As part of their continuing line of ‘Master’ products, the MasterPulse PRO takes charge as Cooler Master’s USB gaming headset with v7.1 surround.
Product on Review: Cooler Master MasterPulse PRO
Manufacturer & Sponsor: Cooler Master
Street Price: UK: £79.99, US: $89.99
As the successor to the Pulse-R, at least in name, Cooler Master shape up their latest gaming headset with an array of new features.
The MasterPulse PRO is USB powered and has an integrated soundcard to provide a virtual 7.1 surround experience as well as various preset EQ options. The frame itself has moved to the popular suspension style, which gives an interesting aesthetic appearance as well as being able to automatically adjust to the wearers head size. At its heart, the MasterPulse PRO is powered by 44mm drivers and features the patented Bass FX technology. This technology is effectively implemented in the form of magnetically removable side panels that alter the acoustic properties of the output audio. As this is part of the ‘Master’ series, these side panels can be customised by using the downloadable model so users can 3D print their own custom panels.
Overview by Cooler Master
MasterPulse is a stylish over-ear headset, equipped with virtual 7.1 channel surround sound and Cooler Master patented Bass FX technology for two easy-to-switch sound modes. It has a comfortable lightweight design, includes an in-line dedicated sound card, RGB illuminated ear cups and 3+1 equalizer profiles.
Technical Specifications
Earphones
Driver: 44mm driver
Frequency Response: 20~20,000Hz
Impedance: 50Ohm
Sensitivities (@100Hz): 118dB ± 3dB, 109dB ± 3dB (bass off):
Max output power: 100mW
Cable Length: 2m
Connector: USB gold-plated
Microphone
Pick-up Pattern: Omni-Directional
Frequency Response: 100~10,000Hz
Sensitivity: -34 ± 3dB (0db = 1V/pa.1KHz)
Signal to Noise Ratio: 50dB or more
Driver: 44mm driver
Frequency Response: 20~20,000Hz
Impedance: 50Ohm
Sensitivities (@100Hz): 118dB ± 3dB, 109dB ± 3dB (bass off):
Max output power: 100mW
Cable Length: 2m
Connector: USB gold-plated
Microphone
Pick-up Pattern: Omni-Directional
Frequency Response: 100~10,000Hz
Sensitivity: -34 ± 3dB (0db = 1V/pa.1KHz)
Signal to Noise Ratio: 50dB or more
Packaging & First Look
The MasterPulse Pro comes in sleek, gunmetal grey packaging with some minimal branding and information layered over the top. Inside the front cover is a window to view the headset as well as some technical specifications.
On the reverse side we find a list of features in various languages.
The headset features a large, plastic in-line remote control that features switches for microphone mute, enable/disable v7.1, volume up/down as well as toggle EQ setting.
The headset itself looks rather large and features the Cooler Master logo on the sides of the earcups. There main frame is made from flexible metal with a large headband suspended between the earcups. The cable is a ribbon type and is coloured red. Though its not quite as vibrant as some may prefer, also, a good quality plain black braided cable may be more aesthetically pleasing.
Closer Look
The headband is mixed construction of rubberised plastic over a firmer material, lined with soft cushions coated with a faux leatherette.
The suspension design features elasticated cables that run through the headband and adjusts to headsize automatically. Though the ribbon cable also traverses this space but is given enough slack as to not overstretch.
The earcups are lined with a thick layer of padding that feels like dense foam, and is covered with the leatherette. There is an ear-hole that is relatively large at 65 x 50mm and so should give most a good seal.
The side panels are magnetically removable and reveal a mesh design surrounding the Cooler Master LED logo, this is the Bass FX technology that changes the bass reflex instantly thus improving the bass quality once removed.
The flexible metal frame looks fantastic, though as it is connected to the outside part of the earcup, it creates a wide appearance while being worn, something that many are increasingly being more conscious of.
The MasterPulse range are all fitted with an internal microphone which is an interesting solution. This creates a hassle free microphone and a more pleasing aesthetic. The microphone can be seen here as the small hole.
Performance Testing
Setup, Design & ObservationsAs the MasterPulse PRO is driverless, all that is needed from your system is a spare USB 2.0 port. Once the proprietary drivers have installed, you will be ready to go.
The remote control offers various features, including being able to select LED colour from, Spectrum cycle, red, yellow, green, light blue, deep blue, pink/purple, white, or you can turn the LED lighting off. There are 3+1 EQ modes, including Flat (LED OFF), Bass+ (RED), middle+ (BLUE) and treble+ (PINK). The inline remote is rather large and feels rather cheaply made with no ergonomic considerations at all. It does feature a clip on the back should you wish to fix it to an article of clothing, however I found that its shape and positioning made it very awkward to use. Even worse, it is very easy to get confused as to which switch does what while in game.
