Skullcandy S6HSDZ-161 Hesh 2.0 with Detatchable Cable - Black/Black

Much has already been said about the Skullcandy Hesh 2.0 and their ability to powerfully reproduce rock and electronic music, and they do indeed excel in these genres. Some have said they aren't suitable for playing back acoustic music, particularly classical. Classical music fans, with their "bass neutral" and "open back" and "500-dollar" cans, tend to scoff at Skullcandy listeners, telling them to "pull up your pants, get a haircut, put down the damn smartphone and read a Hardy Boys book, and while you're at it, get off my lawn!"This lifelong classical music fan and lover of good sound wholeheartedly disagrees.Skullcandy has a deserved reputation for being a bass-heavy brand, but in my opinion this does not come at the expense of clear mids and highs. Playing selections from J.S. Bach's "Magnificat" (EMI, DVD-audio 48KHz/24bit) reveals this to be so. This music is about as far from hip-hop and dubstep as you're likely to find, and it sounds both realistic and exciting through the Hesh 2.0 headphones. Harpsi-chord, strings, male and female singers are all clear and accurate. The pipe organ reaches deep, deep down and is appropriately powerful in a way that hoiti-toiti bass-shy headphones just aren't going to match. The Hesh 2 is a closed-back design, and so on-paper shouldn't be able to convey the sense of acoustic space in this cathedral recording. I'm here to tell you, the sense of space is very present through the Hesh 2.0, and the sound stage extends fully left-to-right and everywhere in-between. All that is needed is a hard wooden chair and the scent of incense to complete the illusion of being there, in the church with the performers.Other acoustic genres, such as jazz, also benefit from the Hesh 2's powerful yet clear sound. The opening bars of Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue" (WMA Lossless rip from a CD) can sound muddy and muffled on lesser-quality headphones. On the Hesh 2, each pluck of the upright bass is well-defined and punchy, and the clear midrange reveals every nuance of the trumpet, saxes, drums and piano with lifelike clarity.I highly recommend the Hesh 2.0 if you watch a lot of TV and movies on portable devices or anywhere else. Through these headphones, the pilot episode of the sci-fi series Farscape sounds as if there was a subwoofer in the room, and the fighter ships zipping by seem to fly around my head, almost as vividly from front-to-back as left-to-right. They may not be capable of true multichannel surround, but the Hesh 2s do a great job of imitating it.For anyone looking to upgrade from the Hesh 1.0 to these, you will lose the fluffy headband, but you will gain larger, fluffier earpads. The Hesh 1 squeezed my head a bit too tight, especially when wearing glasses. The Hesh 2s are so comfortable I have fallen asleep several times while listening to them, and they don't squeeze my glasses. You will lose the Hesh 1s groovy fabric-covered cable, but will gain a detachable, and therefore replaceable and upgradable cable. The Hesh 2s also have more controlled bass and greater midrange clarity, which is a good thing but will make streams and files below 96Kbps sound a little crunchy at high volume. The Hesh 2 is also of better build quality, with the stress point in the rubber headband instead of the plastic at the sides like the Hesh 1. My Hesh 1s, while still a great-sounding headphone, are now cracked at the sides and difficult to wear. This does not seem like it will be a problem with the Hesh 2.And yes, the Hesh 2 kicks ass with techno, hip-hop, and hard rock music. This is no reason to write them off as a choice if your tastes run more toward Mozart and Schubert than Metallica and Skrillex.If you have a spare $300 to spend on some new cans, I'd advise getting the Hesh 2.0, perhaps a portable headphone amplifier just because you can, and spend the remaining $150 on music and movies.

ok i have sensitive hearing, i dont know about technical advise or anything but ill tell you my perspective as a regular person with good hearingnow i own a bose quite comfort 3 (thats a 350$ headphone FYI), i HATE THEM, the crush my ears, the dont make good sound, and the noise canceling cancels the MUSIC you listen to.FIT:i wanted a headset that i could hear sounds the way i like and felt nice on my head.first off they fit over your ears like earmuphs and feel good, i dont notice them on my head, and they adjust easily to any head size.SOUND:first off i tried them on my phone a droid x2, it sounded great, everything was clear and it sounded like i had the band was playing live.i listen to rock, metal, techno, rave, alternative.the bass is good like in my car, good bass punch and beat, mids sound clear as do highs and it sounds... right, like it should have on my bose but did not.also for 5$ on skullcandy.com you can get new wire with a mic and use these a hands free mic, for a phone.anyway next i tried it on my ipod nano (the one that plays videos) at the sound quality increased x2 (i fine tune my nano's sound via itunes)so it became apparent that the sound is as good as the device it plays on.i hooked it into my laptop a dell inspirion and listened to music and movies, perfect sound quality, i was picking up details i missed before when watching a show so im very happy with them.the only thing i can say thats a downside is that when plugin in the wire to headphones via left speaker make sure its in all the way. if not you wont get the full SOUND, as the lower ring in plug is not connected so your getting half the sound.and if you have issues skullcandy has a great customer serviceso compared to beats and bose , for sound its on par or better and is lower cost so why pay more for less??? dont !!!this is my experience and im very happy with them

I purchased the Skullcandy Hesh2 due too a desire to listen to high quality audio without paying $200+ for brands like Beats by Dre or Soul by Ludacris. Although they aren't quite comparable to more high end headphones, these are more than exceptional.Pros:Clear but not overwhelming bassRelatively inexpensiveDetachable Cable (Handy if cable breaks or if you just want a better cable)Comfortable leather ear pillowsSmooth rubber headbandNice appearanceCons:Gloss black shows every grease mark and scratches easierNo folding or rotating earmuffs for portabilityCarrying pouch won't protect from much other than dirt and scratchesAs you can see the pros strongly outweigh the cons. Beats aren't better enough that I would want to blow $160 more than just getting these. If you are looking for something cheaper than Beats but better than the Hesh2 model try the Skullcandy Aviators or Sony DJ Style Headphones. I would strongly recommend these headphones to anyone looking to spend less for more.