Skullcandy Smokin' Buds Red White

Just after a few months more than a year, my dbE Acoustic PR-20 broke. The reason seems to be a very classic problem, that is the wire inside breaks and thus one of the earpiece no longer produce any sound.

I should say that I’m a bit disappointed because it didn’t even last to two years (two years is my magic number for digital gadgets shelf-life). But what should I say, I cannot expect a $27 in-ear earphone that sounds good to be that durable anyway.

Anyway, since I definitely need an in-ear earphone as a replacement I bought a Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds from TJ Maxx at half of the retail price. It’s not the most colorful, it’s ‘just’ a white and bright red colored one (if you’ve seen some other Skullcandy earphones you would understand what I meant.. ).

I’ve been using this earphone for almost a month now, and I think it’s a good time to write a review about it.

Sound

It’s an in-ear earphone, so the sound isolation is naturally good. It is the fifth in ear earphone I’ve reviewed, and I start to notice an interesting thing.

Most people thinks that the best earphone has the best bass sound, and I think it is a wrong thinking, because it seems that it’s easier to create an earphone that has deep bass sound rather than an earphone with crystal clear sound where you can hear the treble, mid, and bass altogether. Some of the best in-ear earphones I reviewed simply deliver this crystal clear sound without any problem.

If you want bass sound, the Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds has something to offer you. It has a good bass sound, but not the best I’ve heard before, and to be precise, not even close to the best that I’ve heard before.

The problem is it doesn’t deliver clear mid and treble, the bass seems to swallow the other sound. It is a bit expected actually, considering the earphone price.

Physical Design

It’s a Skullcandy product, so expect it to be colorful.
I like the volume control that it has, it can becomes handy when I need to adjust the volume without needing to take my iPod out of my pocket.

The first thing that I don’t like is its uncomfortable ear caps, it’s not soft as the silicone ear caps of any in-ear earphones I have reviewed. I can stand a bit for a short period of time, but I can’t have it in my ear more than an hour. Fortunately, this can be fixed by replacing the ear caps with a softer ear caps you have, which in my case I replaced them with the dbE Acoustics PR-20 ear caps.

The next thing that I don’t like is its thin and sort of flaky wire. It seems to break easily and definitely it tangles frequently.

Price

Definitely it is an affordable in-ear earphone at $15 (I bought it at TJ Maxx, elsewhere it may be more expensive).

Conclusion

I’m going to be straight forward here. I don’t think that this earphone is worth buying if you have options. It’s price maybe attractive to anyone who is on budget, but it doesn’t pay back in terms of sound quality and build quality.

The Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds is the cheapest in-ear earphone I’ve reviewed so far at $15 and it simply does not compare to the other in-ear earphones I’ve tried.

My friend just bought the earphone last week after several weeks of reading reviews from various headphone and audiophiles sources in the internet.

So let’s see what a $100 plus earphone sounds like…

Physical Form

What are truly unique to this earphone are probably the foam tips and the earphone shape that pretty much dictates how you should wear the earphone.

Unlike other IEM I tested before, Westone 1 tips are different. dbE and MylarOne tips are interchangable, but not this one.

From a quick google, the tips are made by Comply.

Sound

As in all other IEM, the bud is the key factor to the sound quality we hear. I’m not saying that the bud is the one that  makes the sound good. But however great is the sound produced by the driver, it is useless if you don’t get the proper seal.

My friend said that what makes the Westone 1 sound great is the foam bud. The foam bud is really a foam (spongy rubber) that I never saw before.

However during the test I still prefer the medium rubber tips. The sound quality did not significantly change anyway.

Sound is astounding with clear staging. I don’t need to say much, it’s just perfect, better than all IEM I tested.

Price

In Indonesia, its price is $139.

Conclusion

The brand and the price says it all, there is no sound compromise whatsoever.

But the final question really is does it worth the price?

Honestly, it’s a bit complicated than just saying yes or no. I think if you already have a great sounding DAP, then go  ahead buy this earphone.

However for most other DAP, I don’t think this earphone can help much. Great sound? Of course! But only as far as your DAP supports.

So probably the appropriate bottom line is, unless you already have a great DAP such as iPod (classic or nano) and
Meizu M3 (even better), I don’t really think that the extra $100 can pay you back.

Allright, that’s all I’ve got to say about this Westone 1, and excuse me, I have some more songs to enjoy with this  wonderful IEM.

My friend told me that Koss KSC75 is the best ear-clip earphone in class. Well, I’m not sure where he got the grading, but I’m just the person who cannot be convinced easily unless I heard the sound myself.

