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Master "deals" (massdrop, ebay, Amazon, etc.) Thread on Audio Product Sales

hmscott said:
I've shied away from Drop so many times, had stuff in the cart and then found a great reason(s) not to buy from Drop.

The number one reason is there is only a 30 day or 3 month return/warranty period vs years of warranty support if you buy the product in it's "real" form from normal channels. That reason has stopped me most.

The 2nd most likely reason is there isn't enough of a price savings to make me ignore the number one reason.

Probably the Zeroth reason is that buying on Drop is like ordering online in a Pandemic - without the Pandemic - you never know how long it is going to take them to ship it, or when you will get it. While I've watched for signs of a product to announce when it is going to ship I see a sale on the "real" item, and I order that instead. Or, I lose interest in the product because something newer / better is now available for the same or less cost.

Case in point, Drop has been having supply issues with (everything?) the HD6xx and people are waiting even longer than usual - double Pandemic mode strikes:
https://drop.com/talk/63324/pre-order-status-update-thread

The last straw for me, and why I am peeved at Drop, was looking forward to the release of the ifi Zen CAN / DAC pairing at 2x the price I expected, and then went on to charge $85(?) for the 4mm interconnect cable. I had those in my cart for a while and then when they doubled the price I wrote them a complaint and until today haven't been back there :)

I see Drop added a 3-year warranty option to the HD6XX for $30... where does Drop plan on getting the spare HD6XX's or parts for repair to service that warranty, they can't even keep stock for sales!:

Add Drop 3-year Warranty with Accidental Coverage (US Only) +$30

/flame-off

:mad:
Click to expand...
Gees, well I live dangerously, I've got an HE4XX which I imported from them (USA) to UK! :D

The HD6XX is nearly half price from them though in comparison to buying HD650 in Canada by the looks of it, so I think the large cost saving offsets the risk of shorter warranty and all the hassle associated with buying it from another country....I'd just risk it for that good deal. The waiting for the product to ship would probably be more of a pain in the ass for me than the other negative points.
 
Robbo99999 said:
Gees, well I live dangerously, I've got an HE4XX which I imported from them (USA) to UK! :D

The HD6XX is nearly half price from them though in comparison to buying HD650 in Canada by the looks of it, so I think the large cost saving offsets the risk of shorter warranty and all the hassle associated with buying it from another country....I'd just risk it for that good deal. The waiting for the product to ship would probably be more of a pain in the ass for me than the other negative points.
Click to expand...
Sure, the draw of 1/2 price is tough to ignore, until you shave off the cost of the negatives from the "savings" until you come to realize there is no savings worth getting stuck with a non-reparable unit from a company that probably shaved every penny they could from manufacturing and QA costs - including introducing delay after delay pushing out the shipments months and months later than customers expected to optimize profits.

If you are fortunate as I've found countless times with Drop, you might find a "real" deal sooner than waiting for the "clone".

I'm happy you had a happy experience once, and I hope all of your experiences with Drop work out as happily for you. :)
MAY 10, 2020
"Just received these, and boy am I surprised.
  1. There's a hidden cost of taxes because this price is shown before taxes! So I had to add 56$ on top of the price so it's not 235 with the shipping but 291, which in the end is only 80$ less than the original (at least in my country).
  2. The headphones aren't made from metal as the original, but from plastic which feels very cheap. They will certainly give in at the point where the head band joins the headphones.
  3. The sound isn't the same (I have the original), but is close enough, so that's a plus. Maybe with time they will come closer to the original model.
  4. Another plus is the box , which is nice and very similar to the original one. But I don't really care for the box. I need these for work in the studio. A better option would have been extra ear pads or cable, not the freaking box!
So, 300$ for plastic headphones which will certainly break (I give them 2 years) which will render them useless isn't the best option after all. You're not really saving anything, you're actually losing money. The original ones I have are totally fine, and it's been some 10 years already. Been carrying them around in a bag with cables without any protection, they are very well built. If I knew all these things, I wouldn't have bought them. Not worth it."

Why doesn't drop make it easy to know the end cost of the HD6XX? (paraphrased from several posts in between)

"Because 220usd sounds tempting. You're going to spend over 300eur and patiently wait for them to arrive. Or you can buy HD 650 for 330eur."

Lots more informative banter:
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx/questions#questions
 
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hmscott said:
Sure, the draw of 1/2 price is tough to ignore, until you shave off the cost of the negatives from the "savings" until you come to realize there is no savings worth getting stuck with a non-reparable unit from a company that probably shaved every penny they could from manufacturing and QA costs - including introducing delay after delay pushing out the shipments months and months later than customers expected to optimize profits.

If you are fortunate as I've found countless times with Drop, you might find a "real" deal sooner than waiting for the "clone".

