Skullcandy intros Decibel Collection headphones for the young, hip, and colorblind
We thought that Skullcandy might not be able to top its Special Edition Metallica Death Magnetic headphones in terms of aesthetic loudness, but we were apparently mistaken. The company's just launched its vast Decibel (dB) Collection, a wide range of wildly styled, Limited Edition "high performance" cans that take design up to eleven, to say the very least. With customizable lines including Big Slick, Vibe, Dream Team, Lurker, Catfight, Audiophile, and Illustrative, it's safe to say that Skullcandy will probably have whatever it is you're looking for in headphones... as long as what you're looking for is truly insane. Hit the read link to check out the myriad designs.
[Via Coolest Gadgets]
[Via Coolest Gadgets]



















As long as what you're looking for is truly insane... and truly crappy.
Skullcandy intros Decibel Collection headphones for the young, hip, colourblind and deaf.
"Skullcandy intros Decibel Collection headphones for the young, colourblind and deaf."
The fix is fixed.
actually no its
"Skullcandy intros Decibel Collection headphones for the young, colourblind, and deaf."
you still have to include that last comma in a list like that. :)
Skullcandy intros Decibel Collection headphones for the teeny boppers, sexually ambiguous, and tasteless.
@Agent .25i: Too true, Oxford comma FTW!... It distinguishes ambiguity in sentences that contain 'and' to pair two things in a series comma instance. (mom and dad; peanut butter and jelly)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_comma
Some teachers enforce against using the oxford comma, and it just goes to show that sometimes its not best to be just "one of the sheep" following that know-it-all teacher.
But, you are being a little overcritical of a post just for the interwebz... Have fun, take a load off...
Miss California could make a better design.
But then what does she personally believe about headphones everywhere like such as?
Dear uninformed reader, if you are now thinking "omg those skullcandeeezz are wicket!", keep in mind they sound like a fart in a wet cardboard box. Reputable brands like Grado, Sennheiser, Denon, Ultrasone, Audio-Technica and Shure on the other hand sound miles better.
I can't help but only think of cricket when I read your hip teen quote.
One of their lines is called Audiophile? That's... amusing.
Indeed.
not just amusing, I fukken lol'd at it.
To be fair....the people buying Skullcandys are listening to mp3s on 3 year old ipods anyway so.....It's not like you need the best...
So you need the latest and greatest mp3 player to have better sound quality? Not saying that Skullcandy is any good, but that's just a silly statement.
What I'm saying is that all the comments about how bad skullcandy headphones sound dont really make a difference because that's not really why people buy them in the first place...
I understand.....................................................................could've been worded better.......................................................and you seem to like periods......................
whats so bad with skull candy?
they provide decent sound, a "hip look" and comfort for a low price.
i see the appeal.
"decent sound"
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ZEf1jfp9ZXE/SgI5tSODV4I/AAAAAAAAAjU/1QwNrAxQXOQ/1235072545484.jpg
I am colorblind. Those are still garish.
Wow. Skullcandy seriously makes crappy looking and sounding headphones.
oh those crazy kids and their complete lack of taste. to be young...
Oh GOD MY EYES!
The headphones! They do NOTHING!
I'm 15, and I think these are terrible looking. Of course, the kids at my school think the stock ipod headphones are "really clear" sounding, and they only talk about how much bass a pair of headphones has. Let's also not forget that they only also care about what it loks like, which ends up being some trashy, ugly design.
I cry with my shure se210s on half volume.
just goes to show, the tasteful teens post on engadget, while the unwashed masses buy skullcandys. the company certainly knows what they are doing...
are they really so bad? I was going to get some in-ear ones with mic for my iphone...
the full metal jackets are the only good ones in the brand.
