Harman Kardon BT Premium Over-Ear Headphones with Bluetooth Technology

FOLLOW-UP - 08-07-17 Ok! It has been a while, and I am happy to report that these have held up physically *extremely* well. Not one single bit, piece, component, layer or part has gone bad in any way. I am honestly surprised. I put them through fairly rough use, and yet they are still in almost-pristine condition. The best part is the material covering the ear-pieces; I have gotten them all sweaty hundreds of times, and they are still in perfect condition. The moisture just does not seem to affect them. Really impressed now. :)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wow. I just field-tested my new HK BT's, and I am amazed, and I am a headphone snob. The only headphones I have ever used which are better than these are wired headphones costing much more than the $200 I paid for these.I tested the HK BT's today in two environments: Outside in an urban setting while roller-skating in traffic, and at home in a fairly quiet apartment. The phones were paired with a Motorola Droid 4 phone playing .mp3 files. (DISCLAIMER: No, it probably is NOT a great idea to roller-skate in traffic with full-enclosure headphones on, since they block out many sounds which can alert one to emergent traffic situations. All I can say is that if you are skating in urban traffic, you are almost certainly VISUALLY staying aware of every vehicle within eyesight)These seem to my eye to be very well and sturdily-constructed headphones. There is a reassuringly-tough metal frame to which any non-metal parts are attached, so none of the main stress points are plastic, as far as I can tell. There is only one critical attachment which is plastic, and it looks to me to be fashioned in such a way as to minimize stress on that little plastic part. I am having a hard time imagining how I could break it unless I did it on-purpose. There is about three inches of exposed loose cable on each side, but it is not long enough to easily snag it on anything, and the swivel feature of the cans is limited so that you cannot turn them far enough to put strain on the cable. I am interested to see how the soft plastic material that contacts the skin will hold up over time. Sometimes that material can rot away, especially if you use it outside in the sun as I intend to, and it gets sweaty.Some users may be annoyed that there is no way to adjust the size/fit other than to swap out the regular-sized over-the-head outer bar with the large one. Luckily for me, the regular one fits perfectly, so I don't need to adjust them. If you have a very small head, that could be an issue, but unless you are 12 years old or younger, I don't expect that would be an issue. The leather-covered band that actually contacts your head has its own tension to hold it snug. It has about one inch of range over which it self-adjusts before coming in contact with the outer metal bar. If you have a really big head, you switch to the larger metal frame, and then I assume the band is able to expand further.I am comparing my experience with these to my experience with my Jaybird Freedom Sprint Bluetooth Headphones. ($129) I lost the Jaybirds and replaced them with these. (This isn't entirely a fair comparison because the Jaybirds are a whole different kind of product, delivering very small size as their main advantage, but hopefully it is still a useful comparison in some ways.) There is a certain amount of personal preference involved here; the HK's are full-sized, over-the-ear cans. Some people don't like all that hardware on their head. As an audio professional, however, I am just too aware of how much better full-size enclosures sound. Among other issues, I don't like the large amount of internal head noise one experiences when one closes off the ear canal with snugly-fitting ear inserts like those of the Jaybirds. (A matter of taste, I will admit) I also like to block out most of the external noise when I am listening to music.The sound of the HK BT's is good. QUITE good. I have heard better, but not on wireless phones costing under $200. Compared to the Jaybirds, the high end is fully present; I felt like I got it back after not having it for a long time. There is nothing about the sound about which I have to say "Yeah, well... but, you know... they're wireless headphones and I can use them while skating, so I guess they're ok..." They are all-around great-sounding; close enough to how good my studio monitor phones sound. (Considering I am out in traffic and skating and stuff) And they go loud. NICELY loud. They still sound really good when at full volume. I am a performing musician, so I am used to hearing things probably louder than I should, and these do not disappoint. In summary: I wouldn't choose these for studio work, but they are fabulous for recreational use.Regarding the phone-call performance: I called my wife and asked her how it sounded. Her response: "If you hadn't pointed it out, I might not have noticed it." On my end the call was easier to hear and understand than when using the phone, most likely because of having both ears enclosed and fed a nice signal.The Bluetooth connection works MUCH MUCH better than on the Jaybirds. To be fair, the Jaybirds specialize in being tiny. They are pretty awesome, really, but one of the corners you have to cut is the ability to pull in the Bluetooth signal. For example, I had to keep my phone (the .mp3-player) on the same side of my body as the Bluetooth receiver because my body would block the signal enough to make the Jaybirds fail fairly often. (Resulting in gaps in the audio) Today with my HK BT's, I was able to put my phone back in my belt pouch where it belongs, on the other side of my body from the Bluetooth receiver. In about 40 minutes of skating around, I experienced not one single gap in the audio. The reception range in the house is about double that of the Jaybirds.It may annoy some users that the charging cable is somewhat non-standard: Standard USB to three-conductor 1/8-inch audio. This is not a cable that you can easily pick up at the airport if you forget yours, and your mom won't have one at her house. No power adapter is included; you must plug the USB end into a device like a computer or use a separate power-adapter.What I can't say is how this product will hold up over time. Is there a small plastic part somewhere which, when it breaks, renders the phones unusable? Will the power-connection/aux-audio jack fail the first time someone snags the cable? Will the battery fail in two months? What about these tiny, tiny buttons on the cans which turn the phones on and off, adjust volume, skip songs and answer phone calls? Will they fail? I don't know. My guess is that no, they will hold up just fine. I say this because these phones are tangibly well-made and examining their construction, I get the impression that these are built to last and probably don't have any weak spots of that nature. We'll see. Those are usually caused by companies getting... shall we say... "creative"... when looking for ways to bring the price down. In other words, you get what you pay for. These phones list at $250 and were $200 when I bought them on Amazon. Why buy three pair of low-quality $80 headphones in five years when you can buy this ONE $200 pair that sounds great and will probably last much longer than five years? (Unless Bluetooth goes out of style, which is always a risk...)Lovin' them, and hopin' they last a long time!