I'm happy you had a happy experience once, and I hope all of your experiences with Drop work out as happily for you. :)
MAY 10, 2020
"Just received these, and boy am I surprised.
  1. There's a hidden cost of taxes because this price is shown before taxes! So I had to add 56$ on top of the price so it's not 235 with the shipping but 291, which in the end is only 80$ less than the original (at least in my country).
  2. The headphones aren't made from metal as the original, but from plastic which feels very cheap. They will certainly give in at the point where the head band joins the headphones.
  3. The sound isn't the same (I have the original), but is close enough, so that's a plus. Maybe with time they will come closer to the original model.
  4. Another plus is the box , which is nice and very similar to the original one. But I don't really care for the box. I need these for work in the studio. A better option would have been extra ear pads or cable, not the freaking box!
So, 300$ for plastic headphones which will certainly break (I give them 2 years) which will render them useless isn't the best option after all. You're not really saving anything, you're actually losing money. The original ones I have are totally fine, and it's been some 10 years already. Been carrying them around in a bag with cables without any protection, they are very well built. If I knew all these things, I wouldn't have bought them. Not worth it."

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx/questions#questions
Click to expand...
I just don't see it from that pessimistic angle though, I'd be willing to take a "risk" for the good deal. I just don't see it that way.
 
hmscott said:
I've shied away from Drop so many times, had stuff in the cart and then found a great reason(s) not to buy from Drop.

The number one reason is there is only a 30 day or 3 month return/warranty period vs years of warranty support if you buy the product in it's "real" form from normal channels. That reason has stopped me most.

The 2nd most likely reason is there isn't enough of a price savings to make me ignore the number one reason.

Probably the Zeroth reason is that buying on Drop is like ordering online in a Pandemic - without the Pandemic - you never know how long it is going to take them to ship it, or when you will get it. While I've watched for signs of a product to announce when it is going to ship I see a sale on the "real" item, and I order that instead. Or, I lose interest in the product because something newer / better is now available for the same or less cost.

Case in point, Drop has been having supply issues with (everything?) the HD6xx and people are waiting even longer than usual - double Pandemic mode strikes:
https://drop.com/talk/63324/pre-order-status-update-thread

The last straw for me, and why I am peeved at Drop, I was looking forward to the release of the ifi Zen CAN / DAC pairing at 2x the price I expected, and then went on to charge $85(?) for the 4mm interconnect cable. I had those in my cart for a while and then when they doubled the price I wrote them a complaint and until today haven't been back there.

I see Drop added a 3-year warranty option to the HD6XX for $30... where does Drop plan on getting the spare HD6XX's or parts for repair to service that warranty?, they can't even keep stock for sales!:

"Add Drop 3-year Warranty with Accidental Coverage (US Only) +$30"
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx/

I ended up buying a "real" Sennheiser HD660s during a sale at bhphoto.com, it shipped immediately and arrived quickly, and I am thrilled with it's awesomeness. Drop is showing 20 days till the next HD6XX drop. :cool:
Click to expand...
I hear ya...I have yet to have a bad experience with Drop, but I consider myself one of the lucky ones. They really shoot themselves in the foot with consistently poor communication, which compounds the inadequate customer service. I don't even remember them completely explaining the transition from discounts to reward points.
 
I don't want to derail "deals" further, but I was searching for a good explanation of what I've been seeing with (Mass)Drop over the years, some of which I've said, and this guy (video) goes into the technical details many people miss about deals that represent one way, but are in the end are not fulfilled as originally sold:
His complaint is about a deal for mechanical keyboard parts that advertised one thing and delivered another, and goes on to call out Drop selling fake products - replica of art, without disclosure:

The HD6XX might be best Drop product deal, the exception, and any positives there are are far more likely due to Sennheiser's involvement than Drop's.

I didn't at all feel bad about spending more on a real Sennheiser HD660s, and I think I received a much better made product with better support, for the extra cost.

And, the HD660s is now shipping with the new Black skins, which I prefer over the funny stone patterns or grey. Sennheiser is still including the same sucky zip cord based audio cables...
To get back on the "deals" track, Hifigo is now offering GUcraftsman audio cables, and I ordered these last night for the HD660s:

GUcraftsman 6n silver HD600 HD650 HD660s Headphone upgrade Cables 4.4/2.5mm balanced
https://hifigo.com/products/6n-silv...bles-4-4-2-5mm-balance?variant=31090994708529

And, for the Hifiman Ananda and HE6SE V2, both with 3.5mm cup ends:

GUcraftsman 6n silver For Beyerdynamic Headphone Upgrade Cable
https://hifigo.com/products/gucraft...eadphone-upgrade-cable?variant=32171665129521

Both are better priced than I was quoted for similar 'silver plated OCC copper' custom cables elsewhere.
 
