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Another day, another dropping has unlocked, it is open-back over-ear time with another exclusive, the “Massdrop x AKG K7XX” (that’s the official name) is going for $200 with free shipping. There are six days left in the offer, but note that the shipping estimate is early October 2016. Since this is co-developed with AKG, it is backed by a two year warranty from AKG itself.
PS: if you are not familiar with the AKG line-up, in general, the K7* are open-back, while the K5* are closed.
If you are looking for an RS-wireless (non-Kleer) headphone system, the new condition Sennheiser RS120 is on sale for $60 with free shipping at Groupon and Amazon actual (limit 5).
This is comprised of two parts, the transmitter-base and the headset. You can purchase additional headsets and connect them to the same base. The headsets only work with the transmitter you cannot use them via 3.5mm.
And here comes another used Grado, it is the open-back SR125e, whose new condition price is $150 at authorized dealers but right now there’s a “Used – Very Good” (cosmetic imperfections, damaged packaging) option for $120 [was $113~, was $108~] with free shipping by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual… Price updated here 9/2/16 AM…
PS: if you are not familiar with the Grado naming scheme, the “i” and “e” in their names have nothing to do with iPads or remote/mics or digital features. It’s just a naming convention. They are wired plain headphones.
If you are Grado-curious but don’t want to spend a lot of money on the curiosity, the 80-models are a good entry point. These open-back headphones go for $100 at authorized dealers but if you are comfortable with used, there’s a “Used – Very Good” condition listing for $77~ and a “Used – Like New” for $84 (was $81~) at Amazon Warehouse Deals… Price updated here 9/2/16 AM…
UPDATE 8/31/16 at 2:42pm ET: now the lowest is around $61, with three pages of sellers
UPDATE 8/31/16 at 12:12am ET:: lowest price currently is $51 shipped with three pages of results…
UPDATE 8/30/16 at 3:24pm ET: Prices now sky-rocketing, lowest is $82~…
UPDATE 10:46pm ET: the lowest price now at Amazon.com is $44. I suspect this price tug-of-war will continue as more Japanese Amazon sellers learn of this and rush to offer it up for sale…
UPDATE 7:24pm ET: Demand overwhelmed supply as of this time, the lowest price has skyrocketed from $35.50 to $52.57, and it went from ten pages of results to just two pages of results… The Hype Is STRONG 🙂
ORIGINAL POST
Kingmaker is a brand new term I am proposing, when a high profile website or reviewer is picking a fairly unknown or under the radar product and singing its praises or hyping it up.
We have a new Kingmaker today! Earlier in the morning, The Verge posted a very favorable hype-building post on the Zero Audio ZH-DX200-CT in-ears (“stop what you’re doing and buy these”).
The unusual thing about this is that they are a Japan product so you can’t get them from USA retailers. This sudden spike in demand apparently triggered a mini price-war among Japan-exporting/importing marketplace sellers at Amazon.com with the price currently at $35.50 with free shipping. There are ten pages of listings (!!!), and none of them is Prime eligible. Supply and demand have complications, the Economics 101 textbook examples rarely happen in the real world 🙂
If you can’t resist playing the Hype Headphone Roulette, make sure you evaluate each seller’s profile (score, total reviews, actual reviews, most recent reviews/feedback, other items they are selling, etc).
Some of the many colors of the Beats Studio 2.0 closed-back over-ear headphones with active noise cancellation are on sale for $100 with free shipping at the Walmart website. There is no mention of warranty and a customer question as to that is unanswered. Returns have to be done in store (that ridiculous “Cannot return by mail” box). No wonder they had to buy Jet.com, their website is a mess and has bizarrelly-written things like that shipping warning 🙂
If you are interested in the Sony MDR-1A closed-back over-ears and want to pay under $200, there are two options. If you want Sony USA’s blessings, you can get them manufacturer refurbished with a 90-day warranty for $180 with free shipping by Secondipity through Amazon Warehouse Deals.
On the other hand, if you don’t want Sony’s blessings, but prefer them new condition, you can get the International Versions in new condition but without a Sony USA warranty from various marketplace sellers with some of the orders fulfilled by Amazon (Prime eligible) for $190 with free shipping in either the silver MDR-1A or the black MDR-1A.
The Fiio X3-II DAP goes for $169 in new condition but if you want to save some more, you can get it as low as $134 (“Used – Like New”, Titanium color scheme) at Amazon Warehouse Deals. This link shows you the lowest price per color. To see the detailed listings per color, click on the “See all offers for this product” next to the color’s name.
Another day another offer unlocking at Massdrop, this time it is a double stack, the APPJ 1601A Wi-Fi Tube Amplifier going for $175 plus $9~ flat shipping. The offer is good for the next seven days and will ship in late September 2016. This is a multi-feature device but NOTE this is NOT a dedicated headphone amp.
