Cooler Master MasterPulse ear bud headphones

1. Introduction2. Unboxing3. Masterpulse ear buds4. Testing5. Final Thoughts6. View All Pages

If there is one peripheral that is really influenced by personal preference, it's headphones. They can have different sounds, different styles but most obviously, different form factors. Over the ear is pretty common, but then there's on ear, around the ear, in-ear. While Cooler Master has released a tonne of headsets in the former styles, it has not done much with the latter, until now.

The MasterPulse are a pair of in-ear headphones that can hook up to your phone, just as well as your PC and deliver a customisable sound wherever you are. They are compact, stylised and feature Cooler Master's own Bass Boost technology, to deliver a real thumping sound to your ears.

They also come complete with a carry case and replaceable ear buds, making them extra portable and wearable by just about anyone.

Specifications

Ear buds

• Driver: 8mm driver.
• Frequency Response: 20Hz-20KHz.
• Impedance: 20Ω.
• Sensitivities (@100Hz): 119dB ± 3dB (bass on), 109dB ± 3dB (bass off).
• Max output power: 20mW.
• Cable Length: 1.3m.
• Connector: 3.5mm gold-plated headphone jack.

Microphone

• Pick-up Pattern: Omni-Directional.
• Frequency Response: 100 Hz – 10 KHz.
• Sensitivity: -44 ± 4dB (at 1KHz, 1V/PA).
• Signal to Noise Ratio: 58dB or more.

The packaging for the MasterPulse ear buds is very similar to what we have seen from other in-ear headphone manufacturers in recent years: compact, slate grey and with a nicely sized image of the ear buds themselves on it.

There are plenty of details about the ear buds on the packaging, but this is also the kind of box you can pop open to have a look at what you are buying – perfect for those buying off the shelf.

Inside, along with the headphones, you find a short set up manual, a Cooler Master calling card and a padded carry case with two sets of different sized, alternative ear bud tips.

The ear buds themselves are a fetching bullet grey for the cabling and housing. There is plenty of cable to work with, so you will not come up short and there is even an in-line volume control to play with too, that acts as a microphone when you would rather be hands free.

The ear buds themselves have silicon tips, which can be switched out for the various size options also included if you prefer. These sit over quite typical looking tuners, which cannot be switched out as we have seen with other ear buds.

However, what you can do with these is use the dials on the back of each earbud to enable bass boost, which has a dramatic effect on the sound.

At the far end of the cable, the connector is a standard 3.5mm, but it is gold plated to improve durability. It also has a cable protector fitted at the base, to prevent damage to the cabling should you yank it around too much.

You will notice similar protectors at the base of the earbuds as well.

The inline volume control has a little microphone built in with its own mute switch

To test the Cooler Master MasterPulse ear buds I put them through their paces over several days of music listening at a desktop PC with on board audio and using a smartphone (Sony Xperia Z5 Compact). All the while I judged them for their audio quality with various genres of music and at different volumes, considering the comfort of their fit over long periods of use.

Although designed more as an entertainment set of ear buds than with gaming in mind, the MasterPulse actually worked quite well as a set of gaming ear phones too. Whether in atmospheric titles like Alien Isolation and Subnautica, or in more explosive games like Spare Pirate Trainer and Unreal Tournament, the Master Pulse did a good job of making you feel like you are part of the game world.

The stereo panning is decent and you can get a good feel for where the Xenomorph or Reaper Leviathan are while you make your way through the various games' settings.

Although it is an optional feature, I think for most games you are going to want to activate bass boost, as it does lend an added depth to the sound. While it might muddy the waters of the more mid-range frequencies a little, in most cases it is worth the trade off.

When it comes to music, that is much less apparent and I found that the MasterPulse did a solid job of handling the entire auditory spectrum. Bass heavy tracks could enjoy a thumping and rumbling lower end, while highs come through nice and clear in more melodic tracks.

