Headphones to Avoid: Sony RF-995-RK Wireless RF

We are starting a new series here at this blog, the “Headphones to Avoid”. A lot of audio publications, websites, forums, and enthusiasts are quick to profusely praise, but it’s crickets when it comes to criticize. However, if it is fair to praise a product, it is also fair to criticize a product. In this series we spotlight headphones that have issues that would make them deal killers for potential buyers.

The first headphone to be “featured” is the Sony RF-995-RK Wireless RF. This is a headphone system of a transmitter/base and a headset, not unlike the Sennheiser RS-series. The RF-995 is well-made and all the good stuff, however, it fails at its #1 job: wireless audio. It has trouble keeping a connection running. Even minor movements of the body or head cause it to make “clicking” sounds. Whether you are listening to music or watching a movie or TV show, this is very annoying and distracting.

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Unboxing the Tennmark PRO In-Ears

This is one of the “Chi-Fi” in-ears that are riding the hype train, so when I noticed it on a lightning deal at amazon.com, I gave in to the temptation and picked it up to see what all the fuss was about. I did this knowing that this is a bass-favoring earphone. This post is our customary text and pictures unboxing. The review will come later on 🙂

WHAT’S INCLUDED

The box includes the following:

  • the earphones (with the cables attached to them) in a zippered hard shell case
  • different size eartips in a sealed little bag
  • warranty card
  • nothing else is included

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Unboxing the Vivian Acrylic Headphone Stand

I needed to get a clear headphone stand to make pictures of headphones for blog-purchases more useful (you can see more of the headphone instead of the stand), so I picked up the Vivian Acrylic Headphone Stand in the Clear color scheme. It arrived a few hours ago, and this is the unboxing post. A review will come later on after I use it for a while…

They arrive in a sturdy unbranded cardbox box. The only thing on it is a white Amazon sticker that has the Amazon product code and bar code. On that sticker, it says “Made in China”

The box is easy to open with your fingers, and it looks solid enough you can easily reuse it for other purposes, or keep this stand in there.

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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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Unboxing the Symphonized NRG 2.0 In-Ears

After posting about them one too many times in our deals blog (they are frequently part of the gold box lightning deals), I gave in to the temptation and picked up the Symphonized NRG 2.0 Earphones. They just arrived, so here I go, in record turnaround time posting the unboxing post. I haven’t yet listened to them, so opinions on how they sound will come in a separate post in the future…

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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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Unboxing the Panasonic RP-HTX80B Bluetooth Retro-Style Closed Over-Ears

It’s been three weeks since our previous post! But we are back once again, this time with another one of our customary useful “text and pictures” unboxing posts! It is the closed-back over-ear retro-style Panasonic RP-HTX80B headphone. This is a “bluetoothization” of their wired RP-HTX7 over-ears. The HTX80B is a bluetooth-only headphone, there’s no 3.5mm wired audio input!

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Unboxing the Google USB-C Headphone DAC/amp

After betraying microSD fans, Google decided to betray the 3.5mm headphone jack as well with their 2017 Pixel 2 smartphones, making it the most high profile Android phone without a headphone jack. With that, the need for a USB-C headphone adapter (DAC/amp) for anyone wanting to use their 3.5mm headphones became mordant 😉

So Google released one such adapter of their own, taking USB digital audio and converting it to analog. After initially pricing it higher than Apple’s Lightning adapter (SAD!), Google brought the price all the way down to $9 with free shipping to boot at their own store.

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