The Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator ($179)This stylish noggin' wrapper is a rather smallish full-size, sealed headphone. Available in glossy iWhite, through-a-glass-darkly black, and an amber see-through cup, brown pleather soft bits, and bright-gold metalwork design so delightfully retro that I longed for the days I wore bell-bottoms. It's flashy, it's funky, it's got Skulls on it, look at the pictures, if it suits your style you'll be glad to know it looks better in the flesh. The build quality is quite good, but a bit weird. Headphones from the big makers tend to be tight as a drum with little, if any, creaking about. The Aviators rattle a bit, but the design is such that most of the rattling stops when tensioned on the head. The metal bands that loop over the head "ting," and the ear-cup covers "tock" substantially when tapped, but the build quality itself looks good; most parts are screwed together, and disassembly and reassembly is very easy. I was told a lot of work went into the lenses to ensure that they don't distort when looking at the internals, and that scratch-resistant coatings have been applied. I had a non-see-through white Aviator, so I went down to HeadRoom to check their amber and black demo units. The lenses really didn't distort and the finish looks very nice. I did have a weird experience that I don't think I've ever had with a pair of headphones before: they whistled in the wind ... inside the house even. Walking at normal speed down the hallway in my fuzzy slippers I heard the wind gently whistling through something in the ear-cup; not loud enough to be bothersome while listening to music, but they did make wind noise. Outside on a gusty day the wind noise was there as well, but not as loud as I had feared, nor overly bothersome when the music was playing at a normal level. Not sure where the noise is coming from exactly, but the cup covers have numerous small openings that might do it. I'm not a big fan of cloth covered cables as they tend to wrinkle and snag, but it suits the styling well here. The standard 3.5mm, four-segment connector has a small chromed body that will fit through the hole in your player case, and has a little skull logo cleanly laser etched on either side. The mike/remote switch seemed a little cheap and was mounted a little high on the cable for me. It did not actuate reliably on the center "stop/play/answer" button; often depressing it would actuate the up or down command instead or prior to sending the stop signal. The cable should be better.
The cup covers (Skullcandy calls them "lenses," harkening back to their heritage as sunglasses) and ear-cushions are easily removed, leaving a very thin baffle plate assembly. I found this a novel and innovative design. A ring of small rectangular holes surrounds the driver to port the ear chamber; a small pad of permeable foam lines the ear side of the baffle plate, and apparently provides some damping for the ear chamber and baffle ports. It looks like there was some good engineering going on here. All the bits seemed nicely assembled and are relatively reparable; the solder joints were good; the cable reasonably strain relieved, but the wire gauge used seemed a bit thin (about 30-32 AWG). Because they are so easy to open, and sound so good, I think they're probably a great headphone to try to modify and tweak. If you're so inclined, and the cable would be a good place to start.
I'm a realist. In designing a fashionable product, many of the aesthetic elements come first, then the product is engineered --- and compromised --- around them. Considering the dashingly good looks and very good sound, I think the mechanical design, materials, and fit and finish of the Aviator are a particularly smart and well-executed set of compromises, and make for a product where the whole does seem greater than the sum of the parts.
The ergonomics are very good overall. The Aviators are light, and fit quite securely on the head; the adjustability and clamping pressure are dandy. The folding mechanism is simple and effective, and the included matching pleather carry bag is stylish and practical. A very nicely executed piece of kit.
I almost don't know what to say here, there are soooo many ways a headphone can fail ... and the Aviators simply don't. That's not to say they're perfect, though. Mid-bass and below they turn a little "one-note" and then fall off pretty quickly, but from the upper-bass to the low-treble they're wonderfully balanced, delivering voices and acoustic instruments with a happy naturalness. The highs are nicely present without being biting at all. I do detect a little artificial zazz up top and a lack of air and distance, but few headphones in this type/price category do depth or image well. Overall the sound is full, tasty, and cheerful.
