This daily deal expired…
Archives for March 2018
[DEAD] Monday: Corsair Gaming VOID PRO RGB USB Headset for $60
This daily deal is over…
[DEAD] Beyerdynamic DT880 PRO (250) Limited Edition for $208
This disappointing lightning deal expired…
The Amazon Gold Box offer on the new condition Beyerdynamic DT880 PRO (250) semi-open headphones (Black Limited Edition) lightning deal that was promised has gone live, it is going for $208.25, sold by marketplace seller “Projector Super Center” with the order fulfilled by Amazon until Tuesday at 2:15am eastern. The standard version of the headphone is not a lightning deal.
New Unboxing: Sony WH-CN700N BT/ANC Over-Ears
Until I finalize how I want to approach posting headphone reviews (I really don’t want to write “syrupy treble” and “lush” and use effusively flowery descriptions), we have another text-and-pictures unboxing, the most objective part of an audio review 🙂 This time the subject/victim is the Sony WH-CH700N ANC/BT over-ears with 3.5mm input as well.
For more of our unboxings, these are the headphone unboxings (over-ear, on-ear, earphones, earbuds, etc) and these are the unboxings of Everything Else (DAPs, DAC/amps, earpads, accessories, etc).
Philips X2HR Open-Over Ear for $182 Open-Box or $235 New Condition
Look who’s back! The open-back over-ear Philips X2HR/27 headphones are available in open-box condition for $182 with free shipping at Musician’s Friend. They are in-stock and ready to ship. They are marked as “Scratch & Dent” which includes 45-day no-hassle returns but no manufacturer warranty.
As of 4/1/18 recheck, this coupon expired: But if you prefer new condition, fear not! Coupon code MFX2HR drops the price of the new condition from $295 to $235 also at Musician’s Friend. This too is in-stock and ready to ship…
You can test the coupons without having to create an account. Simply add items of interest to the shopping cart, proceed to the shopping cart, and page down to locate the coupon code box and type it in there.
$100 off the Sony WH-1000 X2 ANC/BT [MD]
Massdrop through an unspecified 3rd-party vendor is offering a $100 off discount in the shopping cart for the new condition Sony WH-1000 X2 ANC/BT Over-Ears dropping their price in-cart from $350 to $250 with free US shipping. This offer is only available to the 48 contiguous US states. The listing says these come with a 1-year Sony warranty, which suggests that the 3rd-party vendor fulfilling the orders is an authorized Sony dealer.
These will ship April 10 in 2018, with all sales final. The offer ends in two days and change from blog-posting date. 220 units have been purchased so far from this listing per the MD stats over there.
[DEAD] Sunday: Insignia Kids On-Ear Headphones for $6
This daily deal expired…
Kinera Seed IEMs for $43 + S&H [MD]
We have two back to back IEMs unlocked at Massdrop. We start with the new condition Kinera Seed IEMs, not to be confused with Kinvara, the Red Priestess from Game Of Thrones 🙂 The price is $43 plus shipping.
They will ship in late April 2018, shipped from Massdrop, with all sales final as usual. There is no mention of warranty in the listing.
TFZ Executive IEM series for $35 to $60 plus S&H [MD]
And now let’s check upon the regular “drops” at Massdrop. Good for the next two days and change (from blog-posting date) is the return of the TFZ Exclusive IEMs. Three models are available on the same listing, you can select in the shopping cart. The “Exclusive 1” goes for $35 plus shipping, while the “Exclusive 3” goes for $50 plus shipping, and the “Exclusive 5” goes for $60 plus shipping. They will ship in late April 2018 from Massdrop with all sales final as usual. No mention of warranty in the listing.
Now Prime shipping: MEE Audio M6 PRO (2nd Gen) IEMs
An update of the Headphone Tracker finds that both colors of the new condition second generation MEE Audio M6 PRO in-ears are now in-stock and fulfilled by Amazon (Prime eligible) for their starting price of $50. They are sold by the MEE Audio Amazon store.
Used Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT Over-Ears for $58
The Sennheiser HD 4.40 bluetooth closed-back over-ears with those thick earpads and their claim to fame being the Innerfidelity review are currently available in “Used – Good” condition for $58~ with free shipping by Blinq through Amazon Warehouse Deals.
I haven’t seen or touched the HD 4.40 but from the pictures it looks like they are using the same earpads as the non-bluetooth Sennheiser HD 4.20S.
Used Sony XBA-A3 Hybrid In-Ears for $240
The Sony XBA-A3 hybrid in-ears are currently available in “Used – Like New” condition (original packaging) for $240 by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual. The previous link shows only the options available by AWD actual. You can get it for slightly less from other sellers, but that increases the risk. These are the default AWD search results. In this case, judging by the various listing descriptions, the extra $10 are well worth the reduction in risk.
