Written by Profi | 24 August 2012
Posted in Articles - Reviews

Brand CM Storm is coming more and more popular among professional players and teams. Gaming division of Cooler Master supports not only teams and players, but big esports events as well. Sponsoring Intel Extreme Masters 7 is one more proofs for it.

Before, I wrote review for CM Storm Trigger and it made an excellent impression for me. This time I got a chance to review their headset - CM Storm Sonuz. 

Headset Specifications:

• Driver diameter: ?53mm
• Frequency range: 10-20,000Hz
• Impedance: 45?
• Sensitivities: 98 dB ± 3 dB
• Connector: 3.5mm gold-plated headphone jack
• Inner Ear Cup Diameter: 97.0 mm
• Cable Length: 2m
• Max Output: 200mW

Microphone specifications:

• Frequency range: 100–10,000Hz
• Sensitivities: -47 dB ± 3 dB
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 58dB
• Pick Up pattern: Omni-Directional
• Diameter: 4x1.5mm

Unboxing

The headset CM Storm Sonuz comes in stylish half-transparent box with CM Storm’s brand colors – mix of red, white and black. Without opening the box we can have an idea about the design of CM Storm Sonuz and see in details in-line controller.


On non-transparent side we can read about main features of the CM Storm Sonuz.


On backside there is a text with detailed description of Sonuz. Also you can find there translation of main features in 8 languages.


Opening box is pretty easy. First impression – it’s huge! But despite to this headset is lightweight.


Design has futuristic style unlike any other headsets on the market. Besides headset the box contains the Quick Installation Guide.

Design and Construction

Headset comes with big 97mm earpads and thanks to the design they are very flexible up to 7 degrees to any direction. This size and flexibility makes the headset very comfortable while wearing.


Microphone is omni-directional and detachable.


For removing microphone of CM Storm Sonuz - just rise microphone up till it stops (don’t push too much!) and slightly pull it up.



But it’s not over yet! You can attach microphone to other earpad! Remove cap and plug it there. You can select desired side for microphone or remove it entirely.


The height of CM Storm Sonuz is adjustable up to 5 cm.


Inner side of extenders have relief material so you can be sure that headset will not slip on you head.


With in-line controller of CM Storm Sonuz you can control Volume and Mic On/Off functions.

In Usage

CM Storm Sonuz is plug-n-play stereo headset. Just connect it to your PC and you are done.

Headset has open acoustic design. With this type of design airflow doesn’t have any barrier like in closed design. The advantages of open acoustic are that sound is more “natural” and your ears will stay cold due to intensive airflow. The disadvantage is that people around you can hear “some noises” from your headset and you can hear their voices if they’re talking too loudly. If your working or gaming place is isolated – open acoustic design is the perfect choice.

CM Storm Sonuz is oriented for gamers – so I directly started to test it in the games. In Starcraft 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Diablo 3 – CM Storm Sonuz has showed impressive sound. Big earpads and open acoustic design made in-game sound and music very deep. Especially sound effects are noticeable in modern games. For FPS games where you need to perfectly hear from where the noise comes from - Sonuz is perfect, as it has impressive sound quality and every noise around “you” is heard.

In music and movies CM Storm Sonuz showed pretty good results as well, but you should understand that if headset oriented to games – it will show best results in games. There is no absolute perfect headset for any purpose. On the daily basic usage Sonuz is a good headset, you can use it for long term sessions without having overheating problems or your ears start hurting from the pressure the headset exert.

Microphone on headset is really good. There is no any 3rd party noise or distortion during the voice-chat or cast sessions. You are free to attach microphone to any side of the headset or remove it entirely. Very handy feature!

You can use headset  Sonuz even with your mobile phone, but I’m not sure that this option will be popular due to size of headset.

Conclusions

Pros:

• Excellent sound quality
• Very good noise-cancellation microphone
• Detachable microphone with possibility to attach it to any side of the headset
• Lightweight
• Flexible earpads with soft microfiber materials
• Possibility to use it with mobile phones

Cons:

• Hard to transportation because of not foldability
• Microphone does not have auto mute mode

Notes:

We didn’t insert “design” factor to Pros nor to Cons, because it’s completely subjective. Same thing related to size of headset. If you are fan of big earpads – you should be ready to use big headset. If size of headset has higher priority for you – headset with small or medium earpads is your choice.

Pay attention to open acoustic type of CM Storm Sonuz as well. You need to decide which type of design (open or closed) is the one for you. If you would like to isolate yourself from entire world and ready for sweaty ears after few hours of usage – closed design is your choice. If you want to have “cold” ears and “natural” sound – open acoustic is better for you, but make sure that your working or gaming place is isolated.