Archives for November 20, 2016

Headphones in the 2016 Black Friday Ads

Black Friday 2016 is just around the corner. In this post, I am attempting to summarize the various headphones and earphones advertised in the published or leaked Black Friday ads. More will be added as I haven’t finished them all yet. So far we have…

WIRED OVER/ON EARS

Audiophile headphones very rarely make appearances at big chain store Black Friday ads, but there is a member of the Beyerdynamic ever-growing DT 7-8-9 line-up featured at Musician’s Friend. As you can size by the size of the blocks below, bluetooth is favored by the marketing departments…

  • Beyerdynamic DT770 STUDIO for $150 at Musician’s Friend
  • Fostex TX-1 for $20 at Musician’s Friend
  • Bose SoundTrue II Around Ears for $100 at HH Gregg (doorbuster)
  • JVC HA-SR185 for $10 at Walmart, $15 at MicroCenter

BLUETOOTH OVER/ON EARS

Beats continue to win the hype wars with the two latest models likely to feature prominently. But others are getting some glossy attention, including Skullcandy.

  • Beats Solo 3 at “lowest price of the year” at Overstock
  • Beats Solo 2 Wireless for $120 at Target, $150 at Best Buy
  • Sony MDRXB950BT Extra Bass for $90 at Best Buy
  • Bose SoundLink Around Ear II Bluetooth for $230 at Microsoft Store
  • JBL Synchros E40BT on-ears bluetooth for $60 at Microsoft Store
  • Philips SHB8750NC Bluetooth Noise-Canceling Headphones for $50 at Walmart
  • Skullcandy Uproar bluetooth on-ears for $25 at Sears and K-Mart and Walmart
  • Skullcandy Grind Wireless (Bluetooth) On-Ears for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • Skullcandy Hesh 2.0 Wireless (bluetooth) for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale and Best Buy
  • unspecified brand over-ear Bluetooths for under $10 at CVS

BLUETOOTH EARPHONES

With Best Buy scoring some kind of an exclusive on the new Jaybird X3, they are getting most of the attention…

  • discounts (without actual prices posted) on Sony and Jaybird wireless in-ears at Best Buy
  • Beats Powerbeats 2 wireless for $90 at Target
  • LG Tone PRO HBS-760 for $30 at Walmart, $33 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • Jabra Sports Wireless (bluetooth) earbuds for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • 2pk of Samsung Level U Bluetooth for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale, 1pk for $30 at Meijer

WIRED EARPHONES

A couple of Bose models and the wired non-magical Apple earpods lead the way, along with the obligatory single-figure models, and the free after store rewards Philips earbuds that seem to be a Black Friday staple almost every year.

  • Bose SoundSport In-Ear Headphones for $40 at Best Buy
  • Bose Quiet Comfort QC20 in-ears for $200
  • Apple Earpods for $25 at HH Gregg
  • Beats Tour 2 in-ears for $50 at HH Gregg, $65 at Target
  • JBL Sychros E10 earphones for $20 at Microsoft Store
  • Skullcandy Smokin Buds 2 neckback bluetooth earphones for $30 at Best Buy
  • JVC Gumy and Riptiz earphones for $5 at K-Mart
  • 2pk of Samsung Active Wired earbuds for $20 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • Philips Earbuds Free with Plenti points at Rite Aid
November 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones, in-ears Tagged With: ,

Order with Alexa: Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO 80 Limited Edition for $100 [PRIME ONLY]

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you are eligible for some rotating Alexa Exclusive Voice-Order offers. To get these, you have to order the items using Alexa, Amazon’s voice-activated AI. One of the current offers are the new condition Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO 80 Limited Edition closed-back over-ear headphones for $100 with free shipping. The website price is $180.

You can find this offer towards the bottom of the Alexa exclusive offers. Here’s a screenshot of that and the Alexa shortcut voice code to quickly order it:

dt770_pro_le_alexa

PS: I don’t have a way to place an Alexa order, so I can’t test this.

PS2: of music interest, another one of the offers is Garth Brooks’s Ultimate Hits music CD for $1.45 if you voice-order it with Alexa. The website price is $6.92.

