Hidizs AP60 DAP for $84 [MD] or $89

Someone needs to create a new game show, “Is it a DAP or Not?”. If someone told you there is a “Hidizs AP60” digital audio player would you believe them? Is it REAL or NOT? SPOILERS after this sentence…

Spoiler alert: YES, it is real, the Hidizs AP60 digital audio player is not only real but also fully unlocked at Massdrop for $80 plus $4~ flat shipping with eight days left to go in the offer (from blog-posting date). Three colors are available. It ships late November and comes with a 1-year warranty covered by Massdrop. Earbuds are included. I suppose the VE Monks made Earbuds Great Again 🙂

This plays multiple file formats up to DSD 128 and has Bluetooth 4.0 with Apt-X. Storage is via its microSD slot. In addition to being a DAP, you can also “connect it to your computer or phone as an external decoder” (the product description’s language).

If you want to get it slightly faster (but not that much faster), you can get it by Shenzhen Audio (shipping from Asia) for around $88 through NewEgg or Amazon. There are no shipping options from within the USA at the moment.

October 21, 2016 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With: ,

TEAC HA-P50 Red Portable Headphone DAC/amp for $153

If you like modestly-red colored portable headphone amplifiers, the red TEAC HA-P50 (with a “-R” appended to its name to signify the red) is currently on sale for $153.20 (such a very specific price) with a limit of five per customer at Amazon.com offered at this price by Amazon actual and a marketplace sellers. So the price looks like it may be a computer-generated price-match of marketplace seller? It averages 4 out of 5 but based on only 7 reviews. It has 3.5mm audio and Toslink, along with USB inputs, and a headphone out. It has a built-in rechargeable battery.

PS: you can find more customer reviews at the other colors.

October 21, 2016 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Thinksound ON1 Headphones for $128 [MD]

If you are a fan of wood-headphones, the Thinksound ON1 on-ears are back on offer at members-only Massdrop going for $$120 plus $8~ flat shipping. The offer runs for the next seven days (from today) and will ship in mid-November 2016. Only 40 units are available for this particular drop, so it may sell out before it expires. They come with a 2-year warranty.

October 21, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

[DEAD] Bluedio Vinyl Plus Luxury Bluetooths for $190

These lightning deals expired…

[Read more…]

October 21, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[DEAD] Turtle Beach Ear Force i60 Wireless Gaming Headset for $99

This daily deal expired… The Meh daily deal for Saturday is the Turtle Beach Ear Force i60 Wireless Gaming Headset offered for $94 plus $5 flat shipping (or free shipping if you are a paying member). This is model TBS-7020-01.

October 21, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Refurbished MEE Audio Matrix2 AF62 Bluetooth for $50

The new condition MEE Audio Matrix 2 AF-62 bluetooth headphones go for $61 in new condition at recognizable dealers (eg amazon.com), but if you prefer to save some more, you can get it for $50 with free shipping in manufacturer refurbished condition with a 90 day warranty by the official MEE Audio eBay store. Limit five units per customer.

These are bluetooth 4.0 headphones with AAC and apt-X codecs, with NFC (handy for easier pairing if you mix and match multiple sources and headsets in the same vicinity). It has a built-in battery and can also play music via standard 3.5mm audio cables.

October 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , , ,

Audio Technica M30X for $50

eBay action now, seller “BluCoil” (99.2%, New Jersey) is offering the new condition closed-back over-ear Audio Technica M30X headphones for $50 with free shipping with a limit of five units per customer. Model-wise these are a step below the M40x which is developing its own counter-culture hype-train after the M50x hype train started deflating (or something like that).

October 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Brainwavz IEM grab bag for $22 [MD]

If you like the semi-uncertainty of grab bag offers, the Brainwavz IEMs promotion is back at members-only Massdrop. You pay $20 plus $2 flat shipping and you are guaranteed to receive (randomly) one out four model. More than half of the people will receive the M5 (without mic). There is a limit of two per customer with a maximum of 550 units available for this promotion. There are also three over-ear headphones available if they reach certain units purchased goals. The offer runs for the next eight days (from today) and will ship around Thanksgiving 2016.

