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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-23 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
• Superlux HD661 — biggest strength: A closed, over-ear design with 40mm dynamic neodymium drivers, 68Ω impedance and a 10Hz–20kHz range, plus two cables, a gold-plated adapter, a cable clip and a pouch included.
• Superlux HD661 — biggest trade-off: The sealed plastic cups isolate you from the room, which is exactly what you want on a live date but not what you want if you're chasing the widest possible stereo image.
• OneOdio Monitor 80 — biggest strength: An open-back, Hi-Res certified studio headphone aimed squarely at mastering, mixing and tracking, and it ships with a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter.
• OneOdio Monitor 80 — biggest trade-off: Open-back means sound leaks both ways — the room hears you and you hear the room, so it's a desk tool, not a travel or stage tool.
• Who each pick is for: HD661 for drummers, broadcasters, live engineers and anyone working in noisy rooms; Monitor 80 for home-studio mixers and masterers who want an open, airy presentation.
The HD661 is built around a simple idea: seal the ear, keep the tone honest. The 40mm dynamic driver with a neodymium magnet is a proven recipe for a headphone that stays composed when you push level, and the 68Ω impedance sits in a friendly middle ground — easy enough for a phone or laptop to drive, stiff enough that a proper interface or console gets the most out of it. The 10Hz–20kHz frequency band covers the full audible span, and Superlux describes the tuning as high-resolution and balanced, which is exactly the language you want from a monitoring tool rather than a lifestyle headphone.
The enclosure is the real story here. This is a closed, over-ear design with plastic cups, and Superlux explicitly pitches the airtight seal as the reason it works in high-external-noise environments. That makes it a natural fit for live monitoring, studio tracking, and broadcast — situations where a click track, a talkback feed, or a cue mix has to cut through a loud room. If you've ever tried to track drums in open-back headphones, you already know why this matters.
Who should buy it: drummers, live sound engineers, podcasters and broadcasters, and anyone recording in a shared or untreated space. The included kit is unusually complete for a monitoring headphone — a 3.3 ft (1m) and a 9.8 ft (3m) straight cable, a gold-plated 3.5mm-to-6.3mm adapter, a cable clip, and a carrying pouch — so you can go from a phone at your desk to a console across the room without buying anything extra.
Who should skip it: if your priority is the widest, most speaker-like soundstage for mixing decisions, a sealed cup will always feel a little boxed-in compared to an open design. And if you want wireless freedom, note that despite the connectivity listing, this is fundamentally a wired headphone — treat the cable as part of the deal, not an inconvenience.
The Monitor 80 takes the opposite approach. It's an open-back studio headphone, and OneOdio positions it as a reliable companion for mastering, mixing, or tracking. Open-back is a deliberate engineering choice, not a cost-saving one: letting air move behind the driver typically trades isolation for a more natural, less pressurized presentation, which is why so many reference headphones in serious studios are open.
It also carries Hi-Res audio certification, which tells you the design is intended to resolve detail above and beyond the standard resolution ceiling — useful when you're making small EQ and reverb decisions that a muddier headphone would smear over. OneOdio keeps the package practical by bundling a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, which quietly solves a very modern problem: phones and tablets that dropped the headphone jack. That one accessory means you can plug into a laptop, an interface, or a USB-C phone without hunting for a dongle.
Who should buy it: home-studio producers and mixing engineers who work at a desk in a reasonably quiet room, mastering-minded listeners who want an open, uncolored window into a track, and anyone whose primary source device is USB-C. If you do your critical listening in a controlled space and you want the music to breathe, this is the design philosophy you're shopping for.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for noisy rooms and live work → Superlux HD661. The closed, airtight over-ear design is the whole point.
• Best for critical mixing and mastering → OneOdio Monitor 80. Open-back plus Hi-Res certification is built for detail work.
• Best included accessories → Superlux HD661. Two straight cables (3.3 ft and 9.8 ft), a 3.5mm-to-6.3mm gold-plated adapter, a cable clip and a pouch.
• Best for USB-C devices → OneOdio Monitor 80. The bundled USB-C to 3.5mm adapter covers modern phones and laptops.
• Best for low-impedance, easy-to-drive flexibility → Superlux HD661. 68Ω at 1kHz and 102dB sensitivity mean it plays nicely with modest sources.
• Best for a wide, speaker-like presentation → OneOdio Monitor 80. Open-back designs trade isolation for air.
• Best for tracking without bleed → Superlux HD661. Sealed cups keep your cue mix out of the microphone.
• Best for a quiet, dedicated listening desk → OneOdio Monitor 80. That's the environment where open-back actually pays off.
In my opinion, the Superlux HD661 is the smarter buy for most people reading this, because it's the more versatile tool. It seals, it ships with a genuinely useful cable and adapter kit, and its 68Ω/102dB spec means it works from a laptop, a phone, or a console without fuss. I'd pick the OneOdio Monitor 80 only if you already have a quiet space and your work is specifically mixing and mastering — that's where open-back and Hi-Res certification earn their keep. Buy for your room, not for the spec sheet.
Yes, for tracking. The HD661 is a closed, airtight over-ear design, so your cue mix won't bleed into the mic. The Monitor 80 is open-back, which leaks sound both ways.
Not necessarily. The HD661 runs at 68Ω with 102dB sensitivity, which modest sources can drive. The Monitor 80's sheet doesn't list impedance or sensitivity, so I can't make a claim there — a dedicated interface is the safer bet for critical work.
The OneOdio Monitor 80, in my opinion, because its open-back design and Hi-Res certification are aimed squarely at mastering, mixing and tracking. The HD661 is tuned for monitoring and isolation rather than a wide open stage.
The Superlux HD661 — it includes 3.3 ft and 9.8 ft cables, a gold-plated 3.5mm-to-6.3mm adapter, a cable clip and a carrying pouch. The Monitor 80 includes a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter.
I wouldn't recommend it. Open-back headphones leak sound outward and let ambient noise in, so they're best used at a quiet desk.
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See also: ART MyMONITORII Personal Headphone vs OneOdio Monitor 80, OneOdio Pro-30 vs Rockville PRO-E90, SAMSON Meteor Mic USB vs OneOdio Focus A1Pro