Archives for February 2017

Pre-order new Fiio X5 III DAP for $400

The third generation Fiio X5 Android-powered but dual-OS digital audio player was one of the products that stood out during the CES 2017 cycle, and now, if you want to get in line to get it, as a boldly-going early adopter, you can pre-order it for $400 at authorized dealer Adorama.com. Your credit card will be charged after it ships. There is no shipping estimate at the moment. Orders will be sent out on a first-come first-served basis.

In-Stock Right Now: Monoprice M1060 Planars for $300

The wait is finally over! The Monoprice Monolith M1060 planar-magnetic headphones are in-stock right now at the Monoprice website for $300. This matches their previous estimates which had 2/24/17 as the in-stock estimate date. Happy planaring! Let us know how you find them if you are among the first to get them!

Turtle Beach Ear Force XO One Amplified Gaming Headset (Xbox One) for $50

The Turtle Beach Ear Force XO One Amplified Gaming Headset for the Xbox One is currently on sale for $50 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of up to three per customer. With the new free shipping terms that match the Jet-Walmart duo, non-Prime members get free shipping with $35+ orders instead of $49+. This headset averages 4.1 out of 5 based on nearly 1500 customer reviews, which are shared with its certified refurbished version.

[DEAD] Friday only: Monoprice M560 Planars AND Stereo Tube Headphone Amp for $240 with coupon

This coupon promotion expired…

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In-Stock Now: Audeze iSine 10 with Lightning Cable for $399

Another one of the new earphones is now shipping! The Lightning cable edition of the Audeze iSine 10 planar-magnetic in-ears is now in-stock and shipping for $399 with free expedited shipping at authorized dealer Adorama.com. Also in-stock is the i10 model without the lightning cable which goes for $50 less ($350).

MEE Audio Grab bag for $9 shipped [MD]

If you like the unpredictability of grab bags, Massdrop is back with another MEE Audio earphone offer. Four models are participating and you will randomly receive one of the four. The M6 and M6P are the “headliners” of this group, about 20% will get these. You pay $8 plus $1 flat shipping. You can buy two grab bags per customer. 4000 units are available for this promotion which runs for the next seven days (unless it sells out before then). Up to five prizes are available if certain quantity levels are reached. They are estimated to ship in late March 2017.

[DEAD] Marantz MPH-2 Studio headphones for $40 w/FS

This daily deal is over, but most of the items featured in MF’s daily deals are recurring every few weeks… The current Musician’s Friend Deal of the Day are the new condition Maranthz MPH-2 studio headphones offered for $40 with free shipping. The offer ends by Friday at 8am ET. They are the headliner (in terms of page position) of the trio of daily deals at the moment.

[DEAD] Thursday: 64GB iPod Touch 6th Generation for $270

This offer is so dead Best Buy yanked the page that carried them…

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[DEAD] Thursday: MEE, Monster, Comply, Symphonized

Thursday’s lightning deals have expired…

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Bose Soundsport In-Ears: Wired for $80 [updated]

To the Groupon we go now, where they are offering the new condition Bose Soundsport In-Ears for $80 with free shipping (wired; no BT) in the charcoal color scheme…

As of 2/23/17 early AM, this is marked as not available: They also offer the Wireless (Bluetooth) version for $120 with free shipping…

Groupon offers free returns…

[DEAD] Symphonized NRG Wood In-Ears for $14.29

This expired but Symphonized is featured in the lightning deals almost daily, so if you miss them, fear not – they will likely return again.

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[DEAD] Ideas on how to spend the BIGTHANKS Amazon coupon (ends Thur 3am ET)

This out of the blue coupon code expired as expected…

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[DEAD] Wednesday Amazon shopping with $8.62 OFF a $50+ order

This out of the blue coupon code expired as expected…

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[DEAD] Wedn: Samsung Level U PRO bluetooth neckband earphones for $30

This daily deal expired…

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Sony MDR-100ABN BT/ANC Over-Ears for $199

Off to the eBay Daily Deals (most of which actually last more than a day, but new offers are loaded there daily), where BuyDig is offering the new condition black color scheme of the Sony MDR-100ABN headphones with Bluetooth and ANC and NFC for $199 with free shipping. Limit up to five per customer. To see the $199 price, you have to add it to the shopping cart and be logged on to your eBay account.

