Archives for July 2019

Monoprice Earpads (Velour or Pleather) for $13 w/FUSS

One thing that deserves a special mention from our previously mentioned Monoprice headphone-related sale are the new condition Monoprice earpads available for $13 with free standard US shipping in your choice of Protein Leather or Velour.

They both do well in the total of 15 customer reviews between them. You can buy upto twenty pairs per customer at the sale price. Free US standard shipping whether you buy one pair or ten.

The product description over there has a list of compatible headphones and for those and others not mentioned, don’t forget to check the customer reviews and the answered questions as well. The list includes many well-known headphones such as the Audio Technica M50X family (M40X, M30X, M50), their AD700X/900X open-backs, the AKG K551 and K553, Shure 840 and 440, Sony V6, MDR-1A, Fostex T50RP, Braiwavz HM5, Monoprice 8323, etc…

Monoprice headphone sale continues: planars, dynamic, Monolith, DAC/amps, Etc

The Monoprice headphone sale now has some teeth as they are not just offering their budget earphones but also a lot of their Monolith headphones and amps/DACs. A total of 39 items are participating including:

+ Electrostatic headphone with dedicated amplifier for $567

+ M1060 open planars for $243
+ M1060C closed planars for $270
+ M565C closed planars for $180

+ M300 earphones for $100

+ M600 open dynamic for $70
+ M650 open dynamic for $120

+ Big Tube amp for $340, portable DAC/amp with THX and AAA for $280, desktop balanced amp for $480, Liquid Spark Cavalli for $100

+ various budget over-ear, on-ear and in-ear

+ most (but not all) offered items come with free standard US shipping

EU: Beyerdynamic DTX-910 Semi-Open Over-Ears for 30 euro

Name-brand open and semi-open headphones are hard to find under 50, leave it to Beyerdynamic where their new condition over-ear DTX-910 is going for 33 euro with free shipping in Germany by Amazn Germany actual… It averages 3.9 out of 5 based on 88 customer reviews and it has 20 answered questions…

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I forgot to renew the web hosting subscription and it expired. But it has now been renewed and we are back!

EU: MPOW H7 Bluetooth Closed Over-Ears for 20 euro

The various market fluctuations (tariffs, trade wars, currency fluctuations) are causing some Chi-Fi products to be available at a lower price in the EU than in the USA. Historically this had been the opposite. Such as the case for this budget bluetooth headphone, it is the new condition MPOW H7 closed over-ears with “powerful bass” and “CVC 6.0 NC microphone” and up to “18 hours battery life” going for just 20 euro with free shipping for Germany Prime members or with a 29+ order in Germany and/or nearby eligible regions.

Only the black color scheme is down to 20 euro. They come with “memory protein ear cushion” and average 4.5 out of 5 based on 130+ customer reviews and have 30+ answered questions. They also play music via 3.5mm audio input, a feature many but not all bluetooth headphones have…

Sunday: Lion King headphones + Echo Dot Kids edition + Fire 7 Kids tablet for $130

Among the Sunday deals du jour at Amazon USA, for PRIME MEMBERS ONLY, they are offering $130 three item bundle:

+ Lion King kids headphones
+ Fire 7 Kids edition tablt
+ Echo Dot Kids edition

There are three different color schemes to pick from for the tablet case. The rest of the items are the same in the three bundles…

Pioneer HDJ-2000 Mark II DJ headphones for $199

Good until Saturday 7/6/19, B&H Photo is offering the new condition closed-back Pioneer HDJ-2000 Mark II DJ headphones in the silver color scheme for $199 with free US shipping. They come with two different cables and a carrying pouch.

They have just two customer reviews, both happy, one an actual club DJ and the other one a *trigger warning for HeadFi audiophiles* a self-proclaimed “Beats Evangelist” ^_^

FREE Sony WH-1000X M3 ANC/BT Over-Ears with Sony Xperia 1 flagship preorder

Most smartphone manufacturers include some kind of a budget but flashy sounding earphone with their flagship purchase (eg the AKG-branded earphones of the Galaxy models). But Sony, desperate to make a dent in the smartphone now, looking at an opportunity now with the Huawei problems, is throwing in their most popular headphone for free with pre-orders of their new flagship Xperia 1 flagship smartphone.

