Coolermaster - CM Storm Ceres-400 Ultra Portable Gaming Headset Review

[Bizarre.Moogle]

Hi everyone, I've been given the pleasure to review the CM Storm Ceres-400 Ultra Portable Gaming Headset. This is my first review so any feedback (positive / negative) would be greatly appreciative

This is the introduction off the CM Storm site;

The Cooler Master CM Storm Ceres-400 delivers high-quality sound, in a rugged yet comfortable and light weight frame. Built for gamers “on the go”, Ceres-400 delivers great ultra mobile sound at an affordable price. High Quality 40mm drivers bring out every detail in the game so you can react quickly and hear where the action is. Specially designed sound-absorbing cushions sit comfortably on your ears and help block out distractions or chatter from other gamers. Ceres-400 lets you enjoy the comfort, quality and competitive edge of a professional-grade gaming headset wherever you go.

When my headset arrived is was in a very large box (approximately 3 times the size of the headset box) and was well protected with plastic chips to soften any blows that the box would have received whilst in transit. The pictures below are what I have taken, once out of the delivery box.

You can see straight away that Coolermaster have used the primary colours of black and red of the CM Storm brand. The sample I have been given is the white version which looks like the newer version of the headset as most that I am able to find are for the black version (links will follow at the bottom of the review).

If you saw this on the shelf at a store or online and they only included this picture you would be able to just see the product within with the clear window at the front.

The back is nothing spectacular to look at, gives you the standard introduction and then covers its key features in various languages.

Upon opening the box we get to see the full scale of the headset;

The plastic clamshell used to keep the headset steady and protected in transport does the job it needs to. If you do get a headset like this, I would make note that to remove the in-line control push it from behind rather than attempt to pull it out with the wires.

The ear pieces are labelled L and R meaning that the microphone will only ever be on the left hand side, though I don't feel this to be a problem I'm sure some might and rather have a preference on which side to have the microphone on.

I've had a look at CM Storms website and got these specifications of the headset for those that are interested in the stats;

Headphones
Driver diameter: Ø40mm x 7.5 mm(H)
Frequency range: 20 – 20,000 Hz
Impedance: 32 O
Sensitivities(@1kHz): 108 dB ± 4 dB
input: 100mW
Connector: 3.5 mm headphone jack
Inner Ear Cup Diameter: 90 mm
Cable Length: 2.5m

Microphone
Pick Up pattern: Noise-cancelling
Frequency range: 100 – 10,000 Hz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 50dB
Sensitivities(@1kHz): -38 dB ±3 dB

Hardware Requirements
Audio Usage: Devices with 3.5mm audio jack
Audio + Microphone Usage: Devices with a 3.5mm audio + mic jack (smartphones)

You get plenty of cable length in case you are having to plug this in from the back of your PC. You can see here as well that CM Storm are attempting to branch out the function of it not only being used as a headset for PC gaming but also to use with smartphones, however I do not know many smartphones that have dual 3.5mm jack ports on to allow this to be used.

You have the in-line control that gives you a volume wheel and a slide on / off button for the microphone.

I've been using the headset now for just over 3 days, just for listening to music whilst browsing the internet to then playing games. The music I have tried has been a mixture so that I could test the range of sounds that could be played on them. Some of the songs that I listened to are;

Korn - Narcissistic Cannibal off The Path of Totality album.
Pendulum - Propane Nightmare off the In Silico album.
Daft Punk - Get Lucky off their latest album Random Access Memories.

I've tested more random music but with these 3 songs it allowed me to see how it can handle music that I listen to most often. Now I know that the Ceres-400 will not compare to the earphones that I normally use to listen to music - Monster by Dr Dre Urbeats that I got with my HTC and that they are different styles with the Ceres-400 sitting on top of the ear rather than in, however I do feel they struggle with some of the sounds and the voices seem a bit echoey and a little distant compared to the rest of the music.

I've also used them to play the following games for a couple of hours game play;

Warhammer - Dawn of War (1 and 2 plus expansions).
Anno 2070.
Saints Row: The Third.
Star Trek Online.

Both the Warhammer, Anno 2070 and Saints Row: The Third I used for playing in single player mode rather than online to see how it would handle the different in game sounds. Again, when any in game voice was on it seemed distant as in I was at one part of the room and they were at the other. Apart from that the rest of the in game sounds were great.

With Star Trek Online I was able to also use the built in microphone to chat with other online players whilst performing missions and fighting battles. I asked a few of my friends to contact me back later to give some feedback of how they thought I sounded. The general point I got back from them was that I was very clear and they could hear me without any issues but it did sound that I was sat away from the microphone rather than it being right next to my mouth. This could be the noise cancellation of the microphone working here and might need some tweaks to get the best out of it which will take some more time.

Summary

I've been looking for a headset for a while and when given this opportunity to review this on behalf of Coolermaster I jump at the chance and I am not disappointed that I did. Overall the headset does what it is intended to and I'm sure that I will get more out of it the more I use it. I've summed up some pro's and con's below;

Pro's
* Very comfortable - I wear glasses 24/7 and these did not press the arm's into the side of my head making it uncomfortable to wear for the long durations I had them on for. So far the max time is 3 hours.

* Sound quality - overall the sound given from the headset is what you expect to have for PC gaming and not music listening.

* The appearance is in tune with the CM Storm brand and will make this stand out in the crowd.

* Cable length of 2.5m - Not every case has front audio / microphone jacks so having this length allows people to have it plugged in and still have room to move.

* 3.5mm Jacks - as these jacks have been used, you can use the headset on a variety of devices and you don't then need software installed on your PC for them to work.

* Noise Isolation - whilst having these on most if not all the external sound/noise in my house I could not hear.

Con's

* Bulky - The blurb given state these are "on the go" headsets. I feel these are too bulky to easily transport but anyone using these at LAN parties will have space to transport these.

* Microphone - As I have mentioned above, the microphone is attached to the left ear and it does have limited positioning.

* 3.5mm Jacks - I have this listed as a pro and a con. The con is that some headsets come now as USB so you only need the one port to connect rather than the 2 x 3.5mm jacks and most people have a front USB on their case.

Overall would I buy this headset? Yes I would. Though it has some failings with music that is not what it is for and for playing online games where you need to listen and speak to other players I have found it to be much better than trying to use a desktop microphone and speakers where you get severe echo from the microphone picking up the noises.

Out of 5 I would give the Ceres-400 a solid 4.

I've done a look around on the internet and I've spotted them available here at Scan;

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...ise-cancelling

That's for the black one and currently priced at £31.68 and if you fancy the white one;

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=SP-005-CM

This is with Overclockers and priced at £39.95.

Again, please give any feedback either on this post or direct to me.

[Bizarre.Moogle]

Update - found the reason the headphones were not sounding as I hoped and that's due to my onboard sound applying 'Headphone Virtualization' - turning this off has made all the sounds so much better, and hearing the voices in lyrics and in game are so much clearer!