Skullcandy Crusher ANC Review – Super Fun Headphones Worth The Upgrade

The new Skullcandy Crusher ANC’s are perhaps
the most fun headphones ever… and I think
that if you have last year’s Crusher 360’s
I do think its worth upgrading.
But even though the Crusher ANC’s are more
versatile than the Crusher 360’s, they do
have their quirks.
Quirks that just aren’t acceptable for a
pair of $320 ANC headphones.
Like I just mentioned, the new Skullcandy
Crusher ANC’s retails for $320, $20 more
than the Crusher 360’s when they were first
released.
Now keep in mind these headphones are not
for everybody, they’re specifically geared
towards bass heads.
But if you want to pick these headphones up
they’ll be linked down below.
Now first off I want to address the carrying
case cause Skullcandy nailed it.
Personally I think its an upgrade from the
crusher 360’s carrying case and its very
reminiscent to the Sony 1000XM3’s carrying
case.
Its a very hardshell carrying case that’s
going to keep your headphones protected and
there’s also a compartment to store your
cable.
Personally there are zero complaints here.
But now let’s talk about the headphones themselves
cause that’s another story.
The build quality and design on the Crusher
ANC’s is very different from the Crusher
360’s.
Its not better or worse, its just different.
The Crusher ANC’s have a mostly plastic
body which is very different from the Crusher
360’s