Koss, I suppose is quite a known name in the world of earphone lovers, though I myself haven’t heard much about it. Koss KSC75 is the second ear-clip earphone I reviewed, after the Sennheiser OMX 52 I tried several months ago.

Let’s bring this ear-clip to test, shall we?

Sound

First, I tested the KSC75 using my laptop, my standard DAP to review earphones.

However, I might as well tried using Meizu M3 of my friend to give the KSC75 help a bit.

I thought of using Meizu M3 because it has a great bass boost sound effect that can force the bass sound of KSC75 to its maximum ability. So does it help?

Honestly, I think it’s a bit lacking capability to produce deep bass sound. Forcing it with the bass boost doesn’t help either, it even sounds worse. Well, maybe this ear-clip is good at producing crystal clear treble. So let’s try playing some acoustic songs from Dave Matthews Band.

Treble is too prominent in some cases. When the Meizu M3′s treble boost was set to level 3, playing the DMB’s Gravedigger hurted my ear (the same setting sounds perfectly fine with my Sennheiser PX100). After I set the treble boost to zero then I can continue listening to the song.

Staging is ok, nothing impressive though, probably because of its ear-clip design.

Physical Form

I never been a fan of ear-clip form earphone, and that’s because of a good reason, it lack of isolation.

But I should say that ear-clip probably is the best form when it comes to portability, because it has a headphone size driver with the portability of earphone, and without the uncomfortability of IEM in long duration listening.

Price

In Indonesia, Koss Ear Clip KSC75 is priced at $28. Interestingly quite a lot of price difference from what I found from Koss website, which is $19.99

The Verdict

At the price level I think I should say that Koss KSC75 is one of the good option. However, when we talk about sound quality, I cannot recommend it because it simply lacking.

Even when I already used one of the best MP3 player in the world, the Meizu M3 that is, I still cannot say that I like the sound produced by this ear-clip.

Having said that, I would probably still buy Koss KSC75 if I’m looking for an affordable portable headphone to accompany me in a travel (as long as the MP3 player is Meizu M3).

*Review Notes

DAP: Meizu M3
Songs:
Dave Matthews Band – Gravedigger [Acoustic] – Flac
Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things – Flac
Ecoutez – Tunjuk 1 Bintang – MP3 128 kbps
Jazzyfatnastees – Let It Go – MP3 128 kbps
Linkin Park – Meteora – Flac

This morning my friend brought this earphone to me and asked me to review it. He borrowed it from my another work colleague who just have bought it.

Honestly, it’s the first time someone offered me to review an earphone rather than me politely asking to borrow one. So I guess I’m now known as an earphone reviewer eh?

Enough with narcissistic talk, let’s get straight to the review.

Physical Form

I’ve got to admit that it has not so interesting look, just a straight tube earpiece. Nothing more, but we’re here to judge the sound quality, not the looks anyway right?

Sound Quality

I always wear the medium eartips, because this is the size that fits my ear well.
For the sound quality I will discuss it below with the unique screws that the CrossRoads Quattro comes with.

What’s This?

Quattro comes with a detachable screws on the back side of the earpiece. My friend said that they are to control the bass.

“Oh, really..?”, I thought, “Let’s see what these little things can do.”

And boy, they really did. Sweet stuff!

The screws was labeled 1, 2, and 3. Here is their difference:
. the “1″ screws have a little hole
. the “2″ screws have is closed with smooth internal surface
. the “3″ screws have is closed with rough internal surface

I didn’t read the manual so I didn’t know what this difference would do to the sound at first.

First Try – no screw caps

First, I tried to not use any of the screws, so the earpiece has a big hole where you can see a bit of its internal parts. It produce an interesting deep bass sounds, rare to any IEM I reviewed before.

Second Try – “1″ screw caps

Almost no difference with the without screw caps, deep bass sounds.

Third Try – “2″ screw caps

The bass sounds are a bit soften using the “2″ screw caps. I estimate it probably cut the bass sounds by 1/4. The bass is still there, but not as aggressive as before. Still marvelous sound quality though.

Fourth Try – “3″ screw caps

The “3″ screw caps soften the bass further by around 1/2 of the bass sounds using “2″ screw caps.

Probably for those who doesn’t really wants too much bass pumping, this is the best setting. The overall sound quality still very much the same though.

Price

My friend was lucky to bought it for $57 here in Indonesia, it was second hand though. The real price for a new one is $88. Not a cheap product I should say, though it really deliver the goods.

Conclusion

I’m really fascinated with Crossroads Quattro.