October 20, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

[DEAD] JLab J6MS Single-Ear In-Ear for $10

This limited time offer expired…

[Read more…]

October 20, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With:

[DEAD] Back In-Stock: Focal Elear for $1000

AS of 10/21/16 re-check, these sold out again… For future updates, check the brand new Headphone Tracker…

and if you are looking for the new Focal Elear, we have some good news for you. As of the time of writing, there are two units in-stock for $1000 with free shipping by AudioLAB thru Amazon. These ships directly from AudioLAB, so they are not Prime eligible… Yesterday the brown color of the Sony MDR-1000X was in-stock but as of this update, it has gone out of stock…

If you have any headphones you are interested and you want me to track them, please leave a comment or use the contact form. Twitter account coming during the weekend.

October 20, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

New Headphone Tracker (frequently updated post)

This is the Headphone Tracker. We use it to track new headphone releases and hard to find products (eg, ones that go in and out of stock every few days/weeks). Actual release dates are hard to come by most of the time. I am trying to keep this at a manageable size, both in terms of you being able to read it and me being able to update it frequently 🙂 If you have any ideas or suggestions or feedback please leave a comment or use the contact form or ask on our brand new Twitter account.

LATEST UPDATE on 2/4/17 – added some of the most interesting of the headphones announced at CES 2017. Many of them don’t even have pre-orders at the moment…

PS: if you want to check for the latest arrivals one by one, check the New Arrivals posts category.

Headphone Tracker: NEW or HARD to FIND
Type In-Stock Pre-Order Unavailable
OVER-EARS
Over $300		 Blue Ella
Focal Elear		 Blue Sadie AT ATH-DSR9BT
AT ATH-DSR7BT
AT ATH-SR9
Blue Satellite
Hifiman Edition 6
Monster Elements
Sennheiser HD1*
Sony MDR-Z1R
OVER-EARS
$200 to $300		 Monolith M560 Klipsch Heritage
Sony XB950 N1
Sony XB950 B1
Monolith M1060 (Feb 24)
OVER-EARS
Under $200		 Sony XB550AP
Sennheiser HD 4.50 BT NC
Sennheiser HD 4.40 BT
ON-EARS Sennheiser HD1*
AT ATH-AR3BT
AKG N60 BT
Monster Elements
IN-EARS Jaybird X3
AU iSine 10
AU iSine 20		 Apple Earpods
AU iSine 10 (L)
AU iSine 10 VR
AU iSine 20 (L)		 AT ATH-CKR100iS
AT ATH-LS400i
AT ATH-LS300iS
Hifiman RE-2000
Hifiman RE-800
1More Quad
Beyerd Xelento Remote
Ultimate Ears UE 18+ PRO
Sennheiser HD1 BT
Monster Barflinks
Beats X
RHA CL1
RHA CL750
DAC, AMP, DAP, PAD Fiio X5 III
Shure Lightning
Hifiman EF1000
Chord Hugo 2
Chord Poly
Walkman NW-WM1Z
Walkman NW-A30
Sony TA-ZH1ES
RHA Dacamp L1
GAMING BeyerD CUSTOM
BeyerD MMX30 II
Logitech G553
October 19, 2016 Filed Under: headphones

In-Stock Now: Monoprice Monolith Amplifiers (Monolith Planar Headphones not yet)

Monoprice launched a new line of Monolith branded audio products, and the first wave is now in-stock and shipping, four of their Monolith Amplifiers with prices ranging from $1000 to $1500. These are general purpose amplifiers, not dedicated headphone amplifiers… The two new Monolith Planar headphones are still not available for pre-order (priced at $200 and $300 each).

