Able Planet Clear Harmony Foldable Headphone Reviews
Headphone Details
| Manufacturer |
Able Planet |
Model |
Clear Harmony Foldable |
| Headphone Type |
Noise cancelling |
Headband Type |
Single |
| Weight (g) |
270 |
Driver Type |
Dynamic |
| Enclosure Material |
Plastic |
Isolation (dB) |
15 |
| Impedance (ohms) |
8 |
Cable Length (cm) |
150 |
| Frequency Response (Hz) |
20 - 20000 |
|
| Connector |
3.5mm |
Street Price |
US$99 |
| Buy from Amazon.com |
|
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Reviews by our members
Review by Staff Reviewer commando on 19 May 09 01:23| Individual review |
| Bass Extension | 6 |
|---|
| Bass Impact | 3 |
|---|
| Bass Quality | 3 |
|---|
| Mids Quality | 3 |
|---|
| Highs Quality | 4 |
|---|
| Detail | 4 |
|---|
| Comfort | 5 |
|---|
| Durability | 5 |
|---|
Disclaimer: these headphones were sent to me for review by Able Planet, but this review is objective and independent. For this review my reference headphones are the Monster produced Dr Dre Beats, the Sennheiser 280 pro, the Audio Technica A900, and the Ultimate Ears 5EB. It’s worth mentioning that these headphones all cost significantly more than the Able Planet headphones, though the Sennheiser 280 Pro are roughly comparable in price.
I’ve had these headphones for around a month now, the first couple of weeks I left them connected to an amp to let them "burn in", which often helps the sound quality.
My first thought when I put these headphones on was "what’s that hiss?", as they make an audible hiss when turned on but not plugged into an audio source. This hiss is audible when the music is low enough, and seems to be caused by the noise reduction circuit, but when music’s playing you don’t really hear it. The noise reduction itself is good, effective against low frequency noise like most other noise reducing closed headphones. The headphones work when noise reductions turned off, which is great, but things get quieter and a little more muffled.
When moving from my other headphones to these it sounds like someone’s stuffed cotton wool in my ears. The mids are the worst offenders, but the whole range from bass to treble suffers. Bass extension is pretty good, but bass impact isn’t as good as most headphones. Highs are rolled off and detail isn’t great. The music just doesn’t sound "alive".
Comforts pretty good, I can wear them for an hour without problems. The clamping force is somewhere between the Sennheisers and the Dr Dre’s, and should stay on if you’re walking around or perhaps with light jogging. The cord has an inline volume control that includes a shirt clip, which is effective against microphonics – i.e. cord noise.
Overall I think if you’re looking for noise reduction for use on a plane or train these might be a good option at $99, with the bonus they play music as well. If you’re looking for good audio quality for everyday use I would probably suggest other headphones will serve most people better.
