Archives for November 2017

Posted: Summary of Headphones mentioned in 2017 Black Friday Ads

Black Friday season is upon us and we are getting in full form! We have the first in our series of Black Friday coverage. A detailed summary of the headphones mentioned in the 2017 Black Friday Ads. We are breaking things down by headphone type, so you can get an overall feel of what’s available in the market. This is a value-added feature as the individual ads already tell you what each particular retailer offers.

Mayhaps it’s easier to explain this with a screenshot instead of words 🙂

Almost all the major retailers have already revealed or leaked their Black Friday ads by now. This year is the second earliest that we could get Black Friday, so there wasn’t as much time in November. The benefit of this is that there will be a longer period in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

November 14, 2017 Filed Under: general topics Tagged With:

RHA MA600 In-Ears for $50 w/free S&H

The official Microsoft Store Black Friday Ad is old fashioned, the sales start Thursday 11/23/17 at 12:01am ET. Old fashioned since everyone is starting them in October these days 😉

But they are running an Accessories Sale at the moment, which price-matches other people’s $180 sale on the V-Moda Crossfade Wireless (bluetooth) over-ears, but also has a sale that beats Amazon, the new condition RHA M600 In-Ears going for $50 with free shipping and free returns.

November 14, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

Beats X bluetooth earphones for $100

Like a yo-yo, the new condition Beats X bluetooth earphones are back down to $100 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual< with up to three units per color per customer.

November 14, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Modest Audiophile T-Shirt for $17 (various colors and M/W sizes)

If you are looking for a modest audiophile-pride t-shirt, this Audiophile enthusiast t-shirt is available for $17 in five different colors, in various men and women sizes. There are no customer reviews. It is sold and shipped by Amazon. Since it is a clothing item, so you get free returns (part of Amazon’s effort to encourage customers to buy more clothes from them).

Here’s a screenshot crop of the logo:

November 14, 2017 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

[DEAD] FREE: Scale Logic ad-free app (Google Play)

This limited time offer expired…

If you are tired of frequency and white noise and pink noise testing, how about some scale testing? 🙂 Good until Thursday night, you can get the ad-free version of the Scale Logic app for FREE on Google Play.

November 14, 2017 Filed Under: music apps Tagged With: ,

Massdrop CTH + SDAC DAC/Amp for $320 [MD]

Running for the next two days, the new condition Massdrop CTH + SDAC DAC/Amp is fully unlocked at Massdrop for $320 with free shipping and a 1-year warranty. The estimate there says it will ship in late February 2018, so keep that in mind, that’s 3.5 months from blog-posting date! This is based on Cavalli Audio and Grace Design components as outlined at the page over there.

Note again that this will ship at the end of February 2018!

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Panasonic RP-HJX5 Drops 360 In-Ears for $10

If you like blue/black color-scheme in-ears, the new condition Panasonic RP-HJX5 Drops 360 In-Ears are available for $10, sold by Focus Camera with the orders fulfilled by Amazon, so Prime members get free 2-day shipping. You can buy as many as you like. They average 3.8 out of 5 based on 72 customer reviews.

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

Used Monoprice Monolith M560 Planars for $150 [WAS $144]

The Monoprice Monolith M560 planar-magnetic open/close headphones are available in “Used – Good” condition (cosmetic imperfections; damaged original packaging) for $150 [WAS $144~] or in “Used – Very Good” condition for $153~ at Amazon Warehouse Deals. They average 4.2 out of 5 based on 60+ customer reviews.

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Atomic Floyd MiniDarts in-ears for $96

Another deep cut, the new condition Atomic Floyd MiniDarts in-ears have a 50% off clip-on coupon at amazon.com that drop their current price by 50% off. As of the time of writing, they go for $191~. The coupon drops it to $95.50 with free shipping. It has two customer reviews, one happy, one unhappy.

PS: clip-on coupons are something you just click, you don’t have to type anything.