I bought a pair of Full Metal Jackets, and they are horrible! Way too much bass--which itself is unbelievably muddy and one-dimensional--and hardly any treble, besides which there is minimal detail anywhere in the audio spectrum! To give you an idea, it sounds a little like someone customized their car with an overly expensive sound system and spent most of the money on a set of overpowered subwoofers---and you're listening to whatever leaks out through the car's metal chassis, from across the street. It takes as much EQ as most MP3 players can handle just to suppress the bass enough so that you can start to hear a little detail. And even then, only a little. The only reason I bought them was for the volume control. Now of course you can get the Sennheiser CX-500s if you want canalphones with a volume control. Frankly, I wish I had never bought the Skullcandys. They are worse than stock earbuds in many respects. BTW, it doesn't help that you'd have to pay me to wear them in public, what with the garish skull logo and flashy metal casings. Skullcandy is like a parody of Bose, but without the illusion of class. Worst... headphones... ever!
[This concludes my daily rant.]
I used to think Skullcandy's weren't too bad until my brother bought some. He has the GI's, and they look, sound, and feel totally crappy. I would say the stock Ipod headphones sound better, honestly. I'll keep my Denon's, thanks.
oh, saw your comment too late, thanks for the info ;)
"take design up to eleven"? Designers round the world must be cringing at that. I'd say these take design down to zero.
I'd say these are taking it to 11, and that the good designers aim for zero.
This blog is the wrong target audience. Skullcandy advertises to the action sports world and bright colors are in in the snowboard/ski scene. I like the designs. I got my skullcrushers for $30 and for $30 bucks i would say they sound pretty good plus look sweet
I agree with Billz, the headphone design fits their target audience, but in other markets the colors might be a bit overkill. A little variety never hurts though...
Headline Win
i'll stick with my Denon D1001's
"Ooh, look at me, I'll take my $400 headphones, because I'm pretentious and have money to flash around on a gadget blog."
So, hey, the target market for these (you know, kids that don't have hundreds to spend on a pair of cans) probably like the designs. I have a pair of skullcandy's that I got on sale for 10 bucks, and they definitely sound better than stock buds. But wait, that wasn't pretentious enough....I'm doin it wrong, aren't I?
There are Sennheisers in the 20-30 dollar range that sound much better than anything Skullcandy produces. It's not as much about price as it is about engineering. Sennheiser and other companies like it (beyerdynamic, AKG, etc) have R&D departments that actually try to improve the sound quality of the headphones, as well as the comfort. A company like Skullcandy most likely picks stock headphone components from a Chinese factory, and has a machine assemble the headphones.
We could debate all day, but at the end of the day, a 20-30 dollar pair of Sennheisers is a lot closer to reference (A goes in, A goes out, essentially) than anything Skullcandy makes. Our pretentious, handmade douchebaggy 300 dollar headphones would blow both of them out of the water. It's not pretentious to call a company out for making generations of people oblivious to the fact that their headphones are adding ridiculous amounts of bass that isn't in the recording, while murdering the highs, and squashing the mids.
You are correct in one thing though; The kids buying these are not buying 300 dollar headphones. For one thing, a mobile device couldn't power most 300 dollar+ headphones. Obviously most kids couldn't afford 300 dollar headphones either. For a kid looking to get more out of his Ipod, I'd suggest some in-ear canalphones from Shure or Etymotic. With 300 being the plateau, you get a little better sound for every ten or twenty dollars you can put into a headphone purchase. Anything is better than ruining your hearing trying to actually hear the vocals over the ear wrecking bass of bad headphones.
@ BananaBoat
Win!
just slap a bape logo on these and call em good
The goggles, they do nothing...
If you try to defend skullcandy on a gadget blog that appreciates function more so over design (good design albeit). You're pretty much going to get destroyed.
As a semi-trendsetter in electronic fashion I have to say I prefer mix-style (Japan) and WESC (New York) have made very similar designs but are more tasteful aesthetic-wise. However, WESC sources their headphone drivers from Sennheiser and mix-style is probably sourcing their drivers from audio-technica or something. So great headphone drivers + the tacky shibuya-like street fashion look which skullcandy fails to emulate.
If you're looking for solid designs from a reputable audio company I recommend you look up audio-technica's headphones. They have some really nice designs for every type of design.
i can see this as an accessory for snowboarders this is fashion more than function aka lipstick on a pig