Music makes u lose control
Cougar Phontum Gaming Headset Review - Time for the tunes
The Tracks
As said before, my test suite for the HS60s remains unchanged from my previous headset reviews. Like the gaming segment of this article, I feel like the three chosen tracks offer a decent range to test the headset with. Heavy metal (with a twist), the ever brilliant 'Mr. Brightside', and the oddly 'listenable to' music from Battlefield 1's single-player teaser trailer. Call me odd, but I have a big soft spot for it. Again, I used the iCUE software here to control the EQ as I felt appropriate. I should also say that I did not even bother with trying the 7.1 Surround for these tests. I didn't think it worth it for music.
The Sound of Silence - Disturbed
Those who have seen my previous headset reviews will know why I choose this song. However, for those not familiar with either my previous articles or this track, it happens to be very bass/instrument heavy, with vocalist David Draiman's deep (even operatic) baritone absolutely punching through the track with little effort. The sequence from 2:00 on is when the track begins to raise itself up, and I defy anyone not to get even some small goosebumps. That said, even with the volume cranked to 100% in both Spotify, Windows, and the headset itself, there was absolutely no loudness distortion anywhere. Impressive for such a powerful track. In fact, at certain points, the earcups actually rumbled with bass. I was easily able to pick up each bit of the track that I knew would be there, and I genuinely felt that the headset was not lacking anywhere in the range. As with the gaming, then, a strong initial showing for the HS60's. With regard to EQ, I needed to alter my previously used 'gaming' choice, as they dulled the vocals and midrange a little too much (for the record, not the headset's fault). Once this was sorted, however, see above.
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
I think lead Killers vocalist Brandon Flowers is once quoted as saying that the United Kingdom actually broke this song, given its massive popularity here. I feel as though this song needs little introduction, but it's radically different from my previous choice. The track is bright, very fast paced, and - again - I felt as though this headset was not really lacking anywhere where it counted. The EQ I used for Disturbed's song (above) didn't work so well for this track, however. I was forced to make a new preset that emphasized the midrange and treble over bass, otherwise, Flowers' vocals were muted a little too much for me not to notice. That, again, is not a criticism of the headset. In fact, it should be taken as praise for both it and the accompanying software, that it was so easy to create, tweak, and enjoy a new profile all on the fly.
Really Slow Motion - Suns and Stars
Anybody who saw the single player trailer reveal for Battlefield 1 in 2016 will know this track well. Entirely instrumental, I choose this for two reasons. One, it's an excellent test to see if the sample can pick up every point of this song without compromising on others. Tunes with both heavy vocals and instruments (e.g. the above two) can tend to mask imperfections in audio gear by having a lot going on at once, thereby leading to an average joe or even seasoned reviewer to miss things. Suns and Stars have a 'single' thing going on, and that is instruments, meaning I can focus more on each detail. I also choose it because it gets quite unbelievably loud. This headset hasn't tripped so far in the 'loudness' side of things, so this is where I was trying to trip it up. Luckily (and a nice surprise for me), there were no such issues. I could detect no distortion at all. Again, Corsair, Good Game. For this track, I actually reverted back to the default 'flat' EQ for this one. The preset was more than able to give presence to all elements of the track and having listened to this piece many a time, I could pick out nothing that was 'missing'.
