The Skullcandy Crusher 360 ($299.99) Bluetooth headphones put out so much low end that they sound like a subwoofer.
The adjustable bass response does away with any semblance of balance between bass depth and, you know, the rest of the frequency range that has all that pesky music, clarity, definition, vocals, etc.
And the built-in "haptic bass" vibrates the headphones, along with your skull, as you listen to music.
The side effect is that it adds a resonance to the audio that most people—even lovers of powerful bass response—typically try to avoid.
I'm truly in love with the stylish design—it's a shame this handsome pair of headphones sounds like a subwoofer blasting in a flooded stairwell.
Design
Available in all-black or black/tan models, the Crusher 360 has a cool, understated look and features circumaural (over-the-ear) earcups that are luxuriously padded with memory foam and a faux-leather covering.
The headband is similarly padded, and the fit is exceptionally comfortable, even during longer listening sessions.
The earcups fold in at hinges on the headband for easy stowing inside the included zip-up hard-shell case.
The left earcup's side panel houses the Power/Pairing button, along with a status LED indicator that displays battery life when the Power button is pressed quickly (powering up or down requires a 3-second hold).
The connections for the included micro-USB-to-USB charging cable and the 3.5mm audio cable are also located on the left earcup's side panel.
On the right earcup, there are three buttons including a central multifunction button for playback and call management, and separate plus/minus buttons for volume control and track navigation.
We're not fans of combining these two functions on the same button—it makes it too easy to accidentally skip a track when you mean to adjust the volume.
The Crusher 360's secret weapon, however, is the outside panel of the left earcup, which matches the right earcup's outer panel with its unmarked black matte surface.
The left panel has a capacitive touch control—swiping up boosts the bass response, and swiping down lowers it.
It's too bad there's no audio notification for when you reach the midpoint or default setting for the bass.
Though the LED indicator will show you roughly where on the scale your bass settings are, you can't see the LEDs when you're wearing the headphones.
Adjusting the bass is easy—we'll talk about how it performs in the next section.
The aforementioned audio cable features an inline remote control with a playback/call-management button and a volume control slider.
Connecting the cable doesn't automatically power the headphones down—it only breaks the Bluetooth connection, so if you're plugging in to save power, beware.
There's good reason for this—in wired mode, you can still use the bass controls on the left ear.
If you want to use the headphones in passive mode to save battery life, you need to actually power the headphones down, and audio without the enhanced bass response will continue to play through the headphones.
The onboard mic offers better-than-average intelligibility.
Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, I could understand every word recorded, though there were some typical fuzzy Bluetooth artifacts that are par for the course.
The inline mic on the cable delivers excellent intelligibility with some added bass depth, even—with one flaw.
The mic's gain is too low and you need to hold the mic to your mouth in for your voice to be loud enough.
Not a tragic flaw, but an odd one.
Skullcandy estimates the Crusher 360's battery life to be "up to 29 hours," but your results will vary with your volume levels.
Performance
Let's discuss the bass response before tackling the overall audio performance.
If you were to set the bass to zero and no one ever told you there was adjustable bass on the Crusher 360, it's likely you'd find the general sound signature to be fairly accurate, perhaps just a smidge lacking in the low frequency department.
With the bass response maxed out, the Crusher 360 sounds ridiculous, offering something that in no way resembles audio playback for human ears.
Its "haptic bass" response means the earcups physically vibrate, which gets old quickly.
It sounds bad, plain and simple—as if a subwoofer has been melded to your skull.
Why the Crusher 360 goes to this high level, I can't tell you, but it's one of the worst sounds I've heard through headphones recently.
Ironically, in passive, wired mode, the sound signature is a fairly flat-response, accurate audio experience, but not one that's worth $300.
The haptic bass really does mess with the overall sound signature, even at low levels.
At its weakest setting, just above off, the bass can still vibrate the earpads and add a resonance to the overall sound signature that sounds odd—like your head is inside a kick drum.
The bass stands out far too much, but at low levels, it's at least manageable.
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the haptic bass mode sets in and the song sounds more powerful than it has on any headphones I've ever used.
That is not a compliment.
Again, lowering the bass depth to its faint settings is a better experience, but there's not really a sweet spot—to get the sound that a bass lover would enjoy, you also have to endure the haptic bass.
If it were merely the physical sensation, I could just call it annoying—and note that plenty of people would probably enjoy it.
