Thi is the comparison between the Skullcandy Crusher Wireless and Sony MDR-XB950N1 headsets. Both the headsets are good at bass sound. The features are different and of course, the performance is different. Check out which one you will like to buy.

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless	Sony MDR-XB950N1
BUY NOW	BUY NOW
PROS	PROS
Solid “basic” sound. Great battery life. Good wireless reliability.	Good bass, intuitive controls. Great sounding bass, Solid audio performance, Decent noise.
CONS	CONS
Haptic bass feature is rubbish. Sound a little unrefined.	Clarity slightly lacking. No microphone support on audio cable.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Expert Reviews of Skullcandy Crusher Wireless:

By Techteamgb.com  
Do you want a pair of premium wireless (bluetooth) headphones that literally shake your head with bass? Well, gladly, you can turn the bass down pretty easily so maybe these are for more than just those! Let’s take a look at the Skullcandy Crusher…

By Techgearlab
The Skullcandy Crusher offers very powerful bass, but not too much else. If you’re bass obsessed you may love these headphones, otherwise there are much better options…

By Techradar
The Skullcandy Crusher Wireless headphones can be purchased for under £150/$150 and though they’re not exceptional, there are far worse-sounding headphones that can be had at this price point. They’re not the most expensive looking headphones, but they…

By Absolute Gadget
Earlier this year, Skullcandy released the Grind Wireless. It took Grind headphone, added Bluetooth functionality and made the phones better. The Crusher Wireless is a new design and is probably the best headphones we have ever tested.This new Crusher…

By PC Mag
Skullcandy’s Crusher Wireless headphones deliver Bluetooth audio with adjustable bass, but even low-end lovers may find the levels too much to…

Expert Reviews of Sony MDR-XB950N1:

By Techgearlab
The Sony XB950N1 Extra Bass headphones are fairly good all-around and a great deal if you can find them on sale. They can’t compete with the top tier models, but are a decent option if your headphone budget is more mid…

By T3
The Sony MDR-XB950N1 is a decent performing pair of headphones that offers great wireless audio and a powerful…

By TheStraitTimes
The MDR-XB950N1 is a relatively cheaper pair of noise-cancelling headphones that packs a monstrously strong bass effect that will move even the sturdiest of…

By TechRadar
The Sony MDR-XB950N1 is a fun-sounding headphone that emphasizes bass above all else. If all you want is skull-rattling bass, you’ll love them. However, if you want a fully featured headphone that excels in all genres, you should look…

By channelpostmea.com
Sony has been taking its competition by its horns by announcing new and improved headphones by the dozen. The company recently announced the new XB950N1 and I received a sample for review.The Sony MDR-XB950N1 headphones are the brand’s new flagship…

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless

The design of the headset looks simple and stylish. The comfort level of the headset is also a good and nice feel. The sound of the headset is bass-heavy and you will feel the sound in movies and gaming.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

This is an update to the very popular XB950BT which has been out for a while now. This new model adds active noise cancellation. Sony has also released the XB950B1 which is mostly the same but doesn’t have the active noise cancellation.

The comfort of the headset is good enough and the sound is also as usual very impressive. This headset has many features as for the price range and it will be very useful.

DESIGN:

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless

They came out of the bag folded up which is really good because for some reason a lot of headphones nowadays don’t find the need to make them where they fold and these have a very stealthy black look. There’s no branding or bright colors all over it, it is very simple.

The material of it is plastic but it is matte black and I noticed that it does not pick up fingerprints. Across the top, you have leather which is again unique for Skullcandy because most of the time is just plastic all over. Now, these have a very sturdy feel even when you pull the sliders out it’s not like loose and slings out, it’s very tough. So, it has a very smooth pull on it and it’s metal inside, very sturdy. and it twists, these are not fragile at all.

Now the one thing I do want to point out, at the top part under the headband itself where it touches your head there’s a little groove and that is for VR headset. So, the Skullcandy is thinking ahead and the fact that a lot of people are using VR stuff now. It is a rubber silicone at the bottom.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

If you’ve seen the XB950BT before then these will look pretty familiar, the biggest difference is the lack of the red accent and the stainless steel headband. Everything here is a durable, feeling plastic that is a light texture that really resists fingerprints and smudges. The top of the headband is steel metal, so they’re really flexible but they feel strong.

There’s a Sony logo on each ear cup and an NFC logo on the left but otherwise, they’re very subtle and understated looking. My only nitpick with the appearance is just how large the ear cups are, just like with the 950BT I can see them out of the corner of my eye.

COMFORT:

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless

The headphones do have a decent amount of weight because there’s a lot going on in these but I didn’t notice any discomfort at all. It’s extremely comfortable and that all ties into the ear cups. These ear cups are extremely soft leather. It’s very plush, it’s just like Sony’s new line of headphones that’s their high-end headphones. You put these on and it’s memory foam, it just easily meshes with the side of your head, it’s extremely comfortable. These headphones do fold in but they do not rotate to where the ear cups will go either way.

