Archives for April 2016

Retro-Digital: 10pk Verbatim “Vinyl” CD-Rs for $3

If you like the blending of digital with retro looks but don’t want to spend too much money for the fun of it, the 10pk of Verbatim CD-Rs with a color scheme that screams vinyl records is on sale for just $3 at Amazon.

There is a catch however, with a price like that, it is an Add-On item, so you have to place a $25+ order in order to buy it. These are 700MB optical CD-Rs that can record up to 80 minutes of audio (or a handful of mp3 albums). Each 10pk is color-coded, five colors, two units of each color. They average 4.8 out of 5 based on 75 customer reviews.

April 26, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

Harman Kardon IE ANC In-Ears for $28 w/free S&H

The official Harman Kardon eBay store is offering the new condition Harman Kardon IE NC Active in-ears for $28 with free shipping. As the NC in the model name suggests, these have active noise cancelling, see picture #2 there to see the NC model that is part of the cord.

April 26, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

[DEAD] SMS Audio Street On-Ears for $40 [ends Wedn 3am ET]

This daily deal expired…

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April 26, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Used Shure SRH 1440 for $209 [was $204]

The open-back over-ear Shure SRH 1440 headphones go for $300 in new condition at authorized dealers, but if you are comfortable with used gear, you can get them in “Used – Acceptable” condition (various cosmetic imperfections, damaged original packaging) for $209~ (was $204~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual.

Price updated in post on 4/25/16… The strangeness of pricing on AWD. Some items trickle downwards, others trickle upwards. I am sure there is a method to the madness, I just may not be able to see it 🙂

April 24, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Philips SHP 9500 Open-Back for $60

NewEgg’s attempt at a Groupon-like shopping service (for physical goods, not the local and travel stuff) is NewEggFLASH, and their flash site is having on sale for a limited time (ends next Thursday) the Philips SHP 9500 open-back over-ears for $60 with free shipping, with a limit of 30 pairs per customer. They come with a 1 year warranty and a 30 day return policy.

April 23, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Maxell Lightweight On-Ears for $3 [limit 5]

Flashback back to the Walkman cassette era with these lightweight Maxell On-Ear headphones currently on sale in new condition for $3 per pair at Amazon actual with a limit of five per customer. As you can guess by the lowness of the price, there is a catch, they are an Add-On item, so the shopping cart will not let you buy them unless your order total is $25+. These average 3.8 out of 5 based on 88 customer reviews.

April 23, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Creative Aurvana Live! for $48

The exclamation point is officially part of the model name, the closed-back over-ear Creative Aurvana Live! is going for $48 with free shipping by multiple sellers, including Amazon actual (look at the detailed listings as some sellers play the game of discounting by a penny or two so they can appear ahead of other sellers). These average 4.3 out of 5 based on 260+ customer reviews.

April 23, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

[DEAD] Starts Sunday 11am ET: OREI DA21X Digital to Analog Converter (PCM Output only)

This offer expired, but I recall seeing these OREI converter type things on previous lightning deals, so other things equal they should also be available in future (only a guess though, I have no way of knowing for certain)…

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April 23, 2016 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

[DEAD] Sunday: JBL Synchros S200 In-Ears for $40

This daily deal expired…

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April 23, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

[DEAD] AKG M90 II Semi-Open for $20 w/free S&H [ends Sun 8am ET]

This particular offer ended but the M90 II are one of the recurring headphones at the MF daily deal, so it will like return there (or at their sister Guitar Center) in the next few weeks at some point in time…

[Read more…]

April 23, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Symphonized DRM Wood In-Ears for $11 after coupon

Symphonized brand headphones are often featured in the Amazon Gold Box deals, but if when they are not, the manufacturer-seller also offers promotions by using coupons. For a limited time (I don’t know the exact expiration date) coupon code 6UF54R77 gets you the Symphonized DRM Wood In-Ears for around $11. Their current price is $25, the coupon is “Save $14.11” which brings then down to $11. This is good for all three color options.

