Skullcandy Mix Master Mike Over-Ear DJ Headphones Review
PROS
- Great sound
- Swappable cable
- Very comfortable
- Hard-shell carrying case
CONS
- Cheap plastic materials
- Bad build quality
- Overpriced
VERDICT
These headphones offer some smart features like the removable cable that can be plugged to either ear cup, foldable design, soft leather padding, and the handy hard-shell carrying case. They also sound pretty good.
Sadly, all of this is somewhat overshadowed by the eyebrow-raising price tag and sub-par build quality that leaves a lot to be desired. If you have the money and really like their design and sound, then go ahead. If not, you should choose something else since there isn’t much that you are going to be a mission on.
Skullcandy Mix Master Mike Over-Ear DJ Headphones are the result of collaboration between the popular audio equipment manufacturer Skullcandy and hip-hop DJ Mix Master Mike.
Design and build
Intended for professional and semi-professional use, the Mix Master headphones have all features you would expect. The cable can be swapped to either left or right side, there is a dual-state mute button, and even Cue Control for automatic mixing of stereo sound into mono when one of the ear cups is rotated for single-ear monitoring purposes. This feature will please DJs who would like to use these headphones for live performance. Casual users will appreciate that Skullcandy has included two cables – a shorter cable with iPhone and Android playback controls and integrated microphone and a coiled cable.
The most dominant design element is the glossy finish that easily attracts fingerprints and dust but otherwise looks fairly attractive. Ear pads are lined with smooth black leather with contrastive white stitching. The padding is very soft and comfortable even after a longer period of continuous use. We were expecting a fair amount of passive noise canceling, but it turned out not to be the case with these. For example, Sennheiser HD25-1 blocks much more noise. On the other hand, sound leakage isn’t really a problem with Skullcandy Mix Master Mike Headphones and you could use them even in a quiet library.
Sound quality
The sound of these headphones is most characterized by the prominent bass and forward mid frequencies. This makes for an aggressive sound signature that is very similar to many popular mainstream headphones such as Beats by Dr. Dre or V-Moda.
The aggressive sound makes the soundstage seem a little too shallow for our liking. When multiple instruments play together, the limits of resolutions and clarity become more apparent. Despite this, the overall presentation is very appealing. It has an abundance of energy, drive, and musicality that pairs fantastically with hip hop or bass-heavy electronic music.
What is in the box?
Skullcandy Mix Master Mike Headphones come with a durable hard-shell carrying case, cleaning cloth and 6.3 mm adapter, studio cable, and iPhone/Android cable with 3-button mic and remote. Skullcandy definitely deserves some praise for such a complete package of accessories.
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