Now, the one thing I did notice about these is you can hear a little bit of creak in the plastic if you’re turning it but honestly for some reason, it doesn’t fit with the way that these feel. Now most the time if you hear creaking, it feels like you have a cheap fragile pair of headphones and these by no means feel cheap.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

The ear cups will pivot up and down and swivel left to right and these will now fold up. The headband is adjustable with nice firm clicks and the inside of the headband has soft cushioning.

Comfort wise, these are just about perfect. There’s very little clamping force but enough to keep them feeling secure on your head. The ear cushions are very soft and deep, so they feel roomy over my ears. They’re replaceable too. They do get a little warm but the ear pants make a nice seal over your ears. So, even when you’re using them without the active noise cancellation, they still block a lot of outside noise and they don’t leak much noise either.

I find these extremely comfortable to wear. I can easily wear these all day long. For comfort, I don’t think you get much better than this in terms of over to your headphones. They feel lightweight and it’s easy to forget that you’re wearing them.

FEATURES:

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless

In the box you can see that it has a carrying case which isn’t always the case with Skullcandies and it’s actually a really nice carrying case. As far as cables, it’s pretty simple. In the headphone cable, they tried something different, Skullcandy has a flat cable which they don’t normally do. The headphone cable for some reason is red and gray on one end which is very unique considering that the headphones himself are all black.

On the headphone cable itself if you’re not using it in Bluetooth wireless mode, you’re able to use the inline controls to be able to take calls, pause your tracks, and skip your tracks and everything from the cable itself. The carrying pouch is a very nice nylon type material and inside is a very soft fur. So, when your headphones are in there, there’s no scratching going on and you know that they’re completely safe. This isn’t like a hard case but it is a very nice case with a drawstring pouch, so it’s easy to carry around.

Your right and left are marked inside of the headband right underneath where the cable is and again this is the one thing I think that bothers me about these, it’s not a huge deal. These cables here worry me because it can easily catch, you can easily tear and you just can’t replace it. So, it just worries me.

On the front, there’s nothing on the side, there’s nothing but on the back is where your controls are. Now, Skullcandy has used these controls since the H2, they use them pretty much on everything. In the center, you have a power button, play, pause, you have your volume up and down which also plays as your track forward but no track back. The way that Skullcandy does their stuff instead of being able to skip to the track before, all you can do is skip back to the track that you’re currently on.

Now, on the left side that is where you have your bass slider, this is the magic inside of these headphones. Underneath it, you have your micro USB port for charging and you have your headphone jack so that you can use them wired and you don’t have to use them Wireless, I like that because Skullcandy has decided on some headphones to just take away the ability to use a headphone cable.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

Inside of the packaging, you’ll get the headphones some documentation. There’s a USB cable to charge with the headphones and like most other headphones now, there’s no wall adapter included. So, you’ll need a wall adapter from your phone charger or something with the USB port. You also get an audio cable with a 3.5-millimeter plug on both ends. To use these if the battery dies or with devices that don’t have Bluetooth. You also get a nice soft carrying pouch that is a pocket inside to carry the cables.

You’ve got controls on each ear cup. On the left, you’ll find the button to enable active noise cancellation, an audio jack to use these as wired headphones, a micro-USB port to charge, the bass effect button, and a power button. Over to the right ear cup, you’ve got the volume buttons and a slider button. You can press it in to play, pause, answer, end a call and you can hold it down to bring up Siri or Google. Sliding it forward or back, you can skip forward or back a track and you can slide and hold the fast-forward or rewind.

All the buttons feel solid and responsive, everything is easy to press when you’re wearing them. Nothing here feels cheap, overall the build quality is top-notch.

Bluetooth performance is great too. I was able to get a solid connection all over my home over 50 feet and it only drops out when I walked outside. Call quality is great too. Calls come through clear and the caller on the other end couldn’t tell I was using a headset.

Fortunately now Sony has an app for Android and iOS. There isn’t an iPad specific yet but it will run the iPhone app. The headphones Connect app will display the battery level, give you a selection of some presets, and control over the bass. Here, you can adjust the amount of bass and dial in just the amount you prefer which is an awesome feature. I found the bass to be a little bit too much for movies.

I’m a little surprised, they don’t give you a full EQ but having control over the bass is great and the settings will actually carry over to different devices. So, if I set a preset and set the base to four on my iPad and then connect to my android phone, it’ll carry over the same preset and bass level which I wasn’t expecting to be the case.

The settings are also remembered if you turn off the bass effect from the headphones. Turning the bass effect back on will enable the same preset and base sets. Control over the sound with an app without needing me to have the app running. So, the 950N1 gets pretty much everything right.

BATTERY AND NFC:

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless

Since these are Bluetooth, you have to charge it and in that case, it comes with a micro USB cable that honestly is just your average micro USB cable with a simple Skullcandy logo branded on the main part.

