Superlux HD668B vs Philips Audio SHP9500 at a Glance
• Superlux HD668B — biggest strength: 50mm neodymium drivers with a 10–30kHz range and semi-open imaging that makes panning, reverb and layer placement easier to judge.
• Superlux HD668B — biggest trade-off: It's intentionally revealing. On already-bright material the upper mids and treble can sound forward, and the 56 ohm impedance means it wants a bit more from a weak source.
• Philips Audio SHP9500 — biggest strength: Open-back 50mm drivers at 32 ohms and 101 dB sensitivity, so it plays loud and clean from almost anything, with a breathable double-layered headband for long wear.
• Philips Audio SHP9500 — biggest trade-off: The open acoustic system leaks sound both ways — you hear the room, and the room hears you.
• Pick the Superlux if you're producing, mixing or checking edits and want detail over politeness.
• Pick the Philips if you want one comfortable wired headphone for everyday listening at a desk or on the couch.
The HD668B is a tool first and a pleasure device second. Its 50mm neodymium drivers cover 10–30kHz with a fast, detailed presentation, and the semi-open enclosure is the whole point: it gives you clearer left-right placement and better separation between layers, which is exactly what you want when you're checking panning, room cues or depth in a mix. If you've ever bounced a track and then noticed the reverb sat too far back, this is the kind of headphone that flags it before you export.
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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
The design leans toward working sessions. The auto-adjusting headband spreads weight instead of clamping, and it ships with detachable straight cables in 1m and 3m plus a cable clip — so you can run a short cable at a desk and swap to the long one across a room without changing headphones. At 56 ohms and 98 dB sensitivity it isn't hard to drive, but it does reward a decent source or a small amp.
Where it asks for patience is tone. Superlux explicitly frames this as "revealing clarity," and notes that on bright recordings the upper mids and treble can come across as forward. That's the trade: you get sibilance, cymbal texture and subtle artifacts laid bare, and in exchange some casual listening feels clinical. Skip it if you want a forgiving, warm, lean-back headphone for hours of background music — you'll fight the tuning instead of enjoying it.
The SHP9500 is built around a simple idea: make open-back sound easy to live with. The open acoustic system and angled 50mm neodymium drivers give you a wide, airy presentation with smooth high frequencies, and the numbers make it friendly — 32 ohms and 101 dB sensitivity mean it gets loud off a phone, laptop jack or a controller without an amp in the chain. The frequency range runs 12–35,000 Hz, so there's plenty of top end on paper, but the character is relaxed rather than analytical.
Comfort is the second half of the pitch. The double-layered headband cushion and breathable ear cushions are designed for longer wearing sessions, and the enclosure is steel, which suggests a sturdier feel than the plastic-and-metal mix on the Superlux. The cable is removable and 1.5m long, aimed at indoor use, and there's a gold-plated 3.5–6.3mm adapter in the box for full-size gear.
The honest downside is openness itself. An open-back headphone doesn't isolate, so it's a poor choice on a bus, in a shared office or anywhere you need to block noise — and everyone nearby will hear what you're playing. It also has no noise control and no wireless option; this is a wired, at-home headphone. Buy it if you want one comfortable, easy-to-drive pair for music, videos and gaming at a desk. Skip it if you need isolation or portability.
• Best for critical listening and mix-checking → Superlux HD668B. Semi-open imaging and 10–30kHz detail are aimed at judging level balance, EQ moves and edits.
• Best for plug-and-play from a phone or laptop → Philips Audio SHP9500. 32 ohms and 101 dB sensitivity versus 56 ohms and 98 dB on the Superlux.
• Best for long, relaxed sessions → Philips Audio SHP9500. Double-layered headband cushion and breathable ear cushions, with a lighter-feeling open design.
• Best for studio and desk flexibility → Superlux HD668B. Detachable 1m and 3m cables plus a cable clip cover short and long setups.
• Best for catching flaws in a recording → Superlux HD668B. The forward upper mids and treble surface sibilance, harshness and artifacts instead of hiding them.
• Best for shared rooms and quiet spaces → neither, honestly. Both are open or semi-open and leak; if you need isolation, look elsewhere.
• Best for a toddler's bedtime setup → neither. For toddlers you want small, volume-limited, tangle-resistant options; a neckband headphones for toddlers style or a soft in ear headphones for toddlers design fits far better than a full-size open-back.
• Best for durability feel → Philips Audio SHP9500. Steel enclosure versus the Superlux's metal-and-plastic build.
In my opinion, most people should buy the Philips Audio SHP9500. It does the thing a headphone has to do every day — sound good, feel fine after two hours, and work from whatever you plug it into — without asking you to babysit your source or your EQ. I'd pick the Superlux HD668B only if your main job is producing, editing or mix-checking and you specifically want that revealing, semi-open window into placement and detail. And to be clear: if your actual goal is a toddler's sleep or travel setup, neither of these is the answer — a small, volume-limited neckband headphones for toddlers option or a soft in ear headphones for toddlers pair is the safer, more sensible route.
The Philips is easier. It's rated 32 ohms and 101 dB sensitivity, while the Superlux is 56 ohms and 98 dB. Both are wired 3.5mm, but the Philips will reach usable volume from weaker sources like a phone or laptop jack with less effort.
In my opinion the Philips. Its double-layered headband cushion and breathable ear cushions are designed for longer wear, and the open-back tuning is smoother and less forward than the Superlux's deliberately revealing upper mids.
No. Both are open or semi-open, so they leak sound in both directions and offer no noise control at all. For a child's sleep setup, a small volume-limited design built for that purpose makes far more sense than a full-size open-back headphone.
For mix-checking and placement work, yes — that's what its semi-open imaging and detailed 10–30kHz response are for. For casual listening, the forward treble can be tiring, which is why I'd lean Philips for everyday use and Superlux for the studio desk.
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