Archives for February 2019

EU: Sennheiser HD 2.10 Closed On-Ears for 26e

On the budget side of things, Amazon Germany is back with another Sennheiser sale, this time it is the closed-back on-ear HD 2.10 headphones for 25.90 euro with up to three pairs per customer at the sale price… They average 3.9 out of 5 based on 28 customer reviews…

Sunday: 2pk Sennheiser PMX-684i for $20 [also Sony TW]

There are two headphone-related daily deals for Sunday February 17 in 2019. First up, B&H Photo is offering a new condition 2-pack of Sennheiser PMX-684i neckband exercise earbuds for $20 with free US shipping. That’s $10 per pair. They come with a mic/remote. Yes, they terminate in a plasticky earbud type thing, they do not go inside the ear canal. They have a 3-button remote/mic as well.

Next up we go to the land of Woot where they are offering for Sony in “Used – Like New” condition the Sony WF1000X truly wireless for $60 in your choice of black or gold color-scheme. They come with a 90-day Woot warranty..

Shure SRH-145 Closed On-Ears for $18

On the budget side of lightweight-ish closed-back on-ear headphones, the new condition Shure SRH-145 are currently on sale for around $18 by Amazon actual with up to three pairs per customer at the sale price. This model is without a mic/remote. The one with goes for more. There’s also a semi-open model on the same listing.

As fate would have it, I posted a text and pictures unboxing of the SRH-145, along with an experimental review diary back in October 2014. That’s 4.5 years ago. Wow, time flies 🙂

Pioneer SE-MONITOR5 Closed Over-Ears for $470 [ends Sat PM]

Good until Saturday night at 11:59pm eastern time, New York’s B&H Photo is offering the new condition Pioneer SE-MONITOR5 closed-back over-ears for $470 with free US shipping. They come with various cables and earpads, cellulose nano-fiber drivers, and a 1-year warranty.

Feed your DAPs: 400GB Sandisk Ultra microSDXC for $79

If your DAP or smartphone or other devices are compatible with 400GB devices [and by compatible I don’t mean just this written in the specs page, but also proven in the forums by actual users], at the moment Amazon is offering the new condition 400GB Sandisk Ultra microSDXC card for $79 with free shipping. You can buy as many as you like. This is also marked an “A1” (of interest to PADs and phones/tablets) and Class 10 and UHS-I. A full size adapter is also included but by now you probably have a drawer full of them 🙂

Thur: TaoTronics Deimos bluetooth earphones for $15

The last of the Thursday deals of the day at the Best Buy website are the new condition TaoTronics necklace-style Deimos [the product name] bluetooth earphones going for $15 with shipping depending on your order total and your reward membership status. Free store pick-up is also an option if the stars align… This pair averages 3.8 out of 5 based on 680+ customer reviews, so the review-score suggests trade-offs. Then again, it’s only $15 🙂

KSC-75X Clip-Ons (with mic/remote) for $17 w/Free US shipping (International $5 flat) [MD]

I love my good old Koss KSC-75 open-ish clip-ons, which by the way I found in the clearance bin at an Office Depot (if memory serves me well) a few years ago. They are small enough you can use them in bed, especially if you sleep on the side (eg listening to podcasts or audiobooks). Or if you don’t like things hanging on your ears while you sleep, you can set them on or near or under the pillow and use them as mini speakers. But they don’t have a remote, which makes it a pain if you use DAPs or PADs (phones as DAPs) and like to frequently pause sound.

Fear not however, help is on the way. As part of the new ship, Koss X Massdrop [yes, there are fanfics about these two!], they have released a version of the KSC-75 with a mic/remote (a one-button remote), the KSC-75X, and it is an in-stock drop at Massdrop for just $17. Despite the small price, they do come with the Koss limited lifetime warranty!

US shipping is FREE BUT they are also offering expedited shipping options for more… International shipping is not bad ~ all the countries I tried in the shopping cart showed a flat $5 shipping fee. And it makes sense, these are tiny little things.

I don’t YET have the new KSC-75X but I had posted a text and pictures unboxing of the good old KSC-75. I don’t know if the packaging is the same as the new KSC-75X. One could argue this might be the best bang for the buck headphone? I’m sure there are hundreds of threads on this topic in the forums, enough to spend a few years reading non-stop 🙂

A close-up of my good old KSC-75 [not the KSC-75X sold by Massdrop]:

PS: “in-stock drops” are products that Massdrop has available in their warehouse, so they ship within a couple of business days of purchase. The “XX hours left” does not mean the listing will end. Rather, every 24 hours the listing closes, and every order that was placed during those 24 hours gets processed and shipped. So, unlike the traditional Massdrop offers that have a 5-day or 7-day window, the “in-stock drops” continue daily until Massdrop runs out of them.