Used Audio Technica ATH-CKP200 Earphones for $8
Speaking of not well-reviewed earphones, if you want an earphone as a low point benchmark to compare and contrast with other better/worse earphones, the Audio Technica ATH-CKP200 are getting destroyed in reviews, 11 of its 14 customer reviews are 1-stars. There is one unit available in the black color scheme in “Used – Like New” condition (damaged original packaging) going for $7.85 with free shipping for Prime members through Amazon Warehouse Deals…
Again, this should only be of interest if you are looking for a bad earphone to compare and contrast with better models (or other under=performing models).
Used Monster Clarity HD In-Ears for $8
We continue with the Amazon Warehouse Deals USED party (because new condition parties are boring?) where you can get the Monster Clarity HD in-ears for the very specific price for around $8 from a trio of fulfilled by Amazon sellers at Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD), including AWD actual. This is the white color scheme. The green color scheme starts at $9~. The others go for more. Note however that these average 3.2 out of 5 based on 119 customer reviews, so read up on them if not familiar. Their new condition price ranges from $25 to $40 depending on color.
Used Grado SR-325e Open-Back for $251
The new condition Grado SR325e Prestige series open-back headphones go for $295 but if you want to save some, you can get them for $251~ in “Used – Like New” (damaged original packaging) by Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD) actual.
This may suggest the “pizza box” they come in is dinged up, but keep in mind, every single AWD listing is an individual thing, so it can always be in better or worse condition than as described laconically in the listings. No one is going to complain if it’s in better condition, but there is also the risk it might be worse than described. That’s one of the reasons why they offer a 30-day return policy.
Used Pioneer SE Monitor 5 for $596
The new condition currently goes for $999 but it went for $761 a month ago. But if you are comfortable with use, you can shave off $170 off the then sale price. Okay, let’s start from the beginning. As of the time of writing, there is one unit available of the Pioneer SE-Monitor 5 headphones available in “Used – Like New” condition (damaged original packaging) going for $596~ with free shipping by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual. They have zero customer reviews.
PS: more Warehouse Deals action later today as I check and process more potential deals…
Used Nicole Miller BoHo On-Ear headphones for $10
And now some diving into Amazon Warehouse Deals, starting with a fashion-brand headphone, the Nicole Miller BoHo (that’s the headphone’s name) on-ears, in the boysenberry color scheme, are available in “Used – Like New” (original packaging) for $10~ with free shipping for Prime members by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual. There is one unit available per their shopping cart.
Style-wise they look similar to something like the Urban Ears Platan but I have no clue if they are related.
LIVE Again: Sennheiser HD6XX for $200 [MD]
They are back on again! The Massdrop x Sennheiser HD 6XX Headphones offer is live again at the members-only but free-to-join Massdrop website, going for their usual price of $200 with free US shipping and $15 flat shipping outside the US. Their one attempt to increase their price to $250 a few drops ago backfired and they quickly reverted to $200. This offer runs for the next eight days and change from blog-posting date (April Fool’s Day or so).
A maximum of five units per member is allowed. They will be serialized and come with a 2-year warranty since they are the product of the Senn-Mass shipping ~ they are putting the “x” in the names, thus opening the door to “shipping talk” 🙂
Patience is a virtue here too. The shipping estimate is mid-August 2018, about a week ahead of the Noble Kaiser 10 Custom IEMs. You can buy five HD6XXs for the price of one Kaiser CIEM 🙂
In a way this long wait curtails impulse buys. If this was available with Prime shipping, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist!
LIVE NOW: Massdrop x Noble Kaiser 10 Custom IEMs for $1250 [ships late August 2018]
UPDATE 9:36am ET: as expected, this is fully unlocked, with 14 units claimed so far…
It’s now LIVE! IT went live on Massdrop on Friday at 9am eastern (6am Massdrop/pacific time). It is the new condition Massdrop x Noble Kaiser 10 Custom IEMs for $1250 with free US shipping and subsidized international shipping. The price is $1400 but will drop to $1250 thanks to an instant discount. The drop runs for the next seven days and change (from launch date).
UPDATE: the shipping estimate is … *drum roll* … August 21st in 2018. That’s five months from now, so patience is a virtue 🙂
You can make customizations in the shopping cart (nine options of shell and faceplate combinations). Optionally you can add an additional cable to your order (lightning or 2.5mm TRRS balanced) for +$50.
Ear impressions are not included in the price. You have to get your own and send them to Noble Audio in Santa Barbara (California). They expect to receive these within six weeks of the drop expiration, otherwise your order will be cancelled.
