In-ear headphones are hit or miss headphones. Either they're comfortable or they're not. Either they have good bass or they don't. They can also be quite expensive for what they do. You'll also find that sometimes a cheaper pair could be better than a more expensive pair. It all depends on your ear-size, iPod equalizer settings, and hearing abilities. No pair of headphones is the same for everyone - everyone hears differently. Today we will be taking a look at the Skullcandy Titan headphones which will compete head on with the Klipsch Image S4 headphones that we reviewed closer to Christmas.
The 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of your iPhone, bottom of your iPod touch, or top of your iPad is a powerful little jack capable of pumping out a lot of sound. The big deal-breaker is what pair of headphones will sound good to you. If you're looking to hear some bass and also have good noise isolation, then the Skullcandy Titan headphones might be something that you should look at. They have some low frequency responses that you can certainly hear better than other headphone types. The metal enclosure helps keep sound from escaping anywhere except for your ear; helping to direct all noise where it needs to go the most. The in-ear design creates an air-tight plug that causes noise isolation so that you can't hear anything except for your music.
While the sound quality and low frequency bass is excellent, I do have a problem with the comfort of these headphones. They use harder silicon than most and they continually put massive pressure on my ear canals that isn't very comfortable. Additionally, they feel like they slip out often. This isn't a problem that I had with the Klipsch Image S4 headphones, which stayed in my ear securely and comfortably without any ear pressure. The pressure that these headphones cause in your ear can make the bass feel unpleasantly bothersome.
Another thing to look at is the wiring. The Skullcandy Titan headphones have an inline microphone and control with one button on it - however it seems that the button doesn't work for anything useful on the iDevices and the wiring is extremely tangle prone, whereas the Klipsch Image S4 headphones have a nice wiring that is pretty hard to tangle without doing t intentionally. If you bunch up the Skullcandy Titan headphones in your pocket, I can almost guarantee that you'll be tangled when you pull them out.
While the sound quality of the Skullcandy Titan is great, there is a slight issue with iDevices that for some reason causes random high-volume jolts. I have yet to diagnose if it happens with movement of the device/headphone jack, or if it has to do with button controls, but it just happens randomly and goes from minimum to maximum volume for a second or two. That's one way to blow out your ears, I suppose. It's a scary feeling and it will get your adrenaline flowing pretty quickly as you panic to pull them out of your ears.
All in all - they're decent headphones. The bass is better than the Klipsch Image S4 headphones, but they're uncomfortable. The Skullcandy Titan headphones cost $39.99 versus the Klipsch Image S4 headphones that cost $79.99. My philosophy is, if you want comfort and mellow sounds, go with the Klipsch Image S4 headphones. If you want heavier bass at the expense of some comfort, then go with the Skullcandy Titan headphones. I replaced them once to see if the jolting volume issue was due to a faulty pair and it happened with the new pair as well, leading me to believe that it's a driver problem with iOS devices. I would give these headphones three stars out of five. They come in many different colors.
Sources: Skullcandy
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