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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.