Superlux HD668B Dynamic Semi-Open Headphones

I have been on the hunt for the RIGHT gaming headset for over a year. I have owned the Turtle Beach Stealth PX24, Hyper X Cloud Stinger, both the Playstation Gold and Platinum Wireless headsets. Then, I upgraded to the wire-happy, Astro A40 TR with mixamp. I felt the A40 was bit, overpriced, performance-wise. THEN, I went to the Turtle Beach Stealth 520, which is wireless and has several, surround sound presets, including the featured, SuperHuman Hearing. However, it seemed, like each time I would game with the Stealth 520 for a bit, my ears and eventually, head would start to sweat, due to the enclosed, faux-leather design of the ear cushions. Many times, I would snatch the headset off and play, without it. Then, I went to the Arctis Pro, which was superb in sound quality and build. However, I returned them because they caused me to have headaches after gaming sessions. Then, I was on the hunt for another headset. However, I decided to go a different route and get some stereo headphones for gaming, which led me to finding out about the HD688B by Superlux. I learned about these headphones via various reviewers on YouTube. In addition, they mentioned how superb the HD688B was for gaming, despite being stereo headphones by default. I was sold and decided to give them a try. For the price. Why not? Still, I was wondering, if I would get a good experience by gaming with stereo headphones or should I stay in the gaming headset lane?DESIGN: Overall, the design of the HD688B is not my favorite. Very, basic design. The headphones is very, comfortable. The headband is made up of a wiry, hard, plastic, structure, which looks cheap, but is extremely, durable. Underneath, is a patented, auto-adjusting, headrest for stability and comfort. Plus, the headrest has a manual, sliding adjuster to compensate for an increase in head size, as well. The headphones are semi-open, which means all of the sound, may not leak out for others, nearby to hear. Also, all outside sounds, may not come in. Of course, sound performance, may vary, based upon, if the ear cushions are changed from the original ones. Of course, the original, faux leather cushions, which are included on the HD688B are terrible. I would suggest buying some aftermarket, ear cushions. Needless to say, I fell in love with the AirWeaved ear cushions, which were featured on my previously-owned, Arctis Pro. So, I purchased those on Amazon. Also, the headphones do not have any external buttons to work the headphones, like a volume button or an external mic, as it is not a gaming headset by default. PS4 users will have to change the volume by accessing Volume Control (Headphones) option on the PSN settings menu. Not much of a hassle in my opinion. Of course, if a DAC or sound card is purchased, which has a button, that could change. Also, a mod-mic will be needed to use a microphone for these headphones.SOUND: The driver size is 50mm, double-dome, neodymium magnet, which is great. The frequency response is an above-average, 10-30KHz. Many headphones or headsets are at 20-20KHz. In addition, the impedance of 56 ohms with a maximum input power of 300 mW is impressive for protection from overload by various audio equipment. The sound from the HD688B, gives perhaps, the most authentic sound, which I have heard, while gaming. Every sound can be heard with ambience and clarity from all angles, crisp with no distortion. The highs/low balance of sounds are very good, as well. Bass is there in the HD668B, but not too, much. An increase amount of bass, drowns out pure sound in my opinion. Of course, I use the headset for gaming on my PS4. With the standard ear cushions, the sound was, just right. Not, too loud or too, low. However, with the change of the ear cushions, as mentioned, I saw a much-improved, difference. I would also, suggest to add a sound card or DAC. I have a [ [ ASIN: B01MXJ83G4 Neoteck 192kHz DAC Converter with Volume Control Aluminum Digital Optical Coaxial Toslink to Analog Stereo Left/Right RCA 3.5mm Jack Audio Adapter for PS3 XBox HD DVD PS4 Sky HD Plasma Blu-ray ] ]. The combination will surely, make the HD688D reach its full, optimal sound performance. With that said, there have been opinions, the HD688B is not loud for PS4. Well, get both of those modifications and that opinion will change, quick.I tested the performance of HD688B with the original and the AirWeave ear cushions, while playing Call Of Duty Black Ops 4. The original ear cushions, made the sound from the HD688D a bit, average. Not, too loud, but not too, low. However, I saw a noticeable difference, between both, while playing. The design of the AirWeave cushions, enhanced the sound and the treble of the HD688B. I was in awe of how authentic the sounds were, as I was playing. The gunfire, explosions, dialogue and other random sounds on the map to the left and right of me, were heard, loud and clear. The HD688B picks up low sounds, like a vacuum. For example, on the Morocco map, outside of hearing the common sounds, during gameplay, I could hear the clinging and breakage of pottery, while being shot or kicked around. Never heard that on my last two headsets. Then, while playing on the Icebreaker map, hearing the deep, crunching sound, as my character, Battery was trampling through the snow and the cracking of the ice, sounded unbelievably, real. Once, on the map, Summit, Battery