Archives for December 2020

Finally IN-STOCK: Drop + THX Panda for $399

It’s FINALLY in-stock! Ring the online bells! The Drop + THX Panda wireless over-ear closed-back headphones are, as of the time of writing, in-stock at the Massdrop website for $399 with free US shipping [discounted international shipping available] and free US returns, with a 2-year Drop International Warranty.

Better yet, this is estimated to ship in mid-December (based on the blog-posting date; obviously if you read this a week later, the estimated shipping date will be different)…

Optionally you can add a Drop Panda Boom Mic to your order for +$49.

As a quick refresher, this uses planar-ribbon drives, supports LDAC, apt-X HD and Adaptive, AAC, SBC of course [the lowest common bluetooth denominator these days and the ones to be avoided by audiophiles of course], bluetooth 5.0, 10-minute quick charge for 3 hour battery time, 375g weight, IPX 6, USB-C charging [finally the headphone companies are waking up], and carrying case.

Plenty has already been written about it, the internet and forum search buttons are your friends 🙂

Here’s the Drop “Hype video” (about as long as most of today’s hit singles):

Audeze sale at Touch of Modern (6 options)

If you are a fan of the “Touch Of Modern” style and way of doing online shopping, for a limited time they are having an Audeze Headphones sale featuring six options with prices ranging from $299 to $1945. It includes one earphone, two gaming headsets and three audiophile options…

Wedn: JLab, Surface, Tarah, Etc

Wednesday December 9 in 2020 is here and we have some headphones appearing in some of the daily deals at various retailers as follows:

+ Surface headphones for $150 at Woot, new condition, in the gray color scheme, with a one-year Microsoft warranty
+ somehow they forgot to bundle these with an Office 365 free trial 😉

Lots of audio-related action at the Best Buy daily deals today including:

+ add two of them to cart, and you pay $90 for two pairs of JLab Audio Epic Air ANC truly-wireless

+ Jaybird Tarah PRO truly wireless for $100

+ Victrola Journey BT suitcase turntable for $40
+ more for retro decor than daily playback 🙂

+ 3-month TIDAL HiFi music subscription for 99 cents total
+ if not cancelled, it will auto-renew at $15 per month

Woot Stocking Stuffers (exp 12/16)

In addition to their various deals du jour, Woot is also running various other promotions that run for multiple days, sometimes up to a month. One such longer-running sale is very audio/music-centric, it’s another incarnation of their Stocking Stuffer sale and it includes:

+ iPod Touch 6th generation (32GB) for $140

+ refurbished Audio Technica ATH-S200BT closed-back overons for $50

+ COWIN E9MAX ANC overons for $140

+ RHA True Connect truly wireless for $70

+ Master and Dynamic MW-07 truly-wireless (TW) for $95

+ generic truly wireless for $18, Airpod lookalike-TW for $26

+ fun? Coca Cola tin shaped bluetooth speaker with radio for $14
+ Coca Cola colored (definitiley not shaped) turntable for $30

+ various media/streaming boxes from various (Amazon, Apple, RCA)

+ eMedia Dummies Deluxe guides for Piano, Guitar and Singing for $38 each

Tuesday: refurbished JBL (five options)

Loved more by the “common people” than the audiophiles/audiophoolz, JBL is often featured in daily deals because “the common people” [not just those in the Blur Pulp song] prefer JBL, Beats, Bose, Skullcandy, Sony, House of Marley, etc 🙂

Which brings us to today’s (12/8/20) daily deals at Woot, it’s a JBL Audio Sale of the factory reconditioned kind that includes eight products, five of which are headphones, three of which are over/on-ears (LIVE 500BT for $40, Tune 600 BT NC for $50, Under Armour Sport Train for $65), and two of which are bluetooth necklace-style earphones of the Under Armour co-branding type ($30 and $40 per pair)… These come with a 1-year JBL warranty…

As a reminder JBL is part of the ever-so-sprawling family that includes AKG and Harman Kardon, under the Note-able and Foldz-able leadership of Samsung 😉

PS: Proposed New Term for convenience: OverOns: an all encompassing term that includes both over-ear and on-ear headphones. Also useful when you can’t tell whether something is over-ear or on-ear, or whether it’s for one reason or another (eg earcup shape/size) somewhere in-between…

Sunday: Roland CS-10EM in-ears for $50

Good until Sunday 12/6/20 at 11:59pm eastern time, B&H Photo is offering as one of their deals du jour, the new condition Roland CS-10EM in-ears for $50 with free US shipping… This average 4.5 out of 5 based on 14 customer reviews as of the time of writing…

