VU Meters for the PC! Cooler Master Musketeer 2 from 2004

[@TheGreatDrAsian]

10:09 Probably the best shot in KZbin history lol

[@NoCareLuke]

Nothing shows the true quality of a PC component than the shininess of the buttons.

[@nslouka90]

Reminds me of every 90’s music video that had to use a fisheye lens and get up close

[@jackthoreson]

I wonder if there's a tiny face Clint in every video, like an LGR Easter egg.

[@dans6127]

I paused at 10:12 and proceeded to laugh hysterically

[@j.donaldson2758]

I want to know how long it took him to line that up.

[@dannewcomb8810]

"component-inspired chuckling" ...props on the captions editing.

[@rootsradical]

[Redundant Chuckle]

[@interlace84]

Ahh the days I sold those and a crapton of casemodding oddities from '03-'05 😍 still have a stack of oddware from liquid UV sound-reactive cathodes to usb coffee mug heaters :) better times

[@Severius33]

Can't believe 2004 was 16 years ago now. 2004 is old enough to drive now. Damn I feel old.

[@XMguy]

I was 20.

[@grzzltn]

it isn't old enough to drive in Hungary (for cars 17 years of age is the minimum)

[@robertthomas4633]

@@grzzltn 15 in most US states. I was driving a big ass truck pulling a trailer at 15. Definitely should not have been.

[@renatoigmed]

not here in Brazil where our legislation is so stupid and backward that people under the age of 18 cannot drive or be arrested as grown-up adults. but they can vote for incompetent and corrupt politicians.

[@pedrofelck]

@@renatoigmed típico BR comentando

[@carolinehusky]

All I want is a physical Vu meter that measures my CPU load, Grafics load, and FPS... 😭

[@CrowCZ]

That would be an interesting project and quite possible using Raspberry Pi or something similar.

[@marijntuinstra5310]

But make them use square vu windows ... Looks more modern and high end

[@treelineresearch3387]

@@CrowCZ Simple uC platform like an Arduino/AVR or ARM Cortex M0 would be more than enough, just have a applet or daemon that runs in the background sending out metrics over USB, and the microcontroller generating PWM that gets filtered to drive some meters.

[@aserta]

If you want a more simple project ahead, go with Raspberry Pi. If you want a more complicated rewarding one, Arduino. Check your MOBO if it doesn't have any documentation for test points. If not, you'll have to either write a small program or coopt data from an existing one like HWMonitor (with the mention that i use an older version, i am unaware of the state of that program today) which has readings that can be copied and displayed in the physical sense. The FPS one is the most complicated, but i'm not an expert, barely middle ground.

[@llab3903]

Treeline Research nerd

[@pj0t]

Funny and strange it says "USKETEER II" on the board Also funny close-up at 10:12.... Great stuff!

[@wal]

It’s a known fact...VU meters make audio sound better. Psychoacoustics at work!

[@xxtravdamanxx]

OH LOOK!!!! A GAYLORD PERSON!!!!!

[@keedah]

Psychoacoustics?More like audiophiles

[@kowalskidiazdegeras9190]

They can also work as a kind of micro-windshield wipers

[@Foxhood]

They do make for a fun visual extra. I personally like to build mine out of Magic-eye tubes and Nixie Bargraphs. Just don't forget to get some A-Weighting implementing if you don't want them to only work on bass.

[@MrDustpile]

Late comment but there would be a vague use at least for home recording. Software has all the metering anyway but it would be OK to glance at when metering is offscreen. Meters for line IN would be more useful.

[@soldadoryanbr7776]

_The 2000's is strong in this one_

[@seshpenguin]

aw yea

[@NatsukiMogiIsBestGirl]

Hi there, Takumi!

[@fluffycritter]

Might be possible to add a smoothing capacitor to the hard drive indicator, so it shows a moving average activity level instead of a strict 0/1.

[@everythingfeline7367]

exactly my thought. a big capacitor and possibly a resistor and/or diode to make the regular LED work properly still.