Having the screw caps to adjust the bass level is really a plus value, not to mention that it really works unlike some other magic knobs that sometimes give you no different sound quality. Though I should admit that it’s a bit cumbersome to manually unscrew and screw these screw caps.

For it’s sound quality, there is no question about it. It is comparable to its brother the Crossroads MylarOne Bijou2 I tested earlier, if not better. Just expect a great quality of crystal clear sound with great staging as well.

Once again I should mention that IEM is not for everyone, because not everyone can appreciate the detail sounds. Most people will prefer the usual bigger headphones. But if you are like me who wants to hear all the hidden sound details of a song, IEM is the answer and Crossroads Quattro is one of the best options out there.

*Songs tested

Dave Matthews Band – Gravedigger [Acoustic] – Flac
Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things – Flac
Ecoutez – Tunjuk 1 Bintang – MP3 128 kbps
Jazzyfatnastees – Let It Go – MP3 128 kbps
Linkin Park – Meteora – Flac

I heard my work colleage told me last night that another work colleague of mine has a new earphone that sounds like a headphone, and it cost around $50. I asked him what is the brand and he said that he never heard of it before.

So I looked for the owner and asked him about it. He also never heard of the brand, but he read some reviews in the internet saying that the sound was great.

Well, it should! Because it cost twice of my dbE Acoustic PR-20. Anyway, I immediately asked him if I could borrow it and review it, and this is what I have to say.

Physical Form

Crossroads MylarOne Bijou 2 is an IEM earphone, so my expectations level goes up. It should not make the IEM families down. The earpiece has dark metallic green color, nice and elegant.

Sound

This earphone is immediately put to test with several songs I specially compiled to test earphones.

All low, mid, and high sounds are clean, with not so punchy but great bass.

I listened to Gravedigger (Acoustic version) by Dave Matthews Band and I almost cried (honestly, I almost do). It has a very clear sound stage, and very noticable difference with my dbE Acoustic PR-20 earphone.

Price

In Indonesia the earphone is sold at around $50. Not so cheap for casual listener, but still in entry level compared to other more serious earphones’ price.

Conclusion

I have to admit, I never hear this brand of earphone before till I tried it. Now, I will never forget it. Bijou 2 is definitely one of the great earphones with a great sound stage.

I can’t say that the earphone is a best buy, because, once again, it’s not easy to convince casual listener that this little earphone worth the high price when they can easily find cheaper and better looking earphones anywhere.

For me, if one day I damaged my dbE Acoustic PR20, I will definitely look for this Crossroads MylarOne bijou 2 (unless of course I happened to meet other better IEM).

Wow, I’m very lucky to have the chance to review several earphones and headphones this week!

This time I borrowed my other work colleague’s Sennheiser OMX 52 headphones, one of the headphone from street style series of Sennheiser.

It’s a cool looking headphone with a oval shape and shiny metallic skin. But does it sound as good as it looks? Here’s the review.

Sound and Form Factor

Bring me the bass sound!
OMX 52 is a hybrid of earphone and headphone, so considering the driver size I expect it to kick some bass.

Unfortunately it seems that Sennheiser misengineered the earphone form factor, causing the bass to be, well, almost unheard.

It’s a supra aural type, meaning it sits on the ear, not enclosing the ear.

I tried to press the drivers to my ears and finally I could heard something I wish to hear earlier. When pressed close to ears the bass sound is good enough, but still lacking.

Mid and treble is fine, nothing special though.

Forget the detail, it also suffer from the misengineered form factor.

Hookability

Ok, the OMX 520 is a street style edition, so it’s supposed to be wear in the street. I tried to head bang while wearing this headphone and they stayed on my ear, though I think they still slightly moved.

But I don’t think normal use of this headphone include head bang in the street, so yeah, it is quite allright.

However, I think it won’t survive longer period of shake such as when jogging and running.

Yet I find no issue with wearing the headphones for a long period indoor, it is comfortable enough.

Price

It is tagged with a price of around $28 in Indonesia.

Buy or Not?

For the sound, I don’t recommend this Sennheiser OMX 52 simply because I’m not satisfied with it. It supposed to deliver a better sound if only it has better position and more pressed to the ear. Actually the form factor waste so much of its true capability.

If you are looking for a more portable headphones than Sennheiser PX 100, this still could be your choice though.

A work colleague of mine asked me to bought this earphone for her when I was still in Jakarta two weeks ago. She was thinking of MX 360 before but changed her mind to MX 460 because the MX 460 supposed to deliver better bass.

