Monoprice Year-End Clearance includes Monolith Liquid Platinum Balanced Head Amp by Cavalli for $400

The Monoprice website is having a Year-End Clearance Sale and among them they have some headphone/audio-related products.

All the headphones in the “Audio” category and all the items in the “Pro Audio” come with free standard US shipping, so I won’t repeat this in the listings below. This is for a limited time only.

Of headphone and audio interest:

+ Monolith Liquid Platinum Balanced Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli for $400

+ a trio of BT-series bluetooth overons for $25 to $27
+ overons = over-ears or on-ears
+ separately, featured on their homepage the BT-205 bluetooth over-ons go for $20 w/FS and no reviews

+ AVOID: a badly reviewed truly-wireless for $30

+ NB-BT bluetooth neckband for $30

+ Monolith K-RAS Reference Series Bookshelf Speaker (one) for $160

+ and the previously mentioned 8323 bluetooth over-ears for $18

AND while we are diving into the Monoprice World, they are highlighting some of their Best of 2020 product launches which includes the new condition open-back over-ear M570 open-back planars for $200 with free standard US shipping…

December 27, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Monoprice 8323 with Bluetooth Over-Ears for $18 w/FS

Headlining the Monoprice Year-End Clearance at the bottom end of the price-range, and with FREE US standard shipping is the new condition Monoprice 8323 with Bluetooth [CORRECTED LINK!] closed-back over-ear going for $18! Eighteen dollars, not 18 factorial 🙂

The bluetooth aspect of this includes apt-X support. The one-page “Quick Start Guide” PDF file linked-to from their product description points out that these have controls on the outer side of the earcup (no need to fumble for buttons at the edge of the earpads perimenter like some other models).

Just like their 8323 wired predecessor, these also have a 3.5mm audio input.

I’m not sure what the bluetooth version is, but breezing through some of the Q&A at the Monoprice website it looks like it is some version of 4.x, not 5.0.

I had the older 8323 wired-only headphones and for the price they are definitely worth it, despite being old-hype now-a-days 🙂

The only issue I had with them is that even though they expand on your head making you look like one of those robots from the 50s low-budget scifi movies, they are actually not as big-head-friendly as they look. I could just barely fit inside at maximum extension. For my head, this is about the same as a maximum extension fit in the Grado SR60e, but the Grados do not apply clamping pressure on the sides and their headband is more of a suggestion than an oppressing force 😉

December 27, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

750+ headphones in limited time Amazon Warehouse clearance

As of the time of writing over 750 headphones are participating in a limited time Amazon Warehouse Deals sale…

IF you want to see what audiophile-ish options they may have, try sorting the listing by higher price. As of the time of writing the used options include the Sony MDR-Z1R, Sendy Aiva planars, Fiio FA7, Massdrop Plus IEMs, etc…

PS: not used, but because the clock is running out on this I don’t want to create a separate post, good until Sunday at 11:15am ET, you can get the new condition iKKo Audio oh1 IEMs for $67 as one of the lightning deals for Sunday 12/27/20 at Amazon’s…

December 27, 2020 Filed Under: store sale Tagged With:

Sunday: CLEER Flow ANC/Bluetooth Over-Ears for $60

We start Sunday with a new headphone deal of the day, this one is good until Sunday 12/27/20 at 11:59pm eastern, at B&H Photo, it is the new condition CLEER Flow ANC/Bluetooth Over-Ears for $60 with free US shipping…

This uses bluetooth 4.2 with NFC, has 3.5mm audio input as well, includes a carrying case and charges via micro-USB. However, despite the older BT version, it supports all the audiophile-friendly standards, LDAC, apt-X HD, apt-X and AAC.

December 26, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , , ,

Blog Update: We have a new Text and Pictures Unboxing: 1More Piston Fit bluetooth necklace-style earphones

We are kinda the opposite of a content farm here 🙂 After 32 whole months, we have a new text-and-pictures unboxing blog post! No, it did not take me 32 months to prepare this particular new post, lower the expectations significantly 🙂

Our new text and pictures unboxing post is a utilitarian purchase of mine, the 1More Piston Fit bluetooth earphone, necklace-style! As usual, this is just unboxing, written before I listen to them so the sound performance does not influence the unboxing post 🙂

December 26, 2020 Filed Under: website news

Creative Outlier Air truly-wireless for $45 AC

For a limited time during the Christmas Day weekend, coupon code AIR25 gets you 25% off the new condition Creative Outlier Air truly-wireless at the Creative Labs online store, dropping them from $80 to $45.