The free headphones of the bundle are none other than the closed-back WH-1000X M3 ANC with bluetooth over-eras which range from $300 (on sale) to $350 (their default price)…

The Xperia 1 and the included headphones both support LDAC, mayhaps the ideal test setup for LDAC Audio since it is Sony’s brainchild. The phone has a 6.5 inch (21:9) OLED, Snapdragon 855, Android 9, 128GB on-board storage, 6GB RAM, microSD (up to 512GB), Bluetooth 5.0, “Hi-Res Audio”, Dolby Atmos, etc…

The price is $950 with or without the headphones and the offer is available for a limited time at select authorized Sony USA dealers such as Amazon actual and New York’s B&H Photo

NOTE that Amazon breaks down the prices of the bundle differently to prevent people from buying the bundle with the free headphones and then returning/cancelling the order and keeping the headphones 🙂

SoundMAGIC EH11M Clip for $10 w/FS

We cover the whole spectrum frequency range of headphone deals on this blog, you can go from the single-figure to the flagship in-between two posts. But in this case, we have a “$10 shipped” option, with four units available, it is the new condition SoundMAGIC EH11M Clip going for $10 with free US shipping by Adorama on Amazon

The name Clip is because they clip on the ears, but they are not clip-on like the good old Koss KSC-75. They have a mic/remote and come with multiple eartips and a little pouch…

Jaybird Freedom 2 bluetooth earphones for $45 to $50

Dell is running their own 4th of July sales, and among them they have two variations of the Jaybird Freedom bluetooth earphones, the Jaybird Freedom 2 with SpeedFit for $45, and the non-speed-fit going for $50 with free US shipping. This is a limited time sale. Coupon code not needed…

PS: in case you missed it, Logitech purchased Jaybird a few years ago, but they also purchased Blue Microphones last year, and many years ago they had purchased Ultimate Ears. And they may have purchased other audio-related companies while I wasn’t paying attention 🙂

HDTracks: 20% off sitewide with coupon code

If you want to pick up some higher-than-CD digital music, HD Tracks is joining the 4th of July sale-a-bration by offering 20% off site-wide using coupon code HDRWB20 entered over there until 7/7/19 until 11:59pm eastern time… Exclusions may apply, check their website for details…

This week: Sennheiser HD 6XX for $200 again with Massdrop Email Click Coupon

Good until Sunday of this week (according to my calendaring math that would be Sunday July 7 in 2019), there’s a Massdrop email that promotes a $20 off discount on the Sennheiser HD 6XX.

When you click on the link in that email and go to your Massdrop account (already logged in), it will apply automatically a $20 off discount towards the purchase of the open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 6XX, dropping it from $220 to $200, which was its original price.

There’s no coupon code to enter ~ the discount appears automagically in your shopping cart AFTER you click on the special link in the Massdrop email…

It’s still a bit of a miracle they hadn’t increased the HD 6XX to get closer to the HD 600 / 650 prices 🙂

Thursday: Audio Technica LP-60-BT Turntable + Bluetooth Speaker for $99 w/FS

Good until Thursday at 11:59pm eastern time [or earlier if the bundle sells out], New York’s finest B&H Photo is offering this Audio Technica Turnable + Bluetooth Speaker bundle for $99 with free US shipping.

The turntable is the good old AT-LP60BK-BT in the black color scheme, a well-regarded model averaging 4.5 (out of 28 customer reviews) at B&H and 4.2 out of 5 (based on nearly 4400 customer reviews at amazon.com)…

The turntable includes two RCA cables and a replacement stylus. It has Line and Phono outputs and of course a “bluetooth output”

The bundle includes a bluetooth speaker as well. There is a picture of the round top-buttoned bluetooth speaker but not much in the way of details other than it has 10W output, has a 1/8″ input, and a microSD slot as well.

