[CoiL]

I want to hear actual real world listening opinion Have seen those graphs 100 times already. And btw, don`t remember exactly which way it was but HD-681 B version stood for "balance" and HD-662 F was equivalent to "balanced" not B version as some might think. In case of HD-662 series B means "bass". Anyway it is opposite to HD-681 series.

 

[proid]

I think you should pick the 662B version which have more bass and treble than the others and tune to your liking by the filter.

 

[CoiL]

That`s the thing, superlux says in description that 662 has deep extended bass and B has punch & kick. Hope Hairspray will give more exact real listening impressions.

 

[marone]

I want to hear actual real world listening opinion

Wait a month or two and I will have most of these on hand.

I think the pads and cable I have 'smooth out' the 668b. Re-installing the stock cable the highs become metallic and soundstage compresses a little. Will listen some more...

 

[Hairspray]

 
I have totally opposite oppinion on the 668B, it's has the largest soundstage from all superlux cans, i do some mod (pad lifter and remove the thin felt in the cup) <-- these mod make the soundstage incredible large, easily compareable to AD700, the 668B is not smooth at all, in fact it has thin, recessed mid and sound dry, there is a peak at 7khz make it sound grainy and harsh, detail is better than 681.

 
I also own the 668B.
They do a lot a things right and sound a LOT better than their price suggests. 
They are neutral, have a decent soundstage, the bass digs pretty low, they are detailed, but for some weird reason they sound horribly grainy imo (lemon?) and boring as hell (kinda too polite and "neutral" in a bad sense or something)
 
the real Superlux giant killers are the 681 (red), which btw are the less expensive of the bunch.
those HPs are not budget-kings, they are THE budget-emperor.
20 bucks for absolutely superb SQ, really. the razor blades highs is a joke.
Koss DJ 100 and other well known so-called budget-Kings sound like shizzle in comparison.

 

[CoiL]

the razor blades highs is a joke.

Depends on many factors like persons hearing & other equipment in chain etc. But all old series HD-681 should have harsh highs issue.
Though I have met only some few comments also claiming no problems with highs. Maybe there is some newer batch made that don`t have this issue anymore?

 

[proid]

  Depends on many factors like persons hearing & other equipment in chain etc. But all old series HD-681 should have harsh highs issue.
Though I have met only some few comments also claiming no problems with highs. Maybe there is some newer batch made that don`t have this issue anymore?

 
I think because some people are used to harsh high so they think the 681 is fine, the 681's treble is +10db relative to mid range which is far from neutral. For comparison, hd800, dt880, he500, k701 are often called harsh, fatiguing ... have only +0 to +3db treble relative to mid range.

 

[Hairspray]

  Maybe there is some newer batch made that don`t have this issue anymore?

 
We all know that the 681 is not a dark, laid-back and forgiving headphone for lazy couch listening or sophrology sessions.
But the older "light red" HD681s are supposed to sound brighter and harsher than the newer "dark red" version.
Who knows? All I know is that I'm not used to (or like) harsh highs. I'm not a masochist and razor blades are not my favorite toy 

.
 
In my opinion, the highly mid-centric HD660 (excellent for vocals tracking/monitoring), the very analytical and relentless HD662F (monitoring, mixing) and the v-shaped HD662 (drummers like this can) sound noticeably brighter.
 
Didn't the velour pads make a big difference for you? The HD681 stays on the bright side, but the velour offers a more neutral, almost smooth mid-centric signature with a beautiful timbre (strings, vocals, ...).
Also, 200 hours (at least) of burn-in will improve its general tonal balance.
Since I'm neither a masochist nor an evangelist 

, I will stop here and conclude by saying that... yes... it all comes to personal preferences (old news).

 

[marone]

Didn't the velour pads make a big difference for you? The HD681 stays on the bright side, but the velour offers a more neutral, almost smooth mid-centric signature with a beautiful timbre (strings, vocals, ...).
Also, 200 hours (at least) of burn-in will improve its general tonal balance.

My velour pads smooth out the signature of the 668b's (at the expense of sound-stage) and burn-in is one month of nearly constant acoustic music. 200 hours or greater for all my SuperLux cans.

Re cabling also improves these.

 

[CoiL]

 
In my opinion, the highly mid-centric HD660 (excellent for vocals tracking/monitoring), the very analytical and relentless HD662F (monitoring, mixing) and the v-shaped HD662 (drummers like this can) sound noticeably brighter.

Yes, if you had older version HD-681 red, then it would probably sound bright as HD-662F (with filter this can is amazing, strips out everything!) or HD-662 red but HD-660 should no way be brighter than old HD-681 red.
 

Didn't the velour pads make a big difference for you? The HD681 stays on the bright side, but the velour offers a more neutral, almost smooth mid-centric signature with a beautiful timbre (strings, vocals, ...).
Also, 200 hours (at least) of burn-in will improve its general tonal balance.

No, velour pads didn`t make much difference. At the end made my own angled velour pads adjusted in depth by my taste (ears closer to element than original pads), better isolation and tighter bass & kick. Also, my HD-681 red has already at least ~500h burn time with different genres - haven`t improved harsh highs, maybe tinybit but most "smoothness" comes from recabling + filter.

 

[proid]

  Yes, if you had older version HD-681 red, then it would probably sound bright as HD-662F (with filter this can is amazing, strips out everything!) or HD-662 red but HD-660 should no way be brighter than old HD-681 red.
 
 
No, velour pads didn`t make much difference. At the end made my own angled velour pads adjusted in depth by my taste (ears closer to element than original pads), better isolation and tighter bass & kick. Also, my HD-681 red has already at least ~500h burn time with different genres - haven`t improved harsh highs, maybe tinybit but most "smoothness" comes from recabling + filter.

 
In my oppinion, burn in is not really necessary, my fully burn in (about 100 hours by pink noise) sound just a little refine than a brand new one.

 

[Hairspray]

Yes, if you had older version HD-681 red, then it would probably sound bright as HD-662F (with filter this can is amazing, strips out everything!) or HD-662 red but HD-660 should no way be brighter than old HD-681 red.

Not sure I get it.
IMO, 660, 662F and 662 sound brighter than the newer dark red 681 (I haven't heard the older light red 681, so i don't know, but it is supposed to sound brighter than the newer version).
And btw: it's not that 660 "should" or "should not" be brighter, it "is" brighter, especially with the Beyer DT 770 velour pads. AKG 240 pleather pads sound a tad warmer (pleather usually does the opposite but the 240 pleather are pretty shallow).

 

[CoiL]

Hmmm... all reviews I have read about HD-660 tell that it isn`t so bright as old HD-681 and have better mids, kick & bass tightness. 

 

[marone]

I am having a hard time getting the 681 (Dark) Red Ring Classic. Every seller wants to ship me another pair of 681b's and I already own a pair.

I shall continue to search...

 

[Hairspray]

  Hmmm... all reviews I have read about HD-660 tell that it isn`t so bright as old HD-681 and have better mids, kick & bass tightness. 

 
Well, this is exactly what i was trying to say:
old 681 brighter than 660 / but 660 brighter than new 681

 
 
also, 660 has indeed a good kick bass (comparable to HD25) but low bass is not nearly as present compared to 681 (HD25 also lacks low bass btw)
the mids are indeed very good, very forward, with beautiful intimate vocals and good timbre, but 681 is almost as good in this department (again, personal preferences...)