Archives for March 19, 2019

Monoprice Retro semi-open over-ears for $22 w/FS [also: Turntable w/AT100E for $180 and more]

One of the budget options in studio-ish headphones is a common lineage design used by Superlux and Samson among others. That design is also part of the ever-expanding Monoprice line-up, and as of the time of writing, their new condition Retro semi-open over-ears go for $22 with free standard US shipping. Limit up to twenty pairs per customer at the sale price.

But that’s not all. Monoprice is currently running various sales on some of their other headphones and they pair the sale with free standard US shipping. Among them:

+ M650 open-back over-ears for $110
+ I previously posted this but had a typo in the price in the blog-post title, so those of you skimming may have ignored it as not a good price 🙂

+ Turntable with AT100E Cartridge for $180

+ HR-5C closed over-ears for $55

+ IPX4 truly wireless for $45

+ 8323 with Bluetooth for $27
+ this is a bluetooth version of the famous 8323 closed-back over-ears

+ all the above come with free standard US shipping

Note that the free shipping offer is as of the time of writing. I do not know when it will expire for each headphone mentioned above!

But wait, there’s more! The Monolith line of high-end audio is also expanding at Monoprice with two new models coming out. These are not headphone amps. The 9-Channel Power Amplifier with XLR goes for $2000, while the 11-channel model goes for $2500

March 19, 2019 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

EU: Sabaj PHA3 Vacuum Headphone Amp for 50 euro

If you are looking for a budget vacuum headphone-amp, Sabaj is currently offering their PHA3 model for 50 euro, sold by the Sabaj online store with the orders fulfilled by Amazon Germany. This is the black color scheme.

Being an amp, this has an RCA audio input and a 3.5mm analogue input. The output is a 3.5mm headphone out. It has just one headphone-out (as most amps do), unlike their previously mentioned PHA-2 model which has one 3.5mm and one 1/4″, with slightly different impedance to support a different (but overlapping) range of headphones…

For more on the PHA3 vacuum amp, there are nine customer reviews of it at amazon.com with a 4.6 out of 5 and it has five answered questions as well…

March 19, 2019 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Acoustic Research M200 DAP for $100 [MD]

If you prefer the dedicated use of a digital audio player, Massdrop is back with yet another option. Running for the next four days and change [from posting time here], you can get the new condition Acoustic Research M200 DAP for $100, a battle-point between various brands, including the entry-level Fiio X1 II.

Giving in to the bluetooth industrial complex, this model too has built-in bluetooth support (including apt-X HD), but it offers USB-C charging which may be a welcome change for those on the Type C bandwagon. It even has 32GB of on-board storage, in addition to the microSD card which supports up to 256GB.

Optionally, in the Massdrop shopping cart, you can add a color case for $10 more, and/or you can add the E10 IEMs for $80 more.

Orders will ship in late April 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing.

March 19, 2019 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With: ,

EU: Used Audio Technica ATH-MSR7-GM for 132 euro

Audio Technica is also vying for the more stylish segment of the market, and one of their entries in this arena is the closed-back over-ear ATH-MSR7. The “GM” (gunmetal) color scheme of this headphone is currently available in “Used – Good” condition for 132 euro by Amazon Warehouse Deals, or for 139 in “Used – Very Good” condition.

CAUTION: there’s a just launched “fulfilled by Amazon” 3rd-party seller offering it for 150 euro in new condition. Judging by the seller profile, this looks like a high risk transaction, so keep that in mind when price-checking at Amazon, since it is an open-market and iffy sellers manage to sneak through Amazon’s AI filters…

March 19, 2019 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,