Skullcandy FMJ flashbacks (It get's ugly... Vietnam ugly!)

[younglee200]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smallcaps /img/forum/go_quote.gif keep them and use them as a benchmark for every headphone you listen to from now on.

I was thinking that the OP should keep them so that all his other headphones will sound that much much better after an hour of listening to those skullcandies.

Everything's relative, right?

 

[oarnura]

Here is what Monster engineers thought about the FMJ when they were doing market analysis for developing the Turbines. They tried 30 earphones and claimed that the Skullcandy FMJ was one of the good ones.


Interview with the Monster: David Leung, Project Engineer of Monster | TouchMyApps
"
TMA: According to the Head Monster, ‘Life is too short to listen to bad headphones’. How many bad headphones did the monster team go through before deciding that enough was enough?

DL: The Monster team sampled almost everything on the market, starting with the Apple ear-buds, moving to in-ear dynamic, balanced armature types, etc. and found that all were deficient in at least one area, whether it was lack of bass, coloration, poor sensitivity, output limitations, etc. By the time we were done, we tried in excess of 30 headphones.

TMA: What good earphones/headphones did you use that impressed you?

DL: We thought that the VModa Vibes or even the Skullcandy FMJ’s weren’t a bad sounding headphone. Those were some of the dynamic headphones out that were NOT balanced armature that delivered bass in the portions that we were looking for and at a decent price."

The Turbines are gaining quite a following here in Head-Fi. I guess I wouldn't get a job at monster given my tastes in IEMs.

 

[shigzeo]

i think monster mentioned that model because it is one that consumers are aware of. you will notice that david also mentioned models at the apple store which are up to shure se530.

it was an honest answer! im no skull candy fan, but they are better than many consumer headphones on the market.

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif i think monster mentioned that model because it is one that consumers are aware of. you will notice that david also mentioned models at the apple store which are up to shure se530. it was an honest answer! im no skull candy fan, but they are better than many consumer headphones on the market.

I don't see that mentioned any where in the interview.

"he Monster team sampled almost everything on the market, starting with the Apple ear-buds, moving to in-ear dynamic, balanced armature types, etc."

To me that means they listened to the Apple ear buds and not that they picked every thing at an Apple store.

Apple Stores vary wildly in the IEMs they stock depending on location. Not all locations carry high end IEMs.

Nothing in that interview claims they heard the SE530.

To me the claim is they listened to 30 IEMs and found the Vmoda and Skullcandy to deliver the sound they wanted.

I didn't say it was dishonest. I am just pointing to the irony that what is getting trashed here was being praised by the makers of an IEM that has an Appreciation thread on head-fi.

Either people are trashing Skullcandy because it is in vogue to do so or the Monster Engineers have no clue what good sound is supposed to sound like given Head-fi's consensus on the two IEMs they like.

I think bashing Bose, Skullcandy, Apple products is in the Head-fi DNA.

 

[Joelby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oarnura /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't say it was dishonest. I am just pointing to the irony that what is getting trashed here was being praised by the makers of an IEM that has an Appreciation thread on head-fi. Either people are trashing Skullcandy because it is in vogue to do so or the Monster Engineers have no clue what good sound is supposed to sound like given Head-fi's consensus on the two IEMs they like. I think bashing Bose, Skullcandy, Apple products is in the Head-fi DNA.

Who knows, maybe the newer FMJs are a better headphone. Like I said, I bought these ones years ago and they have definitely updated that model since.

Believe me, I'm not bashing these for the sake of bashing skullcandy. I want them to be a usable set of headphones but I just really don't like how they sound. I'm entitled to my own opinion and if it's a negative one in this case, so be it.

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joelby /img/forum/go_quote.gif Who knows, maybe the newer FMJs are a better headphone. Like I said, I bought these ones years ago and they have definitely updated that model since.

Believe me, I'm not bashing these for the sake of bashing skullcandy. I want them to be a usable set of headphones but I just really don't like how they sound. I'm entitled to my own opinion and if it's a negative one in this case, so be it.[/QUOTE]

Sure. My comment was targeted at all the others that added some stuff to this thread.

 

[smallcaps]

just cause they look like ass doesn't mean they have to sound like ass. you can make a valid comment about the design if you see them on your computer screen but as for sound quality, no comment is valid until you hear them.

 

[shigzeo]

true, i was in apple store yesterday to fix a macbook hd and they had only up to one driver shures and v-moda. i have seen in another the se530. when i was talking to another member of monster, they mentioned having basically owning everything, what tips they liked etc. that person wanted to get better tips with the turbine but that did not happen.

hope i did not confuse.

 

[crossmd]

I don't think terribly of the Skullcandy buds, they're an improvement over the ibud, so anyone of the masses who recognizes that is a start in my book..

The circumaural ones are rather abysmal though.

Also, when does being honest about bad sound become okay? I feel like this isn't really elitism. Obviously, no opinion is valid until it's been supported though experience. But in my experience(having heard both types) most of the opinions stated here are pretty accurate. Is that a crime? Or is it just the "flavor of the month" to be real about how something actually sounds?

 

[fyu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crossmd /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... Or is it just the "flavor of the month" to be real about how something actually sounds?

oh no. You said "flavor of the month".

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fyu /img/forum/go_quote.gif oh no. You said "flavor of the month".

so?

 

[shigzeo]

haha! let's see how many days there are in this month then! and the turbine im sure are not such - they don't have nearly the following here that other phones. however, they are loved by those who love them!

 

[oarnura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo /img/forum/go_quote.gif however, they are loved by those who love them!

Aren't all phones loved by those who love them?

BTW FOTM in this context refers to "bashing" certain brands. I used in Vogue (fashionable) to describe the same thing.

It was in vogue to call the PFE FOTM and bash them (by a very small % of head-fi) for a few weeks on head-fi.