I strongly believe headphone pricing has gotten out of hand. Beats opened the door for high prices on pop-culture headphones, and now, like a crowd at a Target store on the day after Thanksgiving, manufacturers are in a crushing rush to get through the door by making the next cool $300 headphone ... and a big wad of cash. Thankfully, a few companies are seeing opportunity in providing the more value laden proposition of headphones that compete on sound quality and realistic price. With a significant history in the manufacture and marketing of low-cost headphones, and now the team and tools to develop good sounding headphones, Skullcandy is well positioned to employ this strategy.

Weighing in at $59.99, the Hesh 2 is Skullcandy's first sub-$100 headphone to make it through their new development process that focuses on build and sound quality. It appeared to be a very nicely built pair of headphones, but I was unable to listen using my test tracks so I don't have much of a read on their sound. What I did hear though, was nice tight bass with emphasis that kicked in at a low enough frequency so as not to muddle up the mid-range. Tetsuro Oishi (Skullcandy's director of electrical and acoustic engineering) verified this impression saying the lows start coming on at 150Hz and below. I commonly use the number of 120Hz and below for my preferred bass boost, so it seems Tet and I are pretty close in our ideas about bass boost.

Here's Tet to tell us about the Hesh 2. (I wrongly said "Ted" in the video, sorry Tet.)

Company Info Skullcandy 1441 W Ute Blvd. Suite 250 Park City, UT 84098 www.skullcandy.com