But it's not—the haptic bass has a resonant quality that makes frequencies jump out in unnatural ways.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Crusher 360's general sound signature.
It suffers in the same way the previous track does—at even medium levels, the bass sounds insane.
The drums sound like thunder from hell.
It's unpleasant to hear.
You can try finding a sweet spot, but again, the headphones sound kind of thin and lacking in the bass category at the zero setting, while dialing the bass up even slightly begins to introduce the resonant rumble that makes the lows stand out unnaturally.
Normally, we discuss various other tracks in this section, but across every genre I tested, the results were the same.
The headphones operate on the premise of a gimmick, marketed as high technology.
Even if you love insane bass response, it's hard to imagine enjoying this sound signature—the low end is completely detached from the music itself, overwhelming the rest of the mix, and the vibrations in the headphones will likely get old quickly.
Conclusions
I love innovative technology, and it's true I've never experienced bass quite like this, but that doesn't mean it sounds good.
The Skullcandy Crusher 360 obliterates any semblance of balance in a musical mix.
It's a shame, because there was the chance, perhaps, to pull this off subtly—and everything else about the Crusher 360's design and functionality is top-notch.
If you want quality audio performance in a wireless pair for a similar cost, the Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless ($384.76 at Amazon) is a winner.
For those seeking a rich bass sound, but without destroying all balance, consider the V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless or the B&O Beoplay H4.
If the bass levels on the Crusher 360 sounded natural and the adjustments were subtle, I'd probably love these headphones.
I thought the previous iteration, the Skullcandy Crusher Wireless, was over-zealous in its bass response, but a semblance of balance could be found at low levels.
This latest, totally bonkers version is being marketed as "limited edition"; perhaps that's for the best.
Pros
Handsome, stylish design.
Comfortable.
Sounds good in wired, passive mode.
Cons
Insanely vibrational, overly resonant bass sounds bad at most levels.
Haptic bass vibrations get annoying quickly.
Overpriced.
The Bottom Line
With the wireless Crusher 360 headphones, Skullcandy asks bass lovers if it's possible to have too much of a good thing? The answer is an overwhelming "Yes."
The Skullcandy Crusher 360 ($299.99) Bluetooth headphones put out so much low end that they sound like a subwoofer.
The adjustable bass response does away with any semblance of balance between bass depth and, you know, the rest of the frequency range that has all that pesky music, clarity, definition, vocals, etc.
And the built-in "haptic bass" vibrates the headphones, along with your skull, as you listen to music.
The side effect is that it adds a resonance to the audio that most people—even lovers of powerful bass response—typically try to avoid.
I'm truly in love with the stylish design—it's a shame this handsome pair of headphones sounds like a subwoofer blasting in a flooded stairwell.
Design
Available in all-black or black/tan models, the Crusher 360 has a cool, understated look and features circumaural (over-the-ear) earcups that are luxuriously padded with memory foam and a faux-leather covering.
The headband is similarly padded, and the fit is exceptionally comfortable, even during longer listening sessions.
The earcups fold in at hinges on the headband for easy stowing inside the included zip-up hard-shell case.
The left earcup's side panel houses the Power/Pairing button, along with a status LED indicator that displays battery life when the Power button is pressed quickly (powering up or down requires a 3-second hold).
The connections for the included micro-USB-to-USB charging cable and the 3.5mm audio cable are also located on the left earcup's side panel.
On the right earcup, there are three buttons including a central multifunction button for playback and call management, and separate plus/minus buttons for volume control and track navigation.
We're not fans of combining these two functions on the same button—it makes it too easy to accidentally skip a track when you mean to adjust the volume.
The Crusher 360's secret weapon, however, is the outside panel of the left earcup, which matches the right earcup's outer panel with its unmarked black matte surface.
The left panel has a capacitive touch control—swiping up boosts the bass response, and swiping down lowers it.
It's too bad there's no audio notification for when you reach the midpoint or default setting for the bass.
Though the LED indicator will show you roughly where on the scale your bass settings are, you can't see the LEDs when you're wearing the headphones.
Adjusting the bass is easy—we'll talk about how it performs in the next section.
The aforementioned audio cable features an inline remote control with a playback/call-management button and a volume control slider.
Connecting the cable doesn't automatically power the headphones down—it only breaks the Bluetooth connection, so if you're plugging in to save power, beware.
