Monoprice coupon: 30% off order of $50+ on select audio products [including M1070C Planars for $196 AC]

Good until 8/17/23, Monoprice is running a coupon promotion on specific Audio products, namely the ones listed at the aforelinked page. You have to use coupon code BIG30 to get the discount!

Eligible items include:

+ budget earphones, a $2 Premium (yes, LOL on that combo) and a $4.62 “reflective sound”
+ prices above before coupon
+ your order total must be $50+ to get the discount, whether you buy multiple of these and/or in combination with other eligible products

+ Monolith M1070C closed over-ear planars for $280 before coupon
+ drops to $196 after coupon

+ three Monolith headphone amps, two from Alex Cavali, and one THX AAA balanced

+ bluetooth and SonicSolace over-ears

+ various speakers and soundbars and assortedly related products

+ mounts and stands for the above

+ all kinds of audio cables and adapters along with Speaker Wire

REMEMBER, to take advantage of the discount your order total must be $50+ from any combination of products participating in this promotion. Ultimately, their shopping cart is the ultimate decider on what qualifies 🙂

August 1, 2023 Filed Under: store sale Tagged With: ,

Prime Day 2023: Top Selling Over-Ears

Today (July 12 in 2023) is the second and last day of the 2023 incarnation of Prime Day!

OVER EARS
If you are curious what’s happening in the world of headphones, both in terms of offers and in terms of what others are buying, here are the Top-Selling Over-Ears over there.

As you can expect, the list is dominated by Beats, Sony, Bose and various budget brands such as this well-reviewed (4.4 out of 5, 13,290 ratings) KVidio bluetooth over-ears for $20 in five color options. Despite the price, it has Bluetooth 5.3 which makes you wonder why some of the big audio brands are still on Bluetooth 4 while charging an order of magnitude more for theirs 🙂 It folds, plays via 3.5mm as well, promises up to 65 hours, USB-C, etc!

The first open-back headphone in the list appears at #31, it is the Sennheiser HD 599 SE for $80, a pretty good price, thus the high chart position ~ considering the normies buy cheap and Beats and Bose and Sony and JBL and Apple proper and Anker and such 🙂

Sennheiser is also at #37 with the HD 450SE bluetooth over-ears for $80. And that’s it for the audiophile name-brand products in the Top 100. One open back and two Sennheisers 🙂

ON EARS
The On-Ears category is more of the same, with Beats and Sony and JBL and cheap brands dominating among the name-brand products. Yes, the good old Sony ZX-110 for $10 is charting high at #10. I never got around to writing a review for this, but I believe this headphone was tuned (intentionally or not) for usage in coffee shop background noise 🙂

A few of over-ears also appear in the second half of the Top 100, [see meta note below], the Sennheiser HD 350 BT, the Bose QC 45, the Beats Studio 3 🙂

At #79 we find another old friend, the lightweight Panasonic RP-HT21. Per the Amazon listing, I bought this almost exactly ten years ago!

And shortly after that we have another lightweight, the good old Koss KPH-7 for $6 in the black color scheme. This one I bought eight years ago.

Meta: On the Lists
Before you freak out looking at the list, note that Amazon’s categorization is a big mess, you will find non-canon products (eg truly wireless and such) in the listing. There’s too many 3rd-party sellers listing their products everywhere, intentionally or not 🙂

That’s why I’m not mentioning the open-back category, it’s fully of kinda bone conduction and random truly wireless 🙂

July 11, 2023 Filed Under: headphones

Massdrop has its own Prime sale (200 options)

Massdrop (yes, I’m still calling them that) is having its very own Prime sale featuring exactly 200 products, including plenty of audio-related items.

In this post, I’m rounding up some of the offerings. This is a sampling, not a comprehensive listing!