[@fluffycritter]

@@everythingfeline7367 Yeah, or even just using a buffer or transistor or something to isolate the VU from the LED

[@monad_tcp]

I thought the board would do that. Missed opportunity.

[@fluffycritter]

@@monad_tcp Yeah, it looks like they were relying on the physical inertia of the VU needle itself to provide that smoothing, which is... well, not great.

[@NLRevZ]

@@fluffycritter I always liked the little 'tick' the needle made when it smashed into the internal end stop upon disk activity. It was reassuring somehow haha

[@UselessDuckCompany]

Aggressively useless

[@Musicialgamer]

Says the guy who made a talking banana. Seriously though, love your work.

[@alalalala57]

@LTrain 45 no u

[@GldRush98]

What a perfect description for this thing.

[@doubtful_seer]

Sounds like the tag line of my birth announcement

[@sameash3153]

Blows marijuana smoke on the screen 🌿🔥🚬👌😤💨💨💨📲

[@thecommenter578]

3:33 if TeachMoan was a gamer that would be his PC

[@Velarieth]

"The more buttons the better" This man clearly doesn't have a toddler lol Otherwise, yes. definitely true.

[@somesz83]

Temporarily I glued a Hot Wheels blister in front of my pc buttons... The PC can only bw switched on or reset with a pencil through a small hole. I have two little sons. :-)

[@taltigolt]

i played midtown madness 2 so much in the past i miss it

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

I thought it was Driver until he said what it was, must be the way the pedestrians dive out of the way on both games.

[@Shadow750Jax]

I really love how you have your videos timed perfectly with your ads. It's so annoying watching a video and it get interrupted in mid-sentence. Also kudos to you and your extremely entertaining videos!

[@arbutuswatcher]

This reminds me of the 'blingy' car stereos & C.B. Radios, from back in the day. Multi-Colored lights & meters.... Tech Bling! :)

[@nslouka90]

They still exist...unfortunately

[@CommodoreFan64]

I've never gotten the appeal of it all either to this day, I can't even stand colored RGB fans. I only tolerate lights on my keyboards, and 13in Macbook Pro mid 2012 because it helps me see easier with my screwed up eyesight. Having said that I am a sticker junkie, and have some of my laptops, and desktop cases covered in them.

[@rhomis]

The internet killed the CB radio clubs.

[@taben9jake]

This makes me think of those "EQ" led things you can stick to the back window of your car that pulse to the music with no relation to what an actual EQ would read.

[@FastBowtie388]

Remember when CBs were available factory? I plugged my old CB in about 4 years ago to give it a try to see if ppl still use them.... nope lol. I live a mile from I75 and couldn't get anything in 19 or heard anyone talking for almost an hour. Still hear Mexico skipping across the airwaves though :-)

[@shmanielshmlane2359]

I always think it’s fascinating when you or techmoan make videos on something that seems so ancient, but it still has amazon reviews from when they were new. Just crazy realizing how old I am getting now

[@LGR]

You and me both. 2004 seems like yesterday.

[@mattb154]

Man, I know what you mean. I still think of flat screen displays as new.

[@UlfAlfred]

I still have one of these... right beside me, in my computer... right now :D

[@LGR]

Nice! Does yours have wonky VU meters or is mine just bad?

[@UlfAlfred]

@@LGR I haven´t connected any passthough. It´s just for aestetics. Thanks for your awesome Vid´s! keep rockin´!

[@NoobGyver]

the legend uses it today

[@NLRevZ]

@LGR I do still have mine somewhere, in an old first generation Centurion 5 case. The VU meters were not wonky, the input level was. They misengineered the circuit to expect line level input, not speaker level input. If you turned down the sliders on the Musketeer 2, the meters would work as they should. Furthermore, the left meter acting up is a result of a wonky passthrough cable, at least it was on mine. There was a lot of crossover between channels anyway so I ended up just using a Y-cable to split the speaker output from the sound card instead of passing it through the unit!

[@Cyromantik]

Awesome! I love things like this. I have an LCD graphic equalizer in my extra bay. I would love to have VU meters, or add an oscillascope someday!

[@Nimmo1492]

Maybe they call it the Musketeer because it's one (device) for all (your system dynamic measurements).

