Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 37

COOLERMAST

★★★★★

£55•From http://www.amazon.co.uk

GAMINGHEADSET

VERDICT

The MH630 doesn’t need perfectly
audio when it’s got such agreat mic
appealingprice

HEADPHONESSUBTYPEOver-ear•PLUG TYPE3.5mm•

WEIGHT304g•CABLELENGTH1.5m•WARRANTY

TwoyearsRTB•DETAILSwww.coolermaster.com•

PART CODE 884102066801

SPECIFICATIONS

THEMH630IStheentry-levelmod
CoolerMaster’snewheadsetrange.
therearefewofthemorepremium
seen on the pricier MH650 and MH 6
models, such as virtual surround sou
lightingorwirelesscapability;instea
MH630focusesonsimplesoundqu
microphoneperformance.
It’snotpurelybasic,however.Ins
cupisasizable50mmneodymiumd
boththemicrophoneand3.5mmcab
detachable,makingtheMH 63 0easie
the included carryingpouch.The ear
abilitytorotateflatalsohelpswitht
althoughtheycan’tfully foldinward
Still,thelowerpriceisalsoclearly
in the build. Construction largelyand
favours plain plastic, and the paddin
ontheheadbandandonthecups–
out of ahighly synthetic-feelingfabr
leatherettefinish,like yougetonthe
would have felt much nicer, and the
covers can’tberemoved and replace
Fortunately,there’senoughadjustment
togetacomfyenoughfit, andweneverfelt
worndownbywearingtheMH630evenafter
afewhours.Theheadband alsohasastrong
metal strip running through it,soit’s not
entirely plastic.

CABLE SERVICE
There are also built-in controlsonthe left
earcup:avolume wheel andamicrophone
mutebutton. Thesecome at the expense of
inline controls, but that’sfine by us: an inline
remotecan be easiertouse,asyou cansee
what you’re doing, but they alsoweigh
down the cable and canmake theheadset
seem heavier if it’s not sitting in yourlap or
clippedtoyour clothes.
Speakingofthe cable, it’s asimple
3.5-to-3.5mm affair,although amic and
headphonesplitterisincluded in box as well.
This allowsfor amuch greaterdegree of
flexibility than, say, aUSB connection: besides
the usual PCsand laptops, using thesingle
3.5mmconnector letsyou hookuptoconsoles
and handheld devicesaswell(as long as the
latter actually has a3.5mm port, of course).
We mainlytested it through themore
conventional methodofgood oldPCgaming,
and forthe most partitsounds very decent.
Bass and sub-bass are tightlycontrolled, and
while that doesn’t mean the same impactful
low-end thumpof, say, the HyperX Cloud
series, it also ensures that the higher

asthemidsareatouchrecessed.

LOCATION,LOCATION,LOCATION

There’sasurprisingly strongpositional effect,

on both the vertical andhorizontal planes.

This is great forshootersand horror games,

whereyou’llwanttolisten forwhere nearby

footsteps and othersound effects arecoming

from; it mightnot be thedigital7.1 surround

soundofthe MH650, but it’s good to see

that paying alittle less doesn’thavetomean

losing this 3D effect.

Thebest part, from agamingperspective,

is themicrophone.It’s easilyadjustable and

picks up speechalmost as crisply and cleanly

as arespectable desktopmicrophone, like the

Blue Yeti series,and even though there’sno

foam pop filter, we had no problems with

air-induced distortion.

Be careful if you’re using amechanical

keyboard, however, as themicrophonecan

andwillpickupthe sound of youclackingthe

keys,even if it’s arelatively quiet switchlike

Cherry’s MX Red. If youhavethe volume loud

enough, the MH630’smic caneven pick up

thesoundfrom its own headphones. If you’re

playinggames with friends,most of this will

be drowned outbytheir own playback, but

it’s still notideal.

Even withthese shortcomings,however,we

happilyused the MH630 fornumerous gaming

sessions without complaints fromteammates

aboutthe micpicking up excesssound.

performanceisfineandthehighscome

throughclean,buttheabsenceofa

commandingmid-rangeisunfortunatenews

forcertain genres.Rock tracks, or anything

with lots of distorted guitars andcrashing

cymbals, just don’t sound as richorasdetailed

as songsthat moreclosely benefit from the

more present lows and highs.

Then again,for £55 this headset could

soundalot worse.There’s anice wide

soundstage and effectiveinstrument

separation, so it’s not as though complex

tracksare amuddledmess.

HEAD START

The MH630 makes afew compromises, both

to itsdesign andits audio performance,but

rememberthat it’s notjust the most

affordable of Cooler Master’s three new

models: it’s also quiteaggressivelypriced for

agamingheadset more generally.With that

in mind, itscomfort and microphone clarity

are all the moreimpressive,and even if

soundquality could be improved, it’s definitely

good enoughfor competitive games.

JamesArcher

TERR MH630

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frequencies aren’toverwhelmed in moments

of intense action.That’s particularly important,

asthemidssareatouchrecessed

We’d be less contenttwith usingthe MH630

as music headphones,however.Again, bass

performanceisfineandthehighscome