Latest Headphone Deals Summary [updated]

LATEST UPDATE: November 13 in 2017 at 11pm ET… purged expired deals and added the surviving offers from the last couple of weeks… I am sometimes typing “Amazon Warehouse Deals” as “Warehouse Deals” or “AWD” to save up on space and/or typing…

NEW FEATURE: added “Quickly Jump” categories so you jump directly to categories of interest… it’s been two weeks since our previous update of this summary, so there’s more turnaround than usual…

WHAT IS THIS? This is an on-going permanent tracking post that rounds-up some of the current surviving headphone deals. The prices and availability are of the “Latest Update” date mentioned above. It cannot be updated automatically if something sells out or a price changes…

This is a very long post, more after the break…

[Read more…]

Father’s Day Headphone Deals

There’s a number of good deals that flew off the front page of the blog, which is a sign that we need to have a “deal summary” post! And with good reason, Dads and Grads season is a good time for headphone purchases. So without further ado, here we go…

LATEST UPDATE: June 17 in 2017 at 2:19pm ET…

FREE IN-EARS with OVER-EAR/ON-EAR PURCHASE

+ FREE Master & Dynamic ME03 In-Ears with the purchase of select M&D MW-series and MH-Series headphones at B&H Photo
+ see also detailed post on this offer

OVER-EARS

+ Blue Microphones Lola Over-Ears for $137 at Amazon actual

+ Audeze LCD-2 (Aluminum and Lambskin) for $699 at Adorama
+ there’s also a few more Audeze bundles on sale starting at $995

+ Used condition Astell & Kern Beyerdynamic AK T1p Semi-Open Headphones for $424 + Shipping at Adorama
+ Astell & Kern Beyerdynamic AK T1p Semi-Open Headphones for $550 at Adorama

+ AKG K550 Mark II for $90 at Harman Audio

+ HIFIMAN HE-400i for $250 by various thru Amazon, and alternate listing

ON-EARS

+ HIFIMAN Edition S Switchable Open/Closed Back for $150 in White color or Black color scheme
+ there’s also an alternate black color listing as marketplace sellers are able to create their own listings, adding to the noise at Amazon 🙂

BLUETOOTH and/or ANC and/or RF OVER and ON EARS

+ Sony MDR-1000X BT and ANC in either color for $328 by Amazon actual

+ Used Sennheiser RS120 RF wireless system for $22 by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual

+ Used (“Very Good”) Panasonic RP-HC-200K ANC for $8.65 by Amazon Warehouse Deals

IN-EARS / EARPHONES

+ Hifiman RE-300a earphones for $25 by AudioLAB fulfilled by Amazon
+ Hifiman RE-400 earphones (no buttons) for $49 by various Prime-eligible sellers
+ RE-400i earphones (iOS buttons) for $49 by HiDef Lifestyle (not Prime eligible)
+ RE-400a earphones (Android buttons) for $49 by various Prime-eligible sellers

+ Hifiman RE 600S V2 Songbird for $129 by Hifiman fulfilled by Amazon

+ 1More Triple Driver IEMs for $65 [or 5% more for non-members] at Costco

+ Jaybird X3 Sport Bluetooth earphones for $100 at Amazon actual

+ Phiaton MS 300 BA in-ears for $56~ by Amazon actual
+ Phiaton MS 100 BA in-ears for $40 by Amazon actual

+ Used “Very Good” a-JAYS Five Earbuds for Android, White for $12~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals

+ Beats Powerbeats 3 bluetooth earphones for $140 in the white color scheme at Amazon

AMPs, DACs, DAPs, PADs

+ Used TEAC HA-P90SD DAP in RED for $195~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals

+ Used Schiit Audio Asgard 2 Head-Amp for $226~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual

