Monoprice Big Bang II of 2018: two Open-Backs and two Cavalli Amps

Surprise, surprise, Monoprice is back with Big Bang II! Their first big bang of 2018 gave us two closed-back planar-magnetic headphones and a quarter of headphone amps from the tiny to the twenty-pounders! Their second Bigg Bang of 2018, the Spring edition, brings two curiously named headphones and a couple of …Alex Cavalli co-branded amps!

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New Headphones at CES 2018

And here we are again! Another CES 2018 trade show is upon us and with it we have another wave of new headphones. Some are revealed in Las Vegas at the trade show, but that’s not all. A lot of the smaller audio companies can’t afford the lavishness of Vegas, but they also announce new products to coincidence with CES, and of course the start of a new year.

LATEST UPDATE: 1/20/18 at 9pm ET: CES 2018 may be over, but I continue to slowly add new headphones to this list… the order of the headphones below is the order I posted them. After I complete this post, I will re-order them based on importance of the announcement (eg, the Sennheiser HD 820 will be on top).

CES 2018 HIGHLIGHTS

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New Sony headphones at CES 2018

Sony released a number of new headphonalia at CES 2018, so they are getting their own post, so as not to overwhelm our main CES 2018 round-up

Sony reveals 2nd generation MDR-1A

Sony is back with a second generation model of their MDR-1A, and the new model has the goofy naming scheme they also used on the 1000X second generation model. The new model is the MDR-1AM2, or to make sense of it, let’s call it MDR-1A M2 🙂 It is a closed-back over-ear headphone with detachable cables (3.5mm and balanced are included) and a starting price of $300. The Sony press release claims this is lighter than the first generation model.

Per the specifications section of their product page these are 16 ohm headphones with 98 dB / mW sensitivity and a numbers-gone-wild frequency response range of 3 to 100,000 hertz 🙂

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New Audio Technica Headphones at CES 2018

Just like Monoprice, Audio Technica revealed a handful of new headphones in Vegas at CES 2018, so I am posting them in their own post, so they won’t overwhelm our already growing CES headphones round-up. So here we go…

ATH-ANC700BT CLOSED ANC/BT OVER-EARS

Audio Technica definitely got a foothold with the M50/M50x line of products, but now they want to make inroads into the lucrative (in terms of profit margins) but heavily contested ANC/BT over-ear combos. Their new ATH-ANC 700 BT is just that, with Bluetooth 4.1, 40mm drivers, touch controls, built-in rechargeable battery, ability to play 3.5mm music as well, and support for apt-X, AAC and SBC.

They charge via micro-USB, and have a starting price of $199 in either black or gray. Based on their battery life estimates, bluetooth eats up battery faster than ANC. They fold and come with a carrying case, a 3.5mm audio cable, and a charging USB cable. There is no mention of NFC in the specs or press release.

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Monoprice Headphone Big Bang at CES 2018

Monoprice revealed so many new headphone products at CES 2018 that I am putting them in their own posts, otherwise they would overwhelm our Headphones at CES 2018 round-up…

MONOPRICE AT CES 2018 SUMMARY

  • M1060C and M565C Closed-Back Planar Over-Ears
  • new Stage Right studio headphones
  • Monoprice portable USB DAC/amp
  • Monolith THX portable head-amp
  • Monolith Desktop THX DAC/amp
  • Monster 20.5lb Tube Headphone amp

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New Headphones at IFA 2017

LATEST UPDATE on 9/30/17: I fell behind by a few weeks, but now I’m adding more of the IFA 2017 era new headphones 🙂

Another year has flown by, and here we are, it’s time for a new wave of products ushered out in Berlin at IFA 2017 and all around the world at the same time period. CES in Vegas typically brings us a lot of new headphones, but IFA in Berlin too gives us new gear as well!

