Words & photos: Josh Ruggles
It’s fair to say that some were initially worried when Skullcandy became a publicly traded company – fearing they would focus on profit margins instead of the form and function of product. Yet, since going public, Skullcandy has stayed the course in progressing the industry by creating mobile art with high-end sound; and the freshly released Cassette stands as a testament.
The latest addition to their on ear line-up is intensely versatile, said Rob Layer, core marketing manager for Skullcandy.
“The best part is its modularity. You can pop out the speakers and put them in your audio hoodie or beanie,” Layer said.
With interchangeable ear cushions, a detachable cable with Skullcandy’s Mic1 system and removable speakers, the Cassette looks to raise the standard of multi-use headphones.
While all the adjustments make it one of the most transformable headphones on the market, removing the parts feels a bit awkward the first time around.
But like any new toy, pushing, pulling and otherwise manipulating takes some getting used to. After the first round of dismantling it will become clear, these things are made to take a beating and the stress of and assembly and disassembly shouldn’t be an issue.
Minimalistic design along with visible and tangible quality makes for a clean, refined look that will get noticed. With such deep bass and crisp details the sound quality of the Cassette is typically found in headphones going for twice the price.
This is due to an overall increase of focus on sound performance by Skullcandy; endowing the Cassette with what they are calling “Supreme Sound,” said Layer.
“We’ve developed a new sound specifically tuned to our product and what our customers listen to,” Layer said. “We’ve brought in one of the top sound engineers in the world and he’s been working his ass off on the tuning for each product – people will be stoked.”
The versatility and sound quality of the Cassette paired with their low-end price is changing the way we look at headphones. And coming in three color-ways (Athletic Blue, Black/Black, Lurker Toxic), they are up for grabs at http://www.skullcandy.com.
