Apogee I/O fan noise? Other converter options...?

[Bob800]

No info about the fan noise? Or other converter suggestions?

[markham]

No idea about fan noise, as I haven't used this model.

For other converter options, I'd look at Metric Halo, especially the ULN-8 or LIO-8. There are several threads about the units here. Just do a search. They won't work with a Symphony card, but neither will anything else that isn't an Apogee. Metric Halo makes some kick-ass stuff.

[Doc Mixwell]

The Fan noise is in the Symphony is not as loud of a noise as Mac Pro.

I have both here at the studio, in our climate controlled machine room, where they are both free to be as noisy as they want. Having the box away from control position is not a problem for me, since every aspect of control with the unit can be done through M2 with either a USB connection or connection to a Symphony 64 card.

- After much testing and spending time in there -

It think it is quieter, to my hearing and attention skills.

If you want these analog to digital and digital to analog converters to operate properly - they need to be kept cool.

To some the whisper quiet fan breaks deals, which I can understand - wanting a silently optimized control position - but the fan noise when this unit is inside a rack does not pose a problem for me at all. Again, to others it may be unfortunate. You can't please everyone now can you!

And - Yes, the Rosetta 200 does not have a fan. And - Yes, only Apogee Legacy X and Rosetta Series [Along with the new Symphony I/O] with work directly with the Symphony 64 card.

[Bob800]

Originally Posted by markham

No idea about fan noise, as I haven't used this model.

For other converter options, I'd look at Metric Halo, especially the ULN-8 or LIO-8. There are several threads about the units here. Just do a search. They won't work with a Symphony card, but neither will anything else that isn't an Apogee. Metric Halo makes some kick-ass stuff.

Yes, I´ve looked into Metric Halo and they seem to make good stuff, but firewire soundcards are a dealbreaker for me. I want PCI-E.

Originally Posted by Roc Mixwell

The Fan noise is in the Symphony is not as loud of a noise as Mac Pro.

I have both here at the studio, in our climate controlled machine room, where they are both free to be as noisy as they want. Having the box away from control position is not a problem for me, since every aspect of control with the unit can be done through M2 with either a USB connection or connection to a Symphony 64 card.

- After much testing and spending time in there -

It think it is quieter, to my hearing and attention skills.

If you want these analog to digital and digital to analog converters to operate properly - they need to be kept cool.

To some the whisper quiet fan breaks deals, which I can understand - wanting a silently optimized control position - but the fan noise when this unit is inside a rack does not pose a problem for me at all. Again, to others it may be unfortunate. You can't please everyone now can you!

And - Yes, the Rosetta 200 does not have a fan. And - Yes, only Apogee Legacy X and Rosetta Series [Along with the new Symphony I/O] with work directly with the Symphony 64 card.

I can´t put the Symphony I/O into another room so it seems like it´s going to be a dealbreaker for me. Shame.

Oh well, probably going to go with the Rosetta 200 then. It can´t sound that much worse than the Symphony I/O?

[GCL]

Originally Posted by Bob800

Yes, I´ve looked into Metric Halo and they seem to make good stuff, but firewire soundcards are a dealbreaker for me. I want PCI-E.



I can´t put the Symphony I/O into another room so it seems like it´s going to be a dealbreaker for me. Shame.

Oh well, probably going to go with the Rosetta 200 then. It can´t sound that much worse than the Symphony I/O?

I agree, fan noise on the Symphony I/O is too loud for quiet mix rooms. I'll have to look elsewhere, or figure something out. I really wanted to get the Apogee...

I wonder that if you are going to have only a single card installed (Analog in/out), if you can disable the fan. Apogee says the fan speed is variable, but after it's on for a while it never slows down or gets quieter. Same as a Mac Pro...

[Clawson]

Originally Posted by GCL

I agree, fan noise on the Symphony I/O is too loud for quiet mix rooms. I'll have to look elsewhere, or figure something out. I really wanted to get the Apogee...

I wonder that if you are going to have only a single card installed (Analog in/out), if you can disable the fan. Apogee says the fan speed is variable, but after it's on for a while it never slows down or gets quieter. Same as a Mac Pro...

When you set up Symphony I/O, where was it in your room that the fan noise was so loud? I have been in a few studios now with Symphony I/O in the control room and no one said anything about the fan. In one studio he had Symphony I/O sitting right in the middle of his desk between his monitors.

Chris Lawson
Apogee Electronics

[twbrzkdm007]

after installing the 2nd release of the Symp i/o software, I can report that the fan noise has improved somewhat from release 1. Maybe this coincides with the much cooler temps here in LA and in my control room so this might not be definitive... but I can work for a couple of hours without the fan even jumping on (and boy, the sound of silence is beautiful!). With release 1 the fan would jump on and then never stop even when the ambient temp wasn't that high. So hopefully the software controlling the fan's behavior will be tweaked more so that that the noise issue might become mute.

[Bob800]

Originally Posted by Clawson

When you set up Symphony I/O, where was it in your room that the fan noise was so loud? I have been in a few studios now with Symphony I/O in the control room and no one said anything about the fan. In one studio he had Symphony I/O sitting right in the middle of his desk between his monitors.