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • Schiit Loki Mini hardware equalizer
  • Shure launches bluetooth versions of SE series
  • Bose QC35 II falls in love with Google Assistant
  • Bose joins the Truly Wireless craze
  • Monoprice M565 Open-Back Over-Ear Planars
  • KOSS Two New Gaming Over-Ear Headphones: Open or Closed
  • Sennheiser IE 80 S earphones
  • Beats Studio 3 Wireless Over-Ears
  • Pioneer HDJ-X DJ headphone trio
  • Sony expands 1000X line with WH-1000X M2 ANC/BT Over-Ears, WI-1000X Neckband Bluetooth Earphones, and WF-1000X Truly Wireless
  • Monoprice Monolith M300 planar IEMs
  • Beyerdynamic Aventho Bluetooth headphones
  • Audio Technica $2K ATH-ADX5000 open-back flagship
  • various RHA earphones
  • various gaming headsets

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New Headphones at CES 2017

Time flies and here we are again, another CES trade show! In this post, we round up some of the new headphones (and related amps/DACs and DAPs) revealed around the Vegas show which this year runs from January 5-8.

UPDATE: if you are looking for the 2018 trade show, check our New Headphones at CES 2018 tracking post

LATEST UPDATE on 1/10/17: added the new Audio Technica “Live Sound” IEM line, their new “Sound Reality” line, and more from “Solid Bass” and “Sonic Fuel”. It’s Crazy-technica alright 🙂 You can find them below all grouped together after the DSR9BT and DSR7BT duo…

TECHNICAL NOTE: if you are not seeing the correct YouTube video below at the correct place, do a hard refresh on the page and it will be corrected. It’s an issue with caching and the YouTube embed widget or so…

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New Headphones at IFA 2016

Time flies and the annual IFA 2016 has arrived. This post will track some of the many new headphones that are revealed at the trade show and elsewhere in parallel with the trade show (smaller manufacturers may not be able to afford a big trade show presence with fanfare and presentations and such, so they have their new launches at home).

LATEST UPDATE: this post will be updated many times as I find and add more and more headphones… TIP: if you are not seeing the correct video embeds, do a hard refresh of the page (eg CTRL-F5 on Firefox)…

TABLE of CONTENTS

The following have been posted below in this long post:

  • Apple: Goodbye Headphone Jack, Hello Lightning, and Wireless Earpods and new Beats 3 and X
  • LG V20 “Phone as DAP”
  • Sony Walkman NW-A30
  • Beyerdynamic Byron Earphone Trio
  • Sony Signature line Head-Amp and two new Walkman DAPs
  • Schiit Jotunheim non-DAC/amp DAC/amp
  • the Sennheiser consumer models (4/2 series)
  • RHA two in-ears and a DAC/amp
  • Sony MDR-Z1R flagship
  • Audeze Planar In-Ears (Sine and i3)
  • four new Sennheiser HD-5xx headphones
  • B&W P7 Bluetooth
  • Sony MDR-1000X ANC/BT
  • Bragi “The Headphone” and IBM Watson co-operation

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New Headphones at CES 2016

How time goes by! CES 2016 is already here, so this is a good opportunity to summarize some of the many new headphones that got revealed over there. CES is a tech show, so the announcements tend to lean more on the tech side of things, while more esoteric audiophile products tend to get revealed at related events. But that’s only a blanket rule of thumb! This time around we are grouping the new products by category, not by manufacturer…

NOTE: this post includes embedded YouTube videos by the manufacturers. Often, the hype is strong with manufacturer videos, so take everything you see and hear with a grain of (sea) salt!

NOTE #2: this article is a work in progress… More and more will be added in the next few hours and days…

LATEST ADDITIONS: added various Audio Technica products… Apologies for the delays in updates…

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New Headphones at CES 2015

CES 2015 is here and while the focus *cough* hype *cough* is on wearables and the “internet of things”, there is action in the world of headphones as well, not just ones “touching” the hype 🙂 There’s wooden Denon, new Monster flagship, more from Philips, lambskin BeoPlay and a brand new four figure audiophile Sony Walkman (among other things).

This is just the beginning, more will be added in the next few days as I go through all the CES 2015 action. If you need a refresher or a comparison point, here’s our round-up of the CES 2014 action.

Latest Update: 1/20/15 at 11:57pm EST – added Sennheiser Momentum M2, along with Bluetooth versions of Momentum and Urbanite, and new RS xx5 wireless series…

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