this hp on TaoBao. I can purchase the 681f, 681b and 681 EVO, and all of the other classic Superlux cans, but the Original Red (light or dark) Ring Classic is no more.

This is direct from large volume sellers of Superlux cans:

停产了 早就没了
Discontinued long gone
681停产 2年多了
681 discontinued more than 2 years

If you are farther downstream in the supply chain, you should buy any pairs you see as this gem will soon go away and it's probably a good idea to get the other classic Superlux cans as well.

The 681EVO has replaced the 681 Red Ring.

R.I.P.

 

[AudioHipster]

Wow as a US dealer we haven't received the red ring for years... but still getting the burgundy ring, and thru the grape vine it's said they stop production on the 681 to make the 681 EVO... so i am sure your right the red ring 681 NOS stock is about k-Put... anywho ... wonder when they plan to manufacture the 662 closed EVO, hopefully they will pull the plug on the penis connector and us a full studio cable on this one.  What do you think of the new 681 EVO... love the deep dark punch... but not sure if it is too much ...your thoughts?    Cheers Doyen 

 

[CoiL]

Thomann.de still has large stock of original 681. Luckily I bought 2 of those and I have 662F original too ;P

 

[marone]

Thomann.de still has large stock of original 681. Luckily I bought 2 of those and I have 662F original too.

Yep, I am going to have to order some 681 from another country and have them shipped in. Red and Burgundy Ring - Goodbye.

Going. Going. Gone.

The 662F, B and Null, I can get here. The 669, 660, 668B, 681B, 681F - all still available here in China. The Samson OEM's and ISK's still available as well.

What do you think of the new 681 EVO... love the deep dark punch... but not sure if it is too much ...your thoughts?

Thanks for the inside scoop. I don't own the EVO yet, I am buying up cans going out of stock first. Will get the EVO in a few months.

The improvements seem to be, from reviews. more balanced bass punch, similar to the 668B, but with the 681 sparkle that even the 668B does not have as much of. This can show as sibilance and the mods to address this are everywhere.

I think of the entire Superlux Line as very good cans for jazz, small ensemble, vocals and such but not so great for rock with the tempered bass that they all seem to have. Even the 668B and 662's. I wouldn't say they have a thin or light presentation, just that they are voiced for non-rock to sound their best. Similar to Q701's or other higher end cans.

Airy and light? Maybe?

 

[Hairspray]

In Europe, Thomann sells them like hotcakes...
Quote (see pics): "shipment due to arrive on January 28 2014"
19.30 EUR (= $ 25) !!! I still can't believe how inexpensive the HD681 are! Pure craziness...
Imo, the HD681 can easily compete with $200 cans. Can't beat that price/performance ratio.
 

 

[CoiL]

I think of the entire Superlux Line as very good cans for jazz, small ensemble, vocals and such but not so great for rock with the tempered bass that they all seem to have. Even the 668B and 662's. I wouldn't say they have a thin or light presentation, just that they are voiced for non-rock to sound their best. Similar to Q701's or other higher end cans.

 
Probably going to get HD-681B too when it`s still available. HD-330 is only thing I would like to try in comparsion because I get very many mixed opinions about these.
IMHO for rock/metal progressive music HD-681 with mkII mod & HD-662F with mod are perfect! First is better if you like more "juicy & flowing" bass (with custom pads & mod it got tighter also),
latter if you are more into more balanced/neutral sound. HD-662F with filter mod is awesome for rock imho.

 

[Hairspray]

I think of the entire Superlux Line as very good cans for jazz, small ensemble, vocals and such but not so great for rock with the tempered bass that they all seem to have. Even the 668B and 662's. I wouldn't say they have a thin or light presentation, just that they are voiced for non-rock to sound their best. Similar to Q701's or other higher end cans.

Airy and light? Maybe?

 
681 and 662F have clean, impactful and punchy bass.
668's bass digs pretty deep but indeed lacks impact.

 

[proid]

It only discontinue in china, that's the story.

 

[AudioHipster]

Hey there,  i do not believe the HD-681 is discontinued, at least not for us in the US, now the original RED ring 1st edition is long gone, the Cyber emporium in the UK who buy's as a distributor much cheeper then dealers who buy from full fledged distributors, we have to pay i'd say up to twice the cost ...of the the Wallfarts of the world and the walfarts do not have the original red ring, they show the burgundy, the same as US dealers... but anyone with the cashish can put in an order for a blue ring like Prosonus... at any rate these manufactures cater to the demands and what orders they receive, they also stop production on the 681 to fill the orders for the EVO, and then resume the orders for the HD-681 in the same plant ...please don't get me wrong Superlux makes some really nice useful headphones, but they have a few that really S*ck... oh yea they could run for US presidency.... but what is way cool is unlike some, all their headphones have different sound signatures...  we have been very pleased with some of the headphones, and use them in the studio... heck even the kids use them... except our 5 year old Noah destroyed his EVO...  i told him if he chewed the cord one more time... i am not recabling it... he will get a HD-572   :~)   ... really not a bad can for a 5 years old. and priced right.    Cheers Doyen 

 

[Encouragement]

Hi, I have checked with Superlux.com.tw, and they said that HD681 is still in production but replace red ring with burgundy ring. People still can buy HD681 from most countries. But in China, the distributor does not want to sell HD681 (burgundy ring), and they prefer to sell HD681B and HD681F. And this is reason why you can not buy HD681(burgundy) in China.

 

[marone]

Confirmed.

PreSonus HD7 is an OEM of the Burgundy Ring (681 Null version 2) and sounds better than all of the other 681/668 SL.

If in China one can buy the HD7 or the ISK 580 (possible 681 OEM clone).

Samson 850 may be the 681 null, probably the 681B. I don't own the Samson, cannot confirm.

 

[AudioHipster]

  Hi, I have checked with Superlux.com.tw, and they said that HD681 is still in production but replace red ring with burgundy ring. People still can buy HD681 from most countries. But in China, the distributor does not want to sell HD681 (burgundy ring), and they prefer to sell HD681B and HD681F. And this is reason why you can not buy HD681(burgundy) in China.

 
Could be Shanghai has left over stock on the 681F & 681B, the 681 blows both of these models away, the semi open F is just terrible no bass at all, but extreme flat everywhere else... maybe there is a use for these but i'm not feeling it. (have one pair new left if interested) now the 681B is better, but the bump in the 100HZ, and 4K+ leaves a narrow middle over hyped sound... as a purest... we don't care for the 240 clone, the 681 blows the 240 down IMA.   Cheers Doyen  sorry no abbey today... maybe i drink tonight and post on the comment below... :~)  " if i didn't humor myself life would be a lot less funny " AudioHipster