OPEN BACKS
+ Koss KPH-40X Utility lightweights for $29

+ Hifiman HE-X4 planars for $89
+ yes, you can dabble into planar over-ears for under $100

+ Sennheiser HD 58x Jubilee for $149

+ Hifiman HE-4XX planars for $149
+ Hifiman HE-5XX planars for $169

+ Sennheiser HD 6XX for $199

+ Drop+ Dan Clark AEON for $369

+ FOCAL ELEX for $599

+ Sennheiser HD 800 S for $1425

CLOSED BACKS
+ Hifiman HE-R7DX for $79

+ Drop+ Dan Clark Audio AEON for $449

+ Drop+ MR Speakers Ether CX for $649

IEMs and TW
+ Etymotic ER3-SE or ER3-XR IEMs for $95

+ Akoustyx R-220 IEMs for $149

+ Beyerdynamic DT 177X studio for $349

+ Campfire Dorado 2020 IEM for $499

DAC/Amps and such
+ DROP + SMSL HO150X LINEAR head-amp for $169

Head-Accessories and such
+ various gaming headsets (not listed here)

+ Kanton H2 headphone stand for $30
+ that’s too cheap for Massdrop? 😉

+ Craighill headphone stand for $80
+ Barrett Creative Lamina V2 stand for $90

Etc
+ FFT Audio Light for $140
+ if you are mesmerized by shiny lights that go with the flow of the music!

+ lots and lots of keyboards and their new category of PC/gaming accessories
+ I’m glad I avoided the keyboard fetish special interest, because it looks like a never-ending and very expensive hobby 🙂
+ this is not a keyboard blog, so I won’t mention them here 🙂

July 11, 2023 Filed Under: store sale Tagged With:

Philips X3 Open Over-Ears for $140

This offer is open to all Amazon customers! A 3rd-party seller (Phototech) is offering the new condition wired open-back over-ears Philips Fidelio X3 for $140 with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so Prime members get free 2-day shipping.

Amazon’s own price is higher. Phototech is a frequent seller of the Fidelio line.

As to which one of the Fidelio X-series headphones to get, or whether to get them, well, head on over to your favorite headphoolia websites, forums, blogs and vlogs for never-ending discussions 🙂

July 11, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Prime Day 2023 is here with surprise Sennheiser hot offers!

Prime Day 2023 is here and there are five pages of Headphone deals including the usual suspects of popular with consumer options like Bose, Beats, Sony, AirPods and such.

But the big surprise of the day is a Big Sennheiser SALE including:

+ open over-ear HD 560S for $150

+ open over-ear HD 600 for $283~

+ open over-ear HD 660 S2 for $400

+ open over-ear HD 599 SE for $80

+ closed over-ear HD 450 SE Bluebooths for $80

+ also various truly-wireless and a couple of RF-series TV headphones

+ IE 200 In-Ears for $100

+ to purchase most of the offers above, you must be a Prime Member, thus the Prime Day name
+ if you want to buy any of these offers, fear not, you can jump in and buy anything you want as long as you start a 30-DAY free TRIAL of Prime!

July 11, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , , ,

Lowest price sale of select Monoprice audio products

If you are fond of Monoprice audio products or their many audio cables and assorted accessories, they are currently having a Lowest Price sale of select products, including a few headphones, speakers, a couple of DACs, and all kinds of audio cables and assorted accessories.

Please note that I’m not familiar with the price ranges of the various Monoprice products, so I can’t trust-but-verify they are the “lowest price sale” as the Monoprice website states.

July 5, 2023 Filed Under: store sale Tagged With:

Tuesday: Denon AH-MM400 Closed Over-Ears for $129

Happy Independence Day to all and especially fans of wood material type of headphones! Good until 7/4/23 at 11:59pm eastern time (or earlier if sold out), one of the deals of the day at B&H Photo is the new condition wired closed-back over-ear Denon AH-MM400 Reference headphones offered for $129. The “Reference” is part of the model name 🙂

It comes with two cables and a case and an adapter. They have five customer reviews over there, three of them from audiophile-sounding custaomers – they mention Chord Mojo, Fidelio, Fostex, Fiio, AH-D600, Oppo, etc 🙂

July 3, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

20% off coupon at Monoprice (expires 7/4/23)

If you are interested in checking out some of Monoprice’s headphones or DAC/amps or stock up on audio cables and other consumables, or most of the other items they sale, the Monoprice website is having a 4th of July coupon promotion!