They come with a 1-year warranty. The shipping estimate was revealed at the product listing page after the offer goes went live at 9am eastern on Friday 3/23/18.
As of the time of writing, this has “355 users have requested this product”. These are guaranteed to custom-wreck your wallet 🙂
Beats Studio 3 Wireless headphones for $250
The new condition Beats Studio 3 Wireless headphones (closed-back, bluetooth, W1 chip, ANC) are now down to $250 with free shipping in the black, red and blue color schemes by Amazon actual. You can buy as many as you like. This is not a lightning deal.
This is a highly contested market segment and it’s interesting to see that Apple/Beats is trying to undercut the price of its competition (Bose QC 35 II, Sony 1000X M2, Sennheiser Momentum and PXC, B&O, etc). On the other hand, the 1000X M2 is down to $200 as manufacturer refurbished, so market competition is a three-dimensional chess 😉
Philips O’Neill “The Construct” for $28
We have one more addition to the “Cheap Headphones” sale at Woot which in its current incarnation is running until the end of March 2018. It is the new condition Philips O’Neill “The Construct” headphones, model SHO7205, going for $28 with free shipping for Prime members, or $5 flat shipping for non-members. Limit up to ten pairs per customer. They come with a 1-year warranty from Philips.
Koss UR23iB Over/On-Ears (D-Cup style) for $8
The new condition Koss UR23iB headphones with D-shaped earcups (thus I’m not sure if it’s over-ear or on-ear) is currently on sale by a marketplace seller for $8 with the orders fulfilled by Amazon. You can buy as many as you like. It is not a lightning deal. It is a blue/white color scheme. The headband is almost non-existent! They average 3.9 out of 5 based on 46 customer reviews.
Here’s an annotated screenshot of their main product picture with the points of interest marked:
Bose QC35 II ANC/BT Over-Ears for $300 after coupon
If you are not interested in the $200 refurbished Sony WH-1000X M2 and instead prefer Bose’s headphone i this popular market segment, coupon code PRETTYDAY can get you the new condition Bose Quiet Comfort 35 Mark II bluetooth and ANC closed-back over-ears for $300 with free shipping until Monday 3/26/18 at 8am pacific or earlier if sold out. This is available in two color schemes and the seller is eBags. The connection of course being travel and ANC headphones 🙂
PS: and if you are eligible for the 15% eBay Bucks promotion (by invitation only), you can earn $45 in eBay Bucks on this purchase. YMMV as eligibility for this is determined by eBay’s software.
1More Quad Driver IEM for $129 after coupon
Coupon code MARCHMAD20 (yes, it’s march madness season with the coupons too) gets you $20 off the current price of the new condition 1More Quad Driver IEMs dropping them from $149 to $129 with free shipping at Stacksocial. Their standard price is $200. These were launched after their Triple Driver IEMs got on the hype train. And then the “Driver Wars” took over 🙂
Monoprice Clearance Sale and Metal Dynamic On-Ears for $18 w/FS; MP20 In-Ears for $16 w/FS
Monoprice has launched a spring clearance sale of various random things they carry on their website. The Portable Audio section of the clearance sale is particularly loaded including the dual-driver over/on-ears going for $10 with free shipping, the dual-driver in-ears for $7~ plus shipping, and more. Then when you page down below the phones cases (some of them are iPod cases), you will find a dizzying array colorful cables. After the colorful cables, there’s more random headphones, and various random audio cables including a $0.35 rectactble 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable averaging 4.6 out of 5 based on 465 customer reviews.
Not part of the spring clearance sale, but on sale on their own, with free US ground shipping each are the following two budget headphones:
+ MP20 In-Ears for $16 w/free S&H (brand new model, only one review so far)
+ Metal Dynamic On-Ears for $18 w/free S&H (4.4 out of 5 based on 37 customer reviews)
One more thing that qualifies for free shipping, the 20oz Pure Emperor Tumbler goes for $7 with free US shipping, or if you buy TWO of them, coupon code TUM20 makes them $10 total ($5 each).
The reason I’m mentioning the free shipping options is that once you have a free shipping item in your Monoprice shopping cart, the shipping fee of other items in your cart gets absorbed (partially or fully) by the free shipping. So, for example, the S&H fee may ruin the $0.35 retractable audio cable price, but if it’s appended to an offer with free shipping, then it’s good! So there is a method to this madness 🙂
Free Essential USB-C Earphones with Essential Phone for $450
The Essential PH-1 from Android “father” Andy Rubin is one of the headphones WITHOUT a headphone jack. To encourage people to give this smartphone a try, especially now that it is getting discounted, Amazon and Essential are including a FREE pair of Essential USB-C earphones with purchase of the new condition Essential PH-1 smartphone for $450 with free shipping. Three phone color schemes are available, including the Amazon-exclusive “Halo Gray”.
