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I’ve fallen behind on the latest Massdrop offerings, and since I can’t post them all at once, I’m starting with something small (in-ears) and reasonably priced ($60) and popular with Massdrop shoppers (over 2,500 units sold). It is the new condition Tin Audio T3 IEMs going for $60 with free US shipping.
IT comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty and will ship in late August from Massdrop. This has MMCX connectors.
Good until July 19 in 2019, Massdrop is running their own Prime Deals which have nothing to do with Amazon Prime and anyone can buy them ~ they don’t check for Amazon ID at the door 🙂 The sale items are:
+ Massdrop X Noble Luxe In-Ears for $67
+ Massdrop X Noble X universal IEMs for $167
+ Massdrop X MEE Audio Planamic In-Ears for $97
+ Massdrop X Alex Cavalli Liquid Carbon X amp for $199
+ Massdrop Vast 35-inch curved gaming monitor for $401
What do they all have in common? A “Massdrop X” product so Massdrop can do as they please with them 🙂
Hide your e-wallets, although, considering the price-ranges of audiophile gear, this won’t do as much damage as some other CLEAR options that can put the FOCAL point of money drain on your ELEG(I)ANT wallet, probably purchased from Massdrop too 😉
With that obligatory throw-all-the-tomatatoes-at-me joke out of the way, we have good news if you are a fan of the Objective 2 headphone amp. The desktop edition of the Massdrop edition is now shipping (actually shipping) at the Massdrop website for $95 with free US shipping.
The shipping estimate as of the time of writing is July 10 in 2019, a miracle by Massdrop standards 🙂 This has become an “In-Stock Drop” that’s why it ships so fast ~ one business day after the close of the calendar day of your purchase. Your card will be charged two hours after ordering, so you have that regretsy window 🙂
During the checkout process you have two decisions to make. One is utilitarian, 110V or 220V adapter to be included. The other is more philosophical: standard gain or medium gain. Or you can get both and resolve the never-ending internal and external debates 😉
In addition to the free US shipping, they have two expedited shipping options, a +$5 and a +$15 which promises a 2-business day arrival. I wonder if it’s only a matter of time before Massdrop offers some kind of a Prime-like membership plan that includes faster shipping? [this is only a crackpot theory, I have no inside or outside knowledge]
PS: I’m planning to set out some time so I can update the two Massdrop “Tracking” perma-posts I used to keep updated 🙂 Stay tuned on that ~ no promises 🙂
Good until Sunday of this week (according to my calendaring math that would be Sunday July 7 in 2019), there’s a Massdrop email that promotes a $20 off discount on the Sennheiser HD 6XX.
When you click on the link in that email and go to your Massdrop account (already logged in), it will apply automatically a $20 off discount towards the purchase of the open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 6XX, dropping it from $220 to $200, which was its original price.
There’s no coupon code to enter ~ the discount appears automagically in your shopping cart AFTER you click on the special link in the Massdrop email…
It’s still a bit of a miracle they hadn’t increased the HD 6XX to get closer to the HD 600 / 650 prices 🙂
Massdrop is now digging into the ART (no, not the Sigma ART lenses) Audio Technica headphones. For the next four days and change they are offering the new condition AT A2000Z closed-back over-ears for $450 with free USA shipping. It will ship in late July 2019 by Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing.
It has that AT “auto adjusting” headband mechanism. It is definitely a “deep cut” type of a headphone for the audiophile types. It certainly won’t steal any sales away from the Beats and Bose and Sonys…
It’s tin time! No, not Tiny Tim and no, not the metal. It’s the Tin Hifi P1 in-ears, offered for the next four days and change for $149 with free US shipping at the members-only but free-to-join shopping club that is Massdrop. Now of course renamed to just Drop.
They have a removable MMCX cable, come with a 1-year warranty and include eight pairs of eartips [do y’all have a system on how to organize the various eartips included in the various in-ears???]. Orders will ship from Massdrop in late July 2019.
Earpads get nowhere near the glory headphones and DACs and amps and other music sources get but they are quite important in both the human comfort but also have impact on the perceived audio quality. I could be writing more and more paragraphs but I won’t 🙂
Which brings us to this Dakoni pads listing at Massdrop offering their audio donuts that are compatible with a variety of popular Sennheiser headphones: HD 6XX, HD 650, HD 59X, and the HD 580. The HD 600 is feeling a bit left out at the moment 🙂
The price depends on the materials as follows:
+ Elite Velour for $35
+ Elite Hybrid for $55
+ Sheepskin for $60
+ Fenestrated sheepskin for $65
These will ship in mid-July 2019 by the vendor. Free shipping for US addresses, low cost shipping internationally. There is no mention of warranty in the listing which is brand new. As of the time of writing, it has six days and change to go. In previous listings, they sold over 2,200 units and they average 4.3 out of 5 based on 20+ customer reviews.