I will start by saying these headphones sound fantastic. In my opinion they are very close to Beats Studio Wireless. They produce bass that you can actually feel. They also produce very good mid and high frequencies but the highs are not quite as good as the Bose Wireless Over Ear Headphones. They are also sturdy and very good looking, especially if you are looking for a style that is a little different from the norm. I also think that the easy to remove ear cushions is a big plus and they were comfortable to me. The headphones came beautifully packaged just as a premium set of headphones should. These are the things I really liked about this headset.Now on to what I didn't like: Even though it is a clever idea I did not like the metal interchangeable small and large head bands. I prefer a band with a variable notched adjustment that you pull larger and push smaller. For me the small band was tight. The fit of the larger band was ok but I would have preferred additional adjustment. There is a leather band under the metal band that expands (the metal never touches your head) but it was just not as comfortable to me as the bands on most headphones. And here was the killer for me. These metal bands attach to metal trim that fits around the circumference of the left and right phone. If you tap the band with your finger or even rub it with your finger the sound amplifies through all of the metal into each earphone. So you think "don't tap or rub it and you will be ok". And in many circumstances that would be true. But I decided to get on a treadmill and run with the headphones on. This was disastrous from a noise standpoint. Each time my feet would hit the treadmill pad the vibration from my body would make those metal bands transmit thump, thump, thump into the earphones. Even a brisk walk would cause this. This is the main reason why I knew they were not going to work for me.To me they are not suitable for vigorous cardio exercises because of this transmitted noise. I think for normal use such as relaxed listening or even light walking they would be fine. I also do not like the lighted power/bluetooth button. When you press it your finger covers the color coded status light. You can get around this by using the tip of your finger to press the button but this is poor planning on Harmon's part. The status light should have been placed beside the button. The control buttons could have better placement too. But the buttons are minor issues.I didn't keep them long enough to test the phone features. So here is my final analysis as I see it:Sound quality is very close to Bose and bass is very close to Beats. Fit adjustment is pretty good but could be much better if designed as most headphones are. Due to the metal structure they transmit a lot of outside physical noise through them making them not the best for some types of exercising such as fast walking and running. They are no different than any other over ear design as to heat around the ears and sweating during physical exercise. I really wanted to keep them but I knew I would not be able to live with that one noise issue. That is the only issue that caused me to return them. I believe Harmon Kardon is coming out with new on ear headphones that minus all that metal. I hope they bring this style to the over ear headphone too.