In comparison this goes for $50 at the Amazon Creative Labs store. The other two color options there go for much more, and they are actually different models.

So if you look at the customer reviews over there, make sure you filter them by the customer reviews of this particular model. You can find the pre-filtered reviews here. Sadly Amazon does not calculate a rating score for these and with nearly 500 customer reviews, I can’t calculate them myself on the fly 🙂

They promise up to 10 hours of battery life in the earphones, with a promise of two refills inside the included charging case (USB-C connector thankfully). They are IPX5 rated, with bluetooth 5.0, AAC and apt-X…

December 25, 2020 Filed Under: truly wireless Tagged With: , ,

Friday: Digital Content Offers: Pandora and Apple

Merry Christmas with a gift card sale at Best Buy with an audio component!

First up there’s a Pandora 12-month subscription sale offering two options:

+ 12-months of prepaid Pandora Plus for $40 for the 1st year
+ auto-renews at $55 per year unless cancelled

+ 12-months of prepaid Pandora Premium for $60 for the 1st year
+ auto-renews at $110 per year unless cancelled

And then for the Apple fans, you can buy an online $100 Apple For Everything Card and receive as a Santa gift bonus a $20 promotional Best Buy online gift card.

The “Apple for Everything” gift card can be used on everything sold by Apple, physical goods (iPods, iPhones, accessories including headphones, etc) or digital goods (iTunes, Apple Music, iCloud, etc). Check the product page over there for all the ways you can spend it 🙂

The above offers are good for December 25 in 2020, aka Christmas Day!

December 24, 2020 Filed Under: music apps Tagged With: , ,

Thursday: AKG N700 NC M2 ANC/Bluetooth Over-Ears for $120

Funny how “A Samsung Brand” is now a marketing point for AKG headphones now-a-days 🙂 But let’s start from the beginning…

In a sale of …Gifts Santa Forgot, as part of their Thursday 12/24/20 daily deals, Woot is offering the new condition closed-back over-ear AKG N700 NC Mark II bluetooth/ANC headphones for $120 with up to three per customer at the sale price. They come with a 1-year AKG warranty…

A carrying case, and USB-C charging [FINALLY!] and 3.5mm cables are included. The specs promise 23-32 hours of playing time (depending on which features you use (bluetooth and/or ANC), with 3 hour charging time.

They have ambient mode, multi-point, and you get a 3-month Sirius XM free trial too…

Note however that per the Samsung website these are bluetooth 4.2, and they only support the basic bluetooth profiles (A2DP V1.3, AVRCP V1.5, HFP V1.6), no apt-Xes, no AAC, no LDAC…

They too have the now almost-obligatory house-app, in this case, the “AKG Headphone App” available for iOS and Google Play and Samsung Play [ha!]…

Their formal name is GP-N700HAHCIWA 🙂

It is an interesting hodge-podge of specs, you go modern with USB-C, and ambient, and a custom app, yet they use the older bluetooth version and only the basic bluetooth profiles. It’s like someone went into the AKG/Samsung warehouse and pulled out whatever parts were available and built a headphone with them. Sort of like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite smartphone 🙂

More headphones in daily deals, at Best Buy’s website they have the JLab Epic Air ANC truly-wireless going for $45, and for your PADs/DAPs a 64GB SanDisk EXTrEEmEE micro-SDXC for $20, and a 1TB SanDisk USB-C portable SSD for $125…

December 23, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Thursday: Shure SE-846 IEMs for $549 (with both BT5 and wired cables)

You want quality name-brand IEMs but can’t decide between bluetooth and wired audio? Well, you can have both until Thursday 12/24/20 at 11:59pm eastern, because B&H Photo is offering as part of their daily deals the new condition Shure SE-846 in-ears for $549 with free US shipping in the “Clear” and “Black” color schemes. The other two color options are NOT on sale.