Coupon MPS20 gets you 20% off the vast majority of products on their website. Some products are excluded, they even made a list of exclusions.

You can search for headphones or DAC/amps, or follow the categories and sub-categories over there to find what you want/need. Or search for Monolith, but do note that some of the Monolith products are not coupon-eligible [you can see them at the aforelinked list].

If you are fond of shopping refurbished and open-box products, they have some headphone-related options there as well!

And don’t forget to stock up on cables!

What’s even better, the coupon can be used three times per customer during this promotion. Each use has a maximum coupon-discount of $2000 per order. The coupon cannot be combined with other coupons!

Have fun Mono-shopping 🙂

June 30, 2023 Filed Under: store sale Tagged With: ,

Monday: V-MODA Crossfade 2 Competition Edition for $109

Good until Monday June 26 (2023) at 11:59pm eastern time, or earlier if sold out, as one of its deals du jour, Adorama is offering the new condition V-MODA Crossfade 2 Competition Edition headphones for $109. This is a bundle that includes “shield customization”.

Among other things included in this bundle are a customization voucher (to get your custom shields printed), a BoomPRO mic, an ExoSkeleton case, a SpeakEasy Lightning DAC/amp, and assorted other small things (1-button cable, clip, adapters, etc)…

June 26, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

FFT AUDIO LIGHT for $140 [MD]

This is a bit of a fun audio accessory and it is one of the first batch of products featured in Massdrop’s new “Battlestations” community of computer and gaming accessories of sorts!

It is the FFT AUDIO LIGHT and it is offered for $140 with a mid-September 2013 shipment estimate.

If you haven’t seen this before, I won’t ruin the surprise by detailing it here. I will just YouTube-embed a short video demo of it and if you are curious, the aforementioned Massdrop link has all the details!

June 22, 2023 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

72-hour sale: Shokz, AU TW, Senal Studio headphones

Every few months, B&H Photo creates a special 72-hour sales party they call the MEGA Deal Zone. This features almost all of the daily deals of the last few months. All of them available for purchase at the same time. There are nearly 1500 options and you can buy as many as you like!

In the Headphones section they include, among others:

+ Senal studio headphones, $45 for the SMH-1000, $50 for the SMH-1200
+ these are homages to the good old Sony MDR-7506/V6 type of headphones

+ Polsen HPC-A30 Mark II studio headphones for $15

+ Shokz swim-type bone conductions

+ various AU-sounds truly wireless

+ sale ends Thursday 6/23/23 at 11:59pm ET or earlier if sold out

PS: unrelated to the above, but I didn’t want to create a separate blog-post for this, one of the Tuesday 6/20/23 Kindle ebook daily deals is the ebook “Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius” by Harry Freedman for $2. This averages 4.7 out of 5 on 161 customer ratings as of the time of writing. It is 258 pages, October 2021, from Bloomsbury Continuum.

June 20, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Sat: AKG K240 II Studio headphones for $60

Good for Saturday June 3 in 2023, Adorama is offering, as one of their deals of the day, the new condition semi-open over-ear AKG K240 Mark II headphone for $60. There’s plenty written about these and the Mark I in the audiophile-phool forums, including endless Austria debates. I’ll leave all that fun to you 🙂

June 3, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

eBook: Living Well with Tinnitus: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural therapy for $2

This is a particularly relevant ebook in the world of headphones. It is part of a Kindle ebook sale that Amazon is currently running. The ebook is the “Living Well with Tinnitus: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural therapy” for $2 by Hashir Aazh and Brian C.J. Moore. It was published October 22 by Robinson and it is 398 pages long. As of the time of writing, it averages 4.7 out of 5 based on ten customer ratings…

