CM Storm Resonar Review

[section_title title=”Performance”]Performance

Cooler Master have naturally front-loaded a lot of their marketing on the BassFX and resulting performance of the Resonar so that will be our opening focus of the performance section. What isn’t clear though is if the the dial only switches between an ‘off’ and ‘on’ setting or ‘high’ and ‘low’.

The BassFX effect when switched on is definitely noticeable and it doesn’t come across like an EQ setting which was my main concern with the system. The sound produced in the ‘on’ mode has a trademark boom to it that doesn’t just give off the sense that there is just more boom and volume, but the feeling that there’s air being pushed into your ear canal too. If there was a way to do the over-zealous bass affair this is the way to do it. I’d go as far as to say that it’s say there’s an extra instrument being inserted into the sound in the ‘on’ mode due to how different the bass is. Of course, for the purists out there this certainly wouldn’t be an attraction but it’s hard to argue against Cooler Master’s quality and implementation here.

Diverting from the BassFX element of the earphones there are of course more frequencies that need to be hit and perform well for the Resonar to be suitable for consideration as it’s no good having a pair of earphones that excel in one – arguably novelty – area and lack elsewhere. Whilst the main bulk of my testing revolved around ‘house/electro’ tracks both due to their current popularity and ability to tease the bass out of the Resonar, this writer’s favourite girl band, Haim, was still present in testing as was James Blake, Doves and Arcade Fire.  I’m glad to report that even with the BassFX option applied the overall audio performance of the Resonar was great and didn’t feel lacking at all.

The highs and mids still remain clear even with the BassFX turned on although it is clear that you’re in the ‘on’ mode even when there isn’t a low-frequency being pushed out. The Dove’s ‘Black and White Town’ retains it’s upbeat jazzy piano riff without coming across as muddied or drowned out by the bass’ rhythm in the song with the vocals also still resting above the instrumentals. Similarly, Arcade Fire’s ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘Reflektor’ retain their varied sounds within the songs themselves due to the sheer amount of instruments played within the band and even the eerie forced vocals don’t sound smudged more than they should be and then when the songs transition into the lower-frequencies you’re taken on a  joy ride.

Of course there is also the voice capability of the Resonar which functioned perfectly well. The call quality wasn’t bad at all and the few inline controls all work as expected including call pick-up, end and volume up, down and mute. Listening to back to some recordings done via the microphone it doesn’t sound as good as my go to comparisons Snowball mic but then it shouldn’t. The mic is more than good enough for Skype, gaming and voice calls.