RockJaw Resonate

If you’re spending under £50 on a pair of in-ear headphones, you’d be hard pushed to find anything better than RockJaw’s Alfa Genus V2. In fact, there isn’t anything better. But what if your budget is over £100? Well that’s where the firm’s Resonate comes into play.

Price

Some may think £125 is a lot to spend on a pair of headphones, but in the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t. In fact, you can easily spend more than double this, but as with a lot of things, it’s a case of diminishing returns. And at £125 from RockJaw, the Resonate is actually very competitively priced.

Design

The Resonate is in a different league to the Alfa Genus, and you’d expect that at almost three times the price.

The buds are hewn from aluminium and have a reassuring weight and quality to them. The cables are detachable, so even if you do damage something, the fix is relatively simple and inexpensive.

Inside the buds are multiple drivers: a balanced armature and an 8mm dynamic driver to be precise. Put simply, this offers the best of both worlds: lots of detail, but also plenty of bass.

As with most of RockJaw’s other earphones, the Resonate has removable ‘tuning’ filters. Gold is for ‘reference class’, which in essence is a flat EQ so you hear music the way the artist – or producer – intended. Blue is for treble, and accentuates high frequencies for those who prefer their music to have extra detail, while Green – our favourite – is for bass and this increases the volume for lower frequencies.

Since the filters unscrew easily, it takes but a few seconds to swap them out if you want a different sound. The only issue is that the filters are tiny, and easily lost in the bottom of the soft carry pouch.

There’s a remote control on the left-hand cable and this has a universal pause/play button (marked with a phone receiver since it can also answer calls) along with volume controls and a microphone for hands-free calling.

Audio

In the box, you’ll find small, medium and large silicone tips, a pair of small double-flange silicone tips, plus medium and large memory foam tips. It can take a while to find the best fit, but you’ll only get the best sound if you select tips, which form a good seal in your ear. This is also necessary to prevent the buds from falling out when you’re moving around.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be amazed as the sound quality. Even with the green ‘bass’ filters installed there’s still a fantastic level of detail, regardless of the genre of music you listen to.

What’s particularly noticeable compared to, say, the Alfa Genus V2 is the sheer separation of instruments. Listen to a classical piece and you’ll feel like you’re sat in the auditorium, able to pick out individual instruments, such is the Resonate’s soundstage. They are, however, equally at home with pumping dance music, which is where those green filters really come into their own. Bass is bold and powerful without ever being sloppy or overpowering. Put on some jazz and you’ll hear the micro-detail in vocals that – chances are – you’ve never heard before unless you’re coming from even more expensive in-ear-monitors, which have even more drivers.

If there’s a slight criticism it’s that the highs can be a little harsh with the blue filters installed, but if that’s the signature you prefer, it’s not fatiguing. And if you don’t like it, just swap the filters.

Verdict

Overall, the RockJaw Resonate is an excellent IEM, which serves up brilliant sound quality along with great build quality (including detachable cables) at an amazing price.