October 19, 2016 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Massdrop x HiFiMAN RE-00 for $35 w/free S&H [MD]

The Hifiman – Massdrop party comes in pairs, also fully unlocked, but with seven days to go (from blog-posting date) are the RE-00 In-Ears going for $35 with free shipping. They will ship from Massdrop directly, with an early November estimate.

October 19, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Massdrop x HiFiMAN HE-350 for $100 [MD]

It’s back on again! And it’s still $100. The Massdrop x HiFiMAN HE-350 headphones are fully unlocked over there, going for $100 with free shipping, with an early November 2016 shipment estimate. Shipments will arrive from Massdrop. There is no mention of warranty in the listing. There are eight days left in this offer (from blog-posting date here). The HE-350 is based on the HE-300 and it’s another one of Massdrop’s growing list of exclusive and custom headphones.

October 19, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[SOLD OUT] Back In-Stock: Focal Elear for $999

As of a 10/19/16 re-check, this one sold-out: We have another Bigfoot sighting, the brand new Focal Elear are in-stock and ready to ship, with one unit available, for $999 with free shipping by AudioLab thru Amazon. This ships directly from AudioLAB, so it is not Prime eligible.

PS: also in-stock are the Focal Utopia for their price of $4000, these ones by Gramophone thru Amazon, again, shipping directly from the seller, so they are not Prime eligible.

PS2: some crackpot theorists suggest the Utopia was created to drive up sales for the Elear 🙂

October 18, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7B ANC for $89 [limit 5]

One of the “alternative to Bose” active noise cancelling headphones that are sometimes mentioned in recommendation lists are the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7B and they are currently on sale for $89 with free shipping with a limit of five units per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual. They average 3.7 out of 5 based on 1900+ customer reviews and have 99 answered questions. The ANC circuit is powered by one AAA battery, so it becomes a plus or minus depending how you plan to use them and whether you already have a rotation of rechargeable or single-use AAA batteries.

October 18, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

[DEAD] JLab Epic for $22, Core for $16 (ends 6:45pm ET)

This expired… A couple of parallel lightning deals at Amazon, good until 6:45m ET tonight, have the JLab Epic earphones going for $22~ and the Core earphones going for $16. Neither one is at risk of selling out as of 2pm ET.

October 18, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With:

Sentey GS-1402 Hard Headphone Travel Case for $5.75

The “Headphone vs Earphone” Fairness Doctrine requires that if we post a deal for an earphone case, we much match it with another post for a headphone case 😉 Which brings us to the Sentey GS-1402 Hard Headphone Travel Case dropping down to $5.75 in new condition, sold by Sentey with the order fulfilled by Amazon (Prime eligible). Limit 30 per customer. This is not an Add-On item as of the time of writing *fingers crossed*

If you are also considering the previously mentioned Pelican items and need to get to $25+ to get the $3~ foam set, adding the Sentey case can help you get there.

It averages 4.2 out of 5 based on 160 customer reviews and has 39 answered questions. Between those two you can triangulate/guestimate whether it fits your headphones. I don’t have this one, so I can’t opine.

October 17, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: ,

Pelican 1010 Micro Case (Black) under $10, Foam Filler for $3+

If you are a fan of Pelican cases for your earphones, the black Pelican 1010 Micro Case with clear lid is available for just under $10 by a marketplace seller with the order Prime eligible (fulfilled by Amazon). The other color schemes go for $10+ shipped (non-Prime eligible).

And if you need “filler material” for the case, the Pelican 1012 Pick N’ Pluck Foam Set for 1010 Micro-Case (Grey) is going for $3.17 with a limit of 90 per customer. However, the foam is an “Add On” item, so you must place a $25+ order otherwise the shopping cart won’t let you buy it. The 1010 Case is not an Add-On, so you don’t need to buy anything else.

October 17, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: ,

TFZ Series 5 IEMs for $64 [MD]

TFZ IEMs are slowly but steadily climbing The Hype Charts, and right now, a new Massdrop offer went fully unlocked (= lowest price during their offering). It is the TFZ Series 5 IEMs going for $60 plus $4~ flat shipping. The offer runs for the next seven days (from blog-posting date) and will ship in mid-November from MD. No mention of warranty in the listing.