UPDATE: this post has now been proofread. I posted the original while in a hurry 🙂
NOTE: This is a bit of a complicated offer, so don’t jump in until you read the description over there and/or check their forum to see what others are saying…
Massdrop is once again doing crazy things, this time with the Bounty Boxes. You pay $100 or $250, and for that you are guaranteed to receive something from Audiophile and/or Tech & Gaming and/or Outdoors and/or EDC (I’m assuming this is the industry-standard term for “Every Day (Steph) Curry” OOPS, I mean, “Every Day Carry”???)…
This is a curated “bounty box” in that the included items are pre-selected by Massdrop and listed for all to see [see below]…
To make it more enticing, Massdrop will be randomly upgrading some of the boxes with a more expensive item. Eleven out of 100 Silver boxes (the $100 boxes) will get an upgrade. And one in four Gold boxes (the $250 boxes) will get an upgrade.
What’s INCLUDED?
The $100 Silver box will receive four items. Three from the “Common” items category and one from the “Uncommon” items. The $250 Gold box will receive five items, two Common, two Uncommon and one Rare. If these don’t make sense, read the SPOILERS section at the bottom of this blog post below…
If you want to select which category your products will come from, you pay an extra +$10. So if you are interested in only one or two of those four categories, it may not be a bad idea to pay more for the guarantee. If you like all four categories, or you can gift what you don’t want/need/like, then no need for the +$10.
You won’t receive duplicates of the same product, but you will receive items from the same category ~ especially if you pay the +$10 to preselect the category of interest.
Each person can buy up to five boxes per shopping cart, so you can mix and match categories or have them all be randomly selected.
Free shipping is included but sales-tax is also included (eg in California where Massdrop is located). This is for US addresses only and they will ship in late July 2019 from Massdrop…
There is a return policy but read the terms on their website: items must be un-opened and un-damaged. There is a restocking fee. You can only return one bounty box per calendar month. So think before you buy if you think the chances are high that you will return it…
And then there’s the crazy $5000 tier
If you have $5000 to spare, they have the “Ultimate Bounty Box”. You receive a wooden crate that is filled with some of the items from the tiers below but they will also include additional unlisted items from the Massdrop general inventory. And per the description, these will apparently be individually gift wrapped making it a longer and more fun [and/or more frustrating] unboxing process. Note that the wooden crate will be nailed shut, so prepare your tools or bring in a handyman/handywoman to help you ~ especially if you are recording the unboxing video for YouTube purposes 🙂
SHOULD YOU JUMP IN?
If you are the type who enjoys the randomness of things, this is for you. If you are the type who only wants specific items and hates getting things you haven’t thoroughly researched and need, then avoid this. If you are somewhere in-between, do some soul searching before deciding 🙂
If you want to make an educated guess on what you might get, they are posting SPOILERS! A PDF file at the aforelinked page lists all eligible items for the Silver and Gold boxes. The $5000 box additional unlisted items are … not listed there 🙂 To preserve their SPOILERS policy, I will be discussing the available headphones below the break… Spoilers after this paragraph, you have been WARNED!
Planar continues to be all the rage these days and if you are on the planar steam train and patience is one of your virtues, Massdrop is launching a new headphone (an “In the Works” product) and accepting pre-orders for $180, it is the Fostex T-XO II planar magnetic headphones. The $180 price is good until July 18 in 2019. After that, the price will climb to $220 which is its “regular” price.
One thing of note with this headphone is that it is tuneable in two different ways: it includes two sets of damping foam and two sets of earpads, so you have four theoretical combinations to experiment with. Make sure you have a notebook standing by 🙂
That part about patience being a virtue? I was not joking! The shipping estimate for this is March 2020, that’s EIGHT months from the blog-posting date 🙂
Amp time at Massdrop! Good for the next five days and change, you can get the new condition Dark Voice 336-SE OTL (output transformer less) headphone amp for $200 with free US shipping. Orders will ship from Massdrop in mid-August. There’s no mention of warranty in the listings. You do have an option of power supply during the checkout process, so you can get 110V or 220-240V. Per the listings there, over 2,500 units have been sold of this through Massdrop…Dar
With 23 hours to go from blog-posting time, Massdrop is offering the Etymotic ER3XR or ER3SE flange-y in-ears for $145 each with free US shipping. Over 450 units have been sold from this listing per the page over there. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. They will ship in early July 2019 from Massdrop, which is now just …Drop. They dropped the mass 🙂 I still prefer Massdrop 🙂
BUT if you don’t want to wait for that long and want the warranty too, the ER3XR goes for $146 and 1/2, and the ER3SE for $149 at amazon.com, and these prices are by Amazon actual, not marketplace sellers.