The overall construction of the headset is very good, with parts feeling very robust and of high quality, though this also makes the headset feel rather heavy, our scales put it at around 380g. We picked up on the use of the ribbon cable previous, stating that many would prefer a braided cable, but it would have been nice to have seen a removable cable too, with the headset itself ending with a 4pole jack that can be supplied with a USB DSP for virtual surround. This would drastically improve the versatility of the MasterPulse PRO headset.
On wearing the headset, we found that the clamping force is rather high, causing fatigue rather quickly, combined with the relatively firm padding, we found it quite unforgiving, some may want larger ear-holes too. The upside of this is that the noise isolation is very good and there is minimal sound leakage.
Multimedia
Listening to music was fairly enjoyable, but the mid-tones sounded rather muted, creating an almost tinny or compressed sound. The preset equalisers gave various options to change this, but we found the the bass went from negligible to muddy with no in-between. The blue preset sounded the best while listening to various tracks from electronic music to heavy rock and it was slightly improved by removing the side-panels. The bass improvement is very subtle, but it works.
In game, we found that the virtual surround mode widened the audio, sounding a little like added reverb, while boosting the already rather-loud volume level. Though the directional awareness wasn’t really improved outside of what you would expect from a stereo headset and so it seems to be software-emulating the soundstage of what some headsets would naturally have anyway. By toggling between v7.1 modes and the various built in EQ, there are settings that provide a good gaming experience.
Microphone
Having an internal microphone is an interesting and great solution that answers that ever problem of a pesky microphone boom. The voice sounds a little deep, and muted, but is otherwise clear audible in various VOIP applications. Though, as there is no software driver, it suffers from noise leakage from whatever you are listening to, and clearly picks up various background noises. A little noise filtering could take this microphone a long way.
Conclusion
As a headset entering 2017, the MasterPulse PRO feels a little behind the curve. Sure, it features everything most PC gamers will want from a gaming headset, but its implementation doesn’t quite allow it to shine considering its £80 asking price, the honest truth is, there are a lot of very good gaming headsets available and the MasterPulse PRO struggles to find a position between them, making it seem like poor value.
The headset itself feels very high quality, but towards the realm where it seems over-engineered, thus reflected by its weight. Not to mention that its comfort is drastically reduced by its clamping strength, causing fatigue rather quickly. Also, it takes a backward step in regards to versatility, as its fixed ribbon cable and USB end mean that you won’t be able to take this headset across various platforms with you. The cheap feeling, poorly designed in-line remote/soundcard can only be described as disappointing, there is no substance to it making it confusing to use. The ideal solution for a USB headset would simply be to make it wireless with a dongle and have optional detachable USB and analogue connectivity as standard.
The removable panels are not quite a new innovation, as the original Pulse-R also featured this option, however now that Cooler Master have enabled additional customisation options as well as using this feature to adjust the acoustic properties of the earcups is a rather interesting proposition. Though, it seems to me that the headset simply sounds that little bit better without the side panels, so why bother having them in the first place? Once you remove the side panels, where are you going to store them? Maybe some will like removing them for some situations, and adding them for other situations? This amounts to faffing around with something that is entirely unneeded. If you want to make a line of gaming headphones, create one open backed, one closed backed and make them both wireless and versatile.
The overall audio quality isn’t bad, and does provide a loud, and rather enjoyable experience if you can get the settings right, however, the virtual surround sounds like a widening of the audio via a large amount of added reverb than actual directional rendering, while the sound itself sounds rather compressed with lost detail. In the realms of gaming this isn’t too important as it clearly picks up footsteps and creates dramatic gunfights and explosions, while in-game audio cues are clearly presented. Much of the audio problems could potentially be fixed with a software driver, and it would be nice to see some microphone noise filtering added with that too. Though at the end of all this, we end up back at our opening statement.
The Cooler Master MasterPulse PRO presents many desirable features, though may fail to capture attention due to strong competition.
Pros.
+ Solid Construction
+ Internal microphone
Mediocre
+- Hit and miss audio
+- Bass FX (customisable side panels)
Cons.
– Strong clamping force
– Uncomfortable for long periods of time
– Heavy
– Cheap feeling, confusing remote
– No noise filtering for microphone
– No driver support
– Outclassed by many competitors
– Price
+ Solid Construction
+ Internal microphone
Mediocre
+- Hit and miss audio
+- Bass FX (customisable side panels)
Cons.
– Strong clamping force
– Uncomfortable for long periods of time
– Heavy
– Cheap feeling, confusing remote
– No noise filtering for microphone
– No driver support
– Outclassed by many competitors
– Price
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