This Shure kit includes THREE Shure cables:

  • Shure RMCE-UNI universal mic/remote cable
  • Shure EAC-64 MMCX cable
  • RMCE-BT2 bluetooth 5.0 cable

The nice thing with these is that if you have other Shure earphones, you can mix and match their cables, so you could bluetooth-ize an older pair of Shure IEMs [as long as the connectors as compatible]…

The kit also includes a carrying case, the Shure Fit Kit with different types of eartips, adapters and such, a microUSB charging cable, and a 2-year warranty…

December 23, 2020 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Massdrop X E-MU Purpleheart Closed Over-Ears for $75

Knock, On Wood, Baby! If you love wood (no pun intended) in your headphones, you can get the new condition wired closed-back over-ear E-MU Purpleheart headphones in the “Massdrop X” edition at the Massdrop website for $75 with free US shipping and free US returns.

This is an “in-stock drop” or as today’s Massdrop kids like to call it, a “Ready to ship” item, so it will ship quickly. With the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the shipping estimate is slightly longer than the usual two business days, as of the time of writing the shipping estimate is January 4 in 2021.

Being a Massdrop collaboration, this comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty.

This is the most spartan package ever, you get the headphones and nothing else. The cable is glued-in, so no accessories included 🙂

PS: if the look is familiar, yes, there is a “Fostex the people” connection. Here’s a blast from the past video from Tyll with engineer Chan Ming Tat talking about the creation of the E-MU wood line…

December 23, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Monoprice BT-205 Bluetooth 5 Over-Ears for $20 w/FS

If you are the boldly going type who wants to be among the first to try new headphones, and don’t mind parting with $20, Monoprice is offering their new Monoprice BT-205 bluetooth closed-back over-ears for $20 with free standard US shipping…

Monoprice is stingy with free shipping, especially for lower cost items, so this is part of the offer… [of course anyone who has tried to mail anything at the Post Office or FedEx or UPS discovers that every shipment has a cost and free shipping is only something that Retail Titans of the Amazon and Wal*Mart size can afford]…

These are bluetooth 5.0 (basic profiles only) and they fold and they are lightweight. Lightweight however has its downside as they are advertised as maximum eight hours of playback. On the other hand, lighter on the head can be a plus.

Granted, it’s a $20 headphone but for the cable organizers out there, these use micro-USB, not USB-C. They also have a 3.5mm audio input.

The full 12-page user manual is available as a PDF link on their website HOWEVER there is some confusion because the manual says there is a microSD slot (cards up to 32GB) for mp3 playback and the slot in shown in the user manual product pictures.

However, on the website’s product page, the text does not mention a microSD slot, and none of the pictures in the product gallery or description show the microSD slot.

Assume it does not have a microSD to be on the safe side!

Does anyone even read or proof-read user manuals these days? 🙂

December 22, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Buy Massdrop’s Objective 2 Headphone amp like a Normal Online Person for $105

If you want to get Massdrop’s Objective 2 headphone amp (either the “Standard” or the “Medium Gain” version) and you don’t want to deal with the Massdrop website’s peculiar way of doing things, then for $105 you can get it delivered to your door “normally” because that’s the price these are sold at Amazon by Amazon actual. And if you are a Prime member you get them even faster!

Just like Schiit Audio does, Massdrop charges a bit more on Amazon to cover their Amazon seller fees, so you are trading off Amazon convenience versus Massdrop shipping and a lower price.

December 22, 2020 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Tuesday: Sennheiser HD 2.30{i/G} On-Ears for $25

Button options for either system are available, it is the new condition closed-back wired on-ear Sennheiser HD 2.30 offered in the “2.30i” for iOS devices, and “2.30G” for Galaxy/Android devices, going for $25 with free US shipping, sold and shipped by NewEgg where it is one of their deals of the day until Tuesday 12/22/20 at 11:59pm pacific time or earlier if sold out… No coupon or rebate is needed for this offer, the price you see is the price you pay…

December 22, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Tin Hifi T4 In-Ears for $70 [MD]

David Bowie’s “Tin Machine” may have inadvertently predicted the rise of “Tin” portable audio with the “tin machine, tin machine, take me anywhere” lyrics 😉

Joking aside, the new condition Tin Hifi T4 in-ears are currently on sale for $70 at the Massdrop website. They come with a stylish brown case and six pairs of eartips (some black, some pink).