May 28, 2023 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

Sennheiser HD 400S Closed Over-Ears for $50

If you are a fan of thicc earpads, the closed-back over-ear wired Sennheiser HD 400 S are on sale for $50 at various authorized dealers until 5/20/23 or earlier if sold out, including Adorama and B&H Photo and various at Amazon…

I haven’t seen or touched this particular model, but we have here a text and pictures unboxing of an older model, the HD 4.20 S 🙂

May 18, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Tue: Ultrasone 880 Closed Over-Ears + BT Adapter + Manfrotto Tripod for $700

Here at this blog we specialize in the not-normal, or as they say on the radio, it’s not your normal paranormal 😉

Case in point, for Tuesday May 16 in 2023, one of them B&H Photo deals du jour is a curious Manfrotto x Ulrasone bundle for $700. Yes, Manfrotto makes tripods for photography, video, etc.

For that price you get:

+ Ultrasone Performance Series 880 Closed Over-Ear Headphones
+ Ultrasone SIRIUS Bluetooth Adapter
+ Manfrotto 504X Fluid Video Head & MVTTWINMA Aluminum Tripod with Mid-Level Spreader

May 15, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Wedn: 2pk JVC U L8R truly wireless for $18 to $22

On the utilitarian front, the Meh daily deal for Wednesday 5/10/23 is a 2-pack of JVC truly wireless earphones. $18 gets you two sets of Gumy 5-hour while $22 gets you two sets of Stem 6-hour. Shipping is extra, or free if you are paying Meh-member (their version of member-based free shipping).

As the name suggests, the “Stem” model has an Airpod-style Stem, while the Gumy is the “traditional” earhole-only truly wireless 🙂

May 10, 2023 Filed Under: truly wireless Tagged With: ,

Sat: AKG K92 Studio Headphones for $30

The Adorama daily deal for Saturday May 6 in 2023 is the new condition wired closed-back over-ear AKG K92 headphone, designated of the studio kind, going for $30. It only comes with one accessory, a 1/4″ screw-on adapter. It has a 2-year AKG warranty.

Reminder that AKG is part of Harman, which in itself is part of Samsung 🙂

May 6, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Saturday: V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless Competition Edition bundle for $110 AC

If you are a fan of the V-Moda bluetooth closed-back over-ears, good for Saturday April 29 in 2023, thanks to a $110 off automatic add-to-cart coupon, Adorama is offering the V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless Competition Edition bundle for $110 after the coupon is factored in! This includes:

+ the headphones (duh!)
+ BoomPRO microphone
+ SpeakEasy DAC/amp lightning cable
+ Exoskeleton carry case
+ cables
+ customization voucher (to get customized “shields” from V-Moda)
+ 1-year limited warranty

April 29, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

20% off Monoprice website with coupon

For a limited time, Monoprice is offering 20% off on most things on their website using coupon code MP20. Too many audio-related items for me to check individually, but you can check for any items you may be interested in, eg their Monolith line or many of their budget cables, accessories and such.

One budget item to highlight that is on sale and drops even further with the coupon is the new condition Monoprice Sync Bluetooth Headphone with apt-X Low Latency dropping from $20 to $16 after the coupon code!

Note that this charges via micro-USB. The listing says it is bluetooth 4.2 but one of the three customer reviews says this is bluetooth 5.0.

April 25, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Saturday: AKG Podcaster Kit with K371 for $99

If you are looking to get the AKG K371 headphones or want a “podcaster kit”, for Saturday April 22 in 2023, one of the Adorama deals of the day is an AKG Podcast Kit for $99 that includes:

  • AKG K371 clsoed-back over-ears
  • Lyra USB Microphone
April 22, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

Thursday: Ultrasone Panther DAC/Amp + Ultrasone Signature DXP Closed-Back + Manfrotto CF Tripod for $850

If you think that headphone deals have become more boring and predictable, well, here’s something out of left field for this special day that is April 20 in 2023!