Speaking of this line of deep-insertion in-ears, the ER4S is currently on sale for $190 by Amazon actual…
Planar time! If you are tempted by the Hifiman HE-4XX planar magnetic headphones, Massdrop is currently accepting pre-orders for $180 with free US shipping. Over 12,000 units have been sold so far during their Massdrop run per their stats over there.
NOTE that these are pre-orders ~ the shipment estimate for this set is mid-July 2019, so patience is a planar virtue 🙂
Since they are a co-operation between the two companies, they come with a 1-year manufacturer warranty, which, given some recent Hifiman reliability history, it is a big plus…
Massdrop is back here again with another live offer, running for the next five days and change, it is the return of the new condition XDuoo XD-05 DAC/Amp offered for $160 with free US shipping. International shipping is under $15, varying a little by location. It is available in your choice of silver or black color scheme.
It has three inputs (USB, 3.5mm, SPDIF) and 3.5mm audio output, in addition to (of course) the headphone output on the front. It supports up to DXD and DSD ~ in addition to PCM of course. Its discussion at MD has over 1000 posts, and it has 21 customer reviews over there with an average of over 4 out of 5…
Orders will ship from Massdrop in late May 2019. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing ~ other than to say that a warranty card is included in the box.
The DAP market has more and more options competing, despite the avalanche of smartphones available in the market. Another $100 competitor in this field is the Acoustic Research M200, and it is currently offered at the Massdrop website for $100 with free US shipping. International shipping is under $15 for many countries.
The DAP offers balanced or unbalanced audio output and supports bluetooth with apt-X HD. It takes memory cards up to 256GB, and it is one of the new generation of USB-C charging ports…
In the cart, you have two optional additions: +$10 for a case (two color choices) and +$80 for the E10 in-ears to be added to your order. These are shown in the main product description so you don’t have to get into the shopping cart to see them…
The offer will ship in late May 2019 from Massdrop.
Massdrop is furiously adding more and more new brands/products to its inventory and one of them is on the budget side of things, a $22 pair of [actual] earbuds, the new condition HE 150PRO Earbuds going for $22 with free US shipping and $5~ international shipping (YMMV depending on location).
These are “HE” not “VE” (Venture Electronics). At least they didn’t name them Monks 🙂
These will ship from Massdrop in mid-May 2019. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing which will run for the next four days and change from blog-posting time…
PS: “lush” is one of the audiophile words that can raise red flags for those who are mayhaps tired of the flowery borderline-meaningless audiophoolia language used in quite a few corporate and forum reviews 🙂
PS2: I prefer to use weather-y descriptions. For example [general example, not related to these earbuds ~ I haven’t seen or heard them], “these headphones are cloudy with a chance of rain in the high plains”
The March march [ha!] of new products continues in April at Massdrop with the debut (marked at their website with “New Arrival”] of the new condition Stealth Sonics U2 IEMs which have no relation to the Seattle SuperSonics or the Oklahoma ThunderSonics or the arena muzak band that goes by the name of U2 {meow! or betrayed Joshua Tree fan?}…
The price is $200 with free US shipping, with international shipping around $4 depending on location of course. They come with a 1-year manufacturer warranty {always a plus in the MD listings}, with two cables, three different kinds of eartips (total of seven pairs), a hard case, a pouch, extra faceplates, and more.
They will ship in early May 2019 from Massdrop. The offer runs for the next four days and change from blog-posting date [since Massdrop does not post an exact expiration time in their listings]…
Sub-$50 chi-fi action once again at the Massdrop website. This time they are offering the new condition TFZ Galaxy T2 in-ears for $40 with free US shipping or sub $5 shipping internationally… Four color schemes are available to select during the checkout process over there… They come with eartips, a clip and a pouch…
There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. They will ship by Massdrop in late May 2019. The offer runs for the next three days and change from blog-posting date [Massdrop does not show a specific expiration time instead they show “X Days” or “X hours” left]…
More and more things are getting added. This time we have the Audioengine D3 Portable DAC/Amp going for $65 with free US shipping at the Massdrop website. International shipping appears to over around $4.
This will ship in late April 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the product listing. It comes with a carrying case and an adapter cable. It runs for the next four days and change [from blog-posting time here]…
Triple-flange fans, unite and take over! Good for the next four days and change (from blog-posting time) you can get the new condition Etymotic ER3-SE or ER3-XR for $145 each [or you can get both for $290, there’s no combined purchase discount] from Massdrop.