The shipping estimate is late January 2021, so this is not for holiday shopping gifts for sure! There’s no mention of warranty in the listing…

December 21, 2020 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Tuesday: Beats Solo PRO On-Ears for $150

Good for Tuesday 12/22/20, among the Best Buy daily deals they have a sale on the new condition closed-back on-ear bluetooth Beats Solo PRO “More Matte” collection for $150 in the dark-blue (may look black on some displays) or red or light blue (cyan-ish) color schemes.

The displayed price in their little color widget box seems to be oscillating between $150 and $180 for some colors but when you add it to cart you see the $150 price.

You also get as a bonus 4-month new-subscriber free-trial subscriptions to Apple Music and Apple News+. Apple Care is an optional +$29…

December 21, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Apple AirPods PRO TW w/wireless charging case for $200

The Apple Airpods PRO truly-wireless with wireless charging case, model MWP22AM/A, are a Best Buy daily deal for $223 for Monday but that offer is handily defeated by critically-acclaimed B&H Photo of New York and by Amazon actual offering them for $200 with free US shipping. These have the Apple H1 chip, and you can make the most of them if you are part of the Apple i-eco-system…

Meanwhile the AirPods non-pro with wireless charging case, model MRXJ2AM/A, are going for $160 at Amazon actual and at B&H Photo….

OR if you want a lower price, the AirPods with a charging case (model MV7N2AM/A) go for $130 with free US shipping at B&H Photo…

December 21, 2020 Filed Under: truly wireless Tagged With: , ,

Monday: Senal SMH-1000 Studio Headphones for $45

If you are looking for Sony V6/7506 “homage” type headphones, good until Monday 12/21/20 at 11:59pm eastern (or earlier if sold out) you can get the new condition wired closed-back over-ear Senal SHM-1000 studio headphones for $45 with free US shipping at B&H Photo where it is one of their deals of the day… It includes a straight and a coiled cable and a 3-year warranty…

Also part of their Monday daily deals is this new condition Denon DN-205IO speakers pair going for $50 with free US shipping… This is in white, 2-way passive, that can be used inside or outside…

December 20, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Starts Sunday 3:39pm ET: KZ ZS10 PRO IEM Lightning Deal

Starting on Sunday 12/20/20 at 3:39pm eastern time, and lasting for a few hours after that, Amazon is planning to have a limited-time lightning deal on the new condition KZ ZS10 PRO IEMs… As of the time of writing there’s also a $5 off clip-on coupon (clip this as soon as you see it because these can come and go with respect to lightning deals)…

Now, keep in mind there are many colors/variants of this on the listing, various colors and with or without a microphone. The actual variant(s) that will be on sale will only be revealed when it goes live over there…

December 20, 2020 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With:

Philips SHP-9500 for $70, SPH-9600 for $95 (or $100 w/NeeGo mic)

The current Philips headphones stakeholders want to make Philips headphones great again, and supply is increasing in the US market with more retailers featuring them.

Currently in a Woot Plus Gift Under $100 they have the new condition open-back wired over-ear SHP-9500 for $70 with a 1-year warranty (it was $65 at an Amazon featured sale last week), while the SHP-9600 is at $100 but that’s not the best price.

$70 is also the price offered for the 9500 at the Massdrop website but the shipping estimate is late January 2021, and there’s no mention of warranty in the listing…

Parenthesis: just because there’s no mention of warranty in the Massdrop listing, it doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t come with a warranty, BUT if you want to be 100% certain, you have to look for that in the listing or ask Massdrop for an on-the-record answer… Some items sold by Massdrop may be international buys from manufacturers that don’t offer global warranties (import grey market type things)… It would have been nice if Massdrop was upfront with it in the listing, that’s how you build better trust and longer $relationships$ with customers…

Meanwhile the new cousin from suburbia, the open-back wired over-ear SHP-9600, goes for $100 with a FREE NeeGo microphone fulfilled by Amazon, or you can get the headphones only for $95.