It’s a three item bundle at B&H Photo for $850. For that, you get:

  • Ultrasone Panther DSD DAC Amplifier
  • Ultrasone Signature DXP Closed-Back headphones
  • Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Twin Leg Video Tripod Legs with Mid-Level Spreader (100/75mm Bowl)

Yes, that’s a professional tripod for photography and video and such 🙂

April 20, 2023 Filed Under: amps and dacs, headphones Tagged With: , ,

Thur: refurbished JLAB Studio PRO Wireless (50hr) for $20 + S&H

Happy April 20 to all that celebrate it! We have an Earth Day type of a deal actually today, sort of, it’s a refurbished headphone, it is the Meh daily deal for 4/20/23, the refurbished JLAB Studio PRO Over-Ear closed-back bluetooth headphones with the “50 Hour” it in its name. Or for those who prefer proper product names, it is the ZHBASTUDIOPRORBLK4-B 🙂

The price is $20 plus shipping. If you are a paying Meh member, shipping is free. Sort of their version of “Prime”.

They charge via USB-C and come with a 90-day warranty. Bluetooth is version 5. I wouldn’t buy anything bluetooth that is under 5 ~ unless you are buying a specific product for a specific reason.

April 20, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Beats Studio 3 ANC/BT Over-Ears for $170

Trigger warning! This post mentions Beats headphones with bluetooth and ANC 🙂

One of the current featured deals at Amazon is a sale on new condition Beats Studio 3 ANC/BT Over-Ear headphones (with the Apple W1 chip) for $170. They are available in seven color schemes. Limit three per customer. Not sure if the limit is per color, or overall. You can find out in the shopping cart if that’s an issue!

As of the time of writing they average 4.7 out of 5 based on 33,500+ customer ratings at Amazon. Obviously there are not enough head-fi members rating headphones at Amazon 😉

April 10, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Massdrop (April 10-23): Refunds USA Sales Tax, offers FS internationally ($50+, 5i)

If you are tempted by Massdrop temptations, you have one more reason to give in to the temptation between April 10 – 23 in 2023! Coupon code USTAXDAY gets you benefits depending on your delivery address:

  • US shoppers: you get the sales tax refunded on your payment method (only works on states that collect sales tax, OBVIOUSLY)
  • International shoppers: you get FREE SHIPPING IF your order is $50+ AND you buy up to five items. More than five items in the shopping cart disqualify you from the free S&H promotion
  • NOTE that this coupon does NOT refund customs or other taxes outside the USA. It only refunds sales tax collected by select US states in the USA
April 8, 2023 Filed Under: store sale Tagged With: ,

Thursday: BOSE 700 ANC/BT over-ear closed-backs for $329

Adorama loves audio for Thursday 3/30/23, their daily deals have two audio-themed products:

+ BOSE 700 ANC/BT over-ear closed-backs for $329

+ M-Game Solo USB Streaming Mixer and Audio Interface with LED Lighting for $99

March 30, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

Yamaha YH-E700A ANC/BT closed over-ears for $130

Woot Plus are the longer running offers at Woot that run for a few days instead of just 24 hours. One such sale is running until the end of March 2023 (or earlier if sold), it is a Yamaha Audio sale that includes two head-related products, in new condition, with a 1-year Yamaha warranty:

+ Premium Sound True truly-wireless for $30
+ such an original model name 😉

+ YH-E700A ANC/BT closed over-ears for $130
+ two color options
+ up to two per customer
+ BT 5, apt-X adaptive
+ carrying case
+ USB-C charging

March 22, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , , ,

This Week: 20% off FOCAL flash sale at HPN

This week only (remember every blog post here has a date associated with it), the Headphones dot com website is having a FOCAL flash sale where you automatically get a 20% off discount. The price you see is the price you pay!