If you are planning a present or near-future order at Amazon of $25+, the 6pk of Koss Portable Replacement Cushions (good for multiple models including PortaPros and KSC-75) is down to $3 per 6pk at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of five sets per customer. The catch is that they are an Add-On item, so you must place a $25+ qualifying order, otherwise the shopping cart will refuse to let you buy them.
Star Wars fever is building up again as the new movie is getting closer, but the prices of their officially licensed headphones with 50 Cent’s SMS Audio continue to drop in price, you can get their closed-back on-ears as low as $37 (Chewbacca) or $37.50 (Tie Fighter) or $39 (Stormtrooper) or $40 (Rebels, Empire, Boba Fett, etc). These prices are fulfilled by Amazon from various sellers.
A new week is here with another round of manufacturer-initiated discounts, and among them it is the new condition Chromecast Audio going for $30 with free shipping at the official Google eBay store (limit 5) and free shipping for Rewards members at Staples.com.
In parallel, there’s a promotion running until 9/15/16 that gets you two free months of Spotify Premium with Chromecast Audio purchase. Perhaps Google is building up goodwill towards competitors to discourage monopolistic complaints 🙂
If you are Chromecast-Audio-curious, here’s our text and pictures useful Unboxing. Fear not, there’s no audio and no video. It’s a non-disruptive unboxing 🙂
Another day, another unlocked offer at members-only Massdrop, this time it is the Little Dot MKII Tube Headphone Amp going for $120 plus $9~ flat shipping. Additional tube choices are available when during the checkout process over there. There are seven days (from blog-posting date) left in the offer and the shipping estimate is late September 2016. It comes with a 1-year warranty from Massdrop itself.
I wonder how many Audio-Technica employees can recite the company’s headphone line-up because they have so many of them. One of the them is the closed-back ATH-T300 available in manufacturer refurbished condition with a 90 day warranty by Dealfisher thru AWD for $14 with free shipping for all. It is not Prime eligible, it ships directly from Dealfisher. (AWD = Amazon Warehouse Deals).
This 4-hour lighting deal expired… Good until 5:34pm ET today (or earlier if sold out) is the Nobsound 6J9 Vacuum Tube Integrated Amplifier Mini Audio HiFi Stereo Headphone Amp on sale for $42.50 as a lightning deal. It is sold by Douk Audio with the order fulfilled by Amazon so it is eligible for Prime shipping. The price before the sale was $50 last night. It averages 4.2 out of 5 on 93 reviews, and it is 50% claimed as of 2:48pm ET.
Two weeks ago these were going for $65, but further down they dropped, it’s the Koss Pro DJ 200 headphones dropping to a balanced price of $50.50 at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of five units per customer. The headphones average 4.6 out 5 on 70 customer reviews.
The Sony XBAH1 Hybrid 2-Way In-Ears are currently available in “Used – Very Good” condition for $49~ by Secondipity through Amazon Warehouse Deals. They ship directly from them so they are not eligible for Prime shipping.
Square earcups is the defining feature of the Yamaha HPH-M82BL closed-back on-ears, and four of their six colors are currently on sale for around $56 each, in new condition, at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of five per color per customer. They have an MFi 3-button remote and average 3.6 out of 5 on 12 reviews.
Another new headphone is now steadily in-stock and ready to ship, it is another Sennheiser PXC series model, the 550, with Bluetooth 4.2 and Active Noise Cancelling (they call it NoiseGard) with a new condition price of $400 and a used price of $320. These prices are for the early adopters.
This headphone is just one purchase short of fully unlocking and it should easily do so with 15 days left in the offer, it is the new condition AKG K181 DJ UE closed-back on-ears going for $55 plus $8~ flat shipping with a late September 2016 release estimate.
Speaking of AKG DJ headphones, the K167 TIESTO DJ, in new condition, goes for $55~ with free shipping with a limit of three units per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual.
And while we are talking Massdrop, another offer fully unlocked, it’s “just” cables, no, not the magical kind, but the utilitarian kind, the MEE Audio MMCX Cables going for $25 plus $3.50 flat shipping. Earphones NOT included. This offer has eight more days to go and ships in late September 2016.
Speaking of magical audio improvements, did you know that there’s now magical “file copying technology” that improves sound quality? Yes, the soul of the music is recaptured and reconstructed in the buffers in otherwise bit-by-bit identical music files. Because it’s the soul of the music! /sarcasm
These daily deals expired…
As of 8/27/16 2pm ET price-recheck, it jumped to $80+… Another Yamaha new condition headphone is on sale, this time it is the closed-back over-ear Yamaha HPH-MT120BL studio monitors going for $85 with free shipping with a limit of three per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual.
