About 2 1/2 years ago, Rick Alden (Skullcandy's founder) decided that Skullcandy needed to be in the game as a serious headphone maker. I think a little context is in order: "in the game" and "serious" is not expressed by these guys in the smooth tones of suited corporate MBA drones. These guys ride boards on snow and surf; they see themselves as just one division of the action-sports army; the one there to provide the tunes. From Skullcandy's SEC filing:

"Our brand symbolizes youth and rebellion, and embodies our motto, "Every revolution needs a soundtrack."

When their "serious" talk about "getting in the game" contained phrases like "successfully implement our growth strategy" or "manufacturer selection and qualification program" or "stylizing a previously-commoditized product and capitalizing on the increasing pervasiveness, portability and personalization of music," it felt a lot more like they were saying "I popped a kick-flip to Nollie on the bench, then smooved a 5-0 grind to Caballerial on the concrete, dude" than some soulless accountant-speak. I liked these guys. In the last two years they've double their engineering staff; spent a half-million bucks on R&D gear for labs here in the States and at their facility in China; and have gotten so serious about premium product this statement appears as one of five major growth strategies in their SEC filing:
"Grow Our Premium Product Offering." - To date, the vast majority of our products have been priced in the $10 to $70 range. With our recently introduced $150 Aviator headphones and $250 Mix Master headphones, we have begun to expand our premium headphone offering and believe we can increase our share of this growing market. By offering premium products, we believe we can further strengthen our brand and broaden our reach to consumers with greater discretionary income. "

After a couple of hours on the phone with these guys, I hung-up quite convinced there is a remarkably good possibility we will be hearing better sounding headphones from Skullcandy in the future.

Summary
The terrifically good looking Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator (from $149) is also the best sounding "lifestyle" headphone I've heard to date ... by a wide margin. Head-to-head with all headphones of its type and price, the Aviator compares well against the established bests-of-breed. Understandably, the Aviator falls a bit short in bass extension when compared to the cans with larger earpieces and tighter seals around the ear; but it bests most in its ability to deliver a wonderfully balanced and cheerful sound.

If you don't want to walk around with a fugly-black-but-maybe-slightly-better-sounding-lump-of-highly-engineered-plastic on your head, you'll be glad to know I'm giving the Aviators a big thumbs-up with my left hand ... and throwing up an index finger and pinky up with my right. Highly, highly recommended.

Music to her Ears

"My Skullcandy headphones are the most important thing ever. They're these giant 1970s brown leather style with gold trim and they're amazing to work out in strangely enough."

Skullcandy's Roc Nation Aviator headphones take design cues from that staple of American style, Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses, and branding from Jay-Z's music and entertainment company. Somewhere in the earpieces, which are shaped like Aviator lenses, there are drivers that pump out audio, too. Needless to say, the Aviator is quite the fashion statement. At $149.99 (direct), however, they need to deliver quality audio performance as well, and the Aviator offers a hit-and-miss experience, mixing deep bass that generally does not distort, with treble that seems a bit too sculpted and boosted. The built-in microphone and playback controls for the Apple iPhone (4 stars, $199 and up) and iPods are a nice touch, but the Aviator suffers from a weak physical construction and is not a serious choice for audiophiles.

Design
The Roc Nation Aviator comes in three styles—white, brown and gold, and black. The headphones truly look cool. Our black test unit features transparent "lenses" as the plastic covering over the earpieces, allowing for a glimpse at the innards of the headphones. On the inside of the rounded-triangles that form the ear cups, there is plush padding that comfortably envelopes your ear. This type of headphone, which creates a loose seal, is called circumaural.

The headphones are easily adjustable and feature cushioned, pseudo-suede padding on the inside of the headband. The logo for Roc Nation appears on each ear piece, and the Skullcandy logo—an ominous upper half of a human skull—appears above each ear on the headband and once again on the 3.5-inch cable connection. The nylon cable extends from the left ear, and roughly four inches below the ear cup, the mic, and Apple playback controls (for Volume, Play, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, as well a button for starting and ending calls) are built into a silver-colored plastic compartment. The headphones fold up into a more portable size and they come with a stylish zip-up, pseudo-leather pouch.

While the headphones manage to look exceedingly cool without screaming for attention—kind of like the real Aviator sunglasses—the actual construction is a little flimsy for a $150 investment. Lightly pressing on the inside of the left ear cup lightly—where there happens to be yet another emblazoned Skull logo—temporarily disabled the left ear's drivers. Another press, and the music came back, but I had to repeat this step a few times before the nuisance permanently ceased. A $150 pair of headphones should be able to withstand this sort of activity. When I got the headphones working properly again, the Aviators were comfortable and offered a very solid listening experience. But I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that they're not exactly durable.

