Skullcandy Asym Earphones

No one likes boring looking headphones – or, at least, that’s the motto for the folks designing headphones at Skullcandy. The company offers a wide range of in-ear headphones, headsets and over-the-ear headphones for style aficionados who scoff at the traditional black headphone designs. No matter what your color preference – Skullcandy offers everything from hot pink “Catfight” styling to flashy chrome colors – you’ll find a set that suits your fancy.

We take a listen to the $39.95 Skullcandy Asym model today – billed as comfortable, sports friendly in-ear headphones for active people who also want a flush-mount fit. Read on for the results.

Design

Design is a key component of the Asym earphones and is really what sets this pair of earphones apart from other competing models. The earbud portion is angled so that they fit inside your ear canal and are flush-mounted inside your ears. This is accomplished only once you have wrapped the cable behind and over the top of your ears. The idea is to provide a comfortable fit that also keeps the earphones snug in your ears during exercise sessions.

Available in 5 different color combinations, the Asym appearance should be well suited to just about any color of MP3 player. Each earbud has the Skullcandy logo – not surprisingly, a picture of a skull – adorned on the outer portion of the earbud casing. All of the color combinations sport some level of black, and so the choice of a standard black color for the earphone cable is not too surprising.

The Asym utilizes 13mm neodymium magnet drivers, which is a large size compared to many other earphone models. The 1.2m (4 ft.) cord length is sufficient for using the earbuds with an MP3 player, but is a tad too short to use as headphones for listening to music on a PC.

Features

• Speaker Diameter: 13mm
• Magnet Type: NdFeB
• Frequency range: 18 -20K Hz
• Impedance: 32 ohms
• Max Input Power: 30mW
• Cable Type: Aluminum Braided
• Cable Length: 1.2m
• Plug Type: 3.5mm Gold Plated

In the Box

The test unit came in the MICD-black color combination and included the following:

• Asym earphones
• Carrying case
• 3 sets of silicon eartips (S/M/L sizes)
• User guide

Sound Quality Performance Testing

The sound quality performance evaluation of the Skullcandy Asym earphones was performed exclusively by listening to MP3s and FLAC music stored on my Sansa Fuze MP3 player. I listened to a number MP3s with bit rates of 128kbps and 320kbps, as well as lossless audio tracks in FLAC format. A wide selection of classical, rock, alternative and hip-hop music was used in the evaluation.

My listening impressions revealed that the Asym's produce a rather bass-heavy sound, especially for rock and hip-hop music. This bottom heavy sound obscures the separation of instruments and serves to create a less than ideal listening experience. My listening sessions were enjoyable, but the Asym does not provide the same level of depth and detail as other earphones.

Tonal balance of the earphones was good, with vocals sounding smooth. The biggest complaint I have is that the vocals and nuances of the higher frequencies get lost as you turn up the volume, due to the heavy bass and mid-bass drowning out the singer. On a plus note, high frequencies did not sound harsh at normal listening levels.

If you tone down the bass using the EQ on your MP3 player, you get a more natural sounding listening experience. The vocals still sounded veiled, unfortunately, and I missed the warmth and detail that I found with other in-ear headphone models. On the plus side, if you like the “in-your-face-bass” type of sound you will enjoy the Asym earphones. They produce solid, high-impact bass notes.

Portability

The Asym earphones are small in size, and with the included carrying case they are easily portable. The inline volume control is a nice touch that allows you to adjust the volume up or down as you travel, to accommodate for environmental noise. Another plus point is that they stay firmly planted in your ears while you walk or run, so they can be used whenever you are on the go.

Both the earphones and the cable easily fit inside the pouch, and the pouch is small enough to fit easily in a computer bag or a gym bag. You could also easily fit the pouch in a pants pocket or a backpack pocket, so whenever you are out and about there is really no reason to separate these from your MP3 player.

Comfort

The medium sized eartips fit well in my ears, although the cord-over-the-ear design of the Asym took a bit of getting used to using. After wearing them for a few hours I can report that they do quite a nice job of staying put during exercise. The cord bobs up and down while you run, which tugs at your ears and also takes a bit of getting used to, but wrapping it over your ears provides a good anchor to keep the earbuds firmly in place. They stayed in my ear as well as any other set of earbuds that I have used before.

The flush-mount fit also serves to keep most of the external environment noise out, although not much more so than other in-ear earbud models. Road noise from cars can still be heard if you use these outdoors, but most indoor environmental noises are blocked out.

Skullcandy Asym Earphones

A flashy design and a snug fit during workouts are the big plus points of the Asym earphones. They also fit well over a helmet or beanie, which is a real benefit for bike riders and motorcyclists. There are not many other earphone models that can beat the $39.95 USD price, either.

However, the less than stellar sound quality is hard to overlook. I tried a number of different EQ settings with my MP3 player, but was never able to find a setting that made the Asym earphones sound very good when compared to other competing models. If you like heavy bass for all of your music, then you will most likely be happy with the Asym earphones. If you are looking for a warmer, more natural sound from your earphones, you’ll need to spend a bit more money than the asking price and keep looking elsewhere for another model.

Pros: Lots of color choices, flashy design, snug fit for exercising, bargain priced.

Cons: Unimpressive sound quality.

Rating: 3.0 out of 5

www.skullcandy.com