The Musketeer 3

Product:	Musketeer 3
Manufacturer:	CoolerMaster
Information:	Coolermaster website
Street price:	49 USD/EUR

Hey everyone .. Cooler Master Musketeer 3 is a sound quality controller that filters the accurate digital signal of sound to a much more harmonic output in a classical way - Vacuum Tube Technology. With its dial VU meter and cascade volume control at the front panel, Cooler Master Musketeer 3 brings you back to 60's as well as the ancient-restored vacuum light warming your heart.

Did somebody at CoolerMaster have loose his mind ? I mean, there's a reason that vacuum tubes were left in history back in the 50's: they kinda suck.  However, they might have lost their minds, but they ain't crazy.  Tubes have been making a bit of a renaissance comeback lately in audio.  Amplifiers using tubes have always been apart of studios, and really, you can't have a rock 'n roll band without some screaming tube amps for the guitars.  I would venture to say that every song you hear will have a tube somewhere in audio chain.

You see, tubes are really inefficient for audio, requiring lots of voltage, and make a lot of heat.  Heat, as we can all testify, is the enemy.  Transistors eclipsed them years ago on cost and low distortion.  Speaking of distortion, what you may not know, is that when a tube clips its output it produces a softer, even-order harmonic distortion that is not as bad on the ears as odd-order harmonic distortion.  This quality alone makes them desirable for audiophiles who want something more musical.

Whether audiophiles can really hear a difference is another article.

Specifications

Dimensions 149 × 43 × 75.5 mm (L x W x H) Right dial display Sound pressure meter Lift window Vacuum tube compartment Sound Pressure -20 to +3dB (up to the input level of the sound card) Line in level Depend on line-out output level Typical total harmonic distortion 0.3% (typical) SNR >80dB Impedance 600 Ohms Power source Peripheral connecter of PC power supply Weight 220g

So, what we have now is the Musketeer 3 by CoolerMaster which aims to give your audio a slice of the audiophile good-life.  Well, after coming off the high of our Creative Labs SoundBlaster X-Fi review, we dive into a technology that will make our MP3's measurably worse, yet sound tangibly better.  No, there's no Crystalizer involved.

With tubes, of course!

The Musketeer 3 is a 5 ¼" drive bay insert that will process your sound by passing it through a smooth sounding tube.