Open box Shure SRH 940 for $149 w/FS

Same headphone but on the other side of Le Pond, you can get the open-box “used – like new” Shure SRH-940 headphones for $149 with free shipping from marketplace seller “Fique” (95%, 752 ratings) through Amazon Warehouse Deals. Since it is not a Prime shipment, this is a higher risk purchase… Note that the customer-reviews are complaining that it breaks easily, so keep that in mind…

EU: Shure SRH-940 Closed Over-Ears for 199 euro

If you are interested in the old school line of Shure closed-back over-ears studio headphones, Amazon Germany is offering the new condition Shure SRH-940 for 199 euro with free shipping within Germany. Up to three pairs per customer at the sale price.

Sennheiser HD 206 for $40, RS 165 Wireless for $130

Woot is running another limited time Garage sale and under the Electronics section they have a couple of new condition Sennheiser headphones:

+ HD 206 closed over-ears for $40
+ RS 165 wireless (not bluetooth) for $130

The HD 206 come with a 2-year Sennheiser warranty and you can buy up to ten pairs, while the RS 165 come with a 90-day Woot warranty and you can buy up to three pairs.

The RS 165 is the latest generation of Sennheiser wireless headphones that does not use Kleer-branded technology… The previous generations, models ending in 0s, eg RS 160 and above used Kleer… The models below that, eg RS 120, did not use Kleer…

They also had the good old Panasonic RP-HJE-120 earphones for $5 per pair but they sold out.

Shipping is free for Prime members [you have to connect your Woot account with your Amazon Prime account ~ this is a one-time thing], or $6 flat for all purchases made during a single calendar day in the Central time zone [Woot is “Hello Central” (time zone in Texas]…

Monday (EU): Anker headphone sale

Anker is one of the poster-children companies who made their names online, at big marketplaces like Amazon. So it’s not surprise that they are frequently featured in high profile Gold Box offerings. Which brings us to the Monday FEB-11-2019 Amazon Germany Gold Box with an Anker audio sale that includes one over-ear model (Soundcore Overhead for 50 euro), one truly-wireless model (Zolo Liberty for 39 euro) and two necklace-style bluetooth earphones (22 to 26 euro).

PS: “necklace” in contrast to the “neckband”. Necklace, between unlike wired-only earphones, the cable of necklace earphones sort of sits on your upper chest like a necklace. Assuming the earphones don’t keep on falling in and out [of love?] of your ears…

EU: Beyerdynamic DTX910 Open Over-Ears for 35 euro

On the budget side of open-back, Amazon Germany is offering the new condition Beyerdynamic DTX910 open-back over-ears for 35 euro with free shipping within Germany. It averages 3.9 out of 5 based on 83 customer reviews and it has 20 answered questions. It’s obviously not going to outperform the DT880/DT990 but it also costs 1/3rd of their price.

Speaking of which, a number of models of the DT 770-880-990 line continue to sell for around 120 euro at Amazon Germany. I suppose that’s one of the benefits of a company selling in its home country 🙂

Sunday: NuForce BE Free8 Truly Wireless for $80

Good until Sunday FEB-10-2019 at 11:59pm eastern time, the new condition NuForce BE Free8 truly-wireless earphones are on sale for $80 with free shipping as one of the daily deals at New York’s finest B&H Photo… These support apt-X LL (no, not LL Cool J, but Low Latency) and AAC. But there’s only so much battery you can stuff in the “truly wireless” types, so their official playback estimate is four hours… On the other hand, wired headphones have (theoretically) unlimited playback time 🙂

EU: AmazonBasics In-Ears for 2 euro

On the budget side of things, Amazon Germany is offering the new condition AmazonBasics In-Ears for just 2.36 euro and you can buy as many as you like at this price. This is not a lightning deal, so the price does not have a ticking clock ~ but it can go up and down according to the whims of the Amazon AI system… This price is only available in the blue color scheme without a mic/remote. The black without mic/remote goes for 4+ euro, while the other options go for more.