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Sennheiser HD1 Closed Over-Ears for $250

A few months ago Sennheiser renamed their Momentum line to “HD1” in the US market, allegedly because of naming rights and such. Their wired HD1 closed-back over-ears are on sale in new condition for $250 at Sennheiser’s own shop and at B&H Photo and Amazon actual in two different color schemes and with iOS or Android buttons.

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Free JBL E45BT Bluetooth On-Ears with 15.4″ late 2016 MacBook PRO with TouchBar

The closed-back JBL E45BT Bluetooth On-Ears are included for FREE when you purchase the new condition 15.4″ late 2016 MacBook PRO with TouchBar (16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Retina, Radeon PRO 450, etc) for $1799 at B&H Photo in gray or black. You also get one year of the Microsoft Office subscription. This is a limited time offer.

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

Fostex TR-90 (250 ohm) Semi-Open for $99

Fostex the people! [oops! wasn’t I supposed to stop saying this?] The new condition Fostex TR-90 (250 ohm) semi-open headphones are down to $99 with free shipping by “AudioDeluxe” with the orders fulfilled by Amazon. The other variations go for $109+.

This is a relatively newer line of Fostex headphones that unfortunately does not follow the Beyerdynamic number scheme. In Beyerdynamiclandia, DT-770 is closed, 8 is semi-open, 9 is open. Makes sense. In Fosterlandia, 7 is open, 8 is closed, and 9 is semi-open. No pattern! Harder for a mnemonic 🙂

These are dynamic headphones, not planar magnetics.

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

AmazonBasics In-Ears with 1-button for $5

On the budget side of things, the new condition AamzonBasics In-Ears with a 1-button remote/mic and a flat cable are back down to $5 each, in new condition, in two color schemes, with up to three pairs per color per customer. Not only that, but [not to jinx it] as of the time of writing they are not marked as ADD-ON items, even though they are so low in price. This means Prime members can get just one pair and get free 2-day shipping.

They average 3.6 out of 5 based on 600+ customer reviews, with an under 3:1 “review intensity ratio”, a sign of trade-offs and potential issues. Check reviews and such. They are $5 after all, not a $1000 flagship 🙂

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

New eBay coupon: 20% off $25+ items (up to $50 off)

It’s coupon time on eBay with a new 7-Day Coupon Promotion running until next Monday at 8am pacific (November 20, 2017). The coupon code PSHOPEARLY gets you 20% off the price of items individually priced at $25 or higher. You can get up to $50 off using the coupon. So anything that sells for over $250 will instead get a flat $50 off discount.

Over 120 eBaY sellers are participating and there are almost 2000 items at Portable Audio. Of those, there are over 460 of them that are headphones.

Of those 120+ previously mentioned ebay stores, perhaps the most recognizable in terms of headphones is the PitBull Audio eBay store. They have over 200 listings under headphones.

Remember the coupon only works on items that have an individual price of $25+, not a shopping cart of $25+ in various sub-$25 items.

I have to run some AFK tasks, so I can’t dig into the listings and check for deals right now, but check them out, especially PitBull since good deals tend to fly away quickly.

As usual, some brands and some products may not be eligible for the coupon for various reasons (restricted by manufacturer, seller’s choice, etc).

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: Uncategorized

Beats X (New-Other condition) bluetooth earphones for $75

If you are fond of “New – Other” eBay conditions (instead of New sealed in box) for a discount, the BuySPRY eBay stores is offering the “new – other” condition (opened original retail packaging with potential blemishes and such) Beats X bluetooth earphones for $75 with free shipping in the black or white or blue color schemes. The other colors sold out. Limit up to three per color per customer. Over 330 units sold so far from this listing per the page over there.

Note that the listing says nothing about warranty, so assume it comes without a warranty?

November 13, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Sennheiser PXC 550 BT/ANC Over-Ears for $300

This is like a yo-yo, the new condition Sennheiser PXC 550 BT/ANC over-ears are on sale again for $300 with free shipping at B&H Photo and Amazon by Amazon actual (limit 3). As usual, the sale will likely continue go for a few hours/days [unpredictable] and then go back up.