Performance
Unfortunately, the Apple controls and mic don't mix well with our HEAD Acoustics frequency-response tests, so we are unable to run frequency response graphs. I can tell you that the performance, from ear-to-ear, is reasonably well-matched—it's quite similar to the KRK Systems KNS-8400 (4 stars, $149) linear frequency response, which is a more-than-acceptable result.

Bass response is on par with headphones in this price range. The Knife's "Silent Shout," which has tremendous low end, can be played at maximum volume without serious distortion. Occasionally, I heard the synth drum hits distort slightly, but only at the very highest level, and even this was minor. At normal-to-loud listening levels, the Aviator has no problem reproducing heavy bass, but the treble can often be too bright and intense. Ironically, on Jay-Z's "99 Problems", this is one problem that is apparent—at moderate-to-high volumes, it is almost uncomfortable to listen because the treble is so boosted in certain ranges. On orchestral music, like John Adams's "The Chairman Dances," the high end is still quite present but seems less tweaked and the overall balance is more agreeable. It's probable that pop music, which often has modified high frequencies to begin with, is going to suffer from the inherent brightness the most.

In this general price range, you have a couple more music-friendly headphone options (and plenty of in-ear options), but nothing quite so visually arresting. The same-price KRK Systems KNS-8400 is a great option for home studio engineers and audiophiles on a budget, but it looks like a pair of studio monitors. The Denon AH-D1100 (4.5 stars, $199.99) splits the difference, from a design standpoint, between a more stylish pair of headphones and a studio monitor look, and the extra $50 gets you audio performance worthy of our Editors' Choice. Still, for bridging an oft-ignored gap between style and performance, the Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator is to be commended—but I still think it's a bit overpriced.

The bottom line: The style-savvy Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviator headphones earn our recommendation for balancing a unique thematic design with exceptional clarity in spite of a slightly passive low-end response.

Skullcandy continues to pursue its youthful listening-device niche with the Aviators, a collaborative effort with Roc Nation, a music publishing and entertainment company founded by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. The $150 on-ear headphones are among the priciest cans the company offers and we have doubts about the price considering the younger demographic, but an attractive retro design, an in-line remote control that doubles as a microphone, and impressive sound quality merit a high score and our recommendation to anyone shopping for a new set of headphones.

Design and features
The Roc Nation Aviator headphones are the first we've seen from Skullcandy that carry a subtle aesthetic--the rest of the company's offerings redefine the meaning of words like "bulky" and "overbuilt," but the Roc Nation Aviators bring an elegant flavor to the product lineup with three color choices (Black, Brown Gold, and White) that all feature a pliable leather headband and light branding on the silver connection points and inside the earcups as well.

The two earpieces build on a classic egg shape that invokes the spirit of the aviator sunglasses famously worn by Erik Estrada's character in the '70s TV show "CHiPs." Skullcandy modernizes the classic headphone shape with a translucent outer earcup shell that lets you check out the 40mm speakers and Mylar drivers inside.

Like all over-ear headphones, you can make size adjustments to the Aviators by pulling up and down on the polished silver slide rail that forms the curved shape of the headband. The frame also bends at the top of the both earcups, allowing you to fold them into the headband for safe storage, although we're worried that the continued joint strain from folding and unfolding could damage the structural integrity over the long run.

That said, the rest of the build quality is top-notch; Skullcandy goes the extra mile to reinforce the cable connection that's notorious for headphone hardware failure, and the tough polycarbonate frame forms a protective skeleton for the vinyl-lined headband. We're also assured that the Aviators will withstand a beating thanks to the nylon-braided cable that extends 1.3 meters past the left earcup, but we hope Skullcandy will push its durability further and allow detachable cables in future versions.

The single-sided cable design minimizes annoying tangles and the wire also has a light plastic remote several inches down that you can use to navigate music playback on your Android or iPhone-powered smartphone. Finally, the cord terminates in a straight and narrow plug to fit a universe of existing devices and cases.

We used the Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviators intermittently for over a week and have few complaints about the fit and shape of the headphones. The plush leather ear protectors create a loose seal that lets you hear ambient noise while also keeping your music between your ears with adequate sound isolation. The headphones are surprisingly light considering the stainless steel accents, and you also get plenty of room within the wide pyramidal-shape earcups to accommodate a range of ear sizes.

