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AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
What is your impression on skullcandy headphones?

I bought some ink'd buds a few years back with the 3 year warranty. Sound was nice but I went thru 4 pairs in about 2 years (horray for warranty) In september I bought the skullcandy 50/50 buds with mic. They are more expensive so I thought better quality. 16 days after purchase they broke. I went to the Apple Store and got a replacement. The second pair broke about 20 days after I got them. Since then I stick to Apple buds, sound quality is poor but they haven't broken yet. Am I alone with this issue.
 

Blondie :)

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2010
698
3
Prescott, AZ
Their headphones have much better build quality. Every pair of buds that I have had from skullcandy crapped out on me too. But, I took a risk like three years ago and bought some lowrider headphones. I literally beat the living piss out of those things. I take them with me snowboarding, or anywhere dangerous for that matter. they have been completely submerged in snow, I have landed on them when they've fallen off my head doing vertical flips and such. Still work like new.

I also have a pair of agent headphones. I don't beat these ones up as bad, but they still definitely get used. And they still work just like the day I bought them as well. Just don't buy their earbuds and you'll be fine.
 

seb-opp

macrumors 6502
Nov 16, 2008
398
1
London/Norwich
I dont own a pair but I have a friend who does. Had a listen, sound quality was not great. Skullcandy is more about the look, rather than sound. I have a pair of Sennheiser HD205s which cost a little bit more, but the sound quality is much better. Even my budget Technics headphones sound better than his Skullcandys. I cant really comment on build quality, but they didn't look flimsy at least.
 

bpaluzzi

macrumors 6502a
Sep 2, 2010
918
1
London
Junk. Got a pair of lowriders free. Worth exactly what I paid for them ;-)

They fell apart after about 4 months, and that was after 2 months of intermittent left-side channel dropping out.

Sound quality was crap from the beginning, too.

Much better choices out there, some even cheaper than Skullcandy.
 

maxterpiece

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2003
729
0
Skullcandy headphones are terrible sound quality for the price. The best cheap (under $20) headphones are the JVC Marshmallows. If you think Skullcandy sound is good, you either like heavy bass over sound clarity, or you haven't listened to a good pair of headphones. JVC's $20 headphones are better IMO than the Skullcandy's $50 offerings.
 

h1r0ll3r

macrumors 68040
Dec 28, 2009
3,920
19
Maryland
Used to be a SkullCandy fan. Had FMJ's, Ink'd, LowRider's etc. All of them crapped out and were way overpriced for the quality they supposedly had. Fortunately, I always bought mine on the cheap so I wasn't too worried about a $15 for some crappy headphones. I still use on set of headphones from SkullCandy and those are the Icons. I think they're pretty decent headphones and you can get them fairly cheap at discount retailers.

As others have mentioned, you can get better ones for cheaper or, if you're willing, you can pony up a little bit more and get some nice headphones. I'm currently using the Monster Turbines and the sound quality is pretty good.
 

FroMann

macrumors 6502
Mar 26, 2011
322
0
North Carolina, USA.
Worst audio manufacturer EVER. Their headphones are a product of fashion rather than performance. Stick with real audio manufacturers like Sennheiser, Shure, Audio Technica, Sony, Denon, AKG, Grado, etc if you are looking to buy headphones.
 

AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
Worst audio manufacturer EVER. Their headphones are a product of fashion rather than performance. Stick with real audio manufacturers like Sennheiser, Shure, Audio Technica, Sony, Denon, AKG, Grado, etc if you are looking to buy headphones.
Anything on the cheaper end?

Skullcandy headphones are terrible sound quality for the price. The best cheap (under $20) headphones are the JVC Marshmallows. If you think Skullcandy sound is good, you either like heavy bass over sound clarity, or you haven't listened to a good pair of headphones. JVC's $20 headphones are better IMO than the Skullcandy's $50 offerings.
will check em out.

Just don't buy their earbuds and you'll be fine.

I don't like over the ear or on the ear headphones so I am limited.
 

aery

macrumors member
Nov 27, 2009
70
1
Canada
Save yourself the money and look elsewhere. I bought the Skullcandy lowriders for my boyfriend and I a few years back at around $60 CDN for each. They are real cool looking, I got the bright pink for me and for him the Metallica ones. The sound was awesome but they both fell apart within a few months. I will not buy Skullcandy again.
 

SkaarjHunter

macrumors newbie
Jul 5, 2011
27
0
Get a pair of Koss Porta Pros. I bought mine for $30, and they come with a lifetime warranty. In terms of audio quality, they blow anything by Skullcandy or Apple out of the water. You won't be disappointed.
 

donuttakedonuts

macrumors regular
Aug 9, 2009
207
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

i recommend very strongly anything made by sennheiser.
having said this, the advantage to skullcandies is the warranty and their unreliability.
why?
step 1: buy skullcandy headphones discounted. (ie marshalls or tj maxx)
step 2: they break.
step 3: return them, and get credit worth full MSRP plus s+h.
4: lather, rinse, repeat
5: accumulate $200 of skullcandy store credit for about $50, then buy their higher quality headphones.
 

AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
Whats your budget?
around 50$ CDN
Get a pair of Koss Porta Pros. I bought mine for $30, and they come with a lifetime warranty. In terms of audio quality, they blow anything by Skullcandy or Apple out of the water. You won't be disappointed.
I'll check it out
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

i recommend very strongly anything made by sennheiser.
I had a pair of HD238 Great audio but they seemed quite fragile. I am looking for a nice pair of in ear buds ideally with a remote.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,957
46,414
In a coffee shop.
Worst audio manufacturer EVER. Their headphones are a product of fashion rather than performance. Stick with real audio manufacturers like Sennheiser, Shure, Audio Technica, Sony, Denon, AKG, Grado, etc if you are looking to buy headphones.

Any particular recommendations within the shure range (a friend recommended the 530, and 420 but I have read that the former has been superceded by the 535), or the Sennheiser range; I have the cx 95 and the ie 6, but would be interested to upgrade to something a bit better.

Cheers
 

dcgreen97

macrumors newbie
Jul 11, 2011
2
0
SC
I have some Skullcandy Hesh(s) that I got for Christmas. I love them so much. The sound quality is great; I use them for listening to my iPod and playing my digital piano thing. The only downside is they seem like they can't take a beating very well. (I don't have the guts to find out) But I strongly recommend them
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
I've honestly gone through 15 ink'd headphones in the last few years and my HESH overheads broke a month after i got them. I normally ordered 2-3 ink'd at a time since they would always break. they were okay for the price though.

No me gusta. I
 

FroMann

macrumors 6502
Mar 26, 2011
322
0
North Carolina, USA.
around 50$ CDN
On sale right now, worth the money.

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-IMAGE...DKIKX0DER&s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1310458575&sr=1-2



Scepticalscribe said:
Any particular recommendations within the shure range (a friend recommended the 530, and 420 but I have read that the former has been superceded by the 535), or the Sennheiser range; I have the cx 95 and the ie 6, but would be interested to upgrade to something a bit better.
Cheers
I am not a total Headphones expert or Audiophile (I do some research on Head-fi) but looking at reviews on Amazon right now I say stick with either the Shure 420 or 530, It looks like 530s are still available and are liked a little bit more compared to 535s.
 

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,957
46,414
In a coffee shop.
On sale right now, worth the money.

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-IMAGE...DKIKX0DER&s=aht&ie=UTF8&qid=1310458575&sr=1-2




I am not a total Headphones expert or Audiophile (I do some research on Head-fi) but looking at reviews on Amazon right now I say stick with either the Shure 420 or 530, It looks like 530s are still available and are liked a little bit more compared to 535s.

Thanks a lot for your response. Much appreciated. I have read (and have been told) that the 530s are excellent - but what makes them liked so much when compared to the 535s? Is it simply cost, or ease of use? Or is it that they have become much more affordable now that the 535s are out? Anyway, they sound interesting, and one to look into further.

Cheers
 

andalusia

macrumors 68030
Apr 10, 2009
2,945
8
Manchester, UK
IMO, skullcandy are overpriced fashion statements, and bad ones at that. To the person who said JVC marshmallows are best for under $20, you should check out Creative LP-630s. Even cheaper, and in my opinion, bette sound quality. Stay away from skullcandy.
 

malnar

macrumors 6502a
Aug 20, 2008
634
60
around 50$ CDN

I'll check it out

I had a pair of HD238 Great audio but they seemed quite fragile. I am looking for a nice pair of in ear buds ideally with a remote.
"Seem fragile" or "ARE fragile"?

I have these and they're fantastic for the price, especially when you remove the extra foam from the ear-padding (pull off the padding, remove the circular foam insert, then snap the padding back on the frame - adds a depth and clarity that wasn't there before, making them my preferred headphone as long as I don't have other sounds around, since they are open-air.)

I don't know what you do with yours, but I put mine on my head and listen. They're pretty sturdy for that use. Are you wrestling in yours?
 

weckart

macrumors 603
Nov 7, 2004
5,835
3,514
IMO, skullcandy are overpriced fashion statements, and bad ones at that. To the person who said JVC marshmallows are best for under $20, you should check out Creative LP-630s. Even cheaper, and in my opinion, bette sound quality. Stay away from skullcandy.

This. And they often retail for about $10 or so on Amazon in the UK. Beware of fakes and never buy from market sellers or eBay for that reason, however tempting the price.

Skullcandy, Beats and Bose are proof that a fool and his money are soon parted.
 

And1ss

macrumors 6502a
Oct 20, 2009
542
2
IMO, they look fashionable and stylish and sound quality is okay, but I stay away from them. I think there are better ones at the same price: sennihensier, etc.
 

AppleDApp

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 21, 2011
2,413
45
is it that bad? I am thinking to get one for my boy's birthday

they are pretty bad the sound quality is better then the stock apple buds but they break quickly. invest some money if you want something that sounds great and will last.
 
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