There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. They will ship from Massdrop in early May 2019. Free US shipping. International shipping appears to be under $5 ~ but I only test a small random sampling of countries because they are too many to test for each post 🙂
PS: the “XR” has a “mild bass boost” over the SE per the listing…
Non-magic cables also exist at Massdrop, such as this new drop, running for the next five days and change, it is the new condition MEE Audio 2-Pin Bluetooth Cable offered for $35 with free US shipping. International shipping is surprisingly higher than expected, around $10 for a tiny little cable 🙂
This is bluetooth 4.0, with IPX5 rating. It will ship in late April 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing…
IEM fans, unite and take over! Yet another option is now running at Massdrop ~ for the next three days and change from posting time. It is the new condition Fearless Audio IEMs. Three options are offered: the S4 for $280 and the S6 is available in two differently-tuned variants (audiophile or “lively music”) for $380 each.
These will ship in mid-April from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing but at least you get 12 pairs (!!!) of ear tips with them 🙂
Are you an audiophile in the EU and want to get some of the Massdrop exclusive headphones and DAC/amps but don’t want to pay so much more and wait longer? It looks like your prayers have been answered because Masdrop has just launched a European shipping test…
Everybody’s jumping on the Massdrop hype train, including Creative Labs [now just “Creative”] with their Super X-Fi technology. Their new condition SX-FI DAC/amp is currently fully unlocked for $140 with free US shipping for the next five days and change from posting time. International shipping hovers around $5.
But this is not just a DAC/amp. This bundle also includes the Aurvana SE closed-back over-ear headphones, based on a Fostex-the-people design [okay, Fostex design; sorry, I can’t resist]. They have 32 ohm impedance and 40mm drivers.
Massdrop will ship these orders in late April 2019. There is no mention of warranty in the product listing over there…
It’s a Little Dot that leaves a big dent in the wallet 🙂 Running for the next four days and change at Massdrop is a sale on new condition Little Dot Mark III headphone amps. The base edition goes for $200, while the SE (Special Edition) goes for $460. They have two input tubes and two output tubes.
The SE is balanced and has more power among other things. These will ship in mid-May 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing…
One of the best kept secrets in the audiophile world is that you can achieve “good enough” with a fraction of the money of audiophile/phool products you see audio-magazines and forums-stars and forum-divas rave on about. There are always compromises but so is the case with every single flagship product out there 🙂
Which brings us to a budget option that is running for the next four days at Massdrop, it is the new condition [I’m starting to add this because MD occasionally offered refurbished or beef stock {B-stock}] SoundMagic PL50 in-ears with free US shipping. International shipping seems to hover around $8 for these ones.
They come with a case, over-cable hooks (so you can put them around your ears for sports or better stability), and seven sets of eartips (of different kinds).
These will ship in mid-April by the vendor [mayhaps that’s why international shipping is higher]. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing.
PS: Massdrop uses the word “vendor” without giving any further details. That’s why I write “vendor” since I don’t know any more than what it says over there 🙂
The good old VE Monks have made actual earbuds great again,so the resurgent onslaught continues with a new earbud arrival at Massdrop, it is the new condition Moondrop VX Classic Earbuds going for $50 with free US shipping or around $5 international shipping [I can’t test all countries though].
These dynamic driver earbuds come with four pairs of eartips and nothing more. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. They will ship from Massdrop in early May 2019. They are so new at MD they have just one comment under “Discussions”.
PS: Moondrop is part of what MD calls their Spring Remix, the arrival of new-to-MD brands which includes Moza, Metal.ch, Mohu, Hario [hooray-io!] and more…
Massdrop is back with another offering, good for the next four days and change they are offering the new condition cutesy-ly named HiFi Boy OS V3 in-ears going for $125 with free USA shipping with sub-$5 international shipping (for the countries I tested ~ I haven’t tested them all obviously)…
They will ship in late April 2019. They come with a case and eartips. There’s no mention of warranty in the listings…
Do not panic, there is a slightly remodeling of the Massdrop website. Your memory has not been re-arranged by The Reptilians and The Grays while you were asleep! Which brings us to another new offering over there, it is the new condition ESS 252 closed-back over-ears going for $90 with free US shipping and around $10 international shipping [I can’t test every country, so YMMV].
