[crinacle]

 
Quote:

The only headphones I've really heard in the $40-50 range is the Superlux series, and I felt they blew away anything I heard in the $30 bracket. The low-budget Head-Fi standbys of the JVC HARX700  and the Pannies were left behind in terms of detailing. Superluxes would have had even higher praise from me if they didn't seem bright.

I have to agree with this. Superlux headphones are extremely detailed and clear, but like all budget-fi headphones they have a weakness in treble. But in sheer technicalities alone they are probably the most bang-for-buck headphones. The HTF600s are good, for $30 they are great, but in the slew of current budget-killers they are being swept away.
 
Of course, I haven't auditioned Dsnut's all acclaimed $7.11 Monoprice IEM yet.

 

[PaTe117]

First, Pannies are praised as being better than most of the 150-100$ headphones, then 100-50$. Now Pannies are worse than 40$ headphones? What happened?

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

Welcome to Head-Fi's FotM machine. When headphone topics like this get crazy, normally they're over-exaggerating. "X headphones sound better than $X headphones" is probably one of the most common praises people give to headphones here, too. I'm guilty of saying that phrase, too. Normally budget-fi headphones have some kind of critical flaw that make them budget, in this case clarity, detailing, and speed. It doesn't necessarily mean they're bad, they can be legitimately be significantly better than most expensive headphones to your ears if it fits your favored sound signature. It's why "what are your favorite genres of music" can be one of the most important questions to ask when trying to figure out what headphone fits someone. 
 
Part of the problem is just that the high-value $30 headphones like an HTF600 is normally trumped by a high-value $40 headphone like the Superluxes which is normally trumped by a high value $60 headphone like the Creative Aurvana Live!... and the list goes on.
 
Quote:

First, Pannies are praised as being better than most of the 150-100$ headphones, then 100-50$. Now Pannies are worse than 40$ headphones? What happened?

 
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well HTF600 must be great if they were my favs until M-Audio Q40 at $120 possibly becoming my new favs. I prefer HTF600 over DT770 Pro, V-Moda LP2, M50, D1100 etc and the HTF600 were my cheapest cans, so sound quality wise I easily put them in 100~$150 range but build quality is still worth aprox $20 though.
 
It's hard to find headphones with such impact as well as forward midrange as HTF600, the headphones with that bassy but reasonably forward midrange is not easy to find in any price category, this is what HTF600 does well though.

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

This is exactly what I mean. If you know you love that rumbling sub-bass and bass emphasis like RPGWiZaRD, the HTF600 is a killer buy. It's more about personal preference, rather than an actual giant killer headphone. 
 
Quote:

Well HTF600 must be great if they were my favs until Q40 possibly taking the spot slightly in that case. I prefer HTF600 over DT770 Pro, V-Moda LP2, M50, D1100 etc and the HTF600 were my cheapest cans, so sound quality wise I easily put them in 100~$150 range but build quality is still worth aprox $20 though.

 
 

 

[FearSC549]

Best budget headphone of all: T50RP
 
That's unarguable.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

It's even hard to say whether I prefer M-Audio Q40 or HTF600. Sure the Q40 has better extended highs and resolution in them but I also like the HTF600's warm presentation and soundstage, the HTF600 are such a musical sounding pair of headphones, detail in midrange is quite good but it's not a detail monster but they are just so enjoyable to listen with. I would say HTF600 might have an advantage in the soundstage over Q40 thanks to the semi-closed design. The HTF600 are more reverbey sounding but I like that as I like a bit of a natural sounding reverb. The HTF600 has such an "immersive" sound to it, especially works with nice deep trance songs such as 
 

 
After getting acustomed to Q40's brigther treble I also felt I had to boost 8kHz and 16kHz +2 steps from default value instead of previously just +1 on HTF600 ^^
 

(I'm still using the stock pads and not the Beyers tho)
 
EDIT: I'm just not getting any wiser on which of these two headphones I like more, I'd even slightly go to HTF600 but I doubt I'll get rid of these Q40 even so as they are more detailed of the two while offering similar kind of quantity in bass. The HTF600 is more engaging/immersive sounding, the Q40 doesn't "move" me as much when listening to deep uplifting music for example, I get better immersed with the music on HTF600 while technically Q40 are the better sounding ones (a bit better bass texture, mids are just slightly more "sharp" and highs offer a lot better resolution and extension).

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

You can really make a distinction between $30 headphones and $45 headphones?
 

Depends on how they sound.
 

 

[SanjiWatsuki]

It's arguable if someone is against modding. 

 
Quote:

Best budget headphone of all: T50RP
 
That's unarguable.

 
 

 

[BloodyPenguin]

I just did a long post in the review section about how I want these headphones.
 
I did research, but did not find this thread until after I tested them.
 
Long story short, I bought them for a Co-worker.  Burned them in.  Tested them.  Fell in love. 
And now I will be getting my own pair in the next few days along with the Beyerdynamic Velour Pads.
 
Really, a very great headphone for the price.  Really blows the mind.  They are not hyped up or overrated.
 
..

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I'm still torn between HTF600 or Q40, can't make up my mind which of these I like more haha. The Q40 helped me see the HTF600 in a more accurate way though, I thought the HTF600 sounded very quite neutral but now I really realize it's way too warm sounding and pushing the mids especially too "in-your-face" even after applied EQ setting but I personally know I prefer slightly warm sound (not too much ofc) and Q40 is even slightly too bright sounding for me without EQing while HTF600 is slightly too dark sounding without EQ. Without EQing I find HTF600 easier to listen to or enjoy but if I fix the bright peak around 8kHz on Q40 it becomes very enjoyable. The soundstage is what takes the longest to burn-in on the HTF600 and they even changed past 50hrs+ for me in soundstage and now after like 200hrs+ of use I really enjoy the soundstage on HTF600 what I thought initially was way too cramped in sounding, they really have nice imaging/positioning too, very realistic.  
 
I find it rather funny that two headphones, one costing like $35 and the other around $120 while both having somewhat similar sound signatures, the $35 still fares very well despite in technical aspects it doesn't fare as well as the $120 headphone (bass extension & texture, more neutral midrange and highs, greater resolution in highs) it's still matches up very well in satisfying me when listening to music. 
 

 

[Tapeworm]

I will order them tonight.

 

[Kokuei]

Superlux HD681 or Panasonic HTF600?

 

[Dsnuts]

Quote:

Superlux HD681 or Panasonic HTF600?

If you like a bright sound signature the Superlux.. If you like a warm signature with bigger bass the HTF600.

 

[Kokuei]

Quote:

If you like a bright sound signature the Superlux.. If you like a warm signature with bigger bass the HTF600.

Can I get an analogy with that?