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hmscott said:
Sure, the draw of 1/2 price is tough to ignore, until you shave off the cost of the negatives from the "savings" until you come to realize there is no savings worth getting stuck with a non-reparable unit from a company that probably shaved every penny they could from manufacturing and QA costs - including introducing delay after delay pushing out the shipments months and months later than customers expected to optimize profits.
Click to expand...
The 6XX has the same drivers and about everything else as the 650, totally repairable. Basically the only things different are the color and the cable. Up until recently, for all the 6 series, from what I remember they were made in Ireland, just like the 650 and 600.
 
frogmeat69 said:
The 6XX has the same drivers and about everything else as the 650, totally repairable. Basically the only things different are the color and the cable. Up until recently, for all the 6 series, from what I remember they were made in Ireland, just like the 650 and 600.
Click to expand...
I've read the story too :)

Here is a happy owner contributing their experience trying and failing to get their Drop 6XX fixed, and their innovative solution - buy another 6XX, this time spending more $ to get an extended warranty with it:
https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx/talk#discussions

APR 2, 2021
"I contacted both Drop and Sennheiser to get it repaired which I was willing to pay for but they gave me the runaround asking me to contact the other party. I called Sennheiser and asked for a replacement driver and I was told that its out of stock and MAY ship after 13 weeks. Also, no returns on driver either. Not sure what exactly was wrong and I didn't wanted to put more money into it, I ended up ordering a new HD6XX with extended warranty. Now at least I know what I am getting. Its 250$ for 3 years worth of use and anytime after that is extra. After 3 yrs, I am on my own."

To me that's throwing good money after bad hoping for a better result, I wonder if he'll get the same finger pointing service treatment with the "extended warranty"...?

"Normal" variance's?

FEB 23, 2021
"I just got HD 6xx and the right headphone has a better sound isolation than the left one. The left one seems more "open" and the right one is almost "half-closed". This is when not listening to anything, just putting the headphones on and trying to talk, the feeling is similar when one of your ears is stuffy. Does anyone know if this is normal? Is it unusual for open headphones to have different sound isolation on both sides? It is kinda annoying when one side sounds more "open", even though the sound level when listening to music is the same on both sides."

JAN 28, 2021
"I have got my hd6xx for 2 days. There is noticeable electrical noise when I plug them into any source I have with or without dac (FX-Audio DAC-X6MKII from drop). I have tried macbook pro, ipad, and playstation 5 console and controller, volume from 0 to high. The noise is the same. Is it normal?"
 
hmscott said:
I don't want to derail "deals" further, but I was searching for a good explanation of what I've been seeing with (Mass)Drop over the years, some of which I've said, and this guy (video) goes into the technical details many people miss about deals that represent one way, but are in the end are not fulfilled as originally sold:
His complaint is about a deal for mechanical keyboard parts that advertised one thing and delivered another, and goes on to call out Drop selling fake products - replica of art, without disclosure:
Click to expand...
I don't want to derail the thread either, but folks less familiar with Drop may find some of the discussion informative. That video (although painful to watch), is a good example of a minor issue (keys were a different material than described) festering into a larger one because Drop shipped late, communicated the issue late, and were not apologetic in their communication. They should have avoided the problem completely with better attention to detail in the product listing.
My advice to anyone purchasing from Drop is to tread carefully. Double check what kind of warranty you are receiving with the purchase (if any) because Drop's product listings can be cryptic, confusing, and inaccurate.

They better ship that damn HD8XX on time...
 
Racheski said:
...They better ship that damn HD8XX on time...
Click to expand...
You and me both!

I'm very interested in the HD800 Sennheiser retune - but not from Drop.

I hope that Sennheiser releases their own version of the retuned HD800 so I can purchase one.
 
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I've had mostly good drop experiences. The worst was when I ordered a gaming chair. The price was good. The quality was good. However, there was a tear on the chair. The company refused to warrant. Massdrop got involved only after a lot of effort on my part. Eventually I got the upper half of the chair replaced. It was just a needless pain.

I ended up not liking the chair, but my daughter likes it now, so all's well that ends well.
 
hmscott said:
You and me both!

I'm very interested in the HD800 Sennheiser retune - but not from Drop.

I hope that Sennheiser releases their own version of the retuned HD800 so I can purchase one.
Click to expand...
frogmeat69 said:
The HD800s???
Click to expand...
The HD8xx is a further step in the HD800 series.

And, that is why Drop didn't name it the HD8xxs, instead they named it the HD8xx. :)
 
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Go on, you know you want one, only £3.99...

1618317598070.png


Magnetic Tape Print Floor Mat | SHEIN UK
 
For Canadians...

SONY WH-1000XM4
Normally CDN$500, but is now on sale for CDN$379 (24% drop) on electronicsforless.ca
You could try price matching with Visions, for extra 15% off the difference, meaning 500-379=121 (*1.15=139.15 off). So 500-139.15=$360.85 in total.
This deal is not bad, considering these sold for CDN$350 during Christmas time, from Nov 22, 2020 - Jan 7, 2021.

Amir's review.
update: I think I missed the deal since it was posted 6hrs ago, and now it's showing 'out of stock'.
 
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