This thing gets 40 hours of battery life. I haven’t seen that in any headphone especially one that is rattling and giving you a bass sensation that you cannot get with other headphones.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

Battery life on the 950N1 is slightly improved over the previous model. Here, you’ll get up to 22 hours with noise cancellation and extra bass enabled and you’ll get up to 24 hours with the noise cancellation turned off. A full charge will take about seven hours and if the battery dies you can plug them into use as wired headphones and if you have them powered on, then you can still get the extra bass and noise cancellation even when they’re plugged in. There are voice prompts to tell you when they’re powered on and they’ll let you know what the battery level is and when it’s time to charge.

There’s NFC here for quick pairing. So, if you’ve got an NFC enabled device, just a quick tap will pair. Otherwise, Bluetooth pairing is quick and easy.

SOUND:

Skullcandy Crusher Wireless

When I look forward to something usually when I get them, it honestly doesn’t live up to the hype and these lived up to the hype and then some. I knew what to somewhat expect with the bass vibration feature. To have a wireless headphone that has bass impact the way that these do.

I did notice when I turned it down, turn the bass impact slider down a pretty good bit, it almost mimics the sound of the Skullcandy aviators which has honestly been one of my favorite Skullcandy headphones of all time and what that gives you is extreme clarity. Vocals come through very well because the mids are really present. The cymbals and treble sounds really clean and crisp, it’s just a beautiful sound.

Altogether in the sound stage in these is very open. These are closed-back headphones but because of the bass, it feels like a drummer is behind you hitting it the vocals sound like and somebody is right in front of you singing. It’s just mind-blowing what Skullcandy was able to do with these.

I listen to all genres of music, I tried everything from something mellow to something with extreme bass and metal and it’s just overall like it covers everything. The clarity in the very clean slower songs was perfect. When you pump it up with bass, it doesn’t drown everything out. The volume in these can get really loud and the bass can get strong. I get founds this perfect balance and I know the sound is subjective, somebody might not like Skullcandy bass and I think that’s why they give you the ability to put in as much as you want and take away what you don’t.

You can use these completely wireless and I love bass, I really like to feel bass but the bass that you can feel gives you a whole another element when you’re listening to music that you cannot get with studio headphones, you cannot get with the majority of consumer headphones. This is maybe not the best thing to compare it to but Beats Studio which is over the ear wireless headphone, they charge twice as much as these and these get longer battery life, has better bass, has better clarity.

The other really strong point about these is they’re not noise-canceling but they isolate sound very well. So, when you have these on and you’re listening, it really just blocked everything else out. They sound amazing in gaming if you play them the clarity is good but when you hit an explosion or something just hit you, you feel it and it gives you a whole nother element to what you’re listening to, the same thing with movies.

Vocals and all come through clear but if you’re watching an action movie and scars hit or explosion happens, you’re gonna feel it just as if you were in a theater. This is pretty much like having a subwoofer on your head but you have the ability to adjust the subwoofer to your liking, in fact, you can even turn it off and have just really clear and amazing sounding headphones.

Sony MDR-XB950N1

The 950N1 have 40-millimeter drivers that do a great job with bass, even with the bass effect turned off. The bass is tight and punchy without sounding boomy but these headphones are really best for people that love bass. Kick drums hit really hard and bass lines carry weight. With the bass effect turned on, the bass is amazing here but can be a little overpowering I found especially in movies. Explosions in action can overpower the dialogue but Sony is an app that solves that.

These have clearer mids and detailed highs that are smooth and clean even at full blast but the vocals are pulled back compared to more accurate and balanced headphones. These have a nice warm sound and a wide soundstage. These are really fun to listen to, especially with bass-heavy music but as I mentioned sometimes the bass can be just too much.

When it comes to active noise cancellation, it’s pretty good but it’s not what you’ll find on the sony MDR-1000X or the Bose QC35. Having it on makes a noticeable improvement, eliminating most background noise but as the manual states, it’s primarily blocking the low frequencies. So, with no music playing, a noise like a fan, air conditioner, or the hum of a refrigerator are totally eliminated but you can still hear voices pretty clearly. I found that when playing music even very quietly, I wasn’t able to hear any of that though.

If you’re buying these mostly for the noise cancellation I would trying them first and compare them to the Bose QC35 to see if they’ll be good enough but I think the noise cancellation is going to please most people.

WHICH TO BUY?

In these competitions, the price range between these two headsets is very high. The Skullcandy crusher wireless comes around $120 and the Sony MDR-XB950N1 comes around above $200. Both the headset sound is good and both are bass-heavy headphones. The features in the Sony 950N1 is more than the Crusher. The Sony 950N1 also has noise-canceling technology, while the Crusher doesn’t have that feature but it also reduces the background noises well as possible.

If you want a higher-end headphone and don’t care about spending that much then you can choose the Sony 950N1. But, you have a tight budget then the Skullcandy Crusher is also a good one and gives very good bass, good sound to movies but try this one before or after you purchase this model because this particular model is something niche, everyone doesn’t like this headphone. Once you start to like this sound, this headphone will give fund and enjoyable sound.