we find good deals for you!
These are not wireless but they are powered headphones, they take two AA batteries to activate JBL’s proprietary “Live Stage” technology-marketing. They are the closed-back over-ear JBL Synchros Slate going for $40 with free shipping in two different options:
+ open-box by All 4 Cellular (A4C) directly
+ certified refurbished by A4C fulfilled by Amazon (Prime eligible)
Online seller A4C (aka All 4 Cellular) specializes in clearance/refurbished items, but even they have rotating daily deals on the front page of their website that are often discounted compared to their regular discounted prices. Among them at the moment is the refurbished Harman Kardon Soho-A On-Ears going for $40 with free shipping. Refurbished items come with a 90-day replacement warranty from A4C, not the manufacturer.
NOTE: when shopping there, pay attention to the individual listing. They sell a mix of new condition, refurbished, and use products. Everything there gets free shipping, even the $3 generic earbuds 🙂
And now a bundle offer on the low end of the earphone spectrum, you can get Modal earbuds for $5 when you purchase them together with a qualifying tablet (300+ options) at the Best Buy website. The offer is available online only, not at their stores.
On the consumable accessories front, the Etymotic EATFL1-6 Triple Flange Sleeves (for all SE models except for the SE102MPA), along with the SCL3 through 5, and E3c through E5c, and E500, are on sale for $7.79 at Amazon.com. Free shipping for Prime members or with a $49+ order. Thankfully they are NOT Add-On items 🙂
PS: “consumable” from the earphones’ perspective, not from a human’s perspective. Do not eat these 🙂
The Photive BTH3 closed-back over-ear Bluetooths range from $40 to $50 in new condition, but if you are comfortable with refurbished, you can get them in certified refurbished for $30 with the order fulfilled by Amazon. Free shipping for Prime members or with a $49+ order for non-members.
The refurbished average 4.2 out of 5 based on 69 customer reviews, but if you need more reviews, the new condition model has over 3500 customer reviews.
On the featherweight front among old-school Walkman/cassette-era headphones, the new condition Maxell HP-100 Lightweights are down to $3.07 at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of five per customer. They average 3.5 out of 5 based on 110+ customer reviews. There is one catch though, they are an Add-On Item, so you have to place $25+ order to buy it.
Special edition headphones now, the Astell & Kern AKT5p Beyerdynamic Special Edition go for $1000 in new condition at various retailers, but if you prefer used, you can get them in “Used – Like New” condition (damaged original packaging) for $849 with free shipping by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual.
The new condition second-generation closed-back over-ear B&O BeoPlay H6 go for $300 in new condition but if you prefer used, the black color scheme is available in “Used – Good” condition (cosmetic imperfections, damaged original packaging) for $224~ with free shipping by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual. The listing shows the lowest price per color. To see the detailed listings per color, click on the blue “See all offers for this product” link next to each color’s name over there.
The Audio Technica M50x are popular enough their accessories are becoming stars 😉 Which brings us to another unlocked Massdrop offering, it is the Sound Professionals (the brand name) Velour Earpads for the M50x going for $22 plus $3~ flat shipping. There are five colors to choose from. The pads don’t just fit the M50x, they also fit the whole new Mx0x lineup (M20X to M50X) along with the good old M50. Shipping estimate is early October and there are about eight days (from blog posting date) to go on this offer.
Another day, another unlocked offer at Massdrop, it’s their offering of the Objective 2 (O2) Headphone Amplifier going for $80 plus $8~ flat shipping. But that’s not all. You can also get the Desktop version for $15 more, or the 1.0 version for $10 less. The options are available during checkout. Pictures and details over there, with eight days left in the offer, and an early October 2016 shipping estimate.
As of the time of writing, only two of the Sennheiser + Amazon Gift Card bundles remain (HD280 and HD380). The offers for the HD600 and the HD650 are no longer available (the listing is there but there is no price and no order option). The silver lining of this is that the price of the HD 650 headphones without the card has dropped to $339 with free shipping from Amazon actual.
If you don’t need it right away, it may be a good idea to wait and see what offers the holiday shopping season will bring. In the meantime, there are about five hundred forum threads discussing HD 600 vs HD 650 to keep you busy 🙂
Massdrop continues to expand its offering, just today I saw some A19 LED light bulbs there. Not smart lightbulbs, just a 4pk of simple LED ones 🙂 Regardless, another offer has gone fully unlocked, it’s a small discount versus the other retailers, but a discount it is, the Etymotic Research HF5 in-ears going for $100 plus $4~ flat shipping with a reasonable early October 2016 shipping estimate. Two colors are available. The drop ends in 8 days from today but could end earlier because only 50 units are available (I don’t know if it’s 50 per color or total).
