[Remonster]

I decided to buy the Aviators because I thought they looked great and the short review from CES seemed to be glowing with praise, as far as I could tell no publications have done a thorough review of them. I got them today and I have to say I'm totally disappointed, the sound is about as "even handed" as the Bose Triports and is more or less a joke at this price point, they are a lot flimsier than I was expecting, too. The bass is disappointing even compared to my Sennheisers which aren't exactly known for bass, drums sound weirdly hollow and lack impact, guitars sound muddy and muffled...you get the idea. The sound isn't entirely awful, but I would have been disappointed if I paid $60 or $70...at $180 from Skullcandy's site there is no way I would recommend these to anyone. They do look great, though. The polycarbonate earcups are pretty cool but the earcups themselves are weirdly shaped, I didn't like the way they sat on my head at all. To be fair, the headphones I've used for the past four or five years are my Sennheiser HD280 Pro so the Aviators had quite huge shoes to fill, at $180 I thought maybe Skullcandy could pull it off but they aren't even close in my opinion.

 

[dub Beatz]

Thank you. Great first post, and helpful.
 
Quote:

I decided to buy the Aviators because I thought they looked great and the short review from CES seemed to be glowing with praise, as far as I could tell no publications have done a thorough review of them. I got them today and I have to say I'm totally disappointed, the sound is about as "even handed" as the Bose Triports and is more or less a joke at this price point, they are a lot flimsier than I was expecting, too. The bass is disappointing even compared to my Sennheisers which aren't exactly known for bass, drums sound weirdly hollow and lack impact, guitars sound muddy and muffled...you get the idea. The sound isn't entirely awful, but I would have been disappointed if I paid $60 or $70...at $180 from Skullcandy's site there is no way I would recommend these to anyone. They do look great, though. The polycarbonate earcups are pretty cool but the earcups themselves are weirdly shaped, I didn't like the way they sat on my head at all. To be fair, the headphones I've used for the past four or five years are my Sennheiser HD280 Pro so the Aviators had quite huge shoes to fill, at $180 I thought maybe Skullcandy could pull it off but they aren't even close in my opinion.

 

 

[Remonster]

I figure it's not a complete waste of money if I can save others from wasting theirs, my brother likes them so I gave them to him.
 
Oh, and I found out Guitar Center lets you try every headphone they carry and after trying Sennheisers, Beyerdynamics, Shures, etc. I got myself the Audio-Technica M50s and am in love with them.

 

[bcasey25raptor]

i knew skull candy couldn't pull it off. way to much money for so little quality.

 

[Cykull]

Quote:

I figure it's not a complete waste of money if I can save others from wasting theirs, my brother likes them so I gave them to him.
 
Oh, and I found out Guitar Center lets you try every headphone they carry and after trying Sennheisers, Beyerdynamics, Shures, etc. I got myself the Audio-Technica M50s and am in love with them.

Thanks for the review. I was thinking about buying them after reading the review posted by Jude. Anyways, good choice with the M50s.
 
 

 

[OneUberNoob]

I'm sure it's been mentioned in the past 10+ pages but dang, Skull Candy has to take their logo out of them or change it something much more elegant (I prefer the latter).
 
Why do companies feel the need to slap there logo on their product in the "loudest" way possible? With that logo I am sure they have lost some customers who would otherwise be genuinely interested in their product. 

 

[kyuuketsuki]

Not all companies do... The one that is most notable in my eyes is Aiaiai on their TMA-1's... There is no visible branding save the inlaid name under the band.
 
Quote:

I'm sure it's been mentioned in the past 10+ pages but dang, Skull Candy has to take their logo out of them or change it something much more elegant (I prefer the latter).
 
Why do companies feel the need to slap there logo on their product in the "loudest" way possible? With that logo I am sure they have lost some customers who would otherwise be genuinely interested in their product. 

 

 

[OneUberNoob]

I Googled the TMA-1's and let me just say.. those are some beautiful headphones.
 
Also, I was talking about companies in general, not just headphones companies. Honestly though, now that I think about it not that many companies do it, but the ones that do, they overdue it, which is probably why its such a big stigma in my mind. 
 
Quote:

Not all companies do... The one that is most notable in my eyes is Aiaiai on their TMA-1's... There is no visible branding save the inlaid name under the band.
 


 

 
 

 

[FrankWong]

I'm always so allergic to skullcandies, whenever I see some teenager walk down the street wearing a pair I always have this impulse to give him/her a pair of my PX100 to listen to.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

 
Quote:

I decided to buy the Aviators because I thought they looked great and the short review from CES seemed to be glowing with praise, as far as I could tell no publications have done a thorough review of them. I got them today and I have to say I'm totally disappointed, the sound is about as "even handed" as the Bose Triports and is more or less a joke at this price point, they are a lot flimsier than I was expecting, too. The bass is disappointing even compared to my Sennheisers which aren't exactly known for bass, drums sound weirdly hollow and lack impact, guitars sound muddy and muffled...you get the idea. The sound isn't entirely awful, but I would have been disappointed if I paid $60 or $70...at $180 from Skullcandy's site there is no way I would recommend these to anyone. They do look great, though. The polycarbonate earcups are pretty cool but the earcups themselves are weirdly shaped, I didn't like the way they sat on my head at all. To be fair, the headphones I've used for the past four or five years are my Sennheiser HD280 Pro so the Aviators had quite huge shoes to fill, at $180 I thought maybe Skullcandy could pull it off but they aren't even close in my opinion.

and that goes for a hell of a first post.
 
