Customer Reviews

Harman Kardon 720 Noise Isolating Earphones (Black)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I have had the 720 earphones for over a year now. We have 6 sets of earphones/earbuds in our house, and multiple iPods. We have Shure, Sony, and the Harman Kardon 720's. I personally like the Harman's best. I will note that the Shure earbuds are great, too - they are the 210's - but the Harman's block out background noise better, and have comparable sound quality.

You might wonder why I've had the earphones so long, and am just now leaving a review. I lost one of the silicone earpads - getting off a rental car shuttle bus at night, had the earbud pulled out of my ear, lost the earpad. I was looking to purchase an identical grey earpad, but could only find yellow aftermarket earpads. So, I logged on to Harman Kardon's website, hoping to order a set. Couldn't find it, so I emailed customer service...

HERE IS WHY I AM LEAVING THE REVIEW!!

First, when the earpad was pulled from my ear, it was fairly forcible; I thought the earphone was damaged, but it worked fine - couldn't use it though, because I had lost the earpad. These earbuds are built like tanks; very well made and durable.

As for obtaining a replacement earpad, I received an email within a couple of hours, telling me they would send me a replacement earpad at no cost. I received the earpads 2 days after Harman Kardon's customer service email. I was pleased with that, but it only gets better. No one asked me when I purchased the earphones - they just focused on my need: I had their product, and couldn't use it. So, when I open the box, there isn't just a single earpad wrapped or in a baggy - there is a kit, with three sets of replacement earpads for the gray silicone earpads, three sets of foam replacement earpads, and three sets of the filters - shipped to me at no cost, no questions asked.

I don't know what your experience has been with service from company's, but I believe it has become successively worse over the last 5~10 years. The customer service and after-sale support from Harman Kardon is the best I've encountered, and the 720 earphones are built durably, produce excellent sound, and are very comfortable - I've had them over a year, and am basing this review on that time period, and the reason I am leaving the review is because this company has got the recipe.

If I purchase another set of earphones, I am buying them from this company.

If you buy these, make sure they are inserted properly or you will not get the full effect. They must be pushed in the ear canal or they will not work properly. These are above average earphones at a decent price. You will not be disappointed with this product if you follow the instructions that are included in the package. The highs are great and the bass is tight and accurate. The Harman Kardon 720's are what you would expect at this price point. I am very happy with this purchase.

I got these too as a free gift from crutchfield. First I was very disappointed. After reading the instructions that came with the earphones, and inserting them properly in the ear canal they sound much much better. These should inserted completely or else they sound very tinny.

Harmon Kardon has a strong reputation for making good speakers,but it is this reviewer's experience that these headphones don't align well with that reputation. Harmon Kardon's Infinity line in particular is very well received and I enjoy the Infinity speakers I purchased. I received the headphones as a free gift with my purchase. When I think of Harmon Kardon, I especially think of very nice reproduction in the upper end of the sound spectrum. Before I state my opinion of the sound reproduction, I think it is essential to mention when reviewing speakers of any kind, that listening is subjective and everyone should buy what sounds good to them. With that said, the strength of these headphones to my ear is only in the upper end of the spectrum when the volume is fairly high. I found the lower mids and bass to be poorly represented,even with the bass boost button engaged. At low volume, they sounded tinny to me.

These headphones do a fair job of blocking out noise, but there are many competitors that can do the job for far less money. One such pair that I can recommend is the Sony Mdr-As50G Active Style Spiral Neck-Band Headphones (Silver). The bottom line is that there are definitely other headphones that are less expensive while presenting a more pleasing listening experience.

I too got these free from Crutchfield when I bought a pair of Infinity Speakers. At retail ~$100 I figured that they would have to have some redeeming qualities, but I have to agree with everybody else: they have no bass, and sound tinny and scratchy even when properly inserted into the ear canal. I tried both tip types to no avail. I even tried removing the filters with the supplied tool, hoping that would improve the bass; no luck. I compared these to a no-name $9 pair of iPOD-type earphones and the cheapies won hands-down. About the only good thing to say about these is that they come with an iPOD/headphones zippered case that would otherwise cost ~$15.

i too recieved these with purchase of infinity speakers, and let me say that i'm glad i didn't pay the [...] list price that amazon shows. for a set of earbuds at that price (or any price above [...] bucks) they are horrible. the noise isolating feature does work, and they are comfortable enough, but the sound quality is lacking (again for a set of earbuds at this price point) if they were [...] bucks they would be awesome. sorry, but i'm going back to my bose earbuds, well worth the money there.

Harmon\Kardon seriously let me down with this below standard product. Let me start with the 1 good thing. They fit my ears. But what good is it to fit my ear if they sound like CRAP! The come in some fancy case that I don't care about because you cant use the case for any thing. But the sound quality is just sooooo poor. I tried every different eq setting that I have on my ipod, but none could make these earbuds sound worth a crap. They have no bass, no distinction what so ever in levels of music. I listen to all genres of music and none of them sounded worth listening to. I used them for about 5 minutes and went back to the earbuds I got with my ipod that hurt my ears. I had actually rather be uncomfortable with the others than I had listen to these pieces of crap.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THESE TO MY WORST ENEMY!!!!!!!!!!

I received these headphones free when I purchased two (2) pairs of Infinity car stereo speakers. I agree with all the other reviews! There is no bass whatsoever. All music sounds flat and tinny. I am going back to my Phillips $10 headphones. Even though they were free, I am throwing them in the trash can!

Maybe that is why the headphones were free. Harmon Kardon is trying to dump their inventory of these crummy headphones.

I play bass and use in ear headphones for monitors. I went to the Mac store today and they were marked down to 100$ (from $150) but I got them home and compared them to my cheap sony earphones and I could hear the bass line clear as day on the Sony's and on these, I could barely hear any bass at all. Well, tonight was rehearsal and I plugged them in and the bass sounded horrible, it was either absent or if I turned it up it just buzzed with distortion. Obviously they could not even handle the bass. The receipt says that they do not accept returns on earphones, so now I have to buy another pair and just thew away $100. In fact, I'll probably prefer my sonys ($40) even for just pleasure listening, as the bass is just about nonexistant....

I just wasted $100 on a pair of these, because I loved the Soundsticks so much. These are junk; maybe fine for AM talk radio and MIDI; they actually suck the life out of music. (Even Stevie Wonder becomes flat and unfunky!) I will throw them away, and my wife and I will continue to fight over her regulation i-pod headphones, until I can pick up a set of those.