Skullcandy has introduced the Crusher 1080 ANC, a new version of its wireless Crusher headphones that adds audio technology from Bose, including QuietControl active noise cancellation and head-tracking spatial audio.
The headphones are available starting today for $279.99, according to Skullcandy. The company is selling them in four colors: black, candy, primer, and cement.
The Crusher line’s hook remains the same: Skullcandy puts both full-range drivers and separate bass drivers in each ear cup. The full-range drivers handle the broader audio signal, while the dedicated bass drivers are there to push low frequencies harder than a conventional single-driver headphone design would. That is the whole Crusher pitch, for better and for worse.
Skullcandy has acknowledged a tradeoff with that approach. When users turn the bass boost up aggressively, overall sound quality can suffer. The company says the Crusher 1080 ANC is intended to improve that problem with help from Bose’s audio technology.
Bose’s contribution includes QuietControl ANC, its active noise-cancellation system, and head-tracking spatial audio. Active noise cancellation is meant to reduce outside sound, while head tracking is designed to shift the spatial effect as the listener moves their head. Skullcandy is pairing those features with the Crusher line’s bass-forward hardware rather than replacing the line’s defining driver setup.
The result is a straightforward product bet: Skullcandy is trying to keep the oversized bass response that made the Crusher headphones distinct while borrowing from Bose in areas where Skullcandy is claiming improvement. The company has not provided independent performance data in the announcement, so the real test will be whether the new model can keep its low-end theatrics without smearing the rest of the mix when the bass slider gets abused.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