[@ek8710]

It's because there are three gauges, hence the three musketeers.

[@macadamia-dy5vm]

@@Pusahispidasaimensis Right, 3 needles... 3 swords... (The 3) Musketeers

[@bobblum5973]

He pointed out that there were three models...

[@katanamaker]

THERE ARE THREE MODELS HENCE "THE THREE MUSKETEERS"

[@autofox1744]

LGR: PC VU meters! Techmoan: *heavy breathing*

[@Mikel30222]

A PC with a VU!

[@bobblum5973]

Techmoan would probably have one with a tuning-eye tube, and another with Nixie tube bar graphs.

[@m2mm4m]

I bet he wouldn't even bother with the PC, ‘I'll just connect this straight to the HiFi! - now what to do with the HD VU? connect it to the mic?’

[@brandonb3279]

"Yo Dawg, I herd u like PC Audio cards, so I installed an audio card to hook into ur audio card dats already hooked into da other audio card. So now when u play music on yo PC it don't just go from one card to da other card, it goes from one card to yo other card - to da *other* card! Now u got so much distortion, yo PC be the most fly in yo hood!"

[@joshualaw375]

This comment is somehow the *most* 2004 thing here...

[@R2D2trashcan]

Lol

[@TactileCoder]

haha I always wanted one of these :D -- now as I get older I am trying hard to make my PC as boring in appearance as possible

[@LGR]

I hear that, haha. My past few cases have been nothing but black and silver monoliths, no lights, not even any side windows.

[@calvinsmith9541]

I've been daily-driving a PC case from 2004 ever since I bought it NOS last year. I'd hate to give it up any time soon!

[@salmon85]

I try to go out of my way to buy something without RGB. I don't even mind paying more

[@VidweII]

@@salmon85 Paying more for less? So you're an Apple guy, eh? /s/

[@monad_tcp]

@@LGR that, but with shiny metal polish like a car. to be fair, I want a computer case that looks like an old diesel generator. My current thermal take case looks like a PA sound speaker.

[@Genecaster]

Clint, just wanted to say I'm glad you keep making videos. I love your content and it's just so chill and doesn't ask anything of me. Just a good video with no complaints. I've pry said it before and you've probably heard it from tons of others but just keep it up. Love this channel, been watching for a long time and I'm glad you've made it so far.

[@bunnythekid]

Can we get a crossover episode? Coolermaster Vs. Thermaltake: Double Pass-Thru Smackdown Ft. Oddware

[@doblofiber992]

Funny that the manual says "Germans!" not german as a language...

[@MindFlareRetro]

A very interesting gadget, indeed. Unrelated, I love that Lian-Li case. I had a Lian-Li PC-69 a long while back -- such great case designs 👌. Finally, that button reflection shot -- brilliant!

[@jasb78]

Of all the tech channels there ever was and ever will be your will always take the cake for being the most nerdy. I started on the Commodore 64. Thanks man.

[@johnjohnjohnh]

I remember wanting one of these so badly when I was younger. Might try and dig one up for my next PC build just to live the dream

[@bobblum5973]

*LGR:* _Disappointed because the meter color doesn't have a _*_woodgrain_*_ setting._ 😉

[@VitorMach]

I like the novelty of it, though my OCD would never allow me to pass-through my precious audio through this...

[@JoranGroothengel]

I got one for free with another second hand electronics deal once. You're totally right, it introduces a huge amount of noise. My speakers at the time were very sensitive (required ridiculously low volume on the pc), this thing introduced so much noise that I just couldn't keep it connected.

[@boheyo]

I never even use on-board audio, don't really need to hear my mouse move.

[@rajvinder89]

This is bringing back memories of early to mid 2000s case bling, I still remember thinking the blue CFL lights in my side panel window were the coolest thing ever. Ostentatious lighting in PCs aren't something new.

[@doomislav5791]

It's interesting how little that version of Windows hits the HDD - put that HDD meter on a win10 rig and it would be smashing 100% all the time

[@pedrofelck]

The only channel on KZbin that you can get hardware smell ratings, I love it!