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Koss KSC75 Earclips for $11.75 [limit 3]

In a sale paralleling the PortaPros, the clip-on KSC-75 cliphones are down to $11.75 with a limit of three per customer, in new condition, at Amazon by Amazon actual. As with other Koss models, they have a limited lifetime warranty… Check the Koss listings to see if any other models are on sale as well…

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

Koss PortaPro for $26 [limit 3]

If you don’t want to wait for further discounts, as of the time of writing, the good old Koss PortaPro, in new condition, is on sale for the very specific price of $26.09 at Amazon by Amazon actual, with a limit of three units per customer. Note that this is open-back, despite it’s porta(ble)-compact-ness 🙂

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Sony MDR-1A for $253 with coupon

The previously mentioned Musician’s Friend coupon code BLACKFRIDAY can get you the new condition Sony MDR-1A closed-back over-ear headphone for $253 with free shipping. The regular price is $300, the 15% off coupon drops it to this price. You can add the headphone to the cart and enter the coupon code further down below in the page. You don’t need to sign-in or sign-up to test the coupon.

mf_bf_coupon_example

On the other hand, if you are comfortable with refurbished or imported products, you can get them for even less:

+ manufacturer refurbished for $150 by Secondipity thru Amazon
+ international version (new condition) without Sony USA warranty for $187 by various at Amazon

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

5pk Fospower M/F Headphone Jack Extender for $9

On the utilitarian front, this 5-pack of FosPower 3-ring male-to-female headphone jack adapters is on sale for $9 by the seller FosPower with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so it is Prime eligible. As of the time of writing they are not an Add-On item, so you get free 2-day shipping as a Prime member without having to buy anything else.
The 5-pack is currently the best per-unit price among the other options (they have 1-pack, 3-pack, this one, and 10-pack).

These maybe handy if you have phones or DAPs or other devices or headphones with “difficult” 3.5mm situations. All together, they average 4.2 out of 5 with nearly 350 customer reviews, and have over 60 questions answered. They have a 7-to-1 “review intensity ratio” (5-stars vs 1-stars) so it’s a good idea to check some of the 1-star reviews to see what issues people had with these.

PS: typically a double figure “review intensity ratio” (10:1 or better) is a sign of a lower risk purchase, but again, the heuristic metrics are only as good as the underlying reviews, and there’s no guarantee of review quality or consistency from product to product.

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

Akai 50X Closed-Back Over-Ears for $80

The popularity of the Audio Technica M50/M50x has created a whole clone sub-genre, one of which is apparently an Amazon-exclusive model of sorts, the new condition, closed-back over-ear Akai Project 50X is on sale for $80 with free shipping with a limit of three units per customer.

They are collapsible with 50mm drivers and average 4.3 out of 5 based on 35 customer reviews over there. The first review there notes their resemblance to similar headphones from Lyxpro, Stellar and ISK. In response to the review, an AKAI representative wrote that these have been tuned by AKAI’s engineers. Research them further if interested. I haven’t seen or touched them, so I know nothing Jon Snow 🙂

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Audio Technica MSR7 for $189 (limit 3 per color)

More discounting action now, on the closed-back over-ear front, both colors of the Audio Technica MSR7 are on sale in new condition for $189 with free shipping, with a limit of three per color, at Amazon by Amazon actual.

PS: if you want to keep up with the action, you can also subscribe to our free full-text RSS feed.

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Bluedio UFO PPS8 Bluetooth Over-Ears for $80

Things are starting to heat up, I can’t keep up 🙂 To eBay we go now, where the Bluedio eBay store is offering the new condition Bluedio UFO PPS8 headphone (over-ears, Bluetooth 4.1) for $80 with free shipping. They are also running a promotion where if your order total from their eBay store is $100+, you get a 10% off discount.

This beats the current lowest price at amazon.com which is $100, where they average 4.3 out of 5 based on 375 customer reviews, and they have over 100 questions answered by viewers like you. They include cables and a half-dome hard case.

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

Xiaomi Original MI Piston Iron Hybrid Earphone for $27 [limit 3]

On the Xiaomi front, from the ever-so-booming world of chi-fi, the Xiaomi Original MI Piston Iron Hybrid earphone, model QTER01JY, is on sale for $27, in new condition, at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of three per customer. There is another seller offering it (fulfilled by Amazon) and they have a short name, if you are not paying attention you may not notice it. Make sure Amazon is the actual seller, you get the most protection that way… The usual free shipping terms apply (Prime or a $49+ order)…

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

[DEAD] Jaybird X3 bluetooth earphones for $100

As of 11/26/16 recheck, these sold out… Best Buy appears to have scored some kind of an early exclusive deal with Jaybird/Logitech for the new X3 bluetooth earphones, and they have now discounted them, you can get them for $100 with free shipping, in either color scheme, at the Best Buy website.