December 18, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

EU: Sennheiser HD560S In-Stock for 195 euro

European e-shoppers, your time has come if you want to jump on the Sennheiser HD 560 S open-back over-ear wired bandwagon! As of the time of writing, the headphone is marked in-stock and ready to ship for 195 euro at Amazon Germany…

In Ameereeka, the HD560S has “disappeared” from the Amazon website. It may sound like a strange thing, but on rare occasion historically this type of thing happens at Amazon with high-demand but hard-to-find items.

No need to panic, the headphone is NOT disappearing from the US market. New York’s B&H Photo has it in “Coming Soon” status and accepting pre-orders of it for $200…

Of course by the time it gets here, the hype train may decide to move on to a different train station, mayhaps the Koss KPH-30i 😉

December 15, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

JVC HA-FDX1 dual carbon IEMs for $200 [MD]

In the US market, JVC is not synonymous with audiophile headphones but some companies are sometimes fine with just being “Big in Japan”. The accountants of course are never happy with that, so with all this totally unnecessary paragraph we have…

.. the JVC HA-FDX1 dual carbon in-ears now on-offer for $200 with free US shipping and free US returns at the Massdrop website…

This is a “Ready to Ship” product (the artist formerly known as “in-stock drops”), so other things equal, it will ship in about two business days from purchase.

You have a 30-day return window but there’s no mention of warranty in the listing.

The kit includes three removable tuning nozzles, a carrying case, and five different sizes of “Spiral Dot+” eartips. And the earphones of course 🙂 And the removable cable of course 🙂

With three tuning nozzles, some can use the division by three trick to justify the purchase. It’s like paying $66.67 per sound signature 🙂

December 14, 2020 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Monday: Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (250 ohm) for $134 AC

Beyer is dynamic once again as their closed-back wired over-ear DT 770 PRO (250 ohm) is one of the NewEGG daily deals for $134 after the $25 off promo code shown over there. The offer ends on Monday 12/14/20 at 11:59pm pacific time or earlier if sold out…

IF you miss it, don’t cry too much because the Beyerdynamics are recurring at NewEgg’s dailies…

In other daily deal action, B&H Photo’s Monday offers include the new condition closed-back over-ear Polsen HPC A30 Mark II studio headphones going for $15 with free US shipping… As of the time of writing, the nine customer reviews are happy with it…

December 14, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Sunday: Klipsch R5 Active bluetooth earphones for $20

For some audiophiles, it’s “Beats and Bose they break my bones” but in the second tier of popular (with the common people) headphone makers we find Skullcandy and Klipsch, especially in the earlier days when it was trendy with i-Device crowd. Not sure why I’m writing all this as a preface but…

… good until Sunday 12/13/20 at 11:59pm eastern time [or earlier if and only if it sells out] you can get the new condition Klipsch R5 Active bluetooth necklace-style earphones for $20 with free US shipping at B&H Photo where it is one of their deals of the day…

There is a certain utilitarian aspect to the necklace-style bluetooth earphones, they are easier on the head for half-day sessions (eg watching a class or lots of Zooms/meetings in a row, or listening to audiobooks or long YouTube streams) as opposed to the more clamp-y and heavier over-ears and on-ears…

And with battery life being what it is, you may have to use multiple bluetooth devices, which is not a bad idea: rotate different types of headphones, so your ears are not constantly physically and musically presented with the same thing (eg some earphones, some over/on-ears, some truly-wireless, some clip-ons, etc)…

PS: speaking of clip-ons, this is a must have for every household, the good old $19 Koss KSC-75 clip-ons (no mic/remote)… OR if you want a mic/remote, you can wait until the Massdrop edition returns…

PS2: I am waiting for my Massdrop KSC-75X to arrive, I was planning to do a comparison with my prehistoric KSC-75 [which I rescued from the clearance bin at an office supply store many years ago], but unfortunately the KSC-75 became hyper-partisan [one side does not play music any more], so I have to get/find another KSC-75 to do a comparison 🙂