ran inside of an open-ended bay. Battery was making a quote, while outside and the quote ended, while going half-way inside of the bay. There was an echo of Battery's voice, while making a quote, inside of that open-ended bay. The authenticity of the echo was unbelievable and nearly, scary. Of course, FPS gamers like to know about being able to hear footsteps. Well, footsteps of teammates and enemies CAN be heard, clearly and in more abundance, as they come, much closer. Perhaps, stereo headphones, might be better than a gaming headset. Considering, these headphones are under $50, the HD688B performs better than many, gaming headsets or even, headphones that is twice or three times the cost. HOW could Superlux pull this off and sell these at such a low price? I am cannot complain.MIC (OPTIONAL): Like I mentioned, a mod-mic will have to be purchased to utilize, while online gaming. The prices vary. I have not tried this, yet, as I do not have a mod-mic at this time. I do know, with one attached, it should perform, exceptionally, well.VERDICT: Overall, the Superlux HD688B is a steal, considering the performance for the price. They, just might be the best ever, which is puzzling because it is the cheapest of the majority of the so-called, high-performing, gaming headsets and various stereo headphones. While the design, may not be the prettiest, the HD688B makes up for it with an unbelievable performance. Of course, as headphones by default, the sound is great. In addition, these headphones double for gaming and performance better than any gaming headset on the market. I would suggest going to pick these up. After use, stereo headphones, just may be the way to go, moving forward.

I'm going to assume that you're here because of the now-famous Reddit post about how to build your own gaming headset that doesn't suck, and will review these as if they were a gaming headset. If you're unfamiliar with this post and would like to read it, just google "gaming headsets suck - reddit" and it should show up.Setup recommended in the post:These headphonesAntlion Audio ModMic Attachable Boom MicrophoneFiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone AmplifierI'll give a full review of these headphones below, as well as how they interact with the other pieces of this setup.1. The headphonesSadly, these are the weak point in this setup. While boasting some pretty impressive sound quality for the price, the overall build quality feels extremely cheap (lots of flimsy plastic, and the vinyl ear cups are terrible) and they become pretty uncomfortable after a few hours. Even worse, they seem to be very susceptible to picking up EM noise from inside of your computer unless you use the DAC, which costs almost twice as much as these headphones. I have a pair of Sennheiser 280 Pros (which are excellent) and a TTeSports gaming headset (average at best), and neither of them picks up a noticeable amount of noise even at high volumes when using the internal sound card. These pick up a TON of noise even at low volumes, which must be why the Reddit OP recommends the DAC so strongly. I'm not an audio expert, but I'm guessing that either my internal sound card has a hard time driving the high impedance (I think these are 2x56 ohm) or they're just more susceptible to picking up EM from my computer. Either way, as a standalone these headphones are OK at best, and they really need a DAC to shine.2. Fiio E10K USB DAC and Headphone AmplifierThis is the shining gem of this setup. This little thing is extremely well-made, works perfectly, and will make pretty much any pair of headphones sound better. It can push out a ton of volume without distortion (although you might encounter speaker distortion downstream), and the bass boost is subtle enough (+3 dB) that it doesn't immediately muddy up everything, although I still prefer to have it off in most cases. It also breathes new life into the headphones, and solves all of the audio-quality issues listed above (but not the build quality ones). If you get the Superlux headphones and are getting a lot of noise, you should absolutely pick one of these up.3. Antlion Audio ModMic Attachable Boom MicrophoneThis thing is also extremely solid, and provides great voice clarity, good noise cancellation, and is pretty resistant to sibilant hiss and plosive pops. It attaches to your headphones with a little sticky magnet mount, so make sure that whatever cans you buy have at least 1/2 inch of flat space somewhere to allow proper mounting. My only complaint is that the magnet that holds the mic to the mount is rather weak, and it's prone to falling off if jarred. It mounts well on the Superlux phones, which have a large flat ring around the edge that gives you plenty of places to put mount.In sum, the headphones sound excellent and work very well with the other parts listed, although in my case I needed the DAC to remove quite a bit of background noise. (I'd recommend waiting to see if you're having noise issues before buying the DAC, since your setup may not be as prone to noise as mine is). The DAC makes the phones sound great instead of pretty good, and the mic works flawlessly. You can mix-and-match individual components (I'd recommend starting with a better pair of headphones) to suit your individual needs, but if you're looking for a solid gaming headset that will also work for music and movies, this setup has got you covered.