The earphones goes for $99 on their own and they have a 1-button remote/mic and support USB Audio Class 2 according to the product description.
For more on USB-C audio, Anandtech explains the USB Device Audio Class 3.0 which allows for digital audio and analog audio over a USB-C port. However, not all smartphones support analog audio over USB-C (by re-assigning pins) which creates confusion and frustration among USB-C users who try to mix and match devices…
Blog Update: Expired Deals Marked, Content Updates
One of the benefits of waking up early early early is that you can get more things done. I have now marked as Expired (by adding the [DEAD] in the post name and striking through or pushing behind the “jump” the text) lots of deals, including the craziness that was the eBay flash sale coupon along with various deals of the day and other assorted coupons. To make this easier to read and quickly scan for things of interest, when something expires, I push it at the end of the previous day time-wise. The benefit of this is that it creates a cluster of expired deals, followed by live/active/surviving deals, with the pattern repeating. It’s much easier to read this way than having DEAD and LIVE deals interleaved throughout the home page timeline.
On the content front, we have another text-and-pictures unboxing post, it is the Brainwavz memory foam earpads. If you are wondering why on earth post an earpad-unboxing post? Because some people want to see what’s actually included in the package before they buy. Or want to see the product with “real world” pictures instead of studio/marketing beauty shots. Or if someone is buying used or from forums or Craiglist, they can compare what the seller is offering versus what’s included. Also, silly as it sounds, the unboxing is the most objective part of an audio review 🙂
Meanwhile our “dueling banjos” smartphone lists continue to be updated. The recent twists in the smartphone market necessitated the creation of two lists:
+ Smartphones WITH a Headphone Jack with the brand new Oppo R15 flagship embracing the headphone jack
+ Smartphones WITHOUT the headphone jack (aka the Great Satans of the Audiophile World) 🙂
Razer Man O’ War Tournament Edition Destiny 2 Edition for $80
The new condition Razer Man O’ War Tournament Edition Destiny 2 Edition (gaming headset) is on sale at the moment for $80 with free shipping by Amazon actual. Limit up to three pairs per customer at each seller.
UPDATE: the sale ended at Best Buy on eBay….
[DEAD] Friday’s Offers: Brainwaz HM5 for $83, Etc
These daily deals expired…
[DEAD] Used Status Audio OB-1 Open Over-Ears for $39 w/FS
As of a 3/24/18 AM recheck, this sold out…
Our Amazon Warehouse Deals adventures continue with another modest hype train headphone. The open-back Status Audio OB-1 are now available in “Used – Good” condition for $39 with free shipping, sold by the Status Audio Amazon store with the orders fulfilled by Amazon (Prime eligible) through Amazon Warehouse Deals.
Not sure what happened to their new condition inventory. Maybe the hype train ate it all? 🙂
[DEAD] Monoprice 2-Day coupon: 20% off $150+ eligible orders
This recurring coupon expired…
[DEAD] Logitech G433 Wired Gaming Headset for $50 w/FS
This offer expired…
On the gaming front, the new condition Logitech G433 wired gaming headsets are on sale for $50 with free shipping in your choice from three color options (black, blue, red) by the Best Buy eBay store. This is a limited time offer.
[DEAD] Used Hifiman Sundara Planar Over-Ears for $339
As of a 3/24/18 recheck, this sold out in USED condition…
If the Hifiman construction issues don’t scare you away, their Sundara over-ear planar-magnetics are available in “Used – Very Good” condition for $339 with free shipping by seller “Audio Advice Online” (AAO) through Amazon Warehouse Deals. They ship directly from AAO and are not Prime eligible. The new condition price is $499.
[DEAD] Novelty: Used Joystick-shaped earphones for $3
As of a 5:52pm ET recheck, this sold out in used condition…
20% off eBay orders of $25+ from select sellers (252 headphone options)
This is a different eBay coupon offer from the flash-coupon that was running yesterday. This coupon works on 210+ select eBay sellers (they are listed at the aforelinked page) and gets you 20% off if your order are $25 (or more). The maximum discount is $50 off. The promotion expires 3/26/18 at 8am pacific time. Monday morning it is!
There are over 1120 listings under Portable Audio and Headphones. When you drill further down the sub-categories, they have 252 headphone listings.
As always with eBay, they have various sellers there, some are authorized dealers, some are not. Some products are new condition, some are new-other, some are open-box, some refurbished (manufacturer or seller or unspecific), some are used/pre-owned and so forth.
Recent Comments