- VERDICT
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC headphones offer a big and bold sound with a unique adjustable sensory bass feature that allows you to feel your music as well as hear it. If you like a solid wider sound with heavier bass then these should be on your list.
When it comes to noise cancelling headphones there are a few choices and they sort of all have the same features but Skullcandy manages to add something new with the Crusher ANC (active noise cancelling) headphones.
Priced at $599.95 (but we’ve seen them as low as $530), the Skullcandy Crusher ANC is competing against premium brands like Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, Sennheiser and Sony and will probably attract a younger listener who would usually gravitate to a more “street” brand like Beats by Dr Dre.
The Skullcandy headphones certainly deliver what a younger listener would be attracted to – bold sound and heavier bass.
But Skullcandy has another club in the bag – adjustable sensory bass which lets users not only hear the bass but feel it as well.
On the left ear cup is a slider that allows listeners to adjust the level of bass response.
And by response we mean actual vibration through the ear cups that’s meant to rattle your skull and not just stimulate your ear drums.
Listening to the opening bars of Another One Bites The Dust at the highest setting, the Crusher ANC headphones were rattling pretty hard.
We preferred the setting on a lower scale with a slight buzz coming off the ear cups and it did add to the enjoyment – for a little while.
By half way through the song I had to turn it off.
But hearing particularly bass heavy songs would get me curious to try the feature out again.
The novelty wore off after a while but it’s good knowing it’s there when you need it.
And you can always fall back on the impressive audio quality you’ll get from the Skullcandy Crusher ANC headphones.
First up, the active noise cancellation is above average and not far from the level you’d expect from Bose or Sennheiser and it totally blocked out the background noise so we could focus on the music.
These Skullcandy headphones are the same price as the Bose and Bowers & Wilkins noise cancelling headphones which offer better clarity in the high and mid levels than the Crusher ANC.
But one thing the Crusher ANC has is a bolder sound that was more about power than detail.
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC is like a golfer who can smash their tee shot down the middle but don’t have the same finesse around the green in their short game like added fine detail like the older and wiser players like the Bose and Bowers & Wilkins headphones.
You can personalise the sound through the app after a short audio test so the Crusher ANC headphones can be tuned to how you hear audio.
This offered a noticeable improvement but it didn’t change the headphones’ basic characteristics.
The headphones are also comfortable to wear thanks to the padded headband and super soft ear cups.
Controls are pretty basic and are located in the right ear cup and the buttons are big enough to easily find and use to navigate your music and control the volume.
On the battery side, you’ll get close to 24 hours of playback so long enough for a couple of days use before they need a recharge.
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC headphones are available now and are priced at $599.95 – although we have seen for as low as $530. They are available in black or maroon.
VERDICT
The Skullcandy Crusher ANC headphones offer a big and bold sound with a unique adjustable sensory bass feature that allows you to feel your music as well as hear it. If you like a solid wider sound with heavier bass then these should be on your list.