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Jaybird X3 bluetooth exercise earphones for $100

Not sure if this is a cascading price-match or a manufacturer-initiated sale, but the new condition Jaybird X3 bluetooth exercise earphones are on sale for $100 in many different color schemes at Nordstrom and Amazon [FIXED LINK] and Best Buy.

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Monoprice Sonic Solace ANC/BT Over-Ears for $50 + S&H

The 11.11 party is mostly over, so back to US-Landia offers. The Monoprice website is offering the new condition Monoprice Sonic Solace ANC/BT Over-Ears for $50 plus shipping in the brown/tan color scheme only.

Because they are on sale, they are not eligible for 15% off coupon code ACORN (for Sunday 11/12/17). However, it doesn’t hurt to try the coupons, because sometimes some of the sale items are also eligible for coupons. This is not the majority of the cases, but it happens enough times to be worth the chance.

PS: as of the time of writing their website appears to be loading slower than their usual slow. Mayhaps a Sunday morning hangover after their servers were partying last night 😉

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

[DED] Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO (250 ohm) for $125

This sale ended…

[Read more…]

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[DEAD] Hidizs AP60 (2nd Generation) DAP sale

This lightning deal expired…

If you are up early tomorrow, per the Gold Box lightning deals schedule at Amazon, they will have a lightning deal offer starting at 6:09am ET on the new condition Hidizs AP60 (2nd Generation) digital audio player. The price before the sale is $130.

They play DSD, support bluetooth with apt-X, microSD slot up to 256GB, etc. They are available in five color schemes and average 3.6 out of 5 based on 18 customer reviews.

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With:

[DEAD] Monday Daily Deals: BlueAnt Pumpzone for $35, JBL Speakers, HIFI Walker DAP, Etc

Monday is over, and so are its daily deals…

[Read more…]

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[DEAD] HIFI WALKER H2 Lossless Bluetooth DAP for $108

This lighting deal expired…

[Read more…]

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With:

[DEAD] Used Grado SR-225e Open-Back for $160

The Grado patrol on Amazon has the following used options available at the moment. I’m only listing the ones where Amazon Warehouse Deals actual is the seller. If anyone else is the seller (other than the official Grado store) make sure you double check and triple check to make sure they are legit sellers!

+ SOLD OUT: used Grado SR225 for $160 in “Used – Very Good” (cosmetic imperfections; original packaging)

+ used Grado SR80i for $70~ in “Used – Good” condition (cosmetic imperfections; damaged original packaging)
+ note that this is the previous generation – in case you specifically want that one
+ note that the original packaging is essentially a pizza box, nothing glorious 🙂

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[DEAD] NASSA earphones for $0.99

The price is $5 as of 11/16/17…

If you are planning to place a $25+ amazon order, you can add this “appetizer”. The new condition NASSA earphones are on sale for $0.99, sold by a marketplace seller with the orders fulfilled by Amazon. Limit one per customer.

It is however an Add-On item, thus the requirement to place a $25+ order. These have just four happy customer reviews so far.

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

[DEAD] Audio Technica ATH-MSR7 Closed Over-Ears for $149

As of 11/16/17 recheck, the price is back up to $200…

[Read more…]

November 12, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

XDuuo DAP 11.11 sales (ship from China)

Xduoo too is participating in the Gearbest sales. Four of their DAPs are currently on sale with free shipping from China, including their X2 DAP for $34, their X3 DAP for $76, the X10 HD for $120, and the X10T for $204. They also have their XD-05 DAC/amp going for $150.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With: , ,

Topping NX1 head-amp for $30 w/free S&H from China

The silver color scheme of the TOPPING NX1s headphone amp is currently on sale for $30 with free slow shipping from China at GearBest as yet another one of the 11.11 sales. The black color scheme goes for $5 more which is very close to the amazon.com price.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With: , ,

