The CoolerMaster Musketeer 3 -
Page 5 - Benchmarks
Benchmarks
For our last part of the review we turn to RM
What we can see here is that the Musketeer 3 does pretty well! CoolerMaster specifies it at >80dB dynamic range, and at a measured 93.6 dBA it is comfortably above that. In fact, this swinging Musketeer 3 measured better than what CoolerMaster press material says.
Let's take a look at the individual graphs.
The frequency plot is very flat, +0.05 to -0.09 (40 Hz - 15 kHz). Generally with tubes is that the frequency response will get more squirrelly the lower the impedance.
Actually very good, at -93.5 dBA. Not as squeaky clean as the X-Fi, but still impressively low.
Dynamic range is the difference between the 1 kHz tone and the noise, and at 93.6 dBA the Musketeer 3 is very impressive for antiquated tech.
Aha! This is the even-order distortion you read about, and pretty good for tubes at 0.121%. This is almost picture perfect as well, following the harmonic series right up into the stratosphere. This is one of the factors that lead audio engineers to use transistors instead.
I'm not exactly sure what RM
Stereo crosstalk is the channel leakage from one to the other. Lower numbers mean better stereo depth, image, and separation. -66 dB is not too bad, actually, but compared to the X-Fi it's quite a loss.
There is a new test in RM
RM
The Musketeer 3 is CoolerMaster's foray into the bygone analog era passed. It puts the tube back into your computer, reviving the retro stereophonic sound. The Musketeer 3 is smooth, classy, and well made, but it also comes with a few flaws.