They come with a little zippered case and three eartip sizes. Not bad for $11. They average 4.4 out of 5 based on 87 customer reviews. The coupon works only if Symphonized is the actual seller (I believe they are the only one featured there, so it shouldn’t be an issue but just in case).

PS: I can’t resist pointing out that “DRM” is a rather unfortunate name to have for something music or media related 🙂

April 22, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Sony MDR-7506 currently goes for $80 (don’t buy it for more)

The closed-back over-ear studio Sony MDR-7506 headphones currently go for $80 at authorized dealers (eg Amazon actual), so there’s no reason to buy it for more.

The reason I’m posting this is because there’s a high profile eBay Daily Deals listing from a non-authorized dealer (imported with seller warranty) selling it for $95 and over 1000 people bought it from them. Not sure why people are paying more for it and not getting a Sony USA warranty.

The $80 price is also available at Jet, however, the same caution applies, Jet won’t tell you who the seller is ahead of time, and sometimes they decide on the seller based on your location, so you are not guaranteed to receive a unit from an authorized dealer that will get you a Sony USA warranty.

April 22, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

FiiO Kunlun E18 portable DAC/amp for $100

The line-up naming scheme is bound to create more and more discounts in the Fiio line-up as the older products eventually get phased out. Which brings us to the FiiO Kunlun E18 portable DAC/amp currently going for $100 with free shipping, with the order fulfilled by Amazon, with two marketplace sellers offering it at this price, “GMartGlocal” and “All About Office”.

The “fulfiled by Amazon” reduces the risk since you are dealing with Amazon’s own customer service and their own shipping and returns infrastructure. This Fiio averages 4 out of 5 based on 120+ customer reviews.

April 22, 2016 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Xiaomi Piston 3 In-Ears for $21 (Prime eligible, safe seller)

Xiaomi opened up their own mini Amazon store, so if you wanted to jump on the Xiaomi and/or Pistons bandwagon without having to worry about getting fakes, you can get the Pistons 3 in-ears for $21 from the Xiaomi Amazon store with the order fulfilled by Amazon for $21. So free shipping for Prime members, or with a $49+ order for non-Prime members. These average 4.3 out of 5 based on 17 customer reviews.

NOTE that some of the items are fulfilled by Amazon, others ship from Xiaomi and take longer to arrive. Check each individual listing and its associated shipping estimate. For example, the Mi Hybrid In-Ears ship from Xiaomi and have a long shipping estimate.

PS: these are all the headphones available in the Xiaomi-Amazon store.

April 22, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

Sennheiser GAME ONE for $128

If you are a fan of gaming headphones, the Sennheiser GAME ONE, the white-black-red color-scheme is currently on sale for $128 with free shipping, in new condition, at NewEgg and Amazon with a limit of five per customer at each retailer. At the latter this averages 4.4 out of 5 based on nearly 300 customer reviews.

April 22, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[DEAD] House of Marley Jammin On-Ears under $20 (Meh.com)

This daily deal expired…

[Read more…]

April 22, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 for just under $230 (iOS and Android)

Now that the dust settled from that goofy lightning deal, these are the current non-lightning sale (or price match) prices of the second generation closed-back over-ear Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones, in new condition, at Amazon by Amazon actual, under $230 as of the time of this post:

+ iOS versions around $230 in either the black or ivory color scheme

+ Android version for $224 in the black color scheme

April 21, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

A-Audio Elite HD Chrome/Black In-Ears for $20

The Staples online daily deals (separate from the offers in their Weekly Ad) have been flying under the radar for a while as many people don’t associate Staples with electronics deals. But they have some good deals and because they are not as “famous”, some of the deals are able to linger longer there than they would on a high volume electronics website like NewEgg or Amazon.

Regardless, the A-Audio Elite HD Chrome/Black In-Ears are currently on sale for $20 per pair at Staples.com. Free shipping if you are a Rewards member. Or free shipping to a local store for everyone. Offer ends 4/23/16.