Frankly, I never been a fan of earphone, so I always chose portable headphone whenever I have the option. Simply because I still believe in driver’s size does matter.

But hey, this beautiful white earphone bear Sennheiser brand in it, so I think the company will not let it to be just like the rest of earphone in the market.

So today I asked my friend to let me test the earphone, and here is what I have to say about it.

Sound

Of course I was really interested to test the bass capability of this can, so I immediately tested it using some of the deep bass punch songs.

The result was not bad, it tried to punch my eardrum somehow, but something limited it and thus some breakage sound is inevitable.

Like I have expected, some of the really deep bass sound feeling is not fully producable by this earphone. Yet, some of the bass, middle, and treble are perfect and I think it sounds better than ordinary earphones.

Details is enough although still lacking if compared to my dbE Acoustics PR20 IEM. This is, however, also expected because the earphone lacks of isolation. I’m not saying that this earphone doesn’t provide detail sound, yet some very subtle sounds will not be heard.

Design and Comfortness

The white color is catchy and makes it look good, but I don’t find any special with the design, it still looks very similar to other ordinary earphones.

It is comfortable in the ear, I don’t feel any objectionable feeling wearing it for a long period of time.

Price

In Indonesia the earphone is priced at $18, not so cheap, but not so expensive also like other serious earphones.

Buy It or Not?

If you are a casual listener I think this earphone is a good buy. It gives an enough clear sound for most of the music types and you will love it. It also gives an introduction to better sound quality not given by other ordinary earphones.

Yet, for those who are serious about sound and looking for exceptional sound quality and details, I think this earphone cannot be an option, it just not meant to make such sound.

Honestly I was planning to buy the dbE Acoustics PR18 when I went to Plaza Semanggi two weeks ago. I heard about the GadgetXone store where we can tried the different dbE Acoustic earphones from the internet.

It’s kinda hard to find the store in the 3rd floor (2B), but it worth all the hardship.

I tried three of the dbE Acoustics In Ear earphone; PR18, PR20, and HF30.

To make the story short, more than 30 minutes later I went out of the store with PR20 instead of PR18. Why I bought the PR20 is what I’m going to tell you in this review.

*This is also my first time experience listening to in ear type earphone so maybe the review sounds so newbie.

Sound

Let’s get straight to the deal. Earphone is 90% about sound so how exactly is the PR20 sounds? In two words it’s: “very nice”.

Bass capability is always my first type of sound test, so there is no excuses for this PR20. It amazingly reproduce a great bass sound considering its tiny size. However I got to remember also that for IEM (in ear monitors) earphone the sound quality is expected to be better than ordinary earphone piece.

I love the bass that comes from PR20. I know it’s not as thumping as the Sennheiser PX 100, much more compared to Behringer HPM1000, but it’s already enough to know that there is bass there.

How about the mid and treble sounds? Are they covered by the bass?

Now this is the single reason why I took PR20 and not the PR18. PR20 produce significantly clearer mid and treble sounds compared to PR18. Period.

Tricks With IEM Earphones

The sound quality of IEM earphones is affected by the size rubber seal that should fit our ears.

Wearing a wrong rubber size seal can make you disappointed with the sound. I wear the medium size rubber seal which gives the PR20 its 100% capability.

Prolong use of IEM earphones somehow makes me discomfort though, so for a long listening session I still count on my Sennheiser PX 100 which is really really comfortable.

Price

dbE Acoustics PR20 is priced at $27. A wonderfully priced earphone set and it worth the price tag.

Buy It or Not?

I think IEM is not meant to all of the people because of its ‘invasive’ nature. However for audiophiles, IEM is one of the good things in life.

For PR20 I have no complain when it comes to the sound, it delivers what I want to hear.

However for long listening session I won’t use this IEM because of its uncomfortable nature.

*Bonus Story – Experience Listening to Yuin PK3 and PK2

GadgetXone not only sells dbE Acoustics earphones, it also sells Yuin PK3 and PK2, two of earphones that are well known among audiophiles.

I’m so fortunate to have the chance to listen to these two earphones. I have heard from Kaskus and other forums that Yuin is one of the best earphones though not so many people know.

Both PK3 and PK2 has not much bass sound but somehow the mid and treble sounds are so so so crystal clear. I don’t know how to explain it but there is really something special about the sound that were reproduced from these two Yuins.

PK3 is priced around $45 and PK2 is around $75.

I wonder what kind of sound the PK1 ($150) can produce.

Well, hopefully one day I will have the chance to review Yuin PK1 or better yet, own it. ;D