which have soft touch ear cups and
a soft touch headband and they also have metal
yokes.
Both of these headphones feel very sturdy
and well built, but personally I prefer the
Crusher 360’s soft touch and metal body.
But the Crusher ANC’s do have some important
build quality improvements over the Crusher
360’s.
For starters the headband on the Crusher ANC’s
now clicks instead of glides like on the 360’s
which I personally prefer.
The ear cups on these headphones can now swivel
in both directions which give them way more
range on motion than the ear cups on the 360’s
and the Crusher ANC’s can now be fully collapsed.
But when it comes to fit, long story short
I prefer how the Crusher 360’s fit over
the Crusher ANC.
Oddly enough even though the ear cups on the
Crusher ANC’s are roomier than the ear cups
on the 360’s… my ears feel less cramped
with the 360’s than they do with the ANC’s.
Now clamping force on both of these headphones
is just fine and they’re both big head approved…
but for me it all boils down to the differences
in the ear cups.
I can’t help but notice that the padding
on the ANC’s feels stiffer than the padding
on the 360’s… and I also can’t help
but notice that the leatherette on the 360’s
feels better than the leatherette on the ANC’s.
And in general the Crusher ANC’s are not
the best fitting headphones out there cause
you never forget that you have them on when
you’re watching Netflix on your phone, I
always find myself having to readjust them.
But also, the Crusher ANC’s are a pair of
very heavy headphones compared to its competition.
The Crusher ANC’s weigh in at 310 grams,
10 grams less than the 360… but most other
ANC headphones weigh in at around 240 to 270
grams.
So this extra weight just makes it harder
for you to forget they’re there.
So I wouldn’t recommend the Crusher ANC’s
if you’re looking for a pair of headphones
to travel with and personally I think the
Crusher 360’s are more comfortable than
the ANC’s.
And I also prefer the Crusher 360’s more
low profile headband.
Now when it comes to tech specs the first
most major upgrade is that the Crusher ANC’s
now charge via a USB C port.
And regarding battery life, the Crusher ANC’s
have an advertised battery life of 24 hours
which is average for a pair of ANC headphones.
And for me, Ive been able to go a week and
a half in between charges with these these
headphones.
Not bad at all.
Regarding bluetooth connectivity, these headphones
are using bluetooth 5.0 and if you’re an
android user they also have APTX support which
is good.
But unfortunately, even though Skullcandy
claims that these headphones can be connected
to 2 devices at the same, I wasn’t able
to get them to hot swap from one device to
another.
But when it comes to watching videos with
these headphones… whether you’re an android
or iPhone user you’re going to have zero
latency across the board no matter what app
you use.
Which is rare cause a lot of headphones tend
to have a slight latency when watching youtube
videos on an iPhone.
But that’s not the case with the Crusher
ANC’s which is good.
But now lets talk about listening to music
with these headphones cause they’re like
no other.
First off, the Crusher 360’s and Crusher
ANC’s are made specifically for people who
really like bass.
And long story short, the Crusher ANC’s
sound over all better than the Crusher 360’s.
Both of these headphones have head rattling
bass that’s going to make you feel like
you have 2 subwoofers tied to your head, so
you literally feel your music when you use
these headphones.
But the bass on the Crusher ANC’s is much
more under control than the bass on the 360’s.
Even if the bass on the ANC’s really gets
going, it stays under control and it doesn’t
muddle out the rest of your music like the
bass on the Crusher 360’s do.
So your music and bass on the Crusher ANC’s
are basically two separate entities.
But since the Mids and Highs on the Crusher
ANC’s are more pronounced than on the 360’s,
the ANC’s just over all sound better.
But like I’ve mentioned in the past, all
of this excess bass does get old after awhile
and if you wanted to use the Crusher 360’s
like a normal pair of headphones they’re
not the best cause they sound very shallow
with their bass feature turned off.
But that’s not the case with the Crusher
ANC’s.
Even with their bass feature turned off the
Crusher ANC’s sound decent especially since
they have a brighter sound signature compared
to the 360’s.
But something that I don’t really care for
on the Cursher ANC’s is that they now have
an app.
And through that app you can get an optimal
EQ setting for you after you complete a hearing
test.
But personally I don’t really like how the
optimized EQ on these headphones sounded.
All I really want from Skullcandy is for them
to just give use a fully customizable EQ to
mess around with in their app like most other
ANC headphones have.
But something that I do like on the crusher
ANC’s is that they’ve gone back to a physical
bass dial that you slide back and fourth instead
of a touch pad like on the 360’s.
Even though the digital bass dial on the 360’s
looks cool and premium, adjusting the bass
on these headphones while wearing them was
pretty hard.
But with the ANC’s since they have a physical
glider its much easier to know exactly what
you’re doing even while wearing you’re
headphones.
And when its comes to controlling your music
playback, the Crusher ANC’s are still using
physical control buttons which I know some
people like.
Some people just don’t want to deal with
touch pads.
But unfortunately, I just can’t get over
how mushy these buttons feel, they’re very
unsatisfying to click.
And I just find it weird that the buttons
on the Crusher ANC’s are so bad cause the
Crusher 360’s have great feeling tactile
buttons that just put the buttons on the ANC’s
to shame.
Having physical media control buttons is starting
to become a differentiating factor for some
casual consumers, and if you’re going to
have physical buttons you gotta make sure
they feel right especially on $320 headphones.
But over all, the Crusher ANC’s sound better
than the Crusher 360’s.
The Mids and high are much more pronounced
and the bass effect is more dramatic but doesn’t
interfere with your music like the bass on
the 360’s.
Also take into account that these headphone
have USB C charging and you have a few compelling
reasons to upgrade from the Crusher 360’s
to the Crusher ANC’s.
But the ANC’s have a few other new features
over the 360’s.
Obviously as the name implies the Crusher
ANC’s now have active noise cancellation.
And the Active noise cancelation on these
headphones is ok, but definitely not their
main selling point.
They do a decent job of blocking out constant
low frequency sounds like road noise which
shouldn’t be an issue for ANC headphones
but when it comes to blocking random high
frequency sounds like chatter, not so much.
But so that you can see for yourself we’re
going to jump into an ANC test.
Like you make have just seen, the Crusher
ANC’s block out a considerable amount of
road noise but when it comes to the chatter
in a coffee shop not so much.
And another thing to consider is that these
headphones have a noticeable amount of cabin
pressure.
Its not over bearing like the cabin pressure
on the Bose QC 35’s but it is there.
But Its definitely more prominent that on
the Jabra Elite 85H and Sennheiser Momentum
3’s.
You won’t notice the cabin pressure when
listening to music but you will notice it
when you’re watching Netflix with these
headphones.
But whether you have ANC turned on or off
on these headphones another thing that you
will notice while watching movies with these
headphones is their constant hissing in the
background.
And I feel that constant hissing on a pair
of $320 headphones is just unacceptable, and
I also find it weird cause the Crusher 360’s
don’t have any constant hissing
in the background.
But
another feature the Crusher ANC’s have over
the 360’s is that they now have an ambient
mode.
If you press and hold on the left ear cup
these headphones will pump in all of the ambient
sound around you so you can still be aware
of you’re surroundings when walking around
the city or you can do what I do and have
ambient mode turned on while watching movies
at home so that if someone calls you you can
still hear them.
Even though the ambient mode on these headphones
sounds natural you’re still going to hear
that constant hissing in the background.
But the last feature I wanna talk about on
these headphones is that they now have tile
integration.
Personally I don’t really care about tile
integration cause I’ve never need to track
down a pair of headphones.
But if you want to use it its there.
But finally lets talk about the microphone
on these headphones.
I don’t think it sound half bad.
You’ll might have to speak up a little bit
but it doesn’t sound muffled and there isn’t
any excessive amplification going on.
So over all, the Skullcandy Crusher ANC’s
are a great upgrade from the Skullcandy Crusher
360’s when it comes to performance and features.
The Crusher ANC’s sound better than the
360’s cause their bass feature is more under
control and the mids and highs no longer get
over powered by the bass feature.
Even though these headphones don’t have
the best active noise cancelation out there
I don’t think you’ll be picking these
headphones up cause of their ANC.
But since they do have Active Noise cancellation
and an ambient mode, these headphones are
more versatile than the Crusher 360’s especially
for a constant commuter or even student.
But personally I just wish these headphones
fit a little better cause they’re not all
that comfortable and they’re not the best
headphones to watch movies with.
I also hope Skullcandy updates their app so
that we can have full control over their EQ
settings… but I still can’t get over the
fact at how mushy their control buttons are
and the constant hissing in the background.
But if you have the Skullcandy Crusher 360’s
and are considering upgrading, I say you should.

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