+ Used “Very Good” condition HiFiMan HM-650 DAP for $299 fulfilled by Amazon

+ HTC 10 “Phone as DAP” for $240 outright or $10/mo for 24 month at SPRINT

+ Focusrite Scarlett Solo Second Generation (2 IN, 2 OUT) for $72 at Adorama.com

ACCESSORIES

+ HIFIMAN Velour Earpads for HE-series for $10 with free shipping by Hifiman thru Amazon (not Prime eligible)

+ The Technology of Binaural Listening (Modern Acoustics and Signal Processing) hardcover book for $106 by Amazon actual

+ 3-pack of 2″ Top Stage GMC04-Q6 earpad foam covers for $2.52 [ADD-ON items]

+ 12 foot AmazonBasics Component Video Cable with Audio for $2.05 (ADD-ON; limit 3)

+ 100pk Verbatim CD/DVD Paper Sleeves for $3.15 (ADD-ON)

MUSIC and STREAMING

+ Six Months of TIDAL Hi-Fi FREE for current and future Sprint Customers (this is the $20/month tier)
+ check also more detailed post

+ FREE Three Months of Apple Music Subscription streaming service through Groupon Goods for NEW customers only

+ YMMV: existing Spotify Free Tier members are being offered via email a 3-month Premium subscription for 99c total

+ YMMV: while perusing the GooglePLAY store, you may seen an offer for a 4-month free trial of the Google Music All Access Subscription which also includes YouTube RED. Of musical interest, YouTube RED includes benefits when using the YouTube Music app (no ads, background play, audio-only playback)
+ another benefit of Google’s Music subscription is that you can find GooglePlay Gift Cards on a 20% off discount, and use those to pay for the music subscription, effectively giving you a 20% off discount

NEW ARRIVALS

+ Denon AH-D7200 Reference Over Ears for $999 by various authorized dealers through Amazon

+ Shure RMCE-LTG Lightning Cable for SE series for $100 at B&H Photo and various at Amazon

Deal Survivor: Summary of Best Available Deals (that I could find)

In the “Deal Survivor” posts, we round-up some of the currently “best of” type of deals that continue to survive. All these are relative of course, so please feel free to give feedback if you want to help fine-tune what things get posted [a Twitter account is coming very soon as an additional and quick way to communicate]:

LATEST UPDATE: on 12/16/16 at 9:27pm ET

EARPHONES

+ 1MORE Triple Driver In-Ears for $80 at Costco ($84 for non-members) or $85 at Amazon
+ Focal Sphear In-Ears for $80 by various at Amazon and AudioLab on eBay
+ Hifiman RE-400i or RE-400a for $49 each again by various at Amazon

OVER-EARs

+ Creative Aurvana Live (first gen) for $44 at Amazon
+ Focal Spirit Classic (Closed) for $199 by AudioLAB thru Amazon or eBay
+ refurbished Sony MDR-100AAP in four delicious colors for $100 by Secondipity thru AWD (AWD = Amazon Warehouse Deals)
+ Samsung SR-950 closed for $24 at Adorama.com

WIRELESS and/or ANC

+ Sennheiser RS120 RF wireless for $54 at Amazon
+ Parrot Zik first generation for $80 by Parrot’s eBay store

ON-EARS

+ PHILIPS Fidelio F1/27 for $25 at NewEgg
+ AKG K518 LE for $25 at NewEgg
+ Hifiman Edition S Open-Closed (white) for $150 at Amazon

DACs and AMPs and DAPs

+ the offers in this section sold out since the previous update

EVERYTHING ELSE

+ various Metallica Audio CDs for $5 each (new condition) at Amazon
+ check the non-headphones Audio Gear sales permapost

What Survived the Cyber Monday Purge (deal round-up)

Cyber Monday is now gone too, and most of the offers of the Black-Cyber weekend are over, but not all of them. In this post, I round up some of the best “surviving” deals. They are sorted by price, in descending order…