UPDATE: among the Best Buy daily deals for Sunday they have the new condition JBL FREE truly-wireless (second generation) for $55 in the black color scheme…

UPDATE #2: a couple of headphone daily deals at the NewEgg shellshockers:

+ MEE EarBoost EB1 necklace-style bluetooth earphones for $13

+ Jabra Elite bluetooth closed-back on-ears for $35

Hifiman HE-5XX Planar Magnetics for $220 [MD]

Planar time once again at Massdrop, Deputy Ambassadors of the Planar Republic 🙂

They are currently offering, as an in-stock drop (meaning it ships within a couple of business days from purchase), the new condition open-back over-ear wired Hifiman 5XX planar-magnetics, a Massdrop x Hifiman collaboration, for $220 with free US shipping and free US returns (discounted international shipping as well) with a 1-year manufacturer warranty…

This is the sixth Hifiman x Massdrop collaboration… Optionally you can purchase a 3-year MassDrop extended warranty for +$30. The extended warranty is US only…

Thursday: Jabra Elite 75t true-wireless for $130

IF you are a fan of Jabra and truly-wireless, their Elite 75 earphones are currently on sale for $130 by Amazon actual (up to five per customer) and it is also the headliner deal of the day at the Best Buy website

UPDATE: also part of the Thursday lot, there’s these LyxPro Electric Guitar bundles for $125, 39-inch, and they include a 20W guitar amplifier and various accessories (clip-on tuner, extra picks, extra strings, tremolo bar, shoulder strap and case bag)… Various color options are available…

UPDATE #2: meanwhile Amazon’s HyperX gaming sale includes their Cloud Buds neckband bluetooth earphones with apt-HD going for $50…

Humble Bundle MAGIX Audio/Video software offer is back!

If you are a fan of the Humble Bundle way of things, they are back with their MAGIX audio and video software promotion!

If you pay $1 or more you get:
+ Music Maker Windows software
+ two in-store credits ($20 and $10) to purchase “Soundpool Collections” from the MAGIX store

If you pay $18 or more you get:
+ ACID Music Studio 11
+ Soundpool 90s Hip Hop bundle

If you pay $25 or more you get:
+ Sound Forge Audio Studio 13
+ Video PRO 11
+ Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 16

All these are Windows only software titles. And mayhaps a good way to test your shiny new Apple M1 silicon’s “Windows translation” 🙂

Wedn: SteelSeries Arctis Pro, Beats 3, Bose 700, MSFT 365

There’s headphone action in the Wednesday December 2nd (in 2020, wow, this crazy year flew so fact, yet…) Amazon Gold Box with the following options:

+ SteelSeries Arctis Pro bluetooth closed on-ear Headset for $240 in the black color scheme only, one per customer
+ as of time of writing it averages 4.2 out of 5 based on 1840+ customer ratings and has 350+ answered questions by the “e-wisdom of the e-crowds” 🙂

+ Beats Solo 3 bluetooth on-ears (with W1 chip of i-Device interest) for $119 in various color schemes
+ as of the time of writing it averages “the most beautiful Beats yet” based on 100000+ Apple iFan adorations 😉

+ “Beats and Bose they break my bones” sing some audiophiles, but also on sale is the Bose 700 ANC/BT over-ears with Alexa (but not Alexis Carrington) going for $339 in two color options
+ as of the time of writing they average 4.4 out of 5 based on 12K+ customer ratings and they have 620 answered questions by viewers like you

+ and if you want to use Office-style apps to keep track of your headphone ratings and measurements and observations and pairings and such, a 1-Year prepaid Microsoft 365 Family for $99 with a $50 Amazon Gift Card as a bonus. This autom-renews annually (without the $50 GC) if not cancelled…
+ you also get 1TB OneDrive per account
+ up to six accounts can be attached to this subscription

Wedn: Beyerdynamic Custom Gaming Headset for $145

Berydynamic is back at the Newegg daily deals, good until 12/2/20 at 11:59pm pacific time [or earlier if sold out] you can get the new condition Beyerdynamic Custom Game Interactive gaming headset for $145 with free US shipping…

UPDATE: the Wednesday Best Buy dailies include the geek-stink-breath (TM Green Day), okay, GeekSquad certified refurbished Apple AirPods PRO truly-wireless going for $170 with a 90-day warranty…

AKG K-702 Open Over-Ears for $149

Good until Wednesday 12/2/20 at 10am eastern, ADorama is offering, as one of their deals of the day, the new condition AKG K-702 open over-ear wired headphones for $149 with free US shipping. It comes with a 2-year AKG warranty…