[luedriver]

I found these 2 iems on ebay and couldn't find any info on them

TDK Th-xec200 Clef-x Black

TDK "CLEF-X" (Gold) TH-XEC300GL

its interesting since I know that the brand TDK has been sold and now produce only marginally good OEM headphones

these are from japan, so either its a part of the company that hasn't been sold off or they are New Old Stock

either way it doesn't seem that many know that they even exist

 

[ClieOS]

It is worth knowing that 'TDK Life on Record', which is the brand responsible for their headphone line, was sold to Imation by TDK parent company (which no longer has any audio business) in 2007. Then Imation shutdowns all its audio business, including all of TDK Life on Record, at the end of 2015. Whatever headphone you still find under the TDK brand right now are basically NOS left after the brand is closed down. Also worth knowing is that there were a bunch of random 'consumer grade' headphones being released under TDK brand around 2014~2015 and most, if not all of them are not really the good and meant to be sold as audio accessories in bookstores and PC shops.

p.s. those two IEM you listed can be found in Japan for $20 or less.

 

[luedriver]

It is worth knowing that 'TDK Life on Record', which is the brand responsible for their headphone line, was sold to Imation by TDK parent company (which no longer has any audio business) in 2007. Then Imation shutdowns all its audio business, including all of TDK Life on Record, at the end of 2015. Whatever headphone you still find under the TDK brand right now are basically NOS left after the brand is closed down. Also worth knowing is that there were a bunch of random 'consumer grade' headphones being released under TDK brand around 2014~2015 and most, if not all of them are not really the good and meant to be sold as audio accessories in bookstores and PC shops.

p.s. those two IEM you listed can be found in Japan for $20 or less.

that is what I also heard, these 2 seemed "better" but still had a bit of a "beats" flair to them, was curious since they are "japan import" I wouldn't know even where to start to look for them from japan, it will probably cost the same with shipping, even though I had no intention of buying without knowing how they would sound like

edit, I didn't know that they were sold again

 

[ClieOS]

The first place to look for Japanese headphones is always Amazon Japan, which has a very nice feature that allow you to set most of its pages to English. A typical forwarding service usually runs around $15~20 in total for something as light as IEM. My estimate is around $50~60 for both IEM with shipping included, certainly is cheaper than those eBay listing.

 

[luedriver]

The first place to look for Japanese headphones is always Amazon Japan, which has a very nice feature that allow you to set most of its pages to English. A typical forwarding service usually runs around $15~20 in total for something as light as IEM. My estimate is around $50~60 for both IEM with shipping included, certainly is cheaper than those eBay listing.

not haggling over prices but I see 50-60 AUD on the ebay site, with no cost on shipping, I'm gotten so used to the idea, I don't even bother looking up elsewhere, even massdrop, with its discount prices are the same with shipping as it is on ebay for me, it's probably because I live in Australia, only 1-2 times has it been worth buying from massdrop in comparison

 

[ClieOS]

not haggling over prices but I see 50-60 AUD on the ebay site, with no cost on shipping, I'm gotten so used to the idea, I don't even bother looking up elsewhere, even massdrop, with its discount prices are the same with shipping as it is on ebay for me, it's probably because I live in Australia, only 1-2 times has it been worth buying from massdrop in comparison

Remember I am estimating the price for getting both, so even on the high side they should be be around AUD80~90 in total. The link you gave put them both at little over AUD110 combined. Of course if you are referring to seeing both at AUD50~60 (or simply just under AUD80) on eBay, then it is definitely the better deal.

Was in Australia back in my graduate school's days around 2006, I used to refer to the country as headphone desert

 

[luedriver]

I used to refer to the country as headphone desert

yeah, that's why most of the headphones I buy are from online, even ones that they sell here