If you don’t want to wait for MD, you can get it for $110 with free shipping at B&H Photo’s.
Melisandre’s favorite AKG headphone, the Red edition of the open-back over-ear AKG K7xx, a another Massdrop-exclusive model, is back on again, going for $200 with free shipping and with 10 days to go from today (= blog-posting date). These are serialized units and a total of exactly 622 units is available. Maybe the oddball number is because some of them are taken out to be included as prizes in grab bags? 🙂
These have a reasonable shipping estimate, October 10 in 2016.
On the budget side of things, this 5-pack of Cosmos brand drawstring headphone pouches in the gray color scheme is going for $10.50 by Cosmos, with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so you get free 2-day shipping if a Prime member. Dimensions are listed in the listing. They also have this in black which goes for $12. While the gray only has two reviews, the black has 73 with a 4.6 out of 5 average.
I bought these a couple of years ago and I am planning to review them, but I haven’t seen them in a few months. I hadn’t even taken them out of their packaging. I have to plan an excavation project to see if I can unearth them 🙂
The Sony MDR-V6 and MDR-7506 duo has been around for a while and sold many and more. If you have those and need additional earpads, the Cosmos brand earpad for those two is going for $6.55 by a few marketplace sellers with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so they are Prime eligible. Thankfully they are not an Add-On item, so you get free 2-day shipping with just one pair of these 🙂
In the same listing, the same company has replacement earpads for other headphones (AKG K240, Sennheiser HD 2XX, Sony MDR-V, Beats), so if you click on the tabs over there, make sure you are buying the pads for the intended headphone. All together as a group, they average 4.3 out of 5 based on 430+ customer reviews.
Of those reviews, over 140 of them are for this particular model. If you want to read the reviews for the V6/7506 model, this link shows those only. In the reviews you will also other headphones that have a good fit per the reviewers (eg Monoprice 8323, Denon D950, etc).
Some of the customer reviews like them, while others complain that they are not as good or as soft or as thick as the originals.
It’s in-ears featured now among the various eBay Deals, where Buydig is back with another new condition model, the Klipsch X4i In-Ears with Apple 3-button controls going for $35 with free shipping with a limit of five units per customer. A zippered pouch headlines the included accessories.
These started around $300 at the peak of the $300 Beats craze and they have been slowly but steadily dropping, they are currently going for $90 to $100 in new condition (depending on color), they are the closed-back over-ear Munitio PRO40, sold at these prices by a couple of marketplace sellers with the orders fulfilled by Amazon so they are Prime eligible. They come with a case and extra cables.
The white color scheme (it has black and red accents too) of the Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro Plus over-ear headphones is currently available in “Used – Very Good” condition for $119~ and “Used – Like New” for $127~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD), both listings sold by AWD so they are Prime eligible. The $119 has “cosmetic imperfections” while the $127 does not (damaged original packaging).
$130 seems to be the trendy price for Beyerdynamic open-back headphones these days 🙂 Not only is the DT 770 Pro 80 Limited Edition (Amazon) going for $130, but so is the DT 990 PRO 250 Limited Edition, this one by Focus Camera on eBay.
From the “Totally Not Audio Technica M50X clones” department comes a brand new studio headphone, which appears to be an Amazon exclusive according to the listing, and it is now in-stock and ready to ship, it is the Akai Professional Project 50X currently going for $120 with free shipping. These are closed-back over-ears with 50mm drivers, 32 ohm impedance, collapsible design (see pictures over there), detachable cables (two are included), etc.
PS: they are so clone, searching for Akai 50X on Google Shopping returns the Audio Technica M40x 🙂
This deal of the day expired, but Bose headphones go on sale on a recurring basis, especially as we get closer to the holidays…
This lightning deal expired…
We previously mentioned the thrifty-ghetto way of using back-to-school doorbusters as temporary or permanent cases for earphones. We now have another set of clearance office supplies for repurposing for this task.
The Office Depot and Office Max stores are having a Back to School Clearance sale, and among the items that are put on clearnace ($1 each) are a handful of their boxed supplies. All of which could make good repurposed cases for earphones, either as they are or if you add padding inside.