October 17, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: ,

Two Apple Earpods with Cases for $18 w/free S&H

Among today’s featured deals at A4C (All 4 Cellular) there is a sale on a 2-Pack of Apple Earpods with Storage Cases, together going for $18 (was $17) with free shipping. These are new condition. The A4C featured deals rotate every few days on their home page, so if you miss them today, they will likely return again at some point in the future.

October 17, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With:

(ENDED) Feed the DAPs: MicroSD and Flash Drive Sale [PADs: Sony Xperia sale] {Monday sale}

These 1-day offers have now expired…

[Read more…]

October 17, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: , ,

Refurbished 16GB Zune HD for $60

Your whole world does not begin to Zoom, it begins to …Zune if you purchase this eBay listing: eBay seller “Digital Outlet” (99.4%, Northern California) is offering the manufacturer refurbished 16GB Microsoft Zune HD for $60 with free shipping. It comes with a cable but no headset. It is covered by a 60 day warranty. Limit 50 units per customer. Over 1700 of these Zunes got sold according to the in-page eBay statistics over there.

This had an OLED screen before it was cool 🙂 It also plays DRM’ed WMA music files being in close proximity with Microsoft. It is really sad this got yanked out, Zune was just finding its legs right as they killed it. Also cancelled along with the Zune was the entertaining Zune podcast.

October 16, 2016 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With: , , ,

Bonnaire MX-620 IEMs (bluetooth) for $52 [MD]

If you like to try under-the-radar IEM brands “before they were cool”, here comes another option fully unlocked at members-only Massdrop, it’s the Bonnaire MX-620 going for $48 plus $4~ flat shipping. There are two colors to pick from, and optionally for +$14 you can get a cable for wired usage. The warranty is covered by MD. They have seven days to go from blog-posting date (here), and will ship in mid-November 2016.

October 16, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Dekoni Bulletz Earphone Tips for $16 [MD]

Comply is not the only name in the game. Massdrop has the Dekoni Bulletz Earphone Tips going for $13 plus $3~ flat shipping. This is the “fully unlocked” price of this offering. This is open for purchase for the next seven days and will ship in mid-November 2016. Two types are available to select at checkout. They will ship by the vendor with the warranty taken care of by Massdrop.

October 16, 2016 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: ,

(ENDED) Monday’s Offers: MEE S6 In-Ears, Bluedio, JBL, etc

These Monday limited-time offers are over…

[Read more…]

October 16, 2016 Filed Under: headphones

Jaybird X2 Sport Bluetooth Earphones for $80 (four colors)

No news of a Jaybird X3 release, but in the meantime four of the six color schemes of the Jaybird X2 Sport Bluetooth Earphones are on sale, in new condition, for $80 per pair, at Amazon by Amazon actual. As usual, convenience and special features (eg exercise) are the raisons d^etre of these earphones so obviously for the same price, you can get plain wired in-ears that perform better audiophile-wise. These average 3.4 out of 5 based on 4000+ customer reviews and have 540+ answered questions.

October 15, 2016 Filed Under: in-ears Tagged With: , ,

Colorfly C3 DAP for $50 [MD]

The “DAP undercurrent resurgence” (sounds like a good name for an essay post!) is not just happening at the high-end. Even the sub-$50 market is getting fresh DAPs, perhaps in the mini void left after Sandisk lost interest in preserving the “magic” of the Clip+.

To cut a long story short, good for the next eight days is the Colorfly C3 digital audio player going for $47 plus $3~ flat shipping at members-only Massdrop. This plays up to FLAC and WAV and has 8GB on-board storage but fear not, it also takes microSD cards up to 64GB. With card prices continuing to drop, this is thrifty way to go.

No warranty information is mentioned in the listing. Shipping estimate is mid-November 2016.