Performance
The majority of Skullcandy headphones appeal to the younger market that values bass response over all other instruments, but the Roc Nation Aviators have a sound signature that sways more toward the midrange, with a balanced treble sparkle comparable to the Klipsch Image One headphones.

After spending a week listening to all types of music through the headphones, we get the impression that the Skullcandys' open soundstage is better suited for genres driven by string instruments like rock and country, whereas the Image Ones boast a fuller and richer tonal balance that lends itself well to hip-hop and techno.

That's not to say that the Roc Nation Aviators can't handle tracks laden with drum machines and synthesizers--tracks from Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" album sound more defined with the Aviators. It's easier to pick out the individual harmonies and focus on the clear vocals without an obtrusive bass peak throwing off the other frequencies.

However, if you prefer the booming nature of extended bass in your headphones, we recommend the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Studio that border on excessively low-end-heavy thanks to an extra boost from a digital amplifier. Prepare to pay a premium, however, as the Dr. Dre Studios will set you back $300, double the cost of the Skullcandy Roc Nation Aviators.

The company’s demo skews young, and we all know the kids don’t necessarily care if their music sounds good, as long as it’s loud. Needless to say, Skullcandy’s headphones haven’t ever scored high marks among audiophiles. Being one of these snobbish elites, my expectations were not inflated when I received a shipment of Roc Nation Aviators, a set of headphones cross-branded with Jay-Z and LiveNation’s Roc Nation promotions outfit.

Skullcandy is angling the $150 set as its first foray into audiophile territory. It’s a shrewd move. All those tweens who grew up on Skullcandy cans are now graduating to adulthood, collecting their first real paychecks and looking to upgrade all the little things in their lives. And maybe they’ve outgrown the desire to wear bright pink skulls on their ears.

The Aviators’ styling is unique and fashionable, but not garish. True to the name, they’re reminiscent of the iconic aviator sunglasses. They have see-through plastic over-the-ear cups, leather pads, suede headband, nylon cord and chrome accents along the edges. Three colors are available: white, black and brown/gold.

So, they’re not ugly. That’s a plus, I thought. But then I put them on and — wait a minute, these actually sound pretty good. Not amazing, but much better than anything else I’ve heard from Skullcandy thus far.

The Aviators can get a little abrasive at times, especially when you’re listening to modern rock or techno. And the bass isn’t as present as I’d like it to be. Hip-hop sounds oddly tinny. But put on some mellower stuff that hasn’t been amped up to appeal to today’s ADHD standards — Nina Simone, Cat Power, James Blake, singer-songwriter stuff, classic rock — and the Aviators impress. My headphone nerd friends were all curious, so we passed them around and everyone agreed: solid.

They perform particularly well in quieter settings. Walking around on the street or riding on a city bus, I found the thin plastic shell didn’t do the best job of blocking out exterior noise. But indoors, in the park or at my desk, they were comfortable to listen to — and to wear — for long stretches.

There’s a remote with a built-in mic on the cord, so you can talk on the phone, change the volume, pause the song and skip tracks. The connector fits the iPhone (with a bumper, even) and all the Android phones I tried.

There’s also a companion app for the iPhone, iPad and Android. Version 2 of the Skullcandy App was just released earlier this month, so I tried it out. It has a library of streaming music that fits the “brand lifestyle” — lots of great West Coast hip-hop and some atrocious Sublime-wanna-be ska-punk — as well as streaming videos of skaters, surfers and snowboarders getting rad. The design is tidy. One cool feature: a map that shows the locations of local skateparks, ski resorts and surf spots, complete with current conditions.

But back to the Aviators. They’re not bad at all, even if they are a little steep. At $150, you can certainly buy a better set of over-the-ear cans. I won’t be trading these for my ATH-M50s or my Shure SRH750 DJ headphones, both of which are in the same price range and out-perform the Skullcandies. But while those are giant Cadillacs, these Aviators are more like a spry Miata. They fold up for travel, they’re comfortable and extremely light, and they come with a handsome leather case. So if you need a set of over-the-ear headphones that can squeeze into a fanny pack, the Aviators are a good choice.

They might actually turn some heads, too.

WIRED Surprisingly good sound. Light and comfortable. They fold up and slip into a svelte travel case. Charming retro styling already matches your sunglasses.

TIRED Priced at $150, but they perform more like $90. Chrome and plastic assembly is light, but feels a little flimsy.