Sony
The
MDR-R10 is back in the catalogue after a brief disappearance last year. Nothing seems to have changed at all in the MDR-CD or MDR-Z series for over a year(!) The 7506 (very rare) and 7509 (rare) do not appear in the retail catalogue.
Audio-Technica
As if anything could change in the A-T lineup without Head-Fiers noticing...
A minor detail though - supply is no longer guaranteed of the
ATH-W100 or the
ATH-A9X. There still seem to be plenty floating about, but this could signal the end of an era for the
Type B driver, which lives on (for the moment) only in the open-design
ATH-AD7. The A9X had a decent run though - it was released in October 1997.
Pioneer
Supply of the
SE-DJ5000 is no longer guaranteed, replaced by the
HDJ-1000.
Remember these?
They were the SE-M370, Robocop's headphone of choice, but best used for target practice. Now the
SE-M270 &
SE-M370, two truly gruesome sounding headphones, have been replaced by the
M280 and
M380:-
Don't ask - I haven't heard either yet, but they couldn't be any worse than their predecessors. The cross-cup wires are now tucked away inside a self-adjusting headband. The biggest change though is a massive bass-boosting hole in each cup. If you tend to forget the features of your new toys then you'll be happy to know that these holes are clearly labelled "Powerful Bass Duct".
Wear them out and about and people you don't even know will see this and think "Yo, that there dude be gettin' some awesome bass through them Powerful Bass Ducts". Of course, these ports will be tuned waaay low for great bass extension, won't boom at all and the holes won't compromise isolation... Should we expect anything less for $20?
Some Product Lineup Changes
