Harman Embraces Air Conduction with New JBL Soundgear Sense

The trend was already visible with Shokz, Oladance, and a bunch of other brands promoting the virtues of open ear designs using air conduction as the new panacea for personal audio. And at IFA 2023 we saw a deluge of "air conduction" product launches from every Chinese bulk exhibitor and even a few new brands. Although Harman was not at the show to be seen, it promoted an external event to showcase new affordable products and inevitably also its first-ever true wireless open-ear earbuds, the JBL Soundgear Sense.

Hyphen, an audio brand created by Rolling Square is pitching the Hyphen Aria true wireless earbuds, a new design intended to provide a more natural sound experience, avoiding the occlusion effect and leveraging air conduction to expand on the open-ear form-factor. While the Hyphen Aria earbuds resemble some of Bose's earlier TWS designs, the new product now being promoted on Kickstarter targets an audience that is more familiarized with the problems of current earbuds and is looking for more "healthier" alternatives.

The new IE 600 earphones are the first product from Sennheiser's consumer division - now part of the Sonova group following the acquisition. The model sits between the flagship IE 900 and the IE 300 earphones, both launched in 2021, all designed for music enthusiasts that remain indifferent to wireless options and still believe "the tiniest details count." With the new Sennheiser IE 600, the company also promotes "a lifetime of listening pleasure," in reference to the advanced materials used in the ultra-tough earphone housings.