Page 2 - Physical Look
As much work as writing a review is, designing some good looking headphones to appeal to a big market must take even more. The Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro has an inoffensive look with the mainly black and grey color scheme, and there is only some color thanks to a darker red cable leading out of the left ear cup. The cable is two meters long, and it is flattened instead of round. There are certain benefits to using a flat cable; however, for headphones, I think it will mostly be personal preference. Along the two meter long cable is a bulky in-line remote controlling many of the different features, while at the end we find the gold-plated USB connector. The ear cups are large and oval shaped with a great amount of cushioning to ensure the most comfort while gaming. They are also slightly angled forward to fit better, which actually works quite well. Some headsets use more plastic than others to accomplish a very light feel, but it does take away a sense of class from the product. The Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro has a steel frame holding the ear cups in place, which also reaches over the headband. This design keeps everything rigid, and gives a feeling of quality to them. Even the plastic used in certain areas do not feel cheap, but rather hard and solid, ensuring the entire feel of the product to be one of quality. The entire design accentuates extra work placed into it, especially with round corners on all the pieces of metal, and from what I can tell, there are also no inconsistencies within them. The build quality of the Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro is great.
As aforementioned, the ear cups are large and oval shaped with thick padding. The large shape ensures a good fit on most users, and the metal design does not add a significant amount of extra weight for the headset to be uncomfortable during prolonged use. However, the because of the rigid steel frame, the headset can clamp too hard on your head, and can cause head fatigue. The ear cups are covered in leather, which is another bonus to the quality feel of the Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro. The ear cups provide a good seal, especially since they are slightly angled forward. Usually, gaming headsets will have a visible microphone on a boom arm, which can be retracted or disconnected. The Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro has a small omni-directional microphone, which can barely be seen along the top of the ear cup in this picture. I do not like this design, and would prefer an actual microphone I can disconnect and connect at my leisure, but this is just my personal preference. The microphone has a frequency response of 100 Hz to 10 KHz. The earphones themselves feature 44mm drivers, with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 KHz, while the rated impedance is 50 ohms. Technical specifications aside, we will see how the headphones perform on the next page.
The headband on most headphones is very important to the amount of comfort it can provide. Instead of having to worry about adjusting the headband to specific notches, the design of the Cooler MasterPulse Pro allows one to just put them on, and let the headband adjust itself to different users. I am not very fond of this design, since it loses how tight it sits over time. The headband consists of two parts. There is the overarching metal part providing structure, while there is a piece that will be touching your head. It is made by soft rubber along the top to provide it some flexibility, while the bottom side has five separate pouches of padding, all of which is covered in leather. Again, the aluminum frame can clamp too hard on someone’s head, especially right below the ear. Unfortunately, the metal frame also absorbs vibrations, and reverberates in the headset in an audible manner if it is bumped or rubbed.
Cooler Master's new theme of "Make it Yours" has been pushed quite a bit in their recent products, and the Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro is no different. One of the features being pushed by Cooler Master for these headphones is the Bass FX technology. Headphones are typically limited in their listening experience because of their size and their closed backs. Cooler Master has found a very simple solution to this. The sides can be removed to have Bass FX on. Removing the sides gives a boost to the bass, which is really useful for some games and for those who prefer a bass heavy music experience. The side panels click in and out of place by the use of magnets. Cooler Master also provides a template for anyone with a 3D printer wishing to create custom side panels.
Of course, we all know a gaming product without RGB lighting is no real gaming product at all nowadays. Luckily, the Cooler Master MasterPulse Pro feature RGB lights on the side panels, and they are controlled by the in-line remote. Because the included manual does not feature any information on how to use the in-line remote, it took me a little bit of time to figure it out. There is no software to make using the RGB illumination easier or to adjust the equalizer. After clicking the button through the few colors, the mode will switch to either cycling through all the colors, or just being static on one color. I found using it fairly clunky, and would have preferred some software personally. According to the company, the software is not released yet, but there will be in the future.
There is a button to optimize the headphones for music, movies, gaming, and an equalizer off feature. Each mode is indicated by a color on the in-line remote, which is red, blue and purple. However, there is no information in the manual to indicate which color is which mode. From what I could tell, red is for music, blue for movies, and purple for gaming. On the in-line remote, there is also a sound control and a slider for microphone on or off. The volume buttons are not very responsive, and can feel cheap as a result.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Subjective Audio Analysis
4. Conclusion