These average 3.6 out of 5 based on 120+ customer reviews, so read up on them, but keep in mind, there’s only so much one can demand out of a 2 euro pair 🙂

There is a CATCH however ~ this is marked as an ADD-ON item, so you must place an order of 20+ euro on products that shipped or fulfilled by Amazon. Their shopping cart will let you know when you are good to go.

You can also reach the 20 euro minimum by buying nine pairs of these, it can be any combination of these and any other shipped/fulfilled products.

This is open to everyone, it is not a Prime-only offer like the AKG K612s

PS: speaking of low-priced Add-On items, you can get the new condition five-meter Wentronic 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable for 2.40. It averages 3.4 out of 5 based on 34 customer reviews though…

EU: AKG K612 open over-ears for 90 euro

AKG is now touching three continents. An Austrian company, purchased by Harman Kardon, which in turn got purchased by Samsung. So it has local affiliations regardless. Which brings us to Amazon Germany, offering, for Prime members only at the moment, the new condition open-back over-ear AKG K612 PRO headphones for 90 euro.

Not a bad price if you happen to be looking for open under 100 euro from the EU. Note that there are plenty of models in this AKG line, so research them all if you are not already familiar with them…

EU: Sennheiser HD660S for 389 euro

The price is on a downward trend at the moment for the new condition Sennheiser HD 660 S open-back over-ear headphones, they are currently on sale for 389 euro from Amazon Germany actual.

This of course is competing with its other siblings, the good old HD600 and HD650 from traditional audio retailers, and the relatively new HD6XX from Massdrop. In the US, you can get two HD6XX headphones for the price of one HD660 S which is more expensive than Europe. In the EU on the other hand, Massdrop prices include customs/duties/taxes and shipping, bringing the prices closer together depending on location. Plus there’s the matter of warranty…

Thur: Tascam TH-MX2 closed over-ears for $20

Good until Thursday at 11:59pm eastern time, B&H Photo is offering as part of their daily deals the new condition Tascam TH-MX2 closed-back over-ears for $20 with free US shipping. This is what they call mixing headphones. A leatherette bag is included and the cable is nearly 10 feet long ~ another sign this is not just pretending to be a studio headphone 🙂

Thur: Insignia neckband BT/ANC earphones for $35

And at Best Buy, they too have a headphone-related daily deal for Thursday February 7 (one week to Valentine’s, get them a headphone or a DAP or a DAC/amp ~ they’ll last longer than flowers and chocolates!) is a clearance sale on their house brand Insignia neckband BT/ANC earphones for $35 with free shipping or free store-pickup where feasible.

Sterling 8CH Rackmount Headphone amp for $80

Good until Thursday 8am eastern time, (or earlier if sold out), the Musician’s Friend Deal of the Day is offering the new condition Sterling Audio 8 Channel Rackmount Headphone Amplifier for $80 with free shipping and handling. They have eight channels with dual source inputs.

Wedn: Beats Solo 3 bluetooth on-ears for $160

For Wednesday FEBR-06-2019, Best Buy is offering the new condition Beats Solo 3 headphones (bluetooth, W1, closed-back, on-ears) for $160 with free shipping or free store pickup, in the Matte Gold color scheme, with the vary memorable model name of MR3Y2LL/A.

They also come with a 3-month free trial to Apple’s music streaming service for NEW subscribers. You cannot append this to existing music subscriptions. With iPhone and iPad unit sales dropping, Apple has need of other revenue avenues, and recurring subscriptions are the very favorites du jour of accountants and Wall Street…

Tue (EU): Jabra Move bluetooth on-ears for 30 euro [also budget mp3 players]

It’s partly budget audio day at the Amazon Germany Gold Box for Tuesday FEB-06-2019 where four different color schemes of the new condition Jabra Move bluetooth closed-back on-ear headphones are on sale for 30 euro each. Not a bad price for a basic no-frills BT on-ear set… It is interesting that (as far as I can recall) this has never dropped this low at Amazon USA. Jabra is an EU-based company after all…

The Jabra is the headliner for Tuesday so it’s easy to spot, but there’s more! Hidden behind the action camera item is a sale on various Victure brand items< that in addition to the action and hunting cameras, it features a variety of budget mp3 players with a clip-type thing going for 22 euro (8GB on-board, microSD slot, FM, bluetooth), and a more elongated model going for 26~ euro (similar specs). There’s also a couple of hybrid dictaphone / mp3 players in similar price ranges…