[@ShapeyFiend]

Someone needs to kickstart one of these quarter inch displays instead of another mechanical keyboard or whatever. There are so many things they could do.

[@stabilini]

USB driven, with LCD glass for customizing display above and under gauges. Cool idea

[@R2D2trashcan]

Just wanted to say your channel is getting better and better. The fact you have almost 1.5M subscribers on a channel that doesn’t cover all mainstream content is awesome.

[@TheGameBench]

I need a nice soft incandescent yellow... like an old Akai tape deck. All other colors are an abomination.

[@Thundercrash.]

17:26 the moment you realise you played that game a lot and had tons of fun and it looks like that for you now. best channel on yt to feel old...

[@RubyRoks]

These are so gimmicky i love it. I miss drive bay accessories. I remember seeing 5.25" bay reservoir pump combos for watercooled builds and thinking that looked SO COOL

[@Belznis]

Saw them in a previous video and wanted to ask, but thought that I missed them in some previous videos and so I did not comment about them in the end. Nice to see the review today!

[@RPDekka]

I totally had a similar one of these! It only lit up in blue though and I'm certain mine tracked the voltage being supplied to a fan, temperature and dB. Edit: I should have continued watching! You show the one I had at around 2:17. Totally stupid device!

[@seno408]

My compliment for all of your great Videos. I Like to look them. Your videos are like a timemashine in my childhood. I remember how we were excited from the PC-technology as young mans at the end of the 90s and beginning of this century. It was a really nice time and we lost a lot of money :)) I loved it and in my opinion it was a better time as it is today. The Internet and PC were really new technologies (yet). It was really magic in the air, an great optimistic mood. Today everything is mainstream and no one will see how many work and genius are invested in all of this gadgets like homecomputer ore celphone. Your videos show the beginning of all of them what we call "our present" today. Thanks for all of your great videos and all the work you are investing! Best regards from Germany Hamburg.

[@treelineresearch3387]

Low-passing the HDD led and sending it to a analog meter is kinda a cute idea.

[@monad_tcp]

I could have a better circuit thou

[@treelineresearch3387]

@@monad_tcp Yeah at the very least the time constant is too short, would give a better visual effect if it was a couple hundred ms longer. Wonder if that's what the mystery pot controls since it's in proximity to the HDD LED input.

[@LostieTrekieTechie]

I love that you tested this with midtown madness 2. I grew up with that game.

[@naota3k]

2:35 that volume slider is the most early 2000s looking thing lmao

[@alberteinstein127]

Holy crap this is the earliest video iv seen from anyone!! Im never at a video 4 minutes after its been up!!!

[@Hexen_Wulf]

Can you please mess with the potentiometer? I swear that would affect the sensitivity. My theory is that it's like a multimeter that you have to set a sensitivity level for or it just maxes out.

[@JurisKankalis]

Another cool early 2000s... thiiiiiiiing? along with alright editing and background music from this channel. Keep on!

[@Gappasaurus]

3:44 OMG yes plz build that tower, it would be BEYOND EPIC!!! 😱

[@Chris9-i5v]

The tower case is a CM stacker from Coolermaster.

[@widget8181]

My son just brought home a pc from school that his computer maintenance gave him that has one of these installed. I was excited because I remembered this video so I was able to show him.

[@MinecrafterPictures]

The seizure mode is cool even by today's standards

[@Evgenii_Fedorovskii]

The main thing is that the panel itself and the front bracket match the body color! Ideally! =) I love video about computer hardware! I look forward to every Friday primarily because of your new videos. Thank!!! =)

[@Aleph-Noll]

drive bay add-ons and gadgets were so awesome hahah i kinda wish they made a comeback but to be fair it kills the airflow of cases lol

[@budgetguitarist]

2004 - The golden age of crappy computers. It WAS a fun time, but they were all fun times. Great video as always!

[@Nakna_ankaN]

I really like that case. It's a shame that it seems like 99% of all modern cases is either black or white, even if they are silver/aluminum on the outside they're almost always black or white on the inside. You'd think that with all the RGB going on these days that people would like more reflective interiors.

