[Dominick]

I have to jump in on this thread.

We just started researching the market because we plan to develop a line of SLAPPA headphones. One of the biggest success stories in the headphone market is SkullCandy. I've never listened to any of their product, and will admit that their designs are not my style.....BUT they are HUGELY successful with regards to sales and generating buzz in new markets. They have done a great job at marketing the product.

So, as we look at entering this market, SkullCandy is a model that we look at as a successful selling model. Do we want to water down the SLAPPA brand name by making low-quality headphones? Definitely not.

We have a lot of cool ideas but wanted to reach out to you guys, because you guys are the experts and we always love to work with the users (and not think we know it all).

so if you have ideas on what the market is missing and what we should focus on, send me a PM. As we develop our first models we will be sending out units for free for users to test and provide feedback on, so if you get involved now you can help push us down a path of your liking.

I'm interested to hear what you guys think!!

Dom at SLAPPA

 

[Buff]

My $12 Skullcandy buds do exactly what I bought them for: play music half way decently, and truthfully that's all the credit I can give them, and block out airplane noise. They were worth the $12 when I couldn't afford decent IEMs to block out airplane noise.

 

[Emooze]

Wow you should probably make your own thread just for those.

The problem is that Skullcandy's aren't low-quality but the fact that they cost a fairly high price for the performance they offer. Now do I think quality has a direct relation to price. If you were to make inexpensive headphones that sounded what they were worth or better, I'd think about buying them. The Koss KSC75 is an example of that.

 

[i_don't_know]

I sent him a PM. A very long PM. Full of my ideas. Waiting for a reply.

 

[Beyerfan70]

Yep skullcandy are a wee bit rubbish but ladies look real good in them,especially the pink ones lol.

 

[Oggranak]

I remember long before I ever cared about audio, my headphones had broken and I wanted new ones. I went into Futureshop or something like that and asked what their best headphones were for the money. They directed me to a pair of Skullcandy Smokin' Buds (that guy deserves to be fired), which I proceeded to use for quite a while.

I was younger then and I can't remember anything about the SQ, but I do remember a few things that sucked about them.

1. They hurt my ears
2. Their durability was crap
3. The earpieces always came off of them while in my pocket and I constantly lost them.

So, even with SQ aside, they suck.

 

[Oggranak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benaiir /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, I feel like the youngest head-fi'er now. When I was 12 I thought Bose was GOOD (Well, they are, just crappy SQ/Price ratio) I think there's like 10 15 year olds on Head-Fi though... Just noticed fraseyboy joined Head-Fi when he was 11/12 years old. Wow.

I'm 16, is that close enough?

 

[THE_SOURCE41]

I was walking down the hall at school today and saw at least 4 people wearing skullcandy. I just couldn't stand it and went to go talk to my friend about my 650's and his 600's.

 

[KendiKong]

A lot of people on yahoo answers seems to recommend bose and skullcandys. I went to a question titled, "whats the best headphone brands?", and someone replies "Skullcandy, hands down"

 

[Skin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KendiKong /img/forum/go_quote.gif A lot of people on yahoo answers seems to recommend bose and skullcandys. I went to a question titled, "whats the best headphone brands?", and someone replies "Skullcandy, hands down"

that surprises you? i've always prided myself for enjoying what i enjoy. I could care less whats "in".

i also find the discussion of either bose or skullcandy here to be very pretentious. If its garbage, then great, let people bask in their ignorance. I dont see the point to gather in a group to discuss it though as if everyone was reaffirming themselves of their own superiority. That is to say people who are registered and post here are not the target market for sub par headphones, so why is it even a topic of discussion? Would you start a thread about how bad the $15 headphones you bought in CVS are here? Didnt think so.

I didnt even know what the heck skullcandy was until it was brought up here, on an audiophile forum. Interesting eh?

 

[kool bubba ice]

The majority always radiates towards mediocry.

 

[Oggranak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skin /img/forum/go_quote.gif that surprises you? i've always prided myself for enjoying what i enjoy. I could care less whats "in". i also find the discussion of either bose or skullcandy here to be very pretentious. If its garbage, then great, let people bask in their ignorance. I dont see the point to gather in a group to discuss it though as if everyone was reaffirming themselves of their own superiority. That is to say people who are registered and post here are not the target market for sub par headphones, so why is it even a topic of discussion? Would you start a thread about how bad the $15 headphones you bought in CVS are here? Didnt think so. I didnt even know what the heck skullcandy was until it was brought up here, on an audiophile forum. Interesting eh?

The problem isn't that we think they are inferior, but they're supporting a company that produces low-quality headphones. When people buy good headphones, not only will they hear a difference, but they'll be funding companies that actually work to produce a high-quality product, rather than funding a marketing machine like Skullcandy.
Maybe posting here doesn't achieve anything, but it's at least keeping the problem fresh in our minds. I think people looking for low-end headphones should start hearing PX100s/Porapros/KSC75s/some of the good low-end canalphones/etc., and they ought to know that Skullcandy is not giving them their money's worth. Maybe people would be fine without getting the bang for their buck, but I can't help but feel badly for them, and I like to do what I can to help people make decisions that will benefit them and the companies that sell products based on their merit, not on deceptive advertising.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominick /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have to jump in on this thread. We just started researching the market because we plan to develop a line of SLAPPA headphones. One of the biggest success stories in the headphone market is SkullCandy. I've never listened to any of their product, and will admit that their designs are not my style.....BUT they are HUGELY successful with regards to sales and generating buzz in new markets. They have done a great job at marketing the product. So, as we look at entering this market, SkullCandy is a model that we look at as a successful selling model. Do we want to water down the SLAPPA brand name by making low-quality headphones? Definitely not. We have a lot of cool ideas but wanted to reach out to you guys, because you guys are the experts and we always love to work with the users (and not think we know it all). so if you have ideas on what the market is missing and what we should focus on, send me a PM. As we develop our first models we will be sending out units for free for users to test and provide feedback on, so if you get involved now you can help push us down a path of your liking. I'm interested to hear what you guys think!! Dom at SLAPPA

u shud have a look at Sennheiser's marketing strategy...its a better example than skullcandy.


Sennheiser makes low priced earbuds to for low profit margins but high sales volumes. (MX360, MX400, MX460, MX560 etc)
then they also make monitoring headphones and headphones for people who want smthg better (HD555, HD485)

and now they released high end IEMs for audiophiles on the go (IE series)

and then they make audiophile grade headphones for enthusiasts.

that way they try to capture most of the market share.


not like Bose or Skullcandy ..which makes some old crap and then tries to sell it..they are losing out anyway..most of the people are now discovering better brands.

 

[fraseyboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif u shud have a look at Sennheiser's marketing strategy...its a better example than skullcandy. Sennheiser makes low priced earbuds to for low profit margins but high sales volumes. (MX360, MX400, MX460, MX560 etc) then they also make monitoring headphones and headphones for people who want smthg better (HD555, HD485) and now they released high end IEMs for audiophiles on the go (IE series) and then they make audiophile grade headphones for enthusiasts. that way they try to capture most of the market share. not like Bose or Skullcandy ..which makes some old crap and then tries to sell it..they are losing out anyway..most of the people are now discovering better brands.

But I bet Sennheiser doesn't make anywhere near as much money as Bose or Skullcandy.

 

[dcpoor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif not like Bose or Skullcandy ..which makes some old crap and then tries to sell it..they are losing out anyway..most of the people are now discovering better brands.

um, not really.