This Week In Headphoolia (5th edition)

All apologies for the delay. This is supposed to be a weekly round-up, not a 2.5-weekly 🙂 So here we go with a super-sized version:

We have some recurring segments, news-related action, review round-ups, opinions and audio-learnings. I am trying to keep the format fluid, so not all segments will appear every week. Especially in this case where we have two weeks worth of material, the Forums and Streaming Services will be included in next week’s edition 🙂

NEW HEADPHONES

Sennheiser wants you to know they can be fashionable too! In a new partnership with Dior Homme, they have revealed four stylized and color-matched headphone products in a totally non-Beats black/red color scheme. A home setup with an amplifier and over-ears, along with a portable setup with bluetooth and earphones. Get hyped up for them at …Hype Beast 🙂

The brand new V-Moda Crossfade Wireless 2 (second generation) model may have inadvertently revealed the price range of what Qualcomm charges (or how much it costs a manufacturer) to use the apt-X bluetooth technology. In a move that will create some confusion among potential buyers, V-Moda’s new Crossfade II are not all created the same. They are available in three color schemes, but only one of them supports Qualcomm’s Apt-X, the Rose Gold color scheme and it costs $20 more than the other two, $350 versus $330. Interestingly, it is Apt-X, not “Apt-X HD”, which probably costs more to license 🙂

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This Week In Headphoolia, 4th Edition

Another week flew by, which means it’s time for a new edition of “This Week in Headphoolia”, a light-hearted attempt to summarize some of the action of the week that was in the world of headphones. You can find all previous editions in the Headphoolia Archives.

We have our usual segments, news-related action, review round-ups, a dive into the forums, more streaming service updates, and some opinions and audio-learnings.

NEWSY!

Bose is getting under lawyer fire. Doppler Labs are suing them for appropriating some of their technology for the Bose Here earphones. Bose even appropriated the name. According to the allegations, one Bose employee was among the first to scoop them up on Kickstarter. More at Business Insider.

Eight billion dollar deals have a lot of bureaucratic hurdles to clear, but it looks like the Samsung-Harman is officially official. So now Samsung owns the AKG, Harman Audio, JBL, and Yurbuds headphone brands.

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Unboxing the Philips SHP9500S

The open-back over-ear Philips SHP9500 and their cousin the SHP9500S generated so much interest and hype, that when I found them on sale ($49 with free shipping by NewEgg on eBay, purchased with mine own money), I had to get them to compare and contrast and see what everyone is raving (and ranting) about. This post is a practical text and pictures unboxing.

The accompanying “review diary” will begin shortly after (I will add the link here). Various physical measurements and such will be included in the “review diary”. I only began listening to them _after_ I completed the unboxing post, so how they sound does not color (no pun intended) the unboxing part (the most objective part of any review ~ ironically).

shp9500S box, back side

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This Week In Headphoolia, 3nd Edition

We now have Episode #3 of “This Week in Headphoolia”, a lighthearted round-up of things of potential interest. You can find all previous editions in the Headphoolia Archives.

In this edition, we round-up some of the reactions to the new Monoprice M1060, we take a look at some of the latest news-related action, updates on two popular streaming services, and round-up some of the many reviews posted the last week or so.

2017: A SPACE ODYSSEY – THE MONOLITH DISCOVERS US!

Line up for the new hype train! While the Monoprice M560 continue to fly under the radar, the brand new Monolith M1060 over-ear planar-magnetics have generated enough interest and buzz, so much so that they are now out of stock until Tax Day 2017 (mid-April).

Here is a sampling of the action across the interwebs on these open-back critters:

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