If I had one criticism of the MasterPulse is that it does not have the crispest of sounds though. It does not sound like a mess as some lower end headsets can sound, but you do lose a little of the clarity that more expensive headsets are capable of. This is most pronounced when bass boost is enabled. While I do like what it does to the sound, it may not be a setting that audiophiles want to leave enabled all of the time.

Volume wise, the MasterPulse can hit respectable noise levels. You are not going to blow your ear drums, but there is enough headroom that you will be able to give yourself a headache if you push it. Unfortunately there is some clarity loss at the very top end of the volume scale, though that is not that uncommon at this price point.

Comfort wise I found these Cooler Master ear buds to be lovely to wear. I happily had them plugged in for a few hours at a time without chafing or rubbing or any kind. They rarely fell out too, which was a nice bonus, especially when playing active VR titles.

Running was another matter, but it is rare to find in-ear buds that will stay in throughout mile upon mile of road running. These ones hang around long enough though, so you will not find yourself shoving them back in every few seconds.

In terms of the fit, I found the Cooler Master MasterPulse a little finicky to work with. While the temptation with in-ear buds is to shove them in deep so that they stay put, I found – particularly with the left ear bud – that this could sometimes cause the sound to be almost completely muted. While it feels counter intuitive, the best sound with these ear buds comes when they are a little loose and sit just inside your ear.

I do like the cable though. Although its shape does not prevent it from being easily tangled, its shaping seems to have almost completely eliminate microphonics. It is also lightweight and strong, so if these get yanked out of your ears you do not need to worry about it breaking.

Noise cancellation when the ear buds are in and in-use is pretty strong. They are not as good as some of the active noise-cancelling headphones we have tried in the past, but when typing and a music track is playing around 50 per cent volume, I am unable to hear my clacking on a mechanical keyboard, which is a pretty solid endorsement.

Microphone quality was about on par for an in-line microphone: fine for VOIP, but do not expect to record your next album on it.

Cooler Master's MasterPulse earbuds are unlikely to replace your dedicated gaming headset any time soon, but for the odd big of gaming, music listening on the go and a movie now and again, they would do any user proud.

Sound quality with these in ear-buds is decent across the board, with solid representation at the lower end thanks to Cooler Master's patented BassBoost FX technology. However in this reviewer's experience it does muddy up the sound in detailed musical tracks. While I usually opted to leave it on, those who prefer clarity over oomph will definitely prefer to leave it off.

In gaming however that is far less apparent and the added depth to the sound given by such a feature is well worth enabling – I was very glad it was there.

Noise cancelling is also pretty strong, letting you type away with music playing without hearing yourself. I was not able to test this on a blue-switch keyboard, but browns are plenty loud any way and I could not hear a thing when these ear buds were playing at half volume.

Comfort wise these headphones are great and do not put any undue pressure on your ears. I did find it hard to find the right spot for sound quality though. They sounded better when fitted more loosely, but that leaves them more prone to falling out if you move your head around, so it ends up as a bit of a toss up.

The cable was good. It got tangled quite often, but the lack of microphonics from its flattened design was a really nice change from the ear buds we have tested in the past.

All in all, the Cooler Master MasterPulse are a decent pair of ear buds that could easily replace a stock pair from your smartphone and might even be a good choice for a bit of laptop gaming while on a train or similar. Personally I find the bass-heavy sound a bit muddy, but for those that like their headphones to focus on the lower end of the spectrum, these would not be a bad choice.

You can buy the Cooler Master MasterPulse for £40 at the usual places. Though it's not easy to find stock of them at the moment, we're told that it is with distribution now, so these should be much more readily available in short order.

Pros

• They sound good but are bass heavy.
• BassFX is a nice addition, especially for gaming.
• Microphone quality is fine for VOIP, or calls.
• Noise cancelling works well.
• Cable has almost zero microphonics.

Cons

• Bass heavy sound can muddy the waters with some music.
• The fit is difficult to get right and can be quite loose in the right spot.
• Cable seems to tangle quite easily.

KitGuru Says: The Cooler Master MasterPulse are a great upgrade for your standard smartphone ear buds, but they cannot really take the fight to decent gaming headphones, especially when it comes to the fit.

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