This is half the price of the newer Sony MDR-1000X which has been getting some good reviews and has a $400 regular price.

NOTE that Amazon actual has now began carrying imported versions of some headphones, so pay closer attention to the listings. For example, this is Amazon’s own imported version listing. And there’s also a separate certified refurbished listing.

[DEAD] Beyerdynamic Custom Street On-Ears for $58 [and other Lightning Deals in progress]

These offers expired…

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[DEAD] Tuesday’s Offers: Beyerdynamic Street On-Ears, Parrot Zik 2.0, Yurbuds, Etc

Tuesday is over, and so are its lightning deals…

I am only posting the Amazon Gold Box schedule posts here on days where there is some pre-scheduled action from recognizable audio brands. That’s why you see them here some days, but not every day…

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AKG K550 II Closed Over-Ears for $90 (ships April)

In addition to the AKG K553 going for $120 at Massdrop, there’s another sale in this series, the closed-back over-ear AKG K550 Mark II is offered for $90 with free shipping at the official Harman Audio store. I don’t recall what the difference is between the Mark II versus the original. NOTE however that the shipping estimate for this is April 2017, so don’t buy it if you want/need it to get there quickly.

Yamaha EPH-C200 earphones for $8 with free S&H

On the single figures front, good until Monday 2/27/17, NewEgg is offering the new condition Yamaha EPH-C200 earphones in black or blue color-schemes, for $8 with free shipping. Limit up to 20 per color per customer… UPDATE sale extended and price dropped by $2 more…

Fry’s Weekly Promo Code: Fiio X3 II for $147, Blue MoFi for $190, AT ANC27X for $30

Fry’s is now doing most of their discounts through unique coupon codes each email subscriber receives when they sign-up (for free) for their emailing list. The promo code for this shopping week (February 19-25 in 2017) gets you the following items:

+ Audio Technica ATH-ANC27X ANC headphones for $30 (limit 2)
+ Fiio X3 II digital audio player for $147 (limit 1)
+ Blue Microphones Mo-Fi Powered Over-Ears for $190 (limit 1)
+ the above three offers are good either in-store or online

AKG K553 PRO Closed Over-Ear for $120 [MD]

It’s back on again, the closed over-ear AKG K553 Pro is unlocked at Massdrop (MD) for $120 with free shipping. This runs for the next seven days (the offer, not the headphone!), with a 2-year warranty from Samsung AKG. They are estimated to ship (from MD, not a vendor) in early March 2017.

[DEAD] Monday: MF Deal of the Hour

This offer expired…

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[DEAD] Refurbished JBL E50 Synchros Bluetooth Over/On-Ears for $75

This daily deal expired…

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[DEAD] Monday: LG V20 for $500; AT LP60 USB for $80

These daily deals expired…

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[DEAD] Sunday: Monoprice Triple Driver IEMs for $45 shipped

This 1-day coupon expired… The Monoprice XXX Triple Driver In-Ears drop from $50 to $42.50 when you enter Sunday coupon FUNDAY (15% off purchase). The slowest shippping option appears to be $2.50 regardless of zipcode. Coupon ends Sunday night.

New Blog Series: “This Week in Headphoolia” (weekly round-up)

A brand new website feature has just gone live! A weekly round-up of potentially interesting things happening in the world of headphones, with an underlying (attempt of a) humor layer where relevant. It is “This Week in Headphoolia”. The segments are: News, Influential Reviews, fun Forum Threads, and YouTube videos. The format and segments will be tweaked in future editions.

What do you think about it? What topics would you want covered? Let us know in the comments here or there or on Twitter.