vermutlich bezieht sich das Premium auf das einzigartige „USB Ladekabel“, was ich so noch nicht gesehen habe, bei einem Auslaufmodel von 2013 will ich mal nicht so streng sein, es funktioniert, in 2 Std. ist der Akku voll und hält definitiv länger als die angegeben 12 Std. Spielzeit und das bei Bluetooth 2.1Aber warum holt man sich so eine uralte Gurke im Zeitalter von Bluetooth 5.0 ?,ganz einfach, es funktioniert auf -anhieb, zuverlässige ausgereifte Technik. Dazu noch unverschämt günstig. Dieses Model gehört noch lange nicht zum alten Eisen. Der Sound ist satt, habe mir gerade ein ausgiebiges Konzert von Candy Dulfer und Diana Krall live in Rio, ebenso Dirty Loops und zum Abschluss Katy Perry gegönnt, das hätte ich nicht durchgehalten wenn der Sound mich nicht überzeugt hätte.Zum Vergleich habe ich den B&O Beoplay H7, der leider schon nach einem Jahr innerlich zerfällt, aber der Sound so was von erlesen ist, das ich ihn gleich noch mal bestellt habe. Dank der perfekten Garantie Abwicklung von Amazon ( immer beim „Chef“ kaufen, ist manchmal etwas teurer, aber du schläfst besser, wenn was passiert ;-)kommen wir noch mal zum „kabellosen Premium Kopfhörer“ Harman/Kardon zurück, kabellos sollte man ihn auch ausschließlich betreiben, hier schließe ich mich meinen Vorrednern an, die gebürstete Aluminium Rahmen Konstruktion überträgt alles schonungslos an die Ohr Muschel.Also alles weg, was den Rahmen berühren könnte, ein kleiner Silikon Dichtring könnte das Problem lösen, zu leichtfertig minus Punkte kassiert.Definitiv Pluspunkte bekommt das Zubehör, alles vom feinsten, auch wenn ich mir niemals diese gepolsterte schwarze Ledertasche am Gürtel befestigen werde und damit rumlaufe. Nee, aber möglich ist das. Was gibt es noch zu sagen ?, die Schaltung, ja auch sie funktioniert, hat ein bisschen spiel und klappert ein wenig beim bedienen, andersherum wären sie zu stramm, könnten die Druckschalter sich verkannten und klemmen. Schön ist was anderes.Der KH sitzt fest und bequem auf dem Kopf, die Polster machen einen guten Job und dichten hervorragend ab, sind mit Magneten befestigt so wie bei den B&W Kopfhörer, lässt sich leicht auswechseln, bei bedarf.Das Konzept, Federstahl im Kopfhörerbügel hat sich gut bewährt, ebenso auch hier, nur hat man die Verbindung nicht gut abgeschirmt gegen Stöße, so wie z.b bei Koss Porta oder Bayerdynamicdennoch, klare Kaufempfehlung, bis zum Preis von ca. 129€ ,sehen gut aus, stabile Blutbootverbindung, Sound satt

Le son est magnifique encore aujourd'hui en 2015 il vaut bien les böses et akg nouvelle génération je le répète le son est d'une clarté exeptionelle mais pourrait avoir un tout petit peu plus de basses après la seule chose dont j'ai peur sur ce casque c'est la solidité du cable qui à l'air faiblard car de plus il n'est pas standart il est 2.5mm ; 3.5mm. Et aussi la solidité de larceau après je pense que je men fait pour rien casque a acheter sans hésiter.

Pure and clear sound, if you;re not bass head, then this will be your must have music mojo. With BT, clean design aesthetics, there's no better option than this music monster. Although you can also consider Jabra Revo or Beats Studio if you're willing to spend some extra bucks.

