Review: AblePlanet Clear Harmony Headphones

by Jordan Chark • 02/27/2008 at 05:24 PM

Being an audiophile myself, it’s always an experience whenever I put on a new pair of headphones. Lately, I’ve been trying out AblePlanet’s Clear Harmony “Active Noise Canceling with Linx Audio” headphones. While I myself don’t necessarily experience the problem, many people find it uncomfortable to wear in-ear “IEMs” for an extended period of time. That, of course brings us to the over the ear noise-canceling category which the Clear Harmony fits into. The category, largely dominated by Bose, has seen much competition over the years, and now it’s time to see how the AblePlanet’s stack up.

Design/Comfort

The comfort was probably one of the first things I noticed while putting these on. The headphone padding, which feels somewhat leather-like, is very soft and comfortable for extended use. Also, the headband is covered in a similar material, an essential detail some other manufacturers tend to neglect. They come with a hard-shell zippered carrying case with plenty of room for the headphones and various adapters/cables. One gripe, however: the plastic headphone shells feel a bit clunky, but they do have a good amount of weight to them.

An important note: The AblePlanet’s work on 2 standard AAA batteries, but that’s mainly for the noise canceling feature, and can be used without them in case you run out.

Sound/Noise Cancelling

The sound is generally decent, with pretty powerful bass and average mids, but the treble response could definitely be better. I sampled several genres of music with these, and found them to be enjoyable to listen to, albeit not the most enjoyable. However, I did find them to shine while listening to podcasts and TV/Movies in noisy environments such as cars. The noise cancelling almost confines you to your own, personal bubble of sound, and speech is quite clear. Also, the “Linx Audio” feature, highly touted by the manufacturer, allows you to hear all the subtleties in the music without crankin’ up the volume as you’re probably used to.

Conclusion

While the sound isn’t as sharp, nor layered as I have heard elsewhere, the average consumer is not too likely to notice the difference. Also, with their solid noise-canceling added into the mix, they become a viable alternative to Bose’s high-end QC3s in that respect. They’re pretty comfortable and look fairly classy. The price-tag is a bit steep at $350, which may mean you’ll have to sit down and contemplate the purchase. Overall, if you’re looking for over-ear noise canceling ‘phones in this range, I’d recommend them.