Sony ULT Wear vs Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
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Quick Summary
Sony Ult Wear (left) and Crusher ANC 2.
Sony ULT Wear
Better overall headphones for most people day-to-day
Deeper sub-bass
Far better ANC
More comfortable for long sessions
Bass controls are powerful, but confusing (Clear Bass + ULT modes)
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
Unmatched bass power with Crusher on
Can be very fun with EQ, even if it’s meh out of the box
Better mic clarity (especially with background noise)
Feels sturdier and more durable overall
App is frustrating and ANC is weak, especially outdoors
In short, if you want the better pair of headphones in terms of comfort and overall sound quality, get the Sony ULT Wear. These are what I use more.
If you want thunderous skull-shaking bass above everything else, go with the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2.
Connectivity and Battery Life
Crusher ANC 2
Bluetooth 5.2 with multipoint (connects to two devices at once; audio plays from one at a time)
Codec: AAC
3.5mm wired option
Battery: up to 60 hours (ANC off) / 50 hours (ANC on)
No auto shutoff (easy to accidentally drain battery if you forget to power off)
Sony ULT Wear
Bluetooth 5.2 with multipoint
Codecs: AAC + LDAC (LDAC disables when multipoint is on)
3.5mm wired option
Battery: up to 30 hours (ANC on) / 50 hours (ANC off)
In real use, lasts almost a week for me with ANC on
Controls
Crusher ANC 2 (Physical buttons)
Volume up / play-pause / volume down
Hold volume buttons to skip tracks / go back
ANC switch: ANC on / off / Stay-Aware
Power button (left side)
Infinite scroll Crusher wheel
Sony ULT Wear (Gestures + buttons)
Right earcup gestures:
Swipe up/down for volume
Swipe left/right for previous/next
Double-tap for play/pause
Left earcup buttons:
ANC button cycles ANC / Off / Ambient (I personally set it to only ANC + Ambient)
ULT button changes bass mode (more on this below)
Headphone Audio Quality
(Measured with miniDSP EARS — not industry standard)
With no equalization and all bass enhancements turned off, the Sony ULT Wear sounds far better.
Sony Ult Wear (left) and Crusher ANC 2
The Crusher ANC 2 is rough to listen to out the box. The treble is harsh in a glass-shattering way. It’s not even particularly detailed. The bass and sub-bass are weak in stock form, so vocals sound thin and shrill, while instrumentals lack body.
The ULT Wear still has prominent highs, but they’re less jarring. The midrange sounds more natural, and the bass is elevated, but not to a crazy degree. Neither of these has a wide soundstage (they’re closed-back), but the ULT Wear’s tuning is simply more enjoyable before you even start boosting anything.
Once you engage the Crusher bass, everything changes. The haptic system delivers an intense, physical rumble that no traditional driver can replicate. Explosions, bass drops, and certain game sound effects become extremely fun to feel, not just hear. The downside is that this bass boost is in a narrow range and disconnected from the rest of the sound, which keeps it from feeling warm and natural.
The graphs above can’t do justice to how physically powerful and visceral the bass gets on the Crusher ANC 2.
The Sony ULT Wear takes the opposite approach. Instead of a separate motor, it relies on driver tuning to elevate the bass across a wider range. Sub-bass, mid-bass, everything. The result is a richer, deeper low end that blends naturally with the mids and highs. It doesn’t hit as hard as the Crusher, but it sounds fuller and more complete.
Ultimately, I use the ULT Wear more often. But when I want absurd, over-the-top bass, the Crusher ANC 2 still has a place — nothing else does what it does. Also check out my article on the Crusher PLYR 720 which fixes most of the audio weaknesses of the ANC 2.
(If you want an explanation on how ULT and Clear Bass work on the ULT Wear, I’ve created an explainer article.)
Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Ambient/Transparency
Sony wins this easily.
The ULT Wear’s ANC is very effective. It won’t delete the world entirely, but it handles fans, cars, and outdoor ambience well. Ambient mode works perfectly.
The Crusher ANC 2’s noise cancellation is weak. You still get that ANC white noise sensation, but it doesn’t actually block much — even basic PC fan noise. Outdoors, it’s close to useless. Transparency mode also makes external sounds kind of sharp and high-pitched, which matches how the drivers are tuned.
Also important: on both headphones, toggling ANC on/off didn’t change my frequency response measurements, whereas some other devices have totally different sound profiles with ANC on.
Microphone Quality
The Crusher does a better job keeping your voice clear while cutting background noise. The ULT Wear’s noise reduction is aggressive, but it can overdo it and make your voice sound muffled and compressed.
Neither mic is amazing, but Skullcandy gets the easy win here.
Phone Apps
Sony Sound Connect.
Skull-IQ.
Sony’s Sound Connect app gets the easy win. It’s responsive, stable, and gives you multiple EQ presets you can actually customize. It just works.
Skull IQ (Crusher ANC 2) is great on paper, but it’s unreliable. It can forget the headphones, reset settings, wipe EQ, and generally makes it hard to “set it and forget it,”. It also turns voice control on (with the matching annoying voice prompt) every time you open the app.
Comfort and Build Quality
Crusher ANC 2 on left.
This is the tradeoff section.
The ULT Wear’s comfort is elite. It’s light (around 256g) and I can wear it for 4–5 hours without much issue.
The Crusher ANC 2 feels sturdier and it’s more durable, but it’s heavy (around 330g) and after about an hour it literally becomes a pain in my neck.
One thing to note on the ULT Wear: older batches like mine develop cracks over time from stress on the glossy plastic while folding, unfolding, and adjusting. Sony has an official repair program for affected serial number ranges, so if you end up with an older unit that qualifies, that’s peace-of-mind.
The Crusher ANC 2 also has a soft-touch plastic that feels great but shows fingerprints, smears, and scratches easily — same story as the Crusher Evo.
In short:
W in comfort: ULT Wear
W in durability: Crusher ANC 2
Verdict
If you want the most powerful bass on the market, get the Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2.
If you want an overall better pair of headphones that still hits with rich, deep bass, and you want real ANC and comfort — get the Sony ULT Wear.
Personally, I use the ULT Wear more. But I still pull out the Crusher when I want that ridiculous, thunderous bass experience that nothing else can replicate. Both definitely get The Bass Arena approval.