First off it is amazing to use and blocks off most sounds but not entirely which is good if you want to hear at least something happening around you.It would have been perfect if my ears didn't hurt after wearing it for a long time. I need it for long hours and it isn't nice after a while. Just amazing to believe that it costs so much and then isn't comfortable, you'd think that would be a priority.Another thing is that it turns off after a while and then reconnects again when you play some sound. It's too frustrating.

Acquistate a eu191 e rotti, sono bt e anche wired.Al momento ascoltate solo con iphone in wired e ipod in bt aac. In entrambe modalità la restituzione sonora é molto dettagliata e precisa.In bt sono le migliori che ho ascoltato e non vedo l'ora di testarle in bt apt-x. Finalmente un po di bassi decenti senza strafare.Ecco i bassi, nota dolente x bt, qui ci sono ben definiti e coerenti senza necessariamente sfondare i timpani.Alti presenti e bilanciati come i bassiMedi un pelo meno efficaci causa alti e bassi di cui sopra.In sintesi: una delle rare cuffie che non mi stanco di indossare ed ascoltare.In wired connesse ad iphone secondo me ha molti più rivali anche di costo più basso, mentre collegate ad ampli cambiano nuovamente comportamento, tornando su livelli di ascolto molto appaganti.Qualità costruttiva, materiali e finiture sono impeccabili.Non sono pesanti e nemmeno affaticanti.Design va a gusti e a me piacciono molto.Aggiornamento al 29/10/2013 - Le ascolto pressoché ogni giorno per almeno 2 ore. Si sciolgono sempre di più ed i bassi si sentono sempre meglio senza eccedere. Qualità audio veramente eccellente. Mai ascoltato cuffie bt così valide e mai, ma proprio mai, stancanti. Le utilizzo normalmente anche per conversazioni telefoniche(collegamento wired richiede utilizzo comandi telefono, i comandi sulle cuffie non funzionano). Mai avuto problemi di pessimo ascolto o pessima ricezione o segnalazioni di un qualche problema dal mio interlocutore. Anzi, tutti non hanno notato alcuna differenza rispetto ad un normale dialogo telefonico e si sono stupiti quando gli ho detto che avevo auricolare bt. Ammetto che quando le ripongo nel loro astuccio...un pò mi spiace.Aggiornamento al 30/10/2013 - Arrivato kokkia i10s + apt-x. Signori si cambia di nuovo ascolto !!!! Queste cuffie paiono trasformate rispetto a collegamento BT standard. La resa sonora è inappuntabile (timbrica migliorata e piacere di ascolto elevato a potenza). Sono cuffie "di peso e qualità" che non mi fanno assolutamente rimpiangere la cifra investita. Si investita e non spesa perché ritengo che si stia parlando di "godimento di beni di lunga durata". Consiglio caldamente di virare su questo prodotto qualora abbiate esigenza di cuffie bt di qualità e se il portafoglio ve lo consente. Ogni euro investito vi verrà ripagato NEGLI ANNI. Un piacere di ascolto che per me è ...tendente ad infinito. Sto pensando di non toglierle più. Ovviamente chi dispone di un apparato già predisposto in modalità apt-x non ha necessità di kokkia e non penso che potrà verificare direttamente la diversità sonora. E' già al top.Aggiornamento al 11/01/2014 - Continuo ad utilizzarle normalmente in abbinata a kokkia ed Ipod Touch 4G. L'insieme continua a soddisfarmi oltre le aspettative e...sono molto felice di aver comprato queste cuffie. Sono veramente notevoli anche collegate wired con mio nuovo amplificatore Rotel RA-10 e con nuovo CD-Player Marantz CD5004.Aggiornamento al 8/11/2014 - Ad un anno dall'acquisto confermo la bontà e qualità del prodotto. E' veramente un fedele compagno in tutti i sensi. Rispetto ad altre cuffie in mio possesso, queste sono veramente il top. Mai avuto problemi di accoppiamento bluetooth (sia su iDevice sia su Android) e qualità audio eccellente anche quando connesse wired su impianto hifi. D'estate si fanno sentire sulle orecchie e dopo qualche ora il peso inizia a percepirsi...ma sono punti negativi poco importanti per me rispetto alla qualità complessiva e soddisfazione generale. Anche se i medi di alcune Sennheiser ...