March 20, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Monolith Liquid Spark head amp for $62 w/FS

We are developing a bit of a head-amp theme today! Monoprice is having a sale on their new condition Monolith Liquid Spark Headphone Amplifier by Alex Cavalli for $62 with FREE standard US shipping. As of the time of writing it averages 4.7 out of 5 based on 70 customer reviews, and it has about that many answered questions.

Speaking of Monoprice, also on sale are their new condition Monolith M1000ANC ANC/BT over-ears for $42 with free standard US shipping. These average 4 out of 5 based on 12 customer reviews. They come with a USB-C charging cable, carry bag, and 3.5mm audio cable.

PS: slapping the Monolith brand on everything increases the risk of diluting the power of the brand…

March 15, 2023 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Open Box sale at Headphones.com

If you want to get your hands head on some of the audiophile-discussed-and-debated headphones but don’t want to pay full price, the Headphones.com online shoppe is currently running an open box sale featuring models from Focal, Hifiman, Audeze, Meze, Moondrop, Hennheiser (typo intended?), and more.

There’s two pages of offerings, too many to list here individually.

Headphones.com is the online shop that is running/sponsoring the popular among enthusiasts “The Headphone Show” YouTube channel, where, ICYMI, they just posted a video with Dr Sean Olive of House Harman and Crinacle, YouTube-embedded below:

March 14, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With:

Wedn: Polsen 4-channel head amp for $20

For Wednesday 3/15/2023, one of the B&H Photo daily deals is the new condition Polsen HMA-41 4-Channel Stereo Headphone Amplifier going for $20. AC power adapter is included, along with four 3.5mm to 6.3mm adapters and a 2-prong audio cable too!

All its outputs and its input are 1/4″ (6.3mm), that’s why it includes the four adapters. Other amps in this tier do not include the adapters. Each output has its own volume control, sliders, instead of knobs.

As of the time of writing it averages 4 out of 5 based on 9 customer ratings and it has a couple of answered questions.

Needless to say, this is more of utilitarian interest, don’t throw away your $1000+ headphone amps 🙂

March 14, 2023 Filed Under: amps and dacs Tagged With:

Monday ebook: Debbie Harry autobiography for $3

If you like reading about musicians, the Debbie Harry autobiography, “Face It: A Memoir” is a kindle daily deal for Monday 3/6/23 for $3. This is a October 2019 by Dey Street, 366 pages and as of the time of writing a 4.4 out based on over 4000 customer ratings…

March 6, 2023 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With:

Hifiman HE6se V2 for $599

Planar time again, of the open-back variety. As of the time of writing Adorama is offering the new condition wired open-back over-ear planar-magnetic Hifiman HE6se V2 for $599. You can also get it at this price by Adorama thru Amazon…

March 4, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,

Auray COHH-2R Clamp-On Dual Headphone Holder for $13

Good until Saturday 3/4/23 at 11:59pm ET, as one of their featured deals, B&H Photo of New York is offering their house brand product, in new condition, the Auray COHH-2R Clamp-On Dual Headphone Holder for $13.

March 3, 2023 Filed Under: accessories Tagged With: ,

Sennheiser HD 599 Open Over-Ears for $116

While the hype machine is revving up for the new HD 660 S2 [see our in-stock alert], Sennheiser is also quietly giving practical discounts on some of its other open-back headphones. Case in point, the new condition HD 599 over-ears in the ivory color-scheme is going for almost $116 at Amazon by Amazon actual, with up to three per customer.

It looks like this may be a price-match of a marketplace seller, but that’s just my speculation…

February 28, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: ,

AKG K240 Mark II Studio Headphones for $60

For a limited time, the Adorama daily deal is the new condition semi-open over-ear AKG K240 Mark II studio headphones for $60. That’s the Mark II model. Check your favorite forums for Austria and China and other assortedly related discussions on this 🙂

February 25, 2023 Filed Under: headphones Tagged With: , ,