We’ve got an extra big batch of headphones in for Christmas, and we’ve butchered our prices! Beware though - once they’re gone, they’re gone! Website stock levels are in real time.

Open

Audio-Technica AD700 - Was $175 Now $155

New: Beyerdynamic DT440 - $199

Beyerdynamic DT990 Hi-Fi - Was $399 Now $299

Beyerdynamic DT880 Hi-Fi - Was $399 Now $349

AKG K701 - Was $399 Now $349

Closed

New: Sennheiser HD280 PRO - $149

Beyerdynamic DT770 Hi-Fi - Was $399 Now $299

Denon AH-D2000 - Was $399 Now $299

Noise-Cancelling

Audio-Technica ANC7b - Was $219 Now $179

Happy shopping!

-Dimitri

For guaranteed delivery before Dec 25th, please order before Wed 15th for WA customers, Friday 17th for SA/VIC (incl. Melbourne) and rural NSW/QLD customers, and Monday 20th for Sydney/Brisbane customers.

We will ship orders each day over the silly season, and although it is traditionally overnight for Brisbane/Sydney and 2 nights for Melbourne orders, we have seen considerable delays for some customers over the past couple of weeks, particularly for those in Victoria. Ordering according to the above deadlines ensures protection against disappointment - ordering afterwards is a best-effort affair on behalf of Couriers Please.

Don’t forget that bank transfers take longer - an extra 2-3 business days in most cases, and Paypal bank transfers can take up to 5 working days! However, Paypal credit card payments are instant, and if time is an issue, they’re the fastest method.

As always, using the ‘Contact Us’ link will see your email responded to within 1 business day, and for urgent discussions, include a mobile number. I will endeavor to give you a ring as quickly as possible.

Thanks for ordering from Headsonic.

Dimitri Vasdekis (Owner)

Gotta love discount tickets!

In terms of some impressions, it’s amazing what a complete lack of buyer’s remorse will do. Number one on the list of big disappointments were most of the cherry-wood headphones. Starting with the Victor DX700, I was amazed at just how murky these big wooden headphones sounded. It felt like everything was echoing inside the massive chamber on the way to my ear, and it was in no way pleasant or revealing. It was like sticking a speaker in a seashell. Much the same were the Audio Technica W1000s and W5000s. I don’t think that cherry wood or any lumber for that matter makes for a good headphone material, and these headphones just sacrificed too much in the name of looks to be worth considering, at any price. At least, with the Audio Technicas in comparison to the DX700s, the engineers seem to have identified the shortcomings of using wood, and tried to compensate for the boominess that the material brings. However, the end result sounded thin and unpleasant.

In fact, the only good wood headphone was the Denon D5000. I always struggle to write these lengthy reviews about good headphones, because a good headphone shouldn’t sound like anything. It should sound just like the music does, without any obvious accent or characteristic, apart from clarity. Yet, although the D5000s still felt slightly muffled from the closed construction, they sounded amazingly rich, for want of a better word. The symphony had this full-ness to it that I hadn’t heard in any headphones to that point, and it was incredibly pleasant. I haven’t heard this same rich-ness or full spectrum harmony, I guess you’d call it, in any other headphone to date, and now coming back to my open pairs, I now feel that this is something that they lack.

Yet there’s still the issue of wood construction, and the ridiculous price excise that it brings. Luckily, the the D2000s were just as astonishing. It took me many many tries to determine my favorite between the D2000 and D5000, attempting to disregard price as a factor. Surprisingly though, from the basis of an all plastic construction, I found the D2000s to be actually slightly better sounding than the D5000s. The characteristic of the sound for both pairs was almost identical. The difference lay in the soundstage. The D5000 is much more generously spaced than the D2000, with a sound that seems to echo from the depths of the headphone. The D2000 seems to have a much more immediate sense of space, with a sound that seems to originate much closer to your ear. Normally I advocate a wide soundstage, because I find high-end detail to sometimes be fatiguing. The high-end open Audio Technicas are a perfect case of this. Above the AD700, detail increases and the soundstage shrinks, and I’ve never been able to forget that I’m wearing them, and unconsciously find myself removing the headphones. However, because of the rich nature of the sound in the Denons, I actually found myself craving a more immediate soundstage, to hear an even fuller, more detailed sound from them, and the D2000s eventually became my preference.

Trying these Denons, closed headphones have suddenly become a legitimate choice by themselves in my eyes, as to this point I’ve always considered closed headphones to be borne of the constraints of ambient noise, as opposed to having a sound that’s actually desirable. The D2000s, in particular, are an amazing headphone, and one that represents real value for money at the high-end. I’m desperately going to try and get stock of them, because these are just too good not to sell.

Anyway, if you ever find yourself in Akihabara, check out the basement of Laox, and try out some headphones. I’d love to hear of it.

Headsonic will be on holiday from the 24th of December to the 5th of Jan. During this time, we will be unable to ship orders, however purchases can be made as usual. All orders placed will ship on the 6th.

Wishing all our customers an excellent festive season, and best wishes for the new year.

The Headsonic Team

Most predictions consider the recent devaluation to be the result of panic and severe risk-aversion in financial markets, but unfortunately the steep increases in unemployment in the most recent statistics translate to further interest rate decreases. As such, it may be as long as 6 months to a year before the dollar returns to a favourable level. During this time, we may have less stock than normal on hand, so that we can take advantage of any change in the current rate as quickly as possible, and maintain our position as the best value retailer in the Australian market.

Once again, thank you for choosing Headsonic.

Cheers,

Dimitri

Thankyou once again for choosing Headsonic.
Dimitri Vasdekis

AKG has recently announced their new headphone lineup, comprising of both a revamped line of studio headphones (K141, K171, K240 and K271) and 3 new models (K77, K99 and the new in-ear IP2).

Even more promising is the rumor of the new AKG K702, intended to replace the fantastic K701. While there has been no concrete news as yet, the K701 has now ceased production, and as a consequence of units becoming harder to get, we have stopped ordering from our US distributor. I believe the lack of an official announcement is due to AKG wishing to sell the little stock that remains of the K701 before the K702 is released, to avoid a desperate underpriced clearance of the remainders.

With the sales of the K701 recently passing an estimated 20,000 units, it makes little sense for the new K702 to be drastically different from the original. We suspect that AKG will address the comfort issues of the original K701 with the K702, and leave the rest of the headphone largely unchanged, as previous AKG product decisions have followed the very sensible option of not fixing what isn’t broken, even at the risk of selling some products well past their maturity.

At this stage, we expect stock of the K702 to arrive within one or two months, and to be priced at a similar level to the K701. We will not be taking preorders of the K702 until it is on its way to us.

Secondly, we would like to welcome Stephane to the Headsonic team. Stephane will be managing a complete upgrade of our website over the next month, and the end result should be truly world-class, with a web 2.0 style rating system and brand new discussion forum.

Thanks again for choosing Headsonic.

Dimitri Vasdekis
Director