Flange fans, unite and take over! For the next four days and change [from blog-posting time], Massdrop is offering the Etymotic ER3 in-ears for $145 in your choice of either the XR or the SE model. There is no mention of warranty in the listing. The shipping estimate is April Fool’s Day, which is not as far away as it sounds, with today being March 1st 🙂
Archives for March 1, 2019
EU: AKG K701 Open Over-Ears for $128
Thanks to its latest new parents, AKG is now touching three major continents, but that’s a story for another day. Their new condition good old open-back over-ear K701 headphones are currently down to 128 euro with free shipping in Germany by Amazon Germany actual with up to three pairs per customer at the sale price. The price is such that the used options over there cost more than the new condition. They average 3.7 out of 5 based on 210+ customer reviews over there.
Note that AKG has released newer models since, including those Massdrop exclusives, so if you are not up to date with their open-back line-up, the forums and the search-engines are your friends.
Not far off in price, their K702 open over-ears go for 122 euro but they are currently restricted to Amazon Germany Prime members only…
Meanwhile the AKG K612 are currently available in “Used – Very Good” condition for around 79 euro by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual…
KZ AS10 In-Ears for $45 to $47 [MD]
KZ is riding high on the Chi-Fi Hype Train, but they managed to release so many different models, there’s too much confusion and one can’t get no relief without some googling around. Thankfully the Journeyman’s Toolbox has published an easy to read guide to many of the existing models, with reviews of them available as well.
Which brings us to Massdrop, where they have launched a drop on the new condition KZ AS10 in-ears with detachable cable of course, going for $45 without a mic/remote and $47 with a mic/remote. It would have been nice if they offered the option to purchase additional cables (eg one with and one without a mic/remote, but they don’t).
The orders will be shipped by the vendor on April Fool’s Day. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. Two color options are available, either red or cyan.
PS: if headphones were groceries, considering the price, that’s like paying $9 per balance armature 😉
PS2: I’ve wanted to try out the KZ earphones for a while, but I’ve been suffering from analysis-paralysis from all those different models and sellers 🙂
PS3: here’s another take on the KZ options, this one a 5-minute video from Callaghan Reviews, YouTube-embedded below [may start with a 30-second ad]:
EU: Sennheiser HD 559 Open Over-Ears for 62e
This has dropped further down since our previous post. Open-back headphones are harder to find in Europe than the US market under 100 [there’s no Grado officially in Europe and the good old Philips SHP-9500* are history], so there’s less competition for Sennheiser, but their new HD 559 open-back over-ear is now down to 62 euro by Amazon actual with up to three pairs per customer at the sale price.
NOTE that this comes with a cable that terminates in 1/4″ (6.3″) because Sennheiser envisions this as a “home audio” headphone. So if you want to use it with smartphones or portable DAPs and such, you need to use your own 1/4″ to 1/8″ adapter or if you have compatible Sennheiser cables from previous purchases of other compatible models.
Sennheiser should have really inclued the 1/4″ to 1/8″ adapter. Come on now 🙂
Pre-order the new Massdrop x Fostex TR-X00 with Removable Cables
Fostex the People! I just can’t resist recycling this old joke 🙂 Massdrop is back with two new TR-X00 closed-back wood over-ear headphones! They are the old favorites but now with removable cables. These are a pre-order, an “in production” listing, with a mid-April 2019 shipment estimate. Just in time for the tax deadline 🙂
The Purple Heart goes for $470, while the Ebony goes for $520. This being a Massdrop-Fostex partnership, they come with a 2-year warranty.
These being a pre-order, they also come with these perks:
+ coupon for $10 off your next Massdrop order
+ a polishing cloth
+ an exclusive Q&A with the project leader
So if you are a fan of removable cables, and you are a boldly going early adopter of pre-production, hide your wallet 🙂
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