Skullcandy Headphones

Every once in a great while I get to buy something new. It does not happen often, and it is not usually on the scale of the HDTV that I want, but sometimes making a really good choice on a smaller purchase is even better.

I have been working on several music projects for the last couple of years and am constantly listening to music and evaluating its quality. My experience with the Apple headphones that are included with the iPod have been disappointing. Don't get me wrong I am as much or more of an Apple fanboi as the next twenty-something, but the included headphones have been a sore point for many others and really the worst part of the entire iPhone/iPod experience.

This past year I was able to get an iPod Touch. It has been fantastic but I kept on fighting again with the really poor quality headphones. For me part of the listening



experience is being able to hear bass. In the earbuds the upper registers are tinny and the lower registers are pretty much non existent in my experience. When I would listen at home I could use my big over ear cans (and the experience is amazing) but for listening in the car or when walking through a store no one wants to be that guy.

I finally broke (one of the buds randomly stopped giving out sound) my first pair after about 2 months of use back in February. Because it was so new, the guy at the Apple store slipped me a new pair and it was all good. Then I broke a second pair (those legitimately cracked because I let the earbuds swing down to the ground while I was picking up Greyson and walking) about 2 months ago and I realized that I needed

something better sounding and more durable.

A friend of mine from work pointed me in the direction of skullcandy. I had heard of the company because of their partnership with major music artists on some ridiculous headphones but had never looked into anything else the company makes.

That was a mistake. I was able to get a pair of inexpensive, in-ear headphones that fit so well they are almost noise cancelling. The sound is fantastic. I can hear bass. I can hear background conversations between band members before songs start all without turning the volume up past half even in a noisy environment.

I would like to use this opportunity to ask Steve Jobs: Why can you not bundle the Skullcandy Inked line of headphones in with iPods? They only cost $20 at Best Buy. They sound fantastic and they don't look weird or anything.

For the rest of you, if you listen to music on a regular basis or even casually, I fully recommend these headphones. Listening with them on is like getting to listen to all of your music for the first time again, rediscovering whole portions that you were not even aware existed. Let me know what you think or if you have other affordable alternatives that you have come across. @danieldezago.