Hifiman Eartips for RE400 & 600 for $4 w/free S&H

IF you are looking for extra/replacement eartips for the Hifiman RE-400 and RE-600 in-ears, the official Hifiman Amazon store is offering them in new condition for $4 with free shipping. This ships directly from them and it is not Prime eligible. But that means all US customers get free shipping, not just Prime members.

As of the time of writing they have nine sets available (you cannot order more than nine)… Per the pictures over there, each set consists of four different pairs of eartips… If you are not familiar with them, research them before making a purchase (as usual)…

Tribit X-Free Tune Bluetooth Over-Ears for $38 AC

It’s not a big discount but it’s not a headphone that drops dramatically either. It’s one of the “Amazon hits”, the new condition Tribit X-Free Tune bluetooth over-ears are down to $40 but that’s not all, they also have a 5% off clip-on coupon, dropping them down to $38 with free shipping. This is for the black color scheme… The black/red color scheme goes for slightly more but it is not eligible for the clip-on coupon [if you don’t see the coupon on the product page and get invited to e-clip it, it means it’s not eligible]…

These average 4.5 out of 5 based on nearly 850 customer reviews and and they have over 230 answered questions by viewers like you… It promises up to 40 hours of playback time on a 4 hour charge. It has bluetooth 4.1, folds and plays music via 3.5mm as well.

PS: there’s no mention of NFC in the product description, so assume it doesn’t have it unless you know for certain [see: what’s the point of NFC in bluetooth headphones].

Make Your Own Deal: $10 off $200+ at Sonic’s eBay store

The Sonix Electronix eBay store is having a shopping cart promotion for a limited time. When you make a purchase of $200+, the shopping cart will automatically take a $10 off your total. You can see this happening while this promotion is running in the shopping cart as you place eligible items. If you don’t see the discount applied _before_ you place the order, it means the offer expired and/or the items may not be eligible…

If you don’t feel like browsing their whole inventory, there are 52 items (as of the time of writing) under their Headphones & Portable audio categories…

Hifiman Ananda Open Over-Ear planars for $849

We haven’t turned into a Hifiman blog 🙂 It’s just that when you start price-checking one store or manufacturer, other models tend to come up, and if there are notable price differences and/or offers, then the posts keep on coming…

In this case, the new condition open-back over-ear planar-magnetic Hifiman Ananda headphones are available in new condition for $849 and in “Used – Like New” for $799 by marketplace seller “Hifi Heaven” through Amazon Warehouse Deals.

This ships directly from Hifi Heaven and it is free shipping but not Prime eligible. Hifi Heaven is a B&M A/V store in Wisconsin (think Green Bay Packers) and authorized Hifiman dealers

NVX XPT-100 Closed Over-Ear Studio headphones for $80

These are not pretending to be studio headphones, they kinda look it too 🙂 The new condition closed-back over-ear NVX XPT-100 headphones are currently on sale for $80 with free shipping by Sonix Electronix (eBay) and also by Sonix through Amazon (not Prime eligible).

This is one of the headphones that finds itself sometimes in recommendation lists/discussions for the $100-ish category…

EU: Sony Extra Bass XB-550 Closed On-Ears for 29+ euro

If you need some _EXTRA_ bass in your life, and you are shopping from Amazon Germany, they currently have a sale on the various colors of the new condition closed-back Sony Extra Bass XB-550 AP headphones. Prices start at 29 euro for the red color scheme and increase slightly for the other colors…

PS: AP stands for “Android Phone” and it is the 1-button remote with mic cable. These appear to be on-ears although when I put them on at a store they felt somewhere between an over- and an on-ear. And the headband adjusted with plenty of room to spare on my big head [in comparison, I can just barely squeeze comfortably in the good old Monoprice 8323s]…

