CM Storm Sonuz Stereo Gaming Headset Review

[Rob Williams]

Cooler Master impressed us with its Sirus surround-sound headset last fall so much that we slapped an Editor's Choice award on it. But what about those folks who <em>prefer</em> their audio to be in stereo? Well, CM has answered the call and the result is Sonuz. Let's check it out, and see if it can impress us like the Sirus managed.

Read through J.D.'s in-depth look at Cooler Master's Sonuz stereo gaming headset and then discuss it here!

Who the heck is J.D., you ask? Techgage's freshest writer; so please bid him a welcome! :techgage:

 

[Unregistered]

Great review

Very well written and informative. J.D. sounds like a wonderful addition to Techgage.

 

[Optix]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 for test games? I think we'll get along just peachy.

 

[Kayden]

Good review J.D.. I myself prefer stereo headphones, cause all of the 5.1 or 7.1 ones never work the way they should IMO, it's just smoke and mirrors unless you shell out a crap ton of money. I am now putting this on a short list if I ever have to get a pair of headphones.

 

[Optix]

I need 5.1 for games - I find them unimmersive without the directional sound, plus hearing foot steps behind me has saved my bacon in more than one occasion, but when it comes to music, you're right JD. Stereo is the way to go. In most cases I'm flipping between the two through software.

The price point on this set of cans is a tad high for a stereo unit though.

 

[Big Red Machine]

I need 5.1 for games - I find them unimmersive without the directional sound, plus hearing foot steps behind me has saved my bacon in more than one occasion, but when it comes to music, you're right JD. Stereo is the way to go. In most cases I'm flipping between the two through software.

The price point on this set of cans is a tad high for a stereo unit though.

I don't know if I agree. Just for the build quality (I should have said more about that aspect of the product, come to think of it) and the sound quality, I think it's quite fairly priced. The thing's built like a tank, and the sound quality is very good for something that's marketed as "gamer's gear."

When it comes to headphones, I don't necessarily subscribe to the "more is better" philosophy. Just from the stuff I've sampled (which, admittedly, represents a small sample size), anything more than stereo comes off as sounding very artificial. To my ears, surround sound headphones just don't sound right. Just for my sensibilities, that artificiality is a deal-breaker. I've yet to find surround sound headphones that didn't have that artificial quality.

But, hey, what's not so good for the goose is great for the gander, eh?

 

[Rob Williams]

I thought $70 was a relative steal for this headset given what's offered. I admit I haven't kept up on what's out there though, so what's a typical price for a quality gaming model? $70 just sounds like a good price to me, but it might be the fact that $200+ headphones have warped my thinking.

On a side note, I much prefer stereo also, for any type of content. Though to be fair, I haven't used a good 5.1 pair for gaming in quite some time.