Usually when you go from any mid range product to a premium product in any companies product
line up… the premium product is going to be all around better than the mid range product.
But thats not the case with the Skullcandy Venue and Skullcandy Crusher ANC.
At first I wasn’t going to make this video but after seeing the results of the ANC test
and comparing these headphones feature sets I thought this video could help some people.
Now the Skullcandy Venue retail for $180 where as the Skullcandy Crusher ANC retail for $320.
Personally from a business standpoint I wouldn’t be surprised if a pair of $250 ANC headphones
are in the works over at skull candy.
But none the less if you want to pick either of these headphones up they’ll be linked
down below and if you want to learn more about either of these headphones please watch their
full reviews cause we’re only going to be going over the main differences.
For starters I just want to give skull candy a lot of credit when it comes to their carrying
cases, especially when it comes to venues.
For a pair of $180 headphones the venues come included with a great carrying case.
Now the crusher ANC’s also come included with a decent hard shell carrying case, but
when you’re spending upwards of $300 on a pair of headphones it is to be expected.
But now lets talk about the headphones themselves.
Fit and build quality wise these headphones are very different.
Now both of these headphones are very solid but the plastics used on the Crusher ANC’s
feel finer than the plastic used on the Venues.
But oddly enough I prefer the synthetic leather used on the venues over the crusher’s.
The synthetic leather on the Venue’s have more of a soft touch feel to them which just
feels nice where as the synthetic leather on the Crusher’s just feels too synthetic.
But also the ear pads on the venues are significantly softer than the ear pads on the crusher’s
which just make them a little more comfortable to wear.
Now disclaimer, im not the biggest fan of how either of these headphones fit but if
I had to choose one I would go with the venues.
Now the Venues are not big head approved, they have a lot of clamping force and I actually
have to extend their headband all the way out if I want to comfortably wear them.
But since their ear pads are softer and since they’re significantly lighter… they’re
much easier to deal with than the Crusher’s.
Now like I’ve said multiple times already the Crusher ANC’s are a pair of very heavy
headphones weighing in at 310 grams, where as the Venues weigh in at 245.
And all of this extra weight on the crusher’s is very noticeable when you wear them for
extended periods of time.
If youre looking for a pair of headphones to watch tv or movies with on a regular basis
or to daily commute with I highly recommend the Venues over the Crusher’s if you have
a smaller head.
Where as with the crusher’s personally I wouldn’t only recommend them for short listening
sessions.
Now active noise cancelation is a pretty big deal on both of these headphones.
The venues came out in the fall of 2018 and they were skull candy’s first pair of ANC
headphones ever.
And now we have the Skullcandy Crusher ANC’s which are the first crusher’s ever to have
active noise cancelation which just make them much more versatile.
But to my surprise the active noise cancellation on the venues actually blocks out more noise
than the ANC on the Crusher’s.
Now even though the venues block out more noise than the crusher’s there are some
trade offs.
But so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into an ANC test.
Like you may have just seen, the Venues clearly manage to block out more road noise and chatter
than the Crusher ANC’s.
So if your main priority here is active noise cancelation then I highly recommend the Venues
over the Crusher’s.
But even though the Venues block out more noise than the crusher’s they do have some
drawbacks.
For starters the Venues have significantly more cabin pressure than the Crusher’s do.
Now the crusher’s also have some cabin pressure, but its significantly less then the Venues.
You won’t feel the cabin pressure on the Venues when you listen to music with them
but you will definitely feel it when watching youtube videos or movies.
So for that reason I only use the ANC on the Venues when I absolutely have to.
But also, the active noise cancellation on the Venues really likes to change how these
headphones sound.
With ANC turned on the the bass on these headphones won’t kick as hard and the sound stage gets
a little narrowed.
So even though the Venues have fairly impressive ANC for mid range headphones, they go about
blocking out noise with brute force.
But when it comes to listening to music with these headphones, the venues sound ok.
They have a surprising amount of bass… and if you listen to music with these headphones
with their ANC turned off the bass on these headphones resonates pretty deep and it dosnt
muddle out the rest of your music.
But if you use these headphones with their ANC turned on then the bass on these headphones
really likes to sputters if you’re listening to bass heavy music at louder volumes.
But the main reason these headphones just sound ok is cause their instrument separation
and sound stage is just ok.
Everything just sounds very close together.
Where as the Crusher ANC’s are a whole other story.
The Crusher ANC’s are all about bass.
They don’t just have an insane amount of bass, they have all of the bass.
Honestly no other pair of headphones can come close to providing a similar experience when
listening to music that the Crusher ANC do.
And over all the Crusher ANC’s are the best sounding crushers skull candy has made
so far.
The Crusher ANC’s have this head rattling bass that feel like you have explosions going
off to either side of you.
But even though the Cursher ANC’s have a lot of bass, its still under control and it
dosnt ruin the rest of your music.
But more importantly the mid and highs on the Crusher ANC’s are a little more pronounced
so that they can better cut through all of their bass.
The bass in the Crusher ANC’s are simply over kill, but they’re just a lot of fun.
But something that I found a little odd on the Crusher ANC’s is that even though they
now have an ambient mode, which is great and just makes the Crusher ANC’s a little more
versatile than their predecessors.
I find it so weird that they don’t have a monitor mode like on the Venues.
With the Venues if you press their ANC button they’ll automatically lower the volume of
your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk
to someone without having to take your headphones off like this.
Now unfortunately the Venues don’t have an ambient mode like the Crushers do.
But personally I just don’t understand why the Crushers don’t have both an ambient
mode and a monitoring mode cause when you’re paying upwards of $300 on a pair of headphones
you want to get all of the features that you possibly can.
But both of these headphones do have tile integration.
Now personally I don’t really care, but if you’re prone to losing stuff on a regular
basis then you can always track your stuff down.
Now obviously when it comes to picking between
the Skullcandy Venues and Crusher ANC’s it isn’t an apple to apple comparison.
The Venues are just an ok pair of entry level ANC headphones meant for day to day life,
where as the Skullcandy Crusher ANC’s are all about fun.
They’re not the best fitting headphones and they don’t have the best active noise
cancelation, but the bass on these head is just insane.
Its literally one of those things that you just have to try for yourself.
But even though the Crusher ANC’s are Skullcandy’s most expensive pair of ANC headphones… they
don’t out right out perform the Venues.
So even though the Crusher ANC’s are a great upgrade from the Crusher 360’s.
They still have a lot of room for improvement.