I do not even know what motivated me more to write this review - nostalgia or crisis. The matter is that this model of Superlux headphones became my first purchase on the way to the world of serious sound, and left a rather pleasant impression after myself. Well, the "crisis" component is that this is one of the cheapest earphones with a decent sound among the available on the market.
Taiwanese company Superlux - not newcomers in the audio market. For many years now they have been producing various equipment for professional work with sound: microphones, amplifiers, consoles and so on. Naturally, there was an assortment of them without headphones. Superlux has a very good line of models, featuring an affordable price and very good sound for this price. Until recently, it was difficult to buy Superlux headphones in Russia, under their own name they were not sold, although they were present under local brands. Now the whole line of "ears" from Superlux appeared in GearBest, and there .
In my opinion, an excellent price, now I will tell you why.
Specifications
- Acoustic design: semi-open (open with damping)
- Emitter: 50 mm, with neodymium magnets
- Sensitivity: 98 dB / mW
- Frequency range: 10 Hz to 30 kHz
- Impedance: 56Ω
- Total harmonic distortion: <0.3% @ 1 kHz, 1V
- Maximum input power: 300 mW
- Cable: removable, complete with 1 m and 3 m
- Headband clamping force: ~ 3.5 newtons
- Weight: 222 g without cable
Packing and delivery kit
I wanted to start this section with a standard turnover about the price, but then I thought that without taking into account the budget price, 668b was doing fine. A dense cardboard box, without printing, but it looks good. Inside, there is no velvet and various fabric lodges there, only cardboard, but everything is packed neatly and reliably. The package includes, of course, headphones, two replaceable cables of different lengths, 1 meter and 3 meters. If desired, by the way, from them you can collect 4-meter. Adapter with 3.5 mm plug to 6.3 mm, as well as a pouch for storing headphones.
In general, for this item, everything is very, very good.
Design and Convenience
On the bill of appearance, everything is a little less straightforward. Of course, these headphones look more expensive than their price, and in use are also very good, than they compare favorably with other cheap competitors. But the budget of this model gives a little itself: simple plastic, not very good material of the ear cups, slight flaws in appearance. Although for 32 dollars I want more, in my opinion, blasphemy.
Structurally, this model is done very well. The basis of the headband is two spring-loaded steel bars, which allows the headphones to demonstrate an enviable strength for the price category. In Superlux 668b there is no size adjustment, instead they are equipped with two spring-loaded pads that press down on the head and provide fixation. If I do not confuse, a similar idea is used by some models of Audio-Technica. The first time to this pressure from the top will have to get used, it delivers a slight discomfort, but nothing more. Also at first, headphones have a very high downforce, but over time they expand slightly and become more comfortable. If you are uncomfortable wearing them because of pressure - you can stretch them, putting on something wide.
The ear pads are quite average, which is not surprising for this price category. They are slightly stiffer than would be desirable for filler and for external material, but, again, they are better than competitors. Owners of large auricles, ear cups will be a bit small, but my, average in size, their ears are normal. The inner side of the ear cups is covered with a cloth that fulfills both the role of the filter and protects the ears from irritation due to the touch of the inner grating of the cup.
The cups themselves are fixed so that they can freely swing in small directions in any direction, this allows the headphones to sit very comfortably and provides an optimum clamping. Because of the pressure of the headband and the hard ear cups, I usually take a break in listening about once every 2 hours, but I can not say that the headphones deliver a lot of discomfort.
Since these Superlux's use half-open acoustic design, they are not designed for street or office, in which your music can interfere with colleagues. Of course, they are not as "transparent" as fully open models, but their isolation is far from closed headphones. Fortunately, closed models in the budget segment are just full (including in the Superlux model line), but more or less open it is still necessary to look.
What is especially surprising for such an ultra-budget model is the support of a replacement cable. Of course, here it is not a question of changing the wire for sound improvement, no single-crystal copper or cryo-processed silver. In this case, the function is purely utilitarian. Firstly, the life of the headphones is prolonged if the cable is broken or broken. Secondly, convenience increases, since you can decide for yourself how long you will be enough. A short piece of wire with a 3.5 mm plug on the end emerges from the left headphone cup, and the cables for these headphones are equipped with a 3.5 mm jack on one side, and on the other with the same plug. If you want, you can use these wires and as extension cables for other headphones, or you can assemble one more from the complete wires. In general, a convenient function implemented quite cleverly.