OVER EARS

ON EARS

  • HIFIMAN Edition S Close/Open (WHITE COLOR SCHEME) for $150 by various at Amazon
  • Beyerdynamic DT1350 with straight cable for $120 at Adorama
  • AKG K518 LE for $25 at NewEgg (ends Wedn PM)

EARPHONES and CLIP-ONS

  • Massdrop x Noble X Universal IEMs for $250 at Massdrop
  • Hifiman RE-400 in-ears for $50 (the iOS and Android options went up)
  • Beyerdynamic MMX 102 iE (White/Silver) for $19 at Sonix Electronix
  • Koss KSC-75 for $11.50 by various at Amazon

Headphones in the 2016 Black Friday Ads

Black Friday 2016 is just around the corner. In this post, I am attempting to summarize the various headphones and earphones advertised in the published or leaked Black Friday ads. More will be added as I haven’t finished them all yet. So far we have…

WIRED OVER/ON EARS

Audiophile headphones very rarely make appearances at big chain store Black Friday ads, but there is a member of the Beyerdynamic ever-growing DT 7-8-9 line-up featured at Musician’s Friend. As you can size by the size of the blocks below, bluetooth is favored by the marketing departments…

  • Beyerdynamic DT770 STUDIO for $150 at Musician’s Friend
  • Fostex TX-1 for $20 at Musician’s Friend
  • Bose SoundTrue II Around Ears for $100 at HH Gregg (doorbuster)
  • JVC HA-SR185 for $10 at Walmart, $15 at MicroCenter

BLUETOOTH OVER/ON EARS

Beats continue to win the hype wars with the two latest models likely to feature prominently. But others are getting some glossy attention, including Skullcandy.

  • Beats Solo 3 at “lowest price of the year” at Overstock
  • Beats Solo 2 Wireless for $120 at Target, $150 at Best Buy
  • Sony MDRXB950BT Extra Bass for $90 at Best Buy
  • Bose SoundLink Around Ear II Bluetooth for $230 at Microsoft Store
  • JBL Synchros E40BT on-ears bluetooth for $60 at Microsoft Store
  • Philips SHB8750NC Bluetooth Noise-Canceling Headphones for $50 at Walmart
  • Skullcandy Uproar bluetooth on-ears for $25 at Sears and K-Mart and Walmart
  • Skullcandy Grind Wireless (Bluetooth) On-Ears for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • Skullcandy Hesh 2.0 Wireless (bluetooth) for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale and Best Buy
  • unspecified brand over-ear Bluetooths for under $10 at CVS

BLUETOOTH EARPHONES

With Best Buy scoring some kind of an exclusive on the new Jaybird X3, they are getting most of the attention…

  • discounts (without actual prices posted) on Sony and Jaybird wireless in-ears at Best Buy
  • Beats Powerbeats 2 wireless for $90 at Target
  • LG Tone PRO HBS-760 for $30 at Walmart, $33 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • Jabra Sports Wireless (bluetooth) earbuds for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • 2pk of Samsung Level U Bluetooth for $50 at BJ’s Wholesale, 1pk for $30 at Meijer

WIRED EARPHONES

A couple of Bose models and the wired non-magical Apple earpods lead the way, along with the obligatory single-figure models, and the free after store rewards Philips earbuds that seem to be a Black Friday staple almost every year.

  • Bose SoundSport In-Ear Headphones for $40 at Best Buy
  • Bose Quiet Comfort QC20 in-ears for $200
  • Apple Earpods for $25 at HH Gregg
  • Beats Tour 2 in-ears for $50 at HH Gregg, $65 at Target
  • JBL Sychros E10 earphones for $20 at Microsoft Store
  • Skullcandy Smokin Buds 2 neckback bluetooth earphones for $30 at Best Buy
  • JVC Gumy and Riptiz earphones for $5 at K-Mart
  • 2pk of Samsung Active Wired earbuds for $20 at BJ’s Wholesale
  • Philips Earbuds Free with Plenti points at Rite Aid