[Dongle]

Quote:

Also, adding in an internal amp seems like a good idea, but the problem is that would just increase the signal. Yes the same effect would be achieved but at much higher volume, I suspect Skullcandy thought of that, and decided against it due to it being dangerous to the consumers. They wanted a specific effect and they got that effect that works even at reasonable volume.

That's a good point that I forgot to include; because of the Sensation 55 drivers, you can get some really thumping bass at low volumes. It sounds "off" and I usually had to bring the volume level up to match the bass. Never to uncomfortable levels, and never to distortion. The bass effect doesn't ramp linearly with volume as you'd expect. It does increase as volume increases, but the ramp up is different from the rest of the range. 

I did manage to use these with an Fiio E6 and they sounded much better on EQ2. I returned both the E6 and Crushers before I could try them with a Digizoid.

Again, these are fantastic for non-audiophiles and specifically gamers; my 12-16 year old self would've been so stoked to get these for Christmas. I played Forza Horizon (an arcade/sim racing game hybrid) and it was nice to feel the rumble of the engines. I also played the Modern Warfare demo a bit and the rumble effect was nice when you throw grenades and shotgun blasts. And again, both genres sound better through my ATH-M50 + Astro Mixamp w/ Dolby Digital enabled + Z02. That's the closest to a home theater in headphone form I've ever experienced.

I really want an audiophile headphone maker to tackle having dedicated hardware for low-frequencies. I just can't imagine it happening because a well-tuned 45mm-50mm driver properly amped can get so close. But the Beats crowd could drive the market, as evident by Skullcandy trying to grab a bit of that market with these Crushers.
 

 

[Xtralglactic]

Hi! I just got the Crushers camo version. Man these do sound flat but raising the mids and highs on my Equaliser player app in my IPad and these do shine! Admittedly this is played through the line out and Into my Just Audio Aha 120's headphone amp but it shows that with a little work these cans can output the goods! Sensation 55 drivers are amazing. Thumping bass at low volume. The only other can that can vibrate my skull is the Phillips construct headphones. I'm gonna be having fun with these for awhile.

 

[Joethebro1]

I'll be posting soon a mod that'll make the crushers sound awsome

It involves replacing the 40mm driver

 

[up209d]

Hi! I just got the Crushers camo version. Man these do sound flat but raising the mids and highs on my Equaliser player app in my IPad and these do shine! Admittedly this is played through the line out and Into my Just Audio Aha 120's headphone amp but it shows that with a little work these cans can output the goods! Sensation 55 drivers are amazing. Thumping bass at low volume. The only other can that can vibrate my skull is the Phillips construct headphones. I'm gonna be having fun with these for awhile.

Man, it s 2018, i just got this can for a bulk price of 10 mcdonald nuggets and they sound out of the box really disappoint me and i accepted that since they re so cheap now. However after reading ur post and a bit eq, they re really really shine, like totally different experience. Basically i just connected with my amp (fiio e12) increase to high volume and reduce a bit high bass and mid. They are now sounding bloody awesome, the guitar and piano are crystal clear even clearer than m50x, on high notes have a tiny distortion but rather than that everything is fantastic. I have a lot of basshead headphone such as m100, hd8 dj, shure 750dj, beats pro/studio, m50x. This can sound now is no joke in comparison with all of those. I now prefer this much more than studio,m50x,hd8dj. Anyone is having this can, before deciding to sell them, please try to tweak them by eq first and reconsider.

 

[bassMeUpScotty]

OK! So before I start, I want to preface this by saying this will be an honest review. To be fair to these headphones I'm not really going to try comparing them to anything, because nothing I have listened to had the goal of these, which is mind numbing (or ear vibrating) bass. If I had a pair of Sony XB500s or Thunderpants or something then I'd have something to compare to, but alas, I do not.

Also, my impressions are slightly biased to positive due to thoughts being that these were going to be the Skullcandy Skullcrushers redux. Which in many ways they are, but these are basically the Skullcrushers done right.

Impressions were done with Cowon J3 PMP at AC Gears in NYC for about 45 minutes total. All music was OGG -q8 or MP3 V0 or better.

Bass without the "Sensation55 Drivers" (aka the ear vibration function) - This actually surprised me, as I thought they were going to be bass machines, and they really aren't. There were some songs where I expected to hear the kick of a bass drum or the bass guitar and it was barely there (OK slight exaggeration, because it does kick, but still I was actually expecting more). For bass heavy music it was certainly there, so they aren't lacking bass, but if anything for what they describe, it feels like the bass is lacking. The positive part about this is that it doesn't impede on the other sound ranges. So overall the bass is good, as expected, perhaps a bit weak if you were expecting extremely hard hitting bass from these headphones without hitting the switch.

Bass with the "Sensation55 Drivers" - "Bass you can feel" is how they describe this. If there was ever an advertising line that was accurate this is it. These things vibrate your ears. I mean that literally. If you turn up the switch to 100% it feels like just your ears are up against a club monitor speaker. So if that is what you are looking for, these are your headphones. Unfortunately it does affect the other frequencies, but that is to be expected. And it isn't as bad as I would have thought. I personally think that full blast for the switch is far too much, but I can see people enjoying it. For me 50% was plenty, it gave some vibration but wasn't over powering and didn't harm the midrange or the highs as much, or sometimes not at all depending on the song to my ears. The amount of bass is still impressive though. Even next to the Sony XB series, these have a lot of bass. However there is a caveat, that switch under 50% almost does next to nothing, at least not that I could hear.

Midrange - The midrange is recessed and rather unimpressive. The vocals seem distant for some songs. I'll say this, it isn't BAD, but they are certainly recessed and didn't wow me by any means, but they weren't bad and were again largely unaffected by the bass for the most part. The biggest thing is that the midrange felt dull, and that is a word you'll be hearing again. Everything sounded rather flat and dull.

Highs - The highs were unsurprisingly attenuated (big shocker). The highs also felt flat and dull. Nothing really sounded good for the highs. From guitars to trumpets, nothing sounded right. It either sounded dull or like frequencies missing. I should mention, while the highs are definitely the worst part of these headphones, I still can't say they are completely awful, because they aren't.


Further impressions of the Sensation55 drivers - Let's face it, if you are looking at these headphones this is why. And I'll be honest, for what they are and what they do, they are actually good. You shouldn't be expecting the bass to be incredibly detailed or fast, but it is powerful and you will feel like you are in a club or movie theater. They react surprisingly well to bass amount and volume as well. Bass light songs even with the dial turned up to max, barely vibrated, which is a huge plus compared to the Skullcrushers, which just gave you an awkward head massage.


Overall - These are fair headphones. They aren't really good for any genre of music outside of what you would hear in a club, but they aren't awful for those other genres either. The only genre I completely didn't test because I knew it wouldn't be worth it was classical, and I didn't want to have something be completely negative. These are not for classical music and you don't really need to listen to classical to get that impression, and jazz is highly questionable, except maybe jazz fusion. What these really excel at is club music, and honestly I could see these being fantastic for movies as well and perhaps games.

These are as far away from audiophile headphones as I have listened to in a long while, but I could honestly see myself recommending these instead of Beats if that is the sound people are looking for. For the right music or right uses, these are surprisingly decent set of headphones. I feel like Skullcandy is really making the effort to up their game in the headphone market.

What headphones hit harder for $500-600?