OK, so I didn't buy the purple ones really. In fact I didn't buy Skullcandy headphones at all. They were given to me FREE with a mobile phone contract, and as a result, I dismissed them as a cheap freebie giveaway pair of nonsense rubbish. Mistake. When my partner, who had taken the same mobile phone contract six months earlier, finally started using these Skullcandy Lowrider Black headphones, also free, I didn't even ask for a try. Because they were free. And because the build quality is not impressive when you look close up.So they were clearly rubbish. Wrong. OK, once they were finally put to test, I was instantly impressed, because they are instantly impressive. They have a clear and sometimes even just a tad bright midrange, which is great for sorting out the older, muddier recordings which have not stood the test of time and retained their vibrant colour. On more recently produced pop and rock material, with things getting a bit busy they can be a llittle harsh, even a tiny bit sibilant at times. In the long term I can visualise that some folks may tire a litle of the up-frontness. But Hey, compared to some cheapish offerings they have controlled bass, an open sound with good clarity, definition and imaging, and this has got to be better than the muffled bass and hissing background from so-called reputable portable digital source manufacturers' offerings - which surely only put people off of biting that particular apple again (ooops). I would pay gb pounds 25.00 for these, but they dont feel like 25 quids' worth until you listen. Except I got them free, so I win.