PS3: in the audiophile world, small differences are often dramatically exaggerated, but on rare occasion dramatic differences do exist. I picked up the Panasonic RP-HS46 closed clip-ons for utilitarian usage, and the difference in music appreciation between them and the open KSC-75 is night and day. Not to spoil any future reviews I may or may not write, but the HS46 are just NO for music. Okay for YouTube and such, but NO for music 🙂 Granted they are around $12 but still…

UPDATE: some head/audio related activity at the Sunday Best Buy website deals du jour:

+ BuddyPhones wired on-ears for kids for $15

+ 1-year prepaid TIDAL Hifi music subscription for $90
+ averages $7.50/month

+ Anker Soundcore Liberty Air X truly-wireless for $80

+ Feed the DAPs and PADs and such: PNY micro-SDXC card sale, from 512GB down to 32GB, with the 256GB Elite X for $35 being the best value for money in terms of GB/$ (like we buy bulk groceries type of thing)

December 12, 2020 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Saturday: Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (32 ohm) for $129

Beyer is back dynamically (ha!) in the Newegg daily deals for Saturday 12/12/20, it is the new condition wired closed-back over-ear DT 770 PRO (32 ohm) going for $129 with free US shipping after entering the promo code shown over there…

Elsewhere, at Woot’s deals du jour there is an Anker sale that includes their Soundcore Life Q20 over-ears for $40, and a trio of truly-wireless ranging from $30 to $55…

December 12, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Friday: Philips Open-Back Sale: SHP-9500 for $64, X2 for $120

It’s Friday, I’m open-back in love sings Amazon! A marketplace is offering, fulfilled by Amazon, a trio of Philips over-ear headphones, two of which are audiophile-famous open-back models!

+ open-back SHP-9500 for $64
+ we have a text and pictures unboxing of the 9500S
+ it’s hard to argue against this model considering the price, it can be a great first open-back over-ear headphone with great comfort and giant L/R so beginners can easily tell left from right 😉

+ on the same listing, Amazon has the open-back SHP-9600/00 for $95 after an $18 clip-on coupon

+ open-back X2HR for $120
+ multiple items on the same listing at Amazon, you can’t get an average score without manually calculating it

+ closed-back SHP-6000 for $32
+ averages 4.3 out of 5 based on 611 ratings

+ ratings scores are as of the time of writing of this blog-post and may be different if you are reading in this future (or in the past if you are a time traveler)

December 11, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Starts Thursday 5:24pm ET: Plantronics BackBeat GO 810 ANC/BT Over-Ear Sale

Per the teasers in the Amazon USA Gold Box, starting at 5:24pm ET they are scheduled to have a lightning deal on the new condition Plantronics BackBeat GO 810 ANC/bluetooth closed-back over-ears. Three color options are available with the prices (BEFORE the sale) ranging from $50 to $67). The Gold Box teasers point to the “navy blue” color scheme whose price (BEFORE the sale) is $50. It is not known ahead of time which color(s) will go on sale…

As of the time of writing these average 4.1 out of 5 based 374 ratings, with 10% of them being 1-stars. They have 35 answered questions.

They have a custom app (BackBeats), memory foam earpads, and promise 20+ hours of battery life in either ANC or bluetooth mode.

As you can see, all those $50ish best-selling ANC/bluetooth over-ear combo headphones at Amazon have been putting lots of price-pressure on the name-brand/recognizable manufacturers to compete on price or else be left out of a big chunk of the market.

Because not all people can afford the $300ish of Beats/Bose/etc. And even those who do, if you are buying these for a kid/teen who breaks/loses their headphones all the time, you’d rather lose $50 per pop than $300 🙂

Even Sony has “parked” their current-generation WH-CH710N ANC/BT over-ears at $88…

December 9, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

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):

December 9, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , , ,

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…

December 9, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

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

December 8, 2020 Filed Under: headphones

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

December 8, 2020 Filed Under: headphones, truly wireless

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…

December 7, 2020 Filed Under: headphones, in-ears Tagged With: ,

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

December 5, 2020 Filed Under: in-ears, truly wireless Tagged With: , , , ,

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…

December 3, 2020 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

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…

December 2, 2020 Filed Under: truly wireless Tagged With: ,

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” 🙂

December 2, 2020 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: ,