NuForce 11.11 IEM sales (10 options; ship from China)

More 11.11 action ten NuForce in-ear models, some wired, some bluetooth are participating in the Singles Day festivities at GearBest.com. These ship from China for free but it is slow shipping unless you want to pay for a faster delivery option.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , , ,

Tennmak IEM sales including PRO for $22 w/free S&H from China

The Tennmak store at Ali Express is also participating in the 11.11 festivities, and among the offered items with the red “11.11” tag are two color schemes of the Tennmark PRO going for $22~ with free slow shipping from China. These have detachable cables. The option with a mic goes for $2 more, and the option with two cables goes for $30~.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Xiaomi Hybrid Pro HD Hybrid In-Ears for $17 to $20 w/free S&H from China

Your color scheme preference determines the price on the new condition Xiaomi Hybrid Pro HD Hybrid In-Ears. The Gold color scheme goes for $17~ by the Xiaomi Store thru Ali Express. Or if you prefer the silver color scheme, you can get it for $20 from GearBest.

Both ship for free from China with slow shipping. Options are available for faster shipping but they are not free.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Xiaomi Pistons Fresh In-Ears for $4 w/free S&H from China [five colors]

If you are collecting all the colors like Pokemons, or want to use them as stocking staffers or wear them in high-risk situations, no matter what, as part of the 11.11 festivities, GearBest is offering the new condition Xiaomi Pistons Fresh In-Ears for $4~ with free slow shipping from China. Four of the colors go for $3.59 each, while the silver goes for $4 each.

Each color has a quantity limit per customer (1 to 3) that seems to adjust based on the available units.

If you are planning a large Xiaomi order, or want to buy some of their more expensive products, the items on this Xiaomi 11.11 page are eligible for coupon code XIAOMI11 that gets you $5 off a purchase of $150+. Eligible items include some of their smartphones, laptops, wearables, and more.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Superlux HD681 for $20, HD668B for $29, HD660 for $38 [free shipping from China]

Some of the Superlux headphones are also participating in the GearBest 11.11 festivities, with free slow shipping from China. Among them:

+ Superlux HD681 for $20
+ Superlux HD668B for $29

The very Beyerdynamic looking Superlux HD 660 is out of stock and cannot be ordered at GearBest, but it goes for $38~ with free shipping from China from a couple of sellers at Ali Express.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

VE Monk Plus earbuds for $6 w/free S&H from China [three color options]

The first, fourth (blue) and the fifth (golden brown) color schemes of the VE Monk Plus earbuds at AliExpress is on sale for the very specific price of $5.89 with free slow shipping from Aliexpress. The shipping estimate is 19-39 days, so keep that in mind if you are buying it for the holidays.

The reason the last three thumbnails over there have much higher prices is because they are multi-packs. The 3-pack goes for $15.72, the 5-pack for $27.14, and the 10-pack for $51.33.

We have here a text and pictures unboxing of the red VE Monks and an in-progress review diary. These ones I bought from Massdrop last year, not from Ali.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With: , ,

Original Xiaomi Bluetooth Music Sport Earbuds for $25 w/free S&H (from China)

Among the current GearBest Flash Sales they offer the new condition Original Xiaomi Bluetooth Music Sport Earbuds (Mini Version) for $25~ with free slow shipping from China in the black color scheme. The white color scheme is not on sale. It averages 4.63 out of 5 based on 16 customer reviews over there.

PS: these are in-ears, not earbuds, but I kept the name of the product as it is posted on their website if you want look for reviews and such.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , , , ,

Shanling H1 portable head-amp for $110 (ships from China)

Among the various Shanling options participating in the 11.11 festivities is the new condition Shanling H1 portable head-amp offered for $110~ with free shipping from China by the Bright Audio store through AliExpress.

There are also some 11.11 offers on their digital audio players including the M1, M2s, M3s, M5, and more.

November 11, 2017 Filed Under: amps and dacs, digital audio players Tagged With: , ,