Design and features:This Bluetooth wireless noise canceling home/studio-style over ear model provides middling sound and excellent active noise reduction. Its closed design and electronic noise canceling feature reduce both outside noise and sound leaking out into your environment. The headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music, and the audio cable can be detached to get it out of the way when the headphones are being used for noise reduction only. The headphones have medium-high sensitivity when powered regardless of whether the noise cancellation feature turned on or off or the ambient sound monitoring feature is turned on, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and even lower powered portable audio devices. When powered off, they have medium-high sensitivity, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and all but the lowest-powered portable audio devices. The Crusher ANC 2 has an inline volume control that works with iPads and some iPod and iPhone models, plus an integrated microphone and player function controls that are compatible with iPads, some iPods, and some iPhones and some other cellphones. The call connect/disconnect button can be used with some iPhones and some other cellphones. These headphones may not operate properly with some non-Apple/non-Android mobile devices or other audio equipment. Additional features include it has integrated bass enhancement feature that is manually adjustable. Ear cups fold and swivel to flat for ease of carrying and storage. ANC and ambient sound monitoring levels adjustable using Skull-iQ app. ANC and ambient sound monitoring modes switchable both in app or on the right ear cup of the headphone. Has for music player transport, call connect/disconnect, noise canceling and ambient sound on/off, Spotify Tap, and bass enhancement. Supports Skullcandy iQ voice control commands when Skull-iQ app is installed and running on paired mobile device. Supports Amazon Alexa and other digital voice assistants when used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities and that, if needed, have the appropriate apps installed. Supports multi-point connection for two Bluetooth devices. Has power on/off, low power, and Bluetooth pairing voice announcements. The free Skull-iQ app download for Apple and Android mobile devices can be used to show earphone battery level, create personalized sound profiles, adjust earphone tonal balance, enable/disable noise canceling and ambient sound monitoring, customize control functions, enable/disable Spotify Tap, update the headphone firmware, provide user guides and customer support, and more. Has built in Tile tracker feature; once they are registered with Tile if the earpieces are lost they can be located via the free Tile app download for Apple and Android mobile devices. Bluetooth connected Apple mobile devices using iOS Version 5 and above will show the battery level. The Crusher ANC 2 comes with detachable 49-inch long audio cable, USB-A to USB-C connector charging cable, carrying case.
Sound quality:We found the Crusher ANC 2 delivers sound quality that falls in the middling range - it reproduces music and voice reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound and excellent active noise reduction. With the Skull-IQ app equalizer set to Music, the "Crusher" bass enhancement feature enabled with the bass intensity adjustment set to minimum, and ANC enabled with the noise canceling adjustment set to maximum (the as received state of the headphone) the bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and goes deep, but is prominent and boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is somewhat grainy, hazy, and congested (think sonic traffic jam), a bit plasticky, the upper midrange has a noticeable peak, and in general the midrange is somewhat overwhelmed by the bass. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended, but is somewhat sizzly (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer have a sound reminiscent of bacon frying), a bit smeared; the mid-treble is somewhat subdued while the upper treble is a touch prominent. While the sound has a decent sense of liveliness, it is somewhat closed (sound-wise it's fairly obvious you have something plugging your ears) and does a decent job of recovering room ambience. Mixed character - warm bass, coolish upper midrange, and warmish treble. The overall sound can best be summarized as bassy, somewhat grainy, hazy, sizzly, congested, and plasticky. The bass adjustment has a noticeable effect on the sound ranging up to a ridiculous lower bass boost that will actually make the headphones vibrate on your head. The tone settings of the app do have a noticeable effect on the sound of these earphones. Noise Canceling: Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. The noise canceling feature produces a very faint rush that can be heard when there is no audio program to drown it out.
Comfort and Fit:We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears.
As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use.
Large
Users with larger heads might find that the headband does not have enough adjustment range to allow the ear cups to rest properly over the ears and/or that the headband presses uncomfortably on the top of the head.
Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the ear pad seal and reduce the bass response and/or noise reduction capabilities of the headphone.
Stability
Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel unstable and shift forward, possibly to the point of falling off.
Other noise
When wearing this model while walking the muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones regardless of whether or not the headphones are in noise cancelling mode.
When the audio cord is used the sound of it rubbing on clothing may be faintly heard through the headphones.