I always knew all this noise about this was pure hype, as usual.
 
aanyway as for SK, the lowriders arent that bad, for 25$, but thast about it. 

 

[GOLDENZEAL]

About 3 months ago I went into the Apple store to check out the monster beats studio because I wanted something with a little more clarity, noise cancellation, portable and stylish.  Even though I did like the sound of the Beats over the Portapro's, I felt like it was just a bump above in clarity but with alot more bass, and it was about 6 times the price.  I turned around and saw the Skullcandy Aviators and tried them out since I had read the review posted by Jude.  When I tried  them on with my EQ set to treble booster because of the bloated bass on the Beats, I found the sound to be a bit harsh with some sibilance.  As soon as I turned the EQ back to off, I really enjoyed them.  They were airy for being a closed headphone, the Mid's were perfect, the high's were good with just enough shimmer, the bass was there, again not for the bassheads.  I really liked the look, the sound, and especially the Lifetime Warranty.  I tried them out a few more times and decided to takethe plunge when I was able to get them for $120 tax free.  At the store I used my Ipod Touch 2G, which is my favorite sounding Ipod that i've heard.  Now that I have them, I noticed that right out the box the sound was somewhat different than I experienced at the Apple store.  There is a tad more bass, the headstage is a bit smaller, it is not as airy, and though the clarity is there, it's not as detailed as the tester set from the store.  I am assuming that this is due to the store tester set being broken in because there were only 2 tester sets compared to about 20 monster beats, so I assume they got alot of play.  I am still satisfied with my purchase and I found Jude's findings to be true based on the set at the Apple store.  I think they sound at least twice as good as the Koss Portapro's which cost about $40 retail, I need them for my everyday commute and I find them very portable, they isolate a bit but not much, just a bit more than the Koss, I really like the way they look and they seem well built, but what made me buy them was the Lifetime warranty, it's refreshing to see a company stand behind their product just like Koss.  That being said, you can probably find a pair of headphones which are better for the price but if you are looking for style,substance, portability, and a lifetime warranty, I would go for the Aviators, especially if you can get them for about $100-120.  Even at $150 I believe that they are alot better deal and soudn better than the Beats studios at $300 and they destroy the Beats solo's at the same pricepoint.  I would've liked to have tried the M50's for the sound quality but I really don't like the way they look.  Now time to burn these babies in more.

 

[Anaxilus]

Wow, no offense but some of you are just the pretentious inverse of the Beats mob.  Same animal with different stripes.  I've actually kept wanting to audition these out of curiosity but I just can't get over the fact that the earcups are upside down.  That's my problem with them.  I wouldn't be surprised if they sound better than the Sony XB1000.

 

[roma101]

Just got them and love them. They're very well balanced IMO and definitely get better with a good source. They're airy, have decent soundstage, good detail/imaging, and have punchy bass (but definitely not boomy). So far, they're pretty fun to listen to. I haven't even burned them in much yet but I'm sure they will get even better. Don't knock them if you haven't tried them is all I'm saying. Forget the brand and just listen to the headphones. The only unfortunate thing is the lack of isolation. I wouldn't say it's bad but it's pretty mediocre.
 
Oh yeah, and they look damn beautiful. 

 
 

 

[Permagrin]

This thread has enough material to write a thesis on biases.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Just got them and love them. They're very well balanced IMO and definitely get better with a good source. They're airy, have decent soundstage, good detail/imaging, and have punchy bass (but definitely not boomy)...

 
Yes, a few months later, and I still really dig the Aviator, and have no hesitation recommending it at its price.  To me, the biggest caveat is the level of isolation (as you've noticed, roma101)--if you need a lot of isolation, this isn't the headphone for you.  My second biggest caveat is for bass-heads--if you've come to associate Skullcandy with bloated bass (and so that's what you're expecting or wanting), the Aviator doesn't fit that bill.  Like I said earlier (and like roma101 is saying above), the Aviator is quite well balanced.
 
Quote:

... Don't knock them if you haven't tried them is all I'm saying. Forget the brand and just listen to the headphones...

 
Exactly.  Again, I didn't recommend a Skullcandy headphone that nobody else would have a chance to listen to--some one-off prototype.  I'm talking about a headphone that a great number of Head-Fi'ers are within a 20-30 minute trip to the nearest Apple Store to audition.
 

Quote:

This thread has enough material to write a thesis on biases.

No kidding.
 
As most here know, Skullcandy is known most for its OEM headphones.  Two of their first ODM efforts, though, may actually be promising indications of where Skullcandy can go when they actually develop their own products--the Aviator is one of them.