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

Beyerdynamic MMX 102 iE earphones for $19 w/free s&h

More discounting action, the new condition white-silver color scheme of the Beyerdynamic MMX 102 iE earphones are on sale for $19 with free shipping at Sonix Electronix. They are authorized dealers.

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

MF Early BF Coupon 10% off ($99+ orders) or 15% off ($199+ orders)

Musician’s Friend has launched a Black Friday Early Access Sale using coupon code BLACKFRIDAY to get 10% off orders over $99, OR 15% off on orders of $199+. The maximum discount using the coupon is $500 (eg, in other words the maximum order for this is promotion is $3333.33).

PS: I do not know if the coupon only works for “Backstage Pass” rewards members (free for everyone to join) or everyone. The usual coupon restrictions apply.

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

Mystery Bag headphone/earphone for $85 with coupon

If you like the thrill and danger and potential excitement or disappointment of a mystery bag headphone purchase, Sonix Elextronix is offering a list-priced $150 headphone as a mystery bag offer for $85 with free shipping when you enter coupon code MB111 over there.

DETECTIVE WORK

These are the clues they offer:

mystery_bag_sonix

Searching their website for “brass & carbon fiber headphones” produces only two search results. The mystery listing and one other model with a $150 list price, the *** SPOILER ALERT *** if you don’t want me to ruin the surprise, NuForce NE800M in-ears.

I have no clue what the “Hide & Seek” means, whether it’s a clue for this or a regular website feature. When you click on it, it shows a variety of in-ears, starting with a different ($200 list price) NuForce earphone.

NOTE that this is based only on my detective work, and if I was a good detective I would have had my own procedural on network TV, so do not buy it based on what I say 🙂

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

XDuoo XD-05 DAC/Amp for $178 [MD]

The XDuoo XD-05 DAC/Amp is currently fully unlocked at the members-only shopping site Massdrop for $170 plus $8~ flat shipping. The offer is running for the next seven days days (from blog-posting date; not blog-reading date) and it will ship late December 2016. It will ship from Massdrop. There is no mention of warranty duration in the listing, but a warranty card is included.

It is available in two color schemes. This is a portable device (charges via microUSB) and has a variety of inputs and outputs on the back and front of the device, along with Gain (three settings) and Bass (two settings) manual switches on the front of the device.

November 20, 2016 Filed Under: Uncategorized

Beyerdynamic Custom i On-ears for $80 w/free S&H

The closed-back on-ear Beyerdynamic Custom i (the “i” is part of the model name) are on sale for $80 with free shipping by Sweetwater eBay store and Sweeterwater directly.

PS: these look very similar to the Beyerdynamic Custom Street. Visually, I can’t find a difference between the two, but I have not touched the “i” model. I have posted a pictures & text unboxing along with an on-going review diary on the Street model which went as low as under $70 a few weeks ago. Which reminds me I need to pick up the pace with that review diary 🙂

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

Bose SoundLink Bluetooth On-Ears for $170

Some more action on eBay on another older headphone model, the new condition Bose SoundLink On-Ear bluetooth closed-back is on sale for $170 with free shipping by Deal.fisher’s eBay store… Speaking of Bose, some of their other headphones are on sale, check the Bose category here to see them…

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

1More Triple driver in-ears for $70 (or $73.50 for non-members)

Chi-fi at Costco-fi, members can get the new condition 1More Triple driver in-ears for $70 with free shipping. Non-members can buy them too, but have to pay a 5% surcharge (around +$3.50). The sale ends 11/28/16… In parallel, their dual driver model goes for $40 with free shipping (with 5% surcharge for non-members).

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

[DEAD] Monday: A-Audio Legacy Over-Ear Noise Cancelling for $55

This deal du jour expired with a meh 🙂

[Read more…]

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

[DEAD] Sunday: Beats Solo 2 Wireless (BT) for $166

These offers expired…

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