Sound
The following equipment was used for listening:
- NuPrime DAC-10H and Resonessence Labs Concero HP as DAC and Amplifier
- Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2013 as a source
- Fidelia as a player
- Fiio X7 and Luxury & Precission L5Pro as portable players
As with everything else, the sound in headphones significantly exceeds their price. Of course, they are clearly not the dream of a picky audiophile, and even a sensation exceeding the quality of headphones by the price of dozens of times more expensive, they do not become. But this, perhaps, is the best in sound home headphones at the price of dollars to 70, and even 100. Among those that I heard, of course. A successful radiator and half-open acoustic design allowed this model to avoid most typical problems of budget headphones, so their feed is almost problem-free.
The bass is very deep, which you do not even expect from a budget headphone, the resolution is moderate, the amount is also balanced, does not fit into the middle frequencies. In general, in our time, when many manufacturers of mass headphones, budget and not very, try to make them as bass players as possible, HD668b look just a bastion of neutrality in the budget segment. Qualitatively and speedily, of course, their bass "does not reach" to the top models, but here it is quantitatively directly balanced.
The midrange is slightly overshadowed to provide the very V-shaped AFC corresponding to the Fletcher-Manson curves, which leads to a drop in microdynamics and separation of musical plans in depth. Although, listen, we're talking about headphones for $ 32! For them, the MF is quite good, there are emotions, and even the nuances are transferred quite OK. Of course, the imaginary scene is somewhere in the region of medium width and small in depth, but it is much better than most budget models. The separation of tools is really good, as is the transfer of their emotions.
The high frequencies are slightly boosted, so for people who are sensitive to the HF range, these headphones will not work. For the rest, 668b will play easily, with enough air and lightness. If you do not take into account the price, even this Superlux model can be blamed for some synthetics of the HF range, but again, it's hard to demand 100% naturalness in this category.
Compatibility
In general, I'm surprised how Superlux decided to make this model. The company produces equipment for recording studios, where open acoustic design is clearly inappropriate. Fortunately, the studio "past" has its pluses, in this model they have resulted in very good impedance and sensitivity. 56Ω of resistance and almost 100 dB of sensitivity make the HD668b an almost universal model. They are well rocked and portable players, and they can be connected to a stationary amplifier, there will be almost no noise. Yes, and mobile phones with tablets shake these headphones more or less well, although, what's the point in the portable use of the half-open model - I personally do not know.
Genre headphones are quite omnivorous, in their price category (and more expensive than 3 times), I do not remember anything more universal. To the quality of the records, this model is moderately tolerant, on my 10-point scale somewhere around 7 points.
This review will not do without the sample tracks.
Queen - Save Me. Not the most famous and not the most forgotten track of a great band can quite act as a "typical" track for their creativity. Slow introduction with Freddie's vocals, a sharp explosion of heavy guitars, the development of the theme, smooth code. The triumph of Queen ideas in a single track. Superlux'ovye headphones quite normally cope with both parts of this composition, acting out and vocal-keyboard and guitar part.
The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby. I do not know why, but from all the creativity of The Beatles (I wrote "Liverpool four", but then deleted this worn-out stamp), this track carries me the most. I do not know what it's all about - either in the sound of a chamber ensemble, or in unusual text and vocals - but I really like this composition. These headphones fully provide that necessary size imaginary scene, in which this song sounds strictly as it should.
EXXASENS - Supernova. There are few collectives on the post-fatal scene, capable of giving the listener something more than a depressing depression. And EXXASENS is a collective from among them. Tracks of this formation attracts even those who usually do not like rock and heavy genres, their music, like a storm wave, is not interested in the interests of the observer. Like the elements, it flies, knocks down and carries with it. Although this track from the 2015 album is slightly softer than usual, the result of its impact is the same - endless catharsis and immersion in music. Here 668, of course, lacks microdynamics, but they manage to transfer the overall power of the track, and this is important.
conclusions
Usually, when I write a review of budget models, I have to look for different formulations to describe for whom these headphones are designed. In the case of the Superlux 668b, it is perhaps easier to list which ones will not work. From the list drop out lovers of excess LF, pressing the brain, very extreme extreme RF-fobs, as the fire afraid of the "top" and suffering from a surplus of money audiophiles, which will clearly find a model and better. For other fans of balanced filing, not burdened with surplus money, these headphones are a good chance to try "on the tooth" (or what's in the music lovers) a quality sound and decide for themselves whether further experiments in this field of effort are worth.
The article is based on materials .
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