Used Hifiman HE-560 Planar Open Over-Ears for $319

Amazon Warehouse Deals dive time now, where we find the Hifiman Amazon store offering the “Used – Like New” Hifiman HE-560 planar-magnetic open over-ear headphones for $319 with free shipping. This ships directly from Hifiman’s store and it is not Prime eligible. Per the info in the listing over there, this is the “2.5mm plug version”…

Here’s a written-on screenshot of the aforementioned offering:

ALTERNATELY, there are plenty of used listings of these at Adorama

NOTE: if you are not familiar with the Hifiman Reliability Saga, be sure to check the various audio forums and blogs as they appear to have higher than average breakage rate, so keep that in mind if making a purchase…

Wednesday PAD: refurbished LG V20 for $100

PADs, PADs, PADs on a budget! Good until Wednesday 7/3/18 at 11:59pm central (or earlier if sold out), Woot Electronics is offering the refurbished LG V20 Android smartphone for $100 with free shipping for Prime members or $6 flat calendar-day shipping for non-members. Limit up to three per customer.

This is a 4GB RAM with 64GB on-board model with microSD slot as well, and of course the famous V-series DAC/amp technology. It is the Verizon model with its GSM unlocked so you can also use it as a smartphone on Verizon or your favorite GSM provider (check bands if there are issues in your area).

It comes with a 90-day Woot warranty. NOTE that this is a “scratch and dent” refurbished, so if you are a perfectionist, you may want to avoid it 🙂

MEANWHILE if you scoot on over to “Computers”, there, their daily deal is a 3-pack of Samsung 64GB microSD cards for $30 total…

EU: Sennheiser CX 300S Stumpy In-Ears for 40 to 41 euro

Sennheiser itself had a mini big bang of new consumer-tier headphones and among them is the return of the dreaded “S” (dreaded because in englishes a final “s” indicates plural ~ making conversations and searches more complicated than necessary). The stumpy CX 300 II barely-in-ears have now been replaced with the CX 300S, and at Amazon Germany the white color scheme is down to 40 euro and the red (“rot” in german) is down to 41 euro.

Their default prices are 50 euro at amazon.de, and $50 USD at amazon.com.

PS: “stumpy” is not (yet?) a headphone technical term ^_^

Freshebuds bluetooth earphones for $20

Especially of interest if you have Stacksocial store credits and/or coupons, they are currently offering the new condition Freshebuds bluetooth earphones (necklace style) for $20. Shipping is extra. You earn a $1 store credit for every $25 in purchases. All sales are final and they ship in mid-July 2019. They have over 270 customer ratings at Stacksocial but they don’t have written reviews like Amazon. You just see a “visual average” of their rating.

Stacksocial only carries a self-curated type of a headphone collection so it’s a bit of a “box of chocolates”…

Hifiman Sundara Open Planars for 314 euro or $350 USD

If you are not afraid of the Hifiman built quality [check blogs and forums for details] their Sundara planar-magnetic open-back over-ear are currently on sale as follows:

+ 314~ euro at Amazon Germany (limit one per customer, fulfilled by Amazon, sold by marketplace seller “Projekt Akustik”)

+ $350 by various at amazon.com (the USA original Amazon)

As far as trans-atlantic purchases are concerned, do make sure you factor in shipping and customs and waiting and such…

Prime only: Four Months of Music Unlimited for 99 cents total

If you are an Amazon Prime member and curious about their for-pay music-streaming service, for a limited time they are offering a Four Month Subscription for $0.99 total for these four months. After those months expire, it will auto-convert to their $10/month subscription rate unless you manually cancel or change your subscription.

This is especially of interest if you have already purchased digital music from Amazon (directly, or got it as a free mp3 album with the purchase of qualifying music CDs) because you can have both your cloud-streaming and your digitally-owned music available in a single app…

I do not know when the offer expires. You have to be logged on with a Prime member account to see the offer ~ otherwise you will see their “default” offer…