There's good reason for this—in wired mode, you can still use the bass controls on the left ear.
If you want to use the headphones in passive mode to save battery life, you need to actually power the headphones down, and audio without the enhanced bass response will continue to play through the headphones.
The onboard mic offers better-than-average intelligibility.
Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, I could understand every word recorded, though there were some typical fuzzy Bluetooth artifacts that are par for the course.
The inline mic on the cable delivers excellent intelligibility with some added bass depth, even—with one flaw.
The mic's gain is too low and you need to hold the mic to your mouth in for your voice to be loud enough.
Not a tragic flaw, but an odd one.
Skullcandy estimates the Crusher 360's battery life to be "up to 29 hours," but your results will vary with your volume levels.
Performance
Let's discuss the bass response before tackling the overall audio performance.
If you were to set the bass to zero and no one ever told you there was adjustable bass on the Crusher 360, it's likely you'd find the general sound signature to be fairly accurate, perhaps just a smidge lacking in the low frequency department.
With the bass response maxed out, the Crusher 360 sounds ridiculous, offering something that in no way resembles audio playback for human ears.
Its "haptic bass" response means the earcups physically vibrate, which gets old quickly.
It sounds bad, plain and simple—as if a subwoofer has been melded to your skull.
Why the Crusher 360 goes to this high level, I can't tell you, but it's one of the worst sounds I've heard through headphones recently.
Ironically, in passive, wired mode, the sound signature is a fairly flat-response, accurate audio experience, but not one that's worth $300.
The haptic bass really does mess with the overall sound signature, even at low levels.
At its weakest setting, just above off, the bass can still vibrate the earpads and add a resonance to the overall sound signature that sounds odd—like your head is inside a kick drum.
The bass stands out far too much, but at low levels, it's at least manageable.
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the haptic bass mode sets in and the song sounds more powerful than it has on any headphones I've ever used.
That is not a compliment.
Again, lowering the bass depth to its faint settings is a better experience, but there's not really a sweet spot—to get the sound that a bass lover would enjoy, you also have to endure the haptic bass.
If it were merely the physical sensation, I could just call it annoying—and note that plenty of people would probably enjoy it.
But it's not—the haptic bass has a resonant quality that makes frequencies jump out in unnatural ways.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Crusher 360's general sound signature.
It suffers in the same way the previous track does—at even medium levels, the bass sounds insane.
The drums sound like thunder from hell.
It's unpleasant to hear.
You can try finding a sweet spot, but again, the headphones sound kind of thin and lacking in the bass category at the zero setting, while dialing the bass up even slightly begins to introduce the resonant rumble that makes the lows stand out unnaturally.
Normally, we discuss various other tracks in this section, but across every genre I tested, the results were the same.
The headphones operate on the premise of a gimmick, marketed as high technology.
Even if you love insane bass response, it's hard to imagine enjoying this sound signature—the low end is completely detached from the music itself, overwhelming the rest of the mix, and the vibrations in the headphones will likely get old quickly.
Conclusions
I love innovative technology, and it's true I've never experienced bass quite like this, but that doesn't mean it sounds good.
The Skullcandy Crusher 360 obliterates any semblance of balance in a musical mix.
It's a shame, because there was the chance, perhaps, to pull this off subtly—and everything else about the Crusher 360's design and functionality is top-notch.
If you want quality audio performance in a wireless pair for a similar cost, the Bowers & Wilkins P5 Wireless ($384.76 at Amazon) is a winner.
For those seeking a rich bass sound, but without destroying all balance, consider the V-Moda Crossfade 2 Wireless or the B&O Beoplay H4.
If the bass levels on the Crusher 360 sounded natural and the adjustments were subtle, I'd probably love these headphones.
I thought the previous iteration, the Skullcandy Crusher Wireless, was over-zealous in its bass response, but a semblance of balance could be found at low levels.
This latest, totally bonkers version is being marketed as "limited edition"; perhaps that's for the best.
Pros
Handsome, stylish design.
Comfortable.
Sounds good in wired, passive mode.
Cons
Insanely vibrational, overly resonant bass sounds bad at most levels.
Haptic bass vibrations get annoying quickly.
Overpriced.
The Bottom Line
With the wireless Crusher 360 headphones, Skullcandy asks bass lovers if it's possible to have too much of a good thing? The answer is an overwhelming "Yes."
