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After taking a look at almost all of the
series of analog based devices that have been coming from Cooler Master in
the last year, I was certainly curious how they planned to proceed with
their next project. Today, I have the answer to that question sitting on my
desk. The Musketeer 3 doesn’t look much like the other devices in the
series, but it does offer something that I promise you’ve NEVER seen offered
for a desktop PC before!
Packaging and Contents
The Musketeer 3 arrived in the usual purple Cooler Master packaging. The box
had the relevant details on the side, and enough pictures to be
entertaining. Moving on…
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Pulling all the goods out of the aforementioned
box reveals a manual, PCI bracket with audio plugs, a small bag of screws,
and the Musketeer 3.
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Now, the last thing I ever expected to see from
Cooler Master is implement a vacuum tube amplifier on an audio product
coming out after the millennium, but that’s exactly what we have here. The
large glass tube behind the window on the left makes it very visible, and
the large volume display on the right is the perfect compliment. A vacuum
tube lives only as long as it stays hard, or sealed, so I was pleased to see
the protective covering over the rear of the tube. I’ve seen the merits of
Vacuum tube and Transistor amplifiers argued numerous times from audiophile
types, but the discussion almost never comes up with the high tech computer
crowd. Several studies by engineers have shown that electrically, there is
no difference in the outgoing signals between a transistor and a vacuum tube
amplifier. However, if you ask a Musician about a tube amplifier he/she is
likely to tell you that the tube sounds much cleaner and airy without the
‘white noise’ that is associated with a transistor amp. There still are a
number of manufacturers out there who produce high end tube preamps for
exactly this kind of listener – McIntosh and Manley Labs quickly come to
mind.
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So what does all this mean for the Musketeer 3?
I noticed an immediate issue in that you’re probably not going to be getting
a ‘clean’ analog signal going into this device. The days of all vacuum tube
computing are long gone and your soundcard will likely have done its work
purely in digital. The problem with that is that once the extra data from
the analog waveform is lost, it’s gone for good. Most of our modern source
audio is not likely going to come from an analog source like tape or vinyl
record in the first place.
Another issue I spotted was that the only option for audio on this gadget is
the front panel, which means headphones only unless you want to run a wire
all the way around the front of your case. I’ll accept that this little tube
might not have enough power to drive a set of full size speakers well.
Cooler Master probably should have supplied an output on the rear PCI card,
with an appropriate warning.
Specifications
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
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