Skullcandy Skullcrushers

When one thinks of pounding bass, one typically thinks of a home theatre system with a subwoofer that dwarfs most other lounge room components. However, with their Skullcrusher headphones, Skullcandy are trying to challenge this idea. As hard as it is to believe, the Skullcrushers actually contain a subwoofer, and our testing found it didn't do a bad job. Bass is certainly powerful and the woofer had a noticeable impact on our music, but the overall sound quality left quite a bit to be desired.

This pair of headphones is rather aptly named, as at full volume the bass truly does shake your skull. It is quite impressive how well Skullcandy has managed to recreate the rumble and vibration of a proper subwoofer in such a compact package. However, while the bass may be powerful, it is of a rather poor quality. At times it becomes extremely bloated and is very slow, meaning the reverberation hangs around for a long time.

The woofer is controlled via a small remote that hangs from the headphone cord. You can change the level of bass, as well as switch it on and off. We found that without the woofer, the sound was extremely thin and bright, with no bass presence at all. When it was switched on, the headphones relied too heavily on the vibration to create energy within the music.

We were a little more impressed with the treble ranges, which were quite detailed and managed to sound smooth and powerful without verging on harsh. Most of the mid range was extremely cluttered though and female vocals sounded very flat; the overall sound was quite disappointing. It suits simple music like hip hop, as well as genres like dance and electronica, and if thumping bass really is your thing then you may enjoy the Skullcrushers' sound, but for most types of music we found them well below par. Also note that having your head constantly vibrating is a great recipe for a headache; we speak from experience!

Unfortunately things don't really improve when it comes to design. The Skullcrushers feel quite flimsy, with an entirely plastic build and a lot of poorly constructed hinges. They are designed to fold up and be placed in a bag, but we wouldn't be comfortable letting them take many knocks as they just don't feel sturdy enough. The aesthetic isn't quite as bold as some of Skullcandy's other models, but it still gives the headphones quite a unique look. They have a silver and black colour scheme, and are emblazoned with the Skullcandy logo in several places.

We found the Skullcrushers to be quite comfortable with the bass at moderate levels. The noise canceling design does squeeze your head a little, but not enough to cause any discomfort. They did a reasonable job of keeping out external noise, although they have no active noise canceling technology, instead relying on their closed design to merely block sound out. The woofer remote is rather heavy, and is powered by a single AA battery. It does however come with a shirt clip to help keep it in place.