[@ViperKillerWannabe]

I used to have one of these! For the best results on the VU meters I had the sliders on the front right in the middle. They seemed to be much more responsive there.

[@Hachiae]

give me this but GPU load, CPU load ect and ill buy it today. sick of using a entire second screen

[@jhunter7912]

Good punch line

[@Hachiae]

@@jhunter7912 i have ryzen master, msi afterburner and my audio EQ almost always open. This isnt a punchline is something i genuenly want so i can free up the second monitor

[@Hachiae]

@M D you only need to drink water

[@boheyo]

I miss the Logitech G13 too.

[@emini6]

@@boheyo Good thing that I'm still using it on w10 while it's displaying results from MSI Afterburner. Good modern use of this concept

[@lshxggyl]

i don't know why, your voice is so comforting

[@Markimark151]

You know what would be cool to put into a PC chassis, a cassette deck! I want someone to turn an in-dash cassette deck into an internal computer drive!

[@djdjukic]

There is such a product, RetroManCave did a nice video on that.

[@jimmyzhao2673]

this could be pretty cool, in a sort of retro-analog way. 3:33 a definite conversation piece. Just need a refresh for 2020

[@rayceeya8659]

I was wondering what the hell that thing was when I saw it on one of your Blurbs. It looks pretty cool, not very useful, but I'm sure it does what it says on the box.

[@LiveWireBT]

Looking at the inside of your Lian Li I just now realize that my pretty expensive intertech case which I had in the 2000s must have been a Lian Li. It had a different, more expensive looking face plate, 2× 80mm out blowing fans, 2× 92mm fans in front of the HDD cage. A fan at the top and more childish stuff a twenty something at that time would dream about… like an Aerocool 2 bay LCD fan control, of course. Good old times when modders and enthusiasts soldered most crazy LED lights themselves. In the past years I started covering all excessive lights with black tape. :-)

[@atumra5]

Will LGR have the courage to review The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu? Stay tuned to find out.

[@alfiemitchell3026]

I think he’s not going to review it, which tells you how bad it is. However he has donated to the patreon of upcoming life sim game, paralives - which looks leaps and bounds better than the hot trash that is The Sims 4

[@NoobGyver]

this content is so soothing and smooth.

[@iTechOSyoutube]

Nice video LGR! Do a collab with the 8-Bit Guy when all this covid thing is over

[@LGR]

Hope to! We had plans that fell through as the lockdown went into effect this past spring, but things will work out eventually.

[@DeelightFenua]

Achievement unlocked: having an LGR-documented product in my current PC. Mixed feelings :D

[@soulwynd]

LGR official review: "Whatever tho!"

[@andresbravo2003]

I love VU Meters. It was very awesome for Cooler Master.

[@IggyWon]

Lmao, I literally have one of these sitting right by my printer. It's such a useless piece of junk but god did I love it back in the day.

[@jameslangridge8849]

The hdd light should really show avarage recent activity, over several seconds, rather than just being the same as an led. The whole video was really enjoyable, thanks a lot, please keep it up 😄👍

[@dreadpiratesidebeard9471]

I don't know why but I sort of picture the process of buying this involving a quarter and turning a knob. You're hoping for the mini Rubik's cube you saw above, but this comes out instead.

[@joshortgies]

MIDTOWN MADNESS 2!! I played the crap out of that back in the day! Downloaded tons of extra cars and other mods! That brings back some memories. Thanks LGR!

[@rubenvd3913]

Holy shit, I have one of those still laying around, was wondering if I would use it again. And ON MY BIRTHDAY, you upload a video about it. It's a sign from the tech gods :D

[@samjackson7701]

Well if you don't end up using it, feel free to send it to me ;D

[@conyo985]

Yey! More 2000's stuff! What a crazy decade for 5.25 expansion bays.

[@yar0nix224]

10:13 hahahaha

[@rpm773]

That's a great case. I think I had that same case, in black, for many years. Finally spilled coffee into it one day, which ended the life of my PC right quick. The memories of that day were to traumatic that I never could bring myself to clean the case and repurpose it. That, and laziness. Some CoolerMaster gauges and meters probably would have saved me, though.