Behringer U-Phoria UMC 22 Audiophile 2×2 USB Audio Interface with MIDAS Mic Preamplifier for $40 w/FS

The Behringer U-Phoria UMC 22 Audiophile 2×2 USB Audio Interface with MIDAS Mic Preamplifier is currently on sale for $40 with free shipping at Adorama.com and by Adorama thru Amazon.

Unlocked at MD: Hidizs AP60 for $75; Cayin C5 DAC/Amp for $154

Two more products have blossomed into unlocked offers (such flowery language!) at members-only Massdrop. They have seven days to go from today (today = posting date), and are estimated to ship in late March 2017.

One is a digital audio player, the Hidizs AP60 is going for $75 with free shipping, which defeats the eBay and amazon prices of $89~.

Next up, yet another portable DAC/amp in an ever-growing market, it is the Cayin C5 DAC/Amp going for $150 plus $4 flat shipping. But the decision is closer here, because one eBay seller, EpiceSolutions (state of Washington) has it for $162.49 with free economy shipping.

[DEAD] MEE Audio with Coupon: Pinnacle P1 for $160; X7 Plus for $80; M6 PRO for $35; Etc

This coupon promotion expired as advertised…

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Focal Spirit Classic Over-Ears drop to $169 [updated]

Focal is riding high among some audiophile circles these days thanks to the Elear’s performance and the sticker-shock price of the Utopia, and the extra spotlight is bringing back out of the shadows some of their earlier headphone attempts.

The closed-back over-ear Focal Spirit Classic is further discounted, now going for $169 with free shipping by AudioLAB thru AudioLAB on Amazon and AudioLAB on eBay.

UPDATE 2/21/17: as of this re-check, the price dropped from $189 to $169…

Bose SoundTrue Around Ear II for $90 (Apple, Blue)

The navy blue color-scheme of the closed-back over-ear wired non-ANC Bose SoundTrue Around Ear II headphones is currently on sale for $90 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of three units per customer. On the same listing, you can find the Android version going for $100 by the Bose Amazon store (not Prime eligible).

Used B&O Play H5 bluetooth earphones for $137

The new condition price of the B&O Play H5 bluetooth earphones is $250 at reputable dealers, but if you want to save some, you can get them in “Used – Very Good” condition (repackaged) for $137~ with free shipping by Amazon Warehouse Deals. Be sure to read reviews if you are not familiar with them because they average 3.2 out of 5 based on 200+ customer reviews.

UPDATE: as of 2/21/17 recheck, the price dropped from $147~ to $137~

Caseling Hard Headphone Case for $14

On the storage and transport front, the Caseling Hard Headphone Case is currently going for just under $14 at amazon.com, sold by Caseling with the order fulfilled by Amazon so you get free 2-day shipping. You can buy as many as you like. It has over 400 customer reviews (4.6 out of 5) and over 60 questions answered. The headphone they use in the product gallery pictures to model the case is a certain familiar AT hype train 🙂

Sennheiser HD8 Closed DJ Over-Ears + Pioneer DDJ-SR DJ Controller for $669

Bundle is the theme of the day it seems. This time we have the Sennheiser HD8 closed-back over-ear DJ headphones bundled with the Pioneer DDJ-SR 2-Channel Performance DJ Controller, all together going for $669 with free shipping at Adorama.com. The Pioneer controller on its own goes for $599.

HyperX Cloud Gaming Headsets: Pro for $80; Revolver for $90 [updated]

The HyperX Cloud Revolver Gaming Headset, model HX-HSCR-BK/NA, for PC and PS4, is currently on sale, in new condition, for $90 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of up to five units per customer during this sale. It has plenty of reviews and answered-questions if you are not familiar with it.

UPDATE: while we are on the topic of gaming headsets, the HyperX CloudX Pro Gaming Headset for Xbox One/PC (model HX-HSCX-SR/NA) is on sale for $80 with free shipping by Amazon actual, with up to five units per customer at this price.

PS: for blog organizational purposes, I am filing gaming headsets, PC headsets, VR headsets and the like under the Headsets category. Headphones that are primarily intended for music playback (with or without mic/remote) are filed under the Headphones category.