These have wooden (walnut) earcups, detachable cable, collapse [into now?] into the included case, 32 ohm impedance, 50mm drivers and such. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. They will ship from Massdrop in late April 2019…
The parade of new listings continues at Massdrop, this time we go to the sub-$50 IEM category where they are offering the new condition Macaw GT600S IEMs for $40 with free US shipping and low international shipping (under $5 for the random countries I tested). It’s easier to offer low cost shipping on a small box of IEMs than a giant box of monster-sized over-ears 🙂
Despite the low price, they have detachable cable (coaxial MMCX) and also user-replaceable tuning filters, three of which are included: standard, bassy and piercing [oops, I mean treble!]. The “piercing” is just a joke, I haven’t seen or heard this earphone 🙂 They come with a pouch and two kinds of eartips (silicone and memory foam).
The IEMs are available in your choice of black or silver color scheme in the shopping cart. This should not be confused with the color of the tuning filters. All three tuning filters are included in the package. You don’t have to purchase additional tuning filters!
The shipping estimate is late April 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty.
PS: quick quiz, what number is MMCX in latin numerals? Don’t read any further, the answer is in “PS2” below 🙂
PS2: if I write the answer here, our digital-age skim-reading will read it whether you intend it or not, so here’s the answer at this link (the mouse-over won’t give away the answer either)…
PS3: it’s easier to build up a big collection of IEMs versus over/on-ears for the practical fact that you can store half a dozen IEM boxes in the space of one over-ear box 🙂
The sub-$100 “laptop” DAC/amp segment has more and more options these days, and of those new options is offered at Massdrop, it is the new condition Audirect Beam Portable DAC/Amp going for $75 with free US shipping and low international shipping (hovering around $5 depending on country ~ and of course I can’t test all countries)…
There are two color options at checkout. They will ship in late April 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. It comes with a trio of cables so you can use it with Android (USB-C) and iOS (Lightning) and “real” computers (USB Type A)…
A new exclusive is coming at Massdrop! A new “fruit” of their co-operation with HiFiman, available for pre-ordering right now [what Massdrop calls “in the works”], it is the open-back over-ear Hifiman HE-35X headphones, a dynamic, an improved driver over the HE-350 per the listing over there. Not everything Hifiman makes is planar after all 🙂
The listing stresses that their durability has been improved, which was a must have given the many problems Hifiman users had experienced ~ as you can see in various forums and blogs and such…
This “in the works” has a special pre-order price. If you place an order before April 19 in 2019, you will pay $90 instead of the headphone’s regular price of $120. There is also a limit of 750 units available for this run, so the offer ends when they run out or when the deadline arrives – whichever happens first.
Being an “X” product, it comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty. Note the shipping date however, late August 2019 that’s four months from blog-post date!
If you prefer the dedicated use of a digital audio player, Massdrop is back with yet another option. Running for the next four days and change [from posting time here], you can get the new condition Acoustic Research M200 DAP for $100, a battle-point between various brands, including the entry-level Fiio X1 II.
Giving in to the bluetooth industrial complex, this model too has built-in bluetooth support (including apt-X HD), but it offers USB-C charging which may be a welcome change for those on the Type C bandwagon. It even has 32GB of on-board storage, in addition to the microSD card which supports up to 256GB.
Optionally, in the Massdrop shopping cart, you can add a color case for $10 more, and/or you can add the E10 IEMs for $80 more.
Orders will ship in late April 2019 from Massdrop. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing.
On-ear earphones? I’ll let the classifier gurus decider on where and how to classify these, but in the meantime, Massdrop is offering the new condition Koss KDE250 Earphones for $60 with free US shipping. Shipping appears to under $3 for many international locations [but I obviously can’t test them all]…
These will ship from Massdrop in mid-April 2019. There is no mention of warranty in the listing. This is not a “Koss x Massdrop” which mayhaps suggests this is sold via third parties (or something like that), thus no mention of a warranty???
An all-expenses-paid vacation to Santa Cruz is NOT included with this latest Massdrop offering 🙂 But what is offered is the new condition Santa Cruz Audio SC1000 IEMs for $90.
These are old-school IEM noise-cancellers in that they have a “black box” at the end of the cable that houses the ANC circuitry which is powered by AAA batteries [a plus for fans of replaceable batteries, especially of fans of rechargeables]. Another unusual thing about them is that SCA does not recommend a full/deep insertion into the ear canal for these.
They are available in your choice of silver or black color scheme in their shopping cart. There’s no mention of warranty in the listing. Case, two AAA batteries, eartips and such are included. Orders will ship from Massdrop in mid-April 2019.
Grado and Sennheiser are well-known for their sub-$100 open-back over-the-ear headphones but they are not the only ones offering them. Audio Technica is in the game too and thanks to this new Massdrop listing, they are offering the new condition open over-ear Audio Technica AD900X for $100. Massdrop will ship these in early April 2019. There is no mention of warranty in the listing…
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