Comments on: Skullcandy...so shiny!

Jasmine is drawn to the shiny Skullcandy FMJ iPhone headphones like a moth to a flame.

[jasonkinnard]

A word of advice...

If your not using Shure SE 530's your wasting your time. These skull earbuds may be cute to some, but is that why you purchase earbuds? Those that purchase Apple products mostly based on look and popularity probably would purchase these in a heartbeat, but do yourself a favor and try some real earbuds. The Shure's are expensive, about $330, but they are by far the best headphones I've ever heard. I have the PTH(push to hear)unit as well which allows me to use them at work and push a button to listen to someone when they talk to me without taking the buds out of my ears. Skulls.... COME ON, WHAT A JOKE!!!

[clem_cowsie]

I'm sorry, WHAT did you say??
"If your not using Shure SE 530's your wasting your time."
First, you lost a lot of credibility when you used "your" instead of "you're".
Second of all, not everyone has $330 to spend on earbuds. Besides, if Skullcandy earbuds fit you perfectly while Shure SE530's just sound tinny because you can't get a proper fit, what's the point? And don't use the "Well you have to play around with the fittings, there are lots included with Shures" retort; I think that anyone, even people who are used to the "crappy" Apple earbuds, would experiment with all the fittings and seek advice if they couldn't get them to fit.
I'll admit it freely: I have a 3g iPod Nano. Why did I buy it? Because it's popular. WOW, maybe you should send people after my life, since you sound like such an audiophile. It doesn't mean that the only things I care about are looks and popularity, as you said. The same goes for many, many other iPod owners.
Also, most people do not rip their music at a sufficient bitrate to appreciate such high-end earbuds. Just leave them be.

[brianmv]

$330 for a pair of earbuds, jasonkinnard???

Man, I sure hope that's worth it. Anything that costs more than an xbox 360 MUST be worth it to be successful. Still, anything's better than what Skullcandy or Apple has to provide. Those things better last a long time...

[jasonkinnard]

Worth evry penny!

I'm telling you, I was skeptical and I researched these things for about a month and I have no buyers remorse whatsoever. Look them up and read the specs, they are unbeatable! Each ear bud has 3 drivers, 2 woofers and 1 tweeter. I have started listening to my entire music collection all over again because the "high definition" drivers in these things are simply amazing. They recreate sound like an extremely high end home theater, but they're in your ears. Anyone who uses the pack-in earbuds that come with their mp3 players are just ignorant. Why spend 3,4,$500 on a player and use the $10 earbuds? I promise, these are the best by far!

[make_or_break]

Lasts? Only if you treat 'em carefully

The wire leads going into the earpieces is a common failure point for the E500/SE530s (see the forums at head-fi.org). Some owners have had multiple failures with their E500/SE530s (same product, only updated model number). My E500 set broke when the tip of the right earpiece snapped off when I was switching the tip; probably already had a crack started from all of my usual abusive behavior hauling these anywhere and everywhere. These things ALWAYS ended up caught up in my car keys or crunched against my BlackBerry in any of my pants or jacket pockets. Lasted 6 1/2 months before failure.

However it must be said that I couldn't stand listening to any other in-ear set that I have in the three-plus weeks of downtime when I sent them back to Shure for repair/replacement. The SE530s I got back (Shure just replaces them during the warranty period, as long as proof of purchase can be provided) was like being reunited with a long-lost friend...a GREAT long-lost friend.

Even though these things list for $500 (and can be bought from about $300+--see Amazon.com's marketplace), after a while they become just like any other portable device; i.e., it's easy to take for granted. I was extremely careful with them in the beginning, but over time it's incredibly simple to forget that they're as expensive as they are and not treat them just like the oem throw-in earbuds that comes with most MP3 players. Once I fell in love with their great sound, I took mine EVERYWHERE because I couldn't stand listening to any of my lesser sets anymore. And they probably got beat up everywhere as well. Not a good thing to do, since they don't seem to hold up well to harsh treatment...unlike a LOT of those cheap oem buds.

One things for sure...it's a good thing Shure offers the warranty that it does on that set.