And now something different, at the intersection of fun, funny and practical 🙂 We are in back to school season, and some of the doorbusters and coupon specials or clearance items you may find at some of the big chain stores (from Staples to Office Depot-Max to Target to Walmart to Big Lots to drug store and grocery chains and all in-between) can actually be re-purposed as earphones cases, and in the case of folding portable on-ears, as headphone cases too 🙂
All the things you see below have been repurposed as earphone cases. You can see them all in this Thrifty Office Supplies Doorbuster post. Fear not, the pictures are .PNG, they won’t eat up your bandwidth 🙂
These are our “raw materials”:
And this is one of the many examples of their repurposing:
See them all at the detailed post at the main website. I have to change the WordPress theme of that one, it looks kinda space-age-goofy 🙂
UPDATE Thursday 10:47pm ET ~ as of this recheck, there is one left…
ORIGINAL
Flagship headphone action on the Focal front now, their new Utopia Reference headphone is in-stock and ready to ship for $3999 with free shipping by AudioLab thru Amazon. This ships directly from AudioLAB, so it is not Prime eligible. Two units are available as of the time of writing.
Screenshot of the Amazon product page below:
Considering the flagshipness of this, it is probably a good idea to select the fastest shipping option possible. You don’t want a flagship headphone floating around in delivery trucks for too long 🙂
Another new headphone is now in-stock and ready to ship to your ears for $249 with free shipping by various authorized dealers with the orders fulfilled by Amazon along with AudioLab’s eBay store (two units available).
If you like “predictable surprises”, a new grab bag offer is running now at members-only Massdrop. It’s a grab bag of Brainwavz IEMs. Four different models are participating. You will randomly receive one of them if you pay $20 plus $2 flat shipping. Limit up to two per customer. The offer is running for the next 8 days and is limited to 1200 units sold. There are four prizes (three AKG Massdrop-excilsive over-ears and Sennheiser HD800) if certain quantity levels (total number of purchases) are reached during the promotion.
Headphones are often among the featured items at the eBay Deals, and among them, Pro Audio Star (99.2%, Brooklyn) is offering the new condition AKG K240 II semi-open over-ears for $65 with free shipping with a limit of fifty units per customer. This is the Made In China model.
For Friday August 25 in 2016, coupon code 2CRAZY gets you 20% off Monoprice-branded products at the Monoprice site, including their Monoprice Desktop Headphone Amp, Product ID 11567, for $79~ after coupon. Since this is 20% off an item, not a $20 off $100+, you don’t need to add a filler item (its regular price is just under $99).
The coupon is also good for other Monoprice-branded products including their recommendation list participant 8323 Closed-Back Over-Ears with detachable cable. Price before coupon is $16.
These two daily deals expired…
As of 8/25/16 1:20pm ET re-check, the refurbished option sold out…
If you missed it during the previous sale, it looks like it is back, the manufacturer refurbished closed-back over-ear Sony MDR-Z7 are going for $320 with free shipping by Secondpity through Amazon Warehouse Deals. They ship directly from Secondipity, so they are not prime-eligible.
If you have or are planning to buy the Pelican 1010 Micro Cases (currently starting at $9.50 depending on color and seller), we have good news and bad news for the Pelican 1012 Pick N’ Pluck Foam Set (for the Pelican 1010 Micro-Cases or other similar cases). Its price has dropped down to $3.17, in new condition, at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of ten per customer. The bad news is that it is an Add-On item, so your order total must be $25+, otherwise their shopping cart will not let you buy it. You can get to $25+ by getting eight or more of these (based on current prices).
The foam set averages 4.5 out of 5 based on 29 customer reviews. Per the description, the foam is “die-cut into one inch squares”. I will pick one up the next time I place a $25+ order.
The Hifiman HE400S planar-magnetics go for $300 in new condition at authorized dealers, but if you prefer used, you can get them in “Used – Very Good” condition by Kraft Audio and Audio Advisor, with the orders fulfilled by Amazon, so they are Prime-eligible. The $200 listing is a high risk purchase, so avoid it.
Among the Wednesday Best Buy daily deals there are two Jabra bluetooth earbuds. The Rox model goes for $50 while the Sport Coach goes for $70. They get free 2-day shipping or free store pickup if you prefer.
PS: in recent weeks Best Buy switched to a new benefit where Rewards members (at the entry-level tier, no minimum annual spent prerequisite) get free 2-day shipping on a number of items going for $35+ (but not everything; and only items shipped by Best Buy, not through the various other sellers there).
The TFZ Series 1S IEMs are currently fully unlocked for $33 plus $4~ flat shipping at members-only Massdrop, with seven days left in the offer and with a late September shipping estimate. Four different colors are available… Alternately you can get them for $40 with free shipping with a September 6-20 delivery estimate by ShenzenAudio through amazon.com. It ships directly from ShenzhenAudio, so it’s not Prime eligible…
More droppings have dropped at the members-only online shipping club that is Massdrop, they are offering the new condition closed-back over-ear AKG K553 for $120 with free shipping with about seven days to go on this offer. It comes with a 2-year warranty from AKG and will ship in mid-September 2016. This is a pre-release exclusive of sorts for MD, as part of their growing relationship with Harman’s AKG.
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