The Fostex RP Mark III $50 mail-in rebate (see AMR promotions page) expired on 7/31/16. If you don’t want to wait for any future mail-in rebates, the headphone is discounted on its own (but a higher price than if you had purchased it using the $50 MIR earlier), going for $131~ at Amazon.com, sold at this price by both Amazon actual and marketplace sellers “AudioDeluxe” (Prime eligible) and “Music 123” (not Prime eligible).
Check the various forums and websites for more on these and modding ideas/etc.
PS: AMR (American Music And Sound) is a distributor of many brands, including Fostex, Kurzweil, Focusrite, Allen & Heath, Alpine, etc.
A trio of new offers are currently fully unlocked at members-only Massdrop, with all three offers having about seven days to go from today. They are:
Shipping estimate is early-to-mid October 2016, a slightly different date for each one of the above items.
NOTE: The SMSL Android model requires a micro-USB port (we have to say that now that USB-C is becoming more common) and the phone must have the necessary support for audio to flow through the micro USB port).
As of 9/12/16 recheck, these sold out in refurbished condition…
If you happen to have the Fiio X5 (first generation) music player and you want the blue official Fiio silicon case/wrapper for it, it is currently available for $5 in new condition by a marketplace seller with the order fulfilled by Amazon. It is not an Add-On item, so you get free 2-day shipping even if you only buy this blue case.
NOTE: the main picture there shows five different cases. You only get one blue case.
PS: this case is only for the first generation X5, not the second generation.
The Monoprice store is having a headphone sale good until 9/16/16, featuring 12 over/on-ear headphones, seven earphones (I am filing the neckband thing under earphones), and four silicone eartip bundles. Prices range from $0.50 to $60. Shipping is extra unless a particular item is participating in a free shipping promotion.
Wood definitely has its fans with both earphones and headphones, which brings us to this newly unlocked offer at members-only Massdrop, it is the DZAT DF-10 Wood IEMs going for $16 plus $7 flat shipping. You have two wood choices at checkout (pictures of both are shown over there). The offer runs for the next seven days (from blog-posting date), and these will ship mid-October 2016.
One unusual accessory included (although perhaps not so considering the “writing” fandom at Massdrop) is that they come with a nature-themed notebook and pen as well, in addition to different eartip sizes and a pouch. You can always make the notebook and pen “on topic” by using them to record headphone-related notes or music-listening notes or headphone audition notes 🙂
PS: no musical pun intended on “notes” 🙂
These two lightning deals expired…
Onkyo too has an Amazon Storefront and there they offer some of their products. They ship directly from Onkyo USA, so they are not eligible from Prime shipping. Among the specials you can find the closed-back on-ear ES-FC300 going for $40 with free shipping in either the white color scheme or the violet/purple color scheme.
Speaking of which, the price of the following headphones may make you run to the hills, your wallet running for its life, but if you are comfortable with used, instead of paying $300 for new condition, you can instead get them for $224~ in “Used – Good” condition through Amazon Warehouse Deals. These being the Onkyo Iron Maiden Audio ED-PH0N3S, charging the “fandom tax” 🙂
Beyerdynamic how so many models in the 770-880-990 series, and that’s before you add the various Limited Editions and such. Which brings us to the beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 80 Limited Edition, in new condition, currently on sale for $130 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual. These are all black.
PS: if you are not familiar with the Beyerdynamic line-up, here’s a quick way to remember which models are open/closed: the higher the number, the more open they are. The DT 770s are closed, the 880s are semi-open, and the 990 are open.
Grados go in and out of Amazon Warehouse Deals as people buy/sell/trade return them through Amazon. At the moment the open-back on-ear Used SR80e (“Used – Good”) goes for $74~ through Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD) actual (not marketplace sellers), while the Used SR125e (“Used – Very Good” goes for $120 by AWD actual. There’s also a listing by a seller with just 1 rating that ends up the same price after shipping but it’s not Prime eligible.
PS: the new condition prices at authorized dealers for these two are $100 and $150 respectively.
This is not a Massdrop exclusive, but they are getting early release supplies, and it is back there and fully unlocked, the semi-open over-ear studio AKG M220 going for $50 plus $8~ flat shipping. There are seven days left in the offer (from blog-posting date) and the orders will begin shipping in early October 2016.
This 4-hour offer expired…
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