Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720 | Open-back with Massive Bass
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Quick Summary
If you play FPS games, you have to check out the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720. It's fully open back, and it has the widest soundstage I've heard on any device.
If you're a basshead like me, this is a must listen. It has a generally warm sound signature, and it also has dedicated drivers to deliver insanely powerful bass. The only real negatives I have with this device are the weight, and a lack of features that make it convenient on the go.
Don’t overlook this headset just because of the brand name.
Connectivity Options
The PLYR 720 can be used wired or wirelessly. Wired can be done with the included USB-C cable. This requires it to be powered on, and everything functions normally.
You can also use the included 3.5 mm cable. This works powered on or off, but when it’s off only the headphone audio and mic work. No custom EQs or Crusher bass or anything else. The mic mute still works, and so does the mic mute light.
Be warned, when you power the device on or off when it’s, wired it makes a very loud pop which is quite irritating.
This has simultaneous 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth wireless.
I got the Xbox version which I recommend, because it works on PS5 and PC as well. Just set the dongle to PC mode for systems that aren't Xbox. The game/chat mixer works on Xbox and PC, but not PS5. It even works when used USB wired. The wireless isn't perfect, however…
Skullcandy advertises 40-50 ms of latency which is quite high. For context, Audeze says their Maxwell’s true latency is around 18 ms.
The other problem is the wireless range is weak. It's maybe 12 feet before it cuts out - both Bluetooth and the dongle. A lot less than the 30 advertised.
Battery life
The battery on the PLYR 720 is underwhelming considering how heavy it is. It is stated to get between 38-48 hours of battery life. I drained the battery from full in less than two days with heavy use - I'd say 12 hours of use each day. The Crusher Bass was almost always under 20% and the RGB was on.
Expect maybe 25 hours of real world use. This does have an auto sleep function. I don't know how long it takes to activate, but moving the device wakes it back up. Sometimes this never activates and the device will stay on all night.
Controls
Starting with the left earcup, there’s a power off and on button. You need to hold it for 2 seconds specifically. Hold it longer and it will start pairing. The mic mute is on the outside of earcup which turns the mic red.
There's a joystick which doubles as a multi-function button. Up and down adjusts the volume. Left and right adjusts the game/chat volume mixing. You can hold the button in to switch the left and right clicks to sidetone volume instead.
The sidetone is very quiet, but since the headset is open-back, your voice leaks in anyway.
Tapping the joystick button toggles between the EQ presets. You can only access one custom preset by using the joystick itself and it seems like it's the last custom that you applied in either the PC or phone app. To access the rest of the custom presets, you'll need to select them in the app itself.
The right earcup has a “custom” button which doesn't have anything to do with the custom presets. Instead, holding it toggles THX audio on or off. It also controls the head tracking feature which is a cute gimmick.
Tapping it once plays and pauses media tracks. Outside of that, I haven't found a way to reverse or skip media which definitely takes some convenience points away.
At the bottom is the Crusher Bass slider which controls the haptic vibration level.
Headphone Audio Quality
I measured the PLYR 720 with my miniDSP EARS (not industry standard).
This is definitely in my personal top 5 favorite gaming headsets in terms of headphone audio. However, it’s not for everyone, so I haven’t added it to my top 5 recommendations yet.
This has 40 mm dynamics drivers with a frequency range of 20 Hz - 20 kHz paired with 25 mm Crusher Bass drivers. These are similar to haptic vibrations in the PS5 controller, but they have a lot of nuance to them. It's not just a controller rattling like older Skullcandy headphones.
Left to right: Beyerdynamic MMX 330 Pro, PLYR 720, Drop PC38X.
The soundstage on the PLYR 720 is extremely impressive. This is fully open-back. There aren’t just a few vents like the MMX 330 Pro - this is closer to the PC38X. The whole outside is vented.
For Black Ops 7, this was amazing. It really gave a sense of distance which is the opposite of the A50 X which feels very closed in.
The PLYR has massive bass even with the Crusher slider at 0. This isn’t a one trick pony; there's great sound separation throughout the entire audio spectrum. Even when there are cluster grenades and scorestreaks popping off everywhere, I can still pinpoint gunshots directionally with these.
Footstep audio is great. It’s nice and thumpy without getting muffled by other sounds.
For single player games and music, I love the Crusher Bass. At low levels it's a deep, booming sub-woofer style vibration that's not too distracting. Anything beyond 20% and it’s just a humorous effect, but it’s still incredibly fun to try out.
Overall, I'm a massive fan of the sound.
Microphone Audio Quality
The mic is alright. There's a lot of processing going on here which does a great job of eliminating background noise but also makes it sound compressed.
There are no integrated mics, so it loses some viability on the go. Also the mic itself is pretty rigid. You can bend it in a tiny bit, but that's about it. It always wants to return to its original position.
Software
The Crusher PLYR 720 uses the Skull-HQ app on desktop and the Skullcandy App on phones. Neither app consistently recognized my headset, which is very frustrating.
You can change basic volume settings and make 4 custom EQ settings. Only the last one you apply saves to the device. The equalizer is 10-band and can go to + or - 12 db.
There's also the option to change the RGB lighting. The effects are just solid and breathing right now.
There's THX Spatial Audio, and the effect seems much more subtle than in Razer Synapse, but I haven't really used it that much. The speaker distance set to either close or far didn’t make a difference to me.
You can apply "ESP" which gives you one of those hearing tests like from school or if you need hearing aids. It will boost any frequencies you can’t hear as well. I didn't really like the result, but I like the idea.
Comfort and Build Quality
I'd give this a C+ or maybe a B- in comfort. It's okay. Lately, I've been harping on headset weight. The Crusher PLYR 720 is 370 grams without the mic and 382 with it. that by itself is too much for me to give it an A.
There are other elements I'm not big on like the padding, which is like a cloth, but it's not soft like a cotton shirt. They're supposed to be heat absorbing. I'll have to test it more in the summer, but it doesn't lock in heat like pleather. It also doesn't trap in bass, so the fact that this has such great bass means they tuned the drivers to be very warm to compensate for both the open back design and ear pads.
The rubber at the top wasn’t as distracting as I thought it would be. The frame is adjustable. The actual top of the headband is metal, but everything else feels plastic. This has swivel in and out.
The PLYR 720 ticks a lot of boxes in terms of the build, but it’s way too heavy for me and I don't love the padding.
Verdict
Overall, I love the Skullcandy Crusher PLYR 720, and I highly recommend it.
It’s not on my top 5 gaming headsets list yet, but if you’re a basshead, this is #1. This has unparalleled bass, it’s fully open back, and it has fantastic sound separation.