UPDATE: these also go for $20 at the flash sale site MorningSave (the same people who run Meh.com). I do not know if they charge shipping since it doesn’t say.

April 21, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

Beyerdynamic DT 990 Premium (600) for $228 [Massdrop]

The members only shopping service Massdrop (it’s free to sign up for, but you have to have an account to see the offers because of the whole MAP song and dance) is now offering the open-back over-ear 600 ohm Premium version of the Beyerdynamic DT 990 headphones for $220 plus $8~ flat shipping and handling. There are eight days from today left on this offer. Shipping estimate is mid-May 2016, so keep that in mind if you need it to get there yesterday or at a Prime speed 🙂

April 21, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Panasonic Open-Ear Bone Conduction Unibody Earbuds for $12

If you are curious about bone conduction headphones but don’t want to spend a lot to satisfy your curiosity, Staples.com has a limited time sale on the new condition Panasonic Open-Ear Bone Conduction behind the neck unibody earbuds for $12 per pair. This is model RPHGS10G, which “opens up” (no pun intended) to RP-HGS10-G.

Limit 10 per customer. Offer ends 4/23/16. Free ship-to-store or with a $15+ order if you are a Rewards member.

Keep in mind however these have their issues, they average 3 out of 5 based on 80+ customer reviews at amazon.com.

April 21, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With: , ,

[DEAD] Starts Fri 2pm ET: House of Marley Liberate Midnight XLBT Bluetooth Sale

This lightning deal expired…

[Read more…]

April 21, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Sennheiser HD 650 + M-Audio AV32 Monitors + Blue Yeti USB Mic for $500

If you happen to need all three of these (sounds like an NBA play by play line?), then this is a good deal, $500 gets you these three new condition items: the open-back Sennheiser HD 650 headphones, the M-Audio AV32 10W Studio Monitor speakers, and the Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone at Amazon by Amazon actual.

The speakers currently go for $100 and the Yeti for $130 (Sting is still looking for him), making the HD650 a very reasonable $270. Now if you don’t need (or can sell/trade/gift) the two extras, then it becomes a more complicated decision.

This is not the only bundle offer, there are more Sennheiser + Gifts/Bundles offers running at Amazon.

April 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

Thinksound ts02 in-ears (wood) for $58 (Massdrop)

Fully unlocked and with a mid-May 2016 shipping estimate, the wood-protected Thinksound ts02 in-ears are now available on Massdrop for $55 plus $3~ flat shipping. Offer ends in about six days from blog-posting date. You can select from two different color options during the checkout process.

April 20, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

[DEAD] Ends Thursday 7pm ET: Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Over-Ears Lightning Sale for $250 [Lowest Prices before the sale around $230]

This turned out to be a goofy thing as the Lightning Deal price of $250 was higher than most of the current prices of the other color/OS combos. It looks like Amazon needs to adjust their pricing algorithms when having lightning deals of items that are already discounted or price-matched in other color schemes, otherwise they won’t generate sales and/or have unhappy customers…. A new post summarizing the best current non-lightning deal prices is coming…

[Read more…]

April 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

[DEAD] Monoprice Stereo Hybrid Tube Amp with Bluetooth for $135 w/coupon

This particular offer expired, but the good news is that this amp is in-stock and eligible for future coupons as well…

[Read more…]

April 20, 2016 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With: , ,

Logitech UE 900s Ultimate Ears for $200

The new condition Logitech UE 900s Ultimate Ears are currently available for $200 with free shipping by PitBullAudio on eBay (ships from SoCal, limit 5 per customer, authorized dealer, full warranty).

April 19, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Classical Music (eg for headphone testing): Big Box Classical Compilations for $0.99 each (100+ tracks in most compilations)

If you like to use classical music as part of your headphone/music testing or listening or *gasp* music appreciation, there is a very affordable way to load up your digital audio player with lots of classical music without breaking the bank. There are over 50 Big Box Classical MP3 Compilations going for $0.99 per compilation at Amazon MP3.

