Alright, so after watching Logan's video on headphones under $50. I felt the need to get a cheap headphone that performs well. I ended up buying these headphones as a project. The speakers are very good and has a frequency similar to the Beyerdynamics DT990's. I'm a big fan of flat frequency headphones. I tend to really like Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser. Before i get started i just want to say that i do understand that sound is subjective and everyone's ear is keen to different sound preferences. Don't take my opinion as iron clad because your preference may be different than mine. I also have links at the bottom for everything that needs to be done for the burn in and modifications I've done.
Performance:
So Let's talk about the performance. They are very great for what i payed $32.00 USD. I know the price changed after black friday, so it'll be a little bit more now. The sound IMO isn't the sharpest, but on the treble side they can keep up with $150 headphone. Now, because of this, they had to cut corners in the build quality which means cheap and hard ear pads, a very hard clamping force (after a good 30 min, your jaw may be a little sore), the little seating pads up top aren't the best and may give you a slight sore, and the soundstage isn't the greatest, though they are very open so they sound very natural.
After all that, since these headphones are 56 ohms, you will need an amp. I've tried to see if using it with and without an amp. I have to say the difference isn't that drastic that would make it too noticeable. With an amp the sound warms up and has a slightly better mid and bass while the treble isn't so ear piercing. Without an amp, the sound seemed to be a little thin, but not enough to say that it's unusable. The treble was a little bit annoying at moments because it hits certain ranges that may be annoying to some. For under $50, i really can't complain by what the sound comes out, it's very competitive with $100-$150 headphones and that's saying a lot. I made sure to do a burn in test for 24h to get the headphones broken in and that brought out the mids and the bass a bit more IMO.
So i had to buy a decent amp since a few people in the forum have told me that the Astro Mixamp didn't cut the mustard for some. Personally i enjoy it, and when i watch movies i love how the Dolby DDL emulation works, it can turn any stereo headphone into a 7.1 headphone by simply diverting where sound comes out. Very great little device. Aside from that i kept my Astro Mixamp's EQ at Core which is no adjustments. I also used a FiiO E09k which IMO is the best amp you can buy for the value. If you're really good with soldering and electronics in general, then i definitely suggest getting an O2 DIY kit. I think JDS and mayflower sells them on their site. I've also got a Mayflower O2 so i can vouch that you can't go wrong with either. The main reason why i prefer the FiiO over the Mayflower is simply because it can power up to 600 ohm headphones. I know that the mayflower O2 does a great job but just doesn't have the fullness like the FiiO amp does IMO.
Modding:
After doing the general testing, i opened up the cans and took a look at everything. I have to say that the wiring is really terrible. They put in the thinnest wires possible and i find that to be a big problem because in long term use, i found static noise to be a little bit of an issue(i have very sensitive ears so i can hear sounds like that and it's piercing to me). I ended up taking out all the wiring and got an old board that had thicker wires. I replaced them. Then i also ended up adding some felt cloth(very thin felt) and cotton batting(stacked two sheets) to the back of the speakers to improve bass and mid fullness. I also removed the acoustic dampener sticker on the front of the speakers and added another sheet of felt cloth to it. Most people on audiophile forums say that they get a punchier bass and increases the clarity. I also did a sock mod with some cheap $5 set of nylon socks on these ridiculously hard pads. The last mod i did was create a better aux chord which i did a slight filter trick inside the connector and then finished it off by braiding the cables.
After doing these mods, i definitely feel that the headphone is where it should be. The sound is MUCH MUCH fuller and the treble isn't as piercing. The bass is definitely more prominent because i closed up the headphones a little bit by adding the cotton and felt. Also the sock mod helps keep the headphones more isolated in the ear and makes the pads softer. I'm thinking of buying better pads, i'm really partial to the Beyerdynamic DT880/990 ear pads which fit on the Superlux perfectly. They do cost $30 so it's a little pricey counting that the headphones costed me $32. In retrospect, the headphones are great so if you want to use them seriously i definitely recommend to purchase thick soft ear pads, this will increase the sound quality the best and will make it bearable to wear for long periods of time. There are a ton of companies that make compatible ear pads for these headphones, the preferred is the AKG K240 ear pads by many om head-fi and rock grotto.
Final Thoughts:
All and all, these headphones are great for someone that wants great headphones on the cheap or is looking into their first project headphones. They don't compare to Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic in quality of the speaker, but they are IMO pretty close in sound quality to something like the AKG K240. Personally i'm not a fan of the AKG K240 for the price even though they are great headphones. There are better headphones in that price range like the Sennheiser HD555 which can be modded into an HD595. Like i said prior, sound is subjective and different ears will perceive audio in different ways. Hope you guys enjoyed.
Links:
If anyone has any questions on modding headphones i'm always willing to help out, i'm not super pro at it, but I've messed with audio my entire life and i have pretty decent understanding.
Update 12/4/14: So i got velour pads, i ended up really enjoying it quite a bit more. The modifications that i did originally muted out the sound a little bit. With the velour pads and the replacement speaker covering pad by cosmos i ended up getting a brightness come back. So in the end, the stock pads with my sock mod sounded muddier. The pads make it easier to do long term usage.
for the pads i bought these : Cosmos K240 Pads