Sony MDR-Z1R vs Superlux HD681 (2013)

The Sony MDR-Z1R is a great Over-Ear Headphone for its $1798 asking price.

The Superlux HD681 (2013), however, while a reasonable product for $34, doesn't stack up against its competitors quite as well. If you're considering Over-Ear Headphones in the $30 range, you might want to check out some better options.

The Sony MDR-Z1R was well-received by reviewers at What Hi-Fi?, a trustworthy source that performs unbiased hands-on testing. It did great in their "Best headphones 2020" roundup - they named it their "With the right source, these are the best closed-back headphones we’ve heard.", which, by itself, suggests that it's a noteworthy product.

As for the Superlux HD681 (2013) - it was really well-received by reviewers at Rtings, a great source that's known for conducting high-quality in-depth testing. It performed great in its "The 7 Best Studio Headphones For Mixing And Recording - Winter 2021" roundup and was named its "Best Budget Studio Headphones", which, on its own, makes it a product that warrants a closer look.

We conducted an analysis of all of the review data that we could find on these two products. First, we focused on sources that tested and rated both of them, like Head-fi, and learned that they all showed a preference for the Superlux HD681 (2013).

Then we took a look at the highest review scores that these two Over-Ear Headphones received. We found that the Sony MDR-Z1R managed to earn a rating of 10 from What Hi-Fi?, whereas the Superlux HD681 (2013) got its highest, 9, score from reviewers at Head-fi.

Lastly, we averaged out all of the reviews scores that we could find on these two products and compared them to other Over-Ear Headphones on the market. We learned that both of them performed far better than most of their competitors - the overall review average earned by Over-Ear Headphones being 7.5 out of 10, whereas the Sony MDR-Z1R and Superlux HD681 (2013) managed averages of 9.3 and 7.7 points, respectively.

Due to the difference in their prices, however, it's important to keep in mind that a direct Sony MDR-Z1R vs. Superlux HD681 (2013) comparison might not be entirely fair - some sources don't take value for money into account when assigning their scores and therefore have a tendency to rate more premium products better.