Each compilation has an insane amount of tracks included, for example the 99c Beethoven Big Box gets you 176 tracks with a total playtime of over 15 hours. That’s almost two tracks per penny 🙂

Of headphone testing interest, some of the many compilations are broken down by instrument (violin, piano, guitar, trumpet, winds, brass, oboe) or music style (baroque, hymns/choirs, orchestral, symphonies, flamenco, cantatas, overtures, etc).

On top of that, each purchase is automatically added to your Amazon Music streaming account, so you can stream them without taking any additional steps using the Amazon Music apps. You can also download them to your computer as mp3s and transfer them to your other devices as you please.

Almost all of these are doing well review-wise, you can use the review scores and the number of reviews as one way to help you filter them if you can’t decide which ones to get.

April 19, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

Used w/full warranty Hifiman HE-1000 for $2500 [updated]

While we are on the top of Hifimans, their new condition HE-1000 flagships go for $3000, but if you want to shave some of that off, you can get them in used condition (customer return, less than 10 hours use, full warranty, authorized dealer) per the eBay listing of RazorDog Audio on eBay. It ships from Minnnessssoootttaa ~ a good way to cover up not remembering how to properly spell it 😉 Only one unit is available. Best offer is not enabled.

UPDATE: that particular eBay listing expired, but a new one got started. The post is now updated with the new eBay listing.

April 19, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , , ,

[DEAD] Starts Wedn 10am ET: MEE audio Sport-Fi M6 In-Ears Sale

This lightning deal expired, but MEE Audio is a regular participant…

[Read more…]

April 19, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

Open-box HIFIMAN Edition X planars for $1500

The planar-magnetic Hifiman Edition X headphones are currently available in open-box condition by seller “HiDef Style” (100%, 8896 ratings) thru Amazon.

The new condition for these is $1800 both at Amazon and from the Hifiman eBay store.

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

HifiMan Edition S shipping for $250

The HIFIMAN Edition S headphones with their interchangeable open/closed design and asymetrical earcups and 18 ohm impedance are now in-stock and shipping by Hifiman’s own store through Amazon and through eBay.

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Paradigm Shift H15 drop to $103

Many and more headphones are being ushered in the market as their popularity increases these days. And with many models come discounts. Which brings us to the folding and fluffy Paradigm Shift H15 going down to $103 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual. They have only one review so far.

Meanwhile the active noise cancelling version, the H15nc model goes for $165~ with free shipping at Amazon or for $105~ in “Used – Very Good” condition by Amazon Warehouse Deals.

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

Magma Riot Headphone Bag Pro for $80

The Riot Headphone Bag Pro is currently on sale for $80 with free shipping at Amazon.com with sellers including Amazon actual, along with Turntable Lab (fulfilled by Amazon). There no reviews yet but it has seven pictures in the product gallery to give you a nice visual feel for it.

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: ,

Sol Republic 1-button Relays (1132-31) for $15

The 1-button version of the Sol Republic in-ears, model 1132-31, is on sale for $15 with free shipping at Tanga.com. They come with a 30 day warranty.

Ironically, you get a 90-day warranty if you buy them in certified refurbished condition by seller “Tech Union” with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so Prime eligible for members.

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With: ,

Used V-Moda M100 Over-Ears for $150 (no accessories)

If you are not a perfectionist and have plenty of accessories, seller “Cellular Stream” (97%, 3921 ratings) is offering the white-silver color-scheme of the closed-back over-ear V-Moda Crossfade M100 headphones for $150 in “Used – Acceptable” condition. The listing says you get the headphones only, no other accessories and even though the units are fully functional, they have signs of wear, scratches, scuffs, minor cracks, etc. Given the solid construction of the M100s, this may be a risk some may be willing to take. This is fulfilled by Amazon, so if you have problems with it, you deal with Amazon’s customer service and returns, not the seller directly.

PS: the link above shows the prices for the white-silver model. The other colors go for more: see lowest price per color. See detailed listings for each color by clicking the “See all offers for this product”.

April 18, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,