[@haaristoteles]

The word „German“ is mistranslated in German 🤔

[@yentl555]

This brings back memories, i had one with a fan controller build in

[@WinderTP]

I love VU meters! I wish PC cases these days would still have slots on the front for silly things like this, I'd definitely buy this if some company releases a modern version of this.

[@tariqelageli6552]

15:30 for those wondering the song's name is passport, you can find it in windows 2000's media folder if I recall correctly, along with some other midi goodness.

[@_kaiti_4096]

would love to see a recreation of that beautiful stack of weird drive bay addons! Great video!

[@SUCRA]

Great video Clint, thx. I had something like this back then as well as an acrylic double bay support for an 80mm front fan.

[@Kevin_2435]

Those actually look really classy on that rig. I dig it.

[@vettafaene]

Aaah! Nostalgia overload! Love it!

[@LukeAkAscooterkid]

I brought this case second hand and use it in my modern PC, like you say in this video, such a great case easily modifiable

[@cameronjenkins6748]

Of course LGR has a woodgrain utility knife. Seeing Midtown Madness 2 again on this channel made me happy.

[@MajorMokoto]

that HDD gauge just needs a capacitor to slow it down so it would look smoother. Always liked the idea of a gauge like that for a HDD indicator. So cool.

[@4Wilko]

7:52 - I do enjoy a good component-inspired chuckle from time to time.

[@jaguarke069]

An LGR thing is exactly what I needed to get my weekend going!

[@Impulse21s]

When everything, no matter how trivial or useless, was new, cool & exciting!

[@davep5698]

Funny that, when you showed there was 3 of them I thought it would be an evil nightmare case to have all 3 in one PC while wondering just how many 5.25" bays you could get and what could fill them, then that picture appeared... Glorious.

[@DexterSkelter]

I had this VU meters back in the day. The black one... Fun to see it there.

[@bjornroesbeke]

I had a VL Systems L.I.S. 2 VFD in my 5.25" bay when other people were bound to their regular fan controllers. Man, was that a cool thing to have in 2005!

[@EdRider03]

I like that Clint smells fresh new/old product out of the box because honestly who doesn't?!

[@Carkoon]

Does someone have a link to the Tom's Hardware article mentioned at 03:33? I would love to take a look at all the other curiosities. After going from a case with window (HAF 922) + red cathode light to a very plain Define R4 with no lights because I found all the bling bling RGB stuff very garish, I have this strange urge to just go all out.

[@atrocity3010]

I never get tired of that Windows 98 startup sound. Just classic.

[@Martin_from_SC]

I still have that CoolerMaster Stacker case from 2004! it has survived 7 complete upgrades, now houses an i9-9900k. When I bought it, I said to myself, this will be the last case I ever buy, because it was ATX/BTX compatible and at the time it wasn't yet known that BTX would not be accepted.

[@feieralarm]

This really brings back memories. Back in 2004 I've had the Musketeer (1) in a very similar Lian Li case.

[@1leggeddog]

holy crap. I had the exact same thing, in the exact same PC back in 2005 but my case was black. I still have the case in my closet behind me!!! But the vu meter actually stopped working after a while so i had to take it out. I'm keeping the case no matter what as it has served me well for over a decade and i do want to build a retro rig in the future.

[@Foxhood]

These kind of PC extras where a lot of fun during the mid 2000s when everyone made their own Fan Controllers and such to put into those 5.25 bays (which have largely died out in this age of USB drives). Still. Though largely forgotten such things have inspired me to make my own PC oddities. Which is a lot of fun once you figure out how to get your PC to send sensor data to something over say a COM port.

[@samburch]

I bought this for my 2003 pc build. I didn’t even know what it did, I just liked the idea of dials monitoring things happening in my pc. And of course because I didn’t know what it did, I never set up properly and so it never worked... I held onto that pc until 2009. RIP

[@FabTheZen]

The woodgrain Swiss knife at 4:06 is just right up my aesthetics alley.... I should get one of those!