October 15, 2016 Filed Under: digital audio players Tagged With: ,

Shipping Now: Closed-Back version of Sennheiser HD 598 (CS)

We have another new headphone arrival! If you are among the boldly-going early-adopters and willing to pay full price and not wait for future discounts, the brand new closed-back version of the Sennheiser HD 598, the CS (CS = Closed), is now in-stock and ready to ship for $250 at Amazon by Amazon actual. Two cables are included, one with a 1-button remote, and another without.

October 14, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Ultrasone PRO550 Closed for $95 after $15 MIR

If you are a fan of Ultrasone and mail-in rebates (MIR), good until 10/26/16 you can get the new condition closed-back foldable Ultrasone PRO550 headphones for $95 after a $15 mail-in rebate at Adorama.com. More details on the MIR inside this PDF file.

While there, they are offering the new condition Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 2nd Gen 2 Input/4 Output USB 2.0 Audio Interface with 2x Scarlett Mic/Instrument Preamplifiers for $149 with free shipping until 10/25/16. Audio interfaces are of interest if you need to make use of them for their intended purposes. If you have no intended-use for them, you are probably better off getting dedicated headphone DACs and AMPs and DAPs.

NOTE: orders placed between now and 10/25/16 will begin shipping on 10/26/16. They are closed for religious holidays.

October 14, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Over-Ears for $244

If you need to get a Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 over-ears headphone right now and don’t want to wait for the holiday shopping season madness to begin, the black color scheme with the Apple iOS buttons is going for $244 with free shipping with a limit of five per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual. For the price, you can alternately get Two On-Ears!

October 14, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 On-Ear for $120+ (iOS) or $132+ (non-iOS)

The black color scheme of the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 On-Ears with the Apple/iOS remote control is now down to $120 with free shipping with a limit of five units per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual. The brown goes for $132, and the others go for more.

On the non-iOS front (they call it “Galaxy” but they mean Android, Windows Phone, etc), the lowest price is $132 for the black color scheme with a limit of five. the other colors go for more.

PS: the iOS/Android difference is in the remote control buttons, especially the Volume Up/Down buttons. The basic play/pause buttons typically work on most non-iOS devices/app combos. Next and Previous track is more nebulous. They come with detachable cables so if you have a compatible cable from another Sennheiser headphone (or can find one at a good price), then you can switch iOS/Android cables depending on your music source device.

October 14, 2016 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Massdrop recap: products with 2-5 days left

A few more items became fully unlocked at Massdrop, so to get things moving faster, here’s a round-up, with the days remaining being from the blog-post date:

  • 2 days left: Kennerton Ikiz IEMs for $138 shipped
  • 3 days left: Audeo PFE 232 IEMs for $407 shipped
  • 3 days left: xDuoo TA-02 Tube Amp for $98 shipped
  • 5 days left: FX Audio DAC-X6 for $70 shipped
October 13, 2016 Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

Philips SHS3200 EarHook Earbuds for $6 w/free S&H

Speaking of earbud-related matters, here’s a single-figure shipped offer, eBay seller “Big Deals” (99%, New Jersey) is offering the bulk packaging (new condition) Philips SHS3200 EarHook Earbuds for $6 with free shipping, with a limit of 50 units per customer. These are marketed as exercise earbuds because of the hook, but of course you can use them any which way you like. This is definitely on the utilitarian, not the audiophile end of the spectrum.

October 13, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With: , ,

Yuin Pk3 Earbuds for $27 shipped [MD]

Actual Earbuds are making a mini resurgence, partially thanks to a variety of “pods” by Apple. Before the “Monks craze” there was Yuin, and right now, their Yuin Pk3 Earbuds are fully unlocked for $24 plus $3~ flat shipping at Massdrop. This offer has three more days left to go (from blog-posting date). Shipping estimate is early November. They are available in the black color scheme.

Speaking of the Monks, we have here an unboxing (text/pictures only) along with an in-progress diary-style review of the Monks Plus model.

October 13, 2016 Filed Under: earbuds Tagged With: ,