All Entries in the "Headphones" Category
Seyo Shop – THE place for Japanese headphones
Many Japanese audio companies don’t distribute headphones (let alone other audio equipment) overseas. It is is a flying shame since brilliant products such as the Victor/JVC FX500 can’t be sampled by international buyers unless at extravagant importer prices. The Japanese exporter, Seyo-Shop, manage to supply eager international hands with Japanese headphone gems which otherwise would cost an arm, leg and part of your jaw to buy.
Buying from Seyo has a few strong advantages
- selection: there are dozens of domestic releases which cannot be found elsewhere under one roof.
- price: Seyo serve up great prices for international buyers: from headphone deals to excellent international shipping rates, they are ahead of the curve.
- shipping: Seyo ship via the world’s defacto express postal service, EMS who are unrivalled for cost, speed, and ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of your product.
- guarantee: if your product suffers manufacturer’s defect, purchases from Seyo are guaranteed for up to one year.
Look below for some good deals from Seyo Shop.
Monster Turbine Pro earphone – it’s official
Last year, the Monster Turbine rocketed the cable manufacturer into the realm of hifi portable audio. Great sound and a sturdy housing set the Turbine aside in its price range, and like other ‘grabbed’ headphones at TMA, cemented its spot as a great buy. Its weakness, however, was cable design which has no stress relief, comes in a straight-jack, and has a wishy-washy y-split.
Apparently, things have changed: Monster are listening to customer requests and the feedback from reviewers.
The Monster Turbine Pro (while not in these hands), looks to change a lot of that. The new earphones retain the same sturdy housing design, but enter the market with strain relief, a right angle plug, a better y-split, and according to Monster, better sound. The MSRP is a stiff 250$, but if Monster pull all of the punches listed above, the new earphone should be worth it.
Our Monster headphone reviews are here.
Additional Monster literature, spec, and pictures after the gap.
Jerry Harvey JH13Pro in Review – Sex for your ears
Every month of every year, enterprising audio designers create new gadgets which achieve some paragon of aural nirvana. Jerry Harvey founded Ultimate Ears to support the rockers, Van Halen with products which would both protect their hearing and relate greater production value to their fans. For 1099$, the JH13Pro stands with a 50$ cheaper price tag than its older — and now estranged — brother, the Ultimate Ears UE11Pro, but lacks a few of its amenities. What it doesn’t lack, however, is beautiful sound.
INC have a great article detailing Jerry Harvey’s moves which changed the stage performance industry.
iPod leads to deafness!
Courtesy Christophe Gilbert
My parents, like most parents, always said that if I listen to loud music, I will go deaf. Well, now it’s official. The iPod, as well as other portal music players, can lead to deafness, says the European Commission. With their latest act they decided to limit the maximum sound level of music devices at 80db. What do you know, my momma was right about something for a change!
Monster Turbine Pro due October!
I am a hearty fan of the Monster Turbine, a great-sounding earphone from the cable giant. Monster say the Turbine Pro will deliver a few things to their already great formula including: a better cable (needed), driver, and higher quality parts. I say bring it on. Look for pre order of the the Turbine Pro in early October.
If you want to check out the headphone Monster will be one-upping, take a look at my Monster Turbine review.
Victor/JVC HP-FX500 in Review – Low Dri-ver!
Among mainstream electronic companies, Victor (JVC) have quietly shed traditional speaker manufacturing techniques in creating driver diaphragms from wood rather than synthetic materials. Several of their small cabinet systems utilise wood driver technology, and the FX500 inner earphone also benefits from wood. In 2008, it was the world’s first earphone to employ wood in both its housing and driver diaphragm and is still the only production earphone whose driver is made from wood. Wood has the potential of fielding vastly more natural echo characteristics in comparison to plastic or metal.
Shure SE530 in Review – Hail to the King of this hill
The original Shure E500 set the inner earphone industry ablaze. It was the first consumer-oriented triple-driver balanced armature earphone, and in 2006, it stormed into many eager audio-lover’s hands. Today, the the venerable earphone has been overhauled and re-badged. The SE530 retains its glorious mid-oriented signature sound which is one of the most stunningly presented among all inner earphones. Smoothly detailed, it twists and turns in time with any musical genre, paying homage to all, but favouring none. Today, there are many other triple-driver consumer earphones, but Shure’s striking debut is still one of the best.
ACS, Apple, and Etymotics – Oh My!
While it is still to early to reliably suss the future, there is definitely something clever about a partnership between three major audio companies. Started in April of this year, ACS and Etymotic joined forces to create force a bit of audiophile air into UK Apple Stores. Apple, undisputedly an audio company, happily obliged, and the HF2 + ACS custom sleeve was born.
More exciting is the buzz this product has created. Apple’s ubiquitous retail presence has led to inadvertent audiophiles who, upon asking a few questions at the store, discover a latent desire to upgrade. The excellent combination has earned a well-placed 2009 iPhone Accessory of the Year from Macworld.
Monster heartbeats earphones with love from Lady Gaga
Monster have made quite a splash this year with the release of several high-profile inner earphones such as the Turbine and Beats Tour. In the pipeline are the fabled Turbine Pro (Turbine Pro Gold – Turbine Pro Copper), Jamz, and now, Lady Gaga’s heartbeats that TMA will be reviewing shortly. From a preliminary look, the latest headphones in Monster’s upcoming line up utilise the same tangle-proof cable as their Beats Tour, but in terms of showy design, have turned the nob to 11.
The new sound and new look can be had in October and will come in the following flavours: mic’d for your mobile phone (150$), or not (100$). There will also be a number of colours to choose from, and if things get too steamy with Lady Gaga, the beats Solo, which carries an MSRP of 220$ should help cool your wallet down.
TGI Black Friday Update: These phones can be had for pretty cheap now at Amazon and Headphone Solutions. Headphone Solutions has them for 89$ for Thanksgiving and Amazon have an everyday low price of 99.95$.
Fireye 1 Portable Headphone Amp in Review – Heavy Metal
Sitting pretty with Markuz Schulz and the iPt 2G
Taiwan’s Firestone Audio is known for creating high-quality amplifier and digital-to-analogue products at reasonable prices. One of their constants is the use of sturdy construction materials and methods, a design decision which guarantees the longevity of their products. The Fireye 1 is an impressively constructed headphone amplifier which has a couple of unique features that will help you enjoy music and movies from your your iPod, laptop, or larger, hifi source.