Chris Lawson
Apogee Electronics

Maybe some people aren´t that strick about fan noise? I know many engineers who aren´t very strick and precise with mixing either although they are paid a lot and have the best gear. tutt

I have a Mac Pro, iMac and an external hard drive humming in my room. Those three are already driving me nuts. Luckily I can turn the iMac + external hard drive off while mixing, but I don´t want anymore noise in my room, Mac Pro noise is enough.

It really puzzles me why such a high end company like Apogee would put a fan in such a high end gear?

To me it seems like a "turd in a punch bowl". Shame, really wanted to get this.

But people, please reassure me that Rosetta 200 sound isn´t much worse than the Symphony I/O!

[Clawson]

Originally Posted by Bob800

Maybe some people aren´t that strick about fan noise? I know many engineers who aren´t very strick and precise with mixing either although they are paid a lot and have the best gear. tutt

I have a Mac Pro, iMac and an external hard drive humming in my room. Those three are already driving me nuts. Luckily I can turn the iMac + external hard drive off while mixing, but I don´t want anymore noise in my room, Mac Pro noise is enough.

It really puzzles me why such a high end company like Apogee would put a fan in such a high end gear?

To me it seems like a "turd in a punch bowl". Shame, really wanted to get this.

But people, please reassure me that Rosetta 200 sound isn´t much worse than the Symphony I/O!

Hi end audio requires hi end components, often these components run very hot and need to be cooled off. We didn't just add a fan for no reason.
Also, as Adam mentioned in his post, it is definitely not as loud as the Fan in a Mac Pro. I would also go on to say that in a rack, you would not even notice it at all.


Chris Lawson
Apogee Electronics

[trancekid]

that probably depends on the general noise in the control room. I have the Symphony i/o with 2 cards installed in a rack maybe 1 meter away from me and the fan turns on after 5 min and is clearly there as it is the only gear in my CR with a fan and I find it pretty annoying tbh.

everything else which is noisy/has a fan is in a machine room and i seriously think about putting the symphony there as well. unfortunalely i got all the cabling done to have it in the CR. I really love the sound and the features of the symphony but the fan really turns me off.

I was the one who said that it's as loud as a mac pro and i have to take that back. i just did a comparison and my mac pro is clearly louder, but still, you can easily hear the fan in the symphony if it's the only gear with a fan in your CR.

also mine has a bit of a somewhat unsteady high resonating tinnitus-like sound to it, is that with every unit ?


---

[Bob800]

Originally Posted by Clawson

Hi end audio requires hi end components, often these components run very hot and need to be cooled off. We didn't just add a fan for no reason.

Chris Lawson
Apogee Electronics

Hmm... so then Rosetta 200 does not have high-end components?

Originally Posted by trancekid

also mine has a bit of a somewhat unsteady high resonating tinnitus-like sound to it, is that with every unit ?


---

Wow, that´s even worse.

I bought couple of MacBook Pros with SSD and tinnitus sound was coming from them, drove me nuts and I had no choise but to return them. Then I bought a MBP with HDD and no tinnitus sound. Of course I can´t sure where the sound came from.

[outcastrising]

With the second release I cannot even hear the fan. I complained to Apogee about the issue and apparently they listened as it is a non issue now for me at least.

[The MPCist]

Last week, a friend and I did a Symphony I/O v. X-series A/B test with the Symphony on the side of the SSL 9KJ console.... no issue with fan noise at all. And this is with the computer/other interfaces in the machine room as well.

The one we tested was running firmware release 2.

[GCL]

Chris – the unit is a beautiful piece. Many may not want to have it in a rack. Many don't even have rack gear anymore. I don't, not a single piece. In a quiet composer studio the fan is too loud and distracting. Might have been a better idea to put in 2 fans running at half speed...
I'll be looking at the Ensemble again.

[The MPCist]

Uh.... I don't understand the fan talk. It's not that loud. It's there but not that audible. I'm sitting here with a Symphony sitting right under my AWS900 not 3 feet from me and all I hear is the MacPro sitting 10 feet away!

[sascha.victoria]

I just got my new Symphony I/O and there's definitely fan noise. My old Apogee system was dead silent compared to this. Oh right, there was no fan in there. I would describe this sound as a dying hard dive. Spinning faster, slower, faster, slower, faster, slower, etc... vroom vroom.

My question for the people that say they have no fan noise: is your unit in a rack or is it sitting on the floor / table by itself? Currently my unit is in a rack with about 3 spaces below it 1 space above but none of the other gear in the rack is on. I think I'm going to try taking it out of the track and setting it on the concrete floor to see if that does anything...

p.s. yes I have the most current firmware installed.

[The MPCist]

Originally Posted by sascha.victoria

My question for the people that say they have no fan noise: is your unit in a rack or is it sitting on the floor / table by itself?

Mine's sitting in a rack under the console.... Since I'm leaning over the console, I didn't hear any noise at first but I guess it's there but I don't notice it at all.

[sascha.victoria]

Just out of curiosity, does the AWS9000 or its power supply have any internal fans or does it use heat sinks?

[syntax]

Why is firewire a deal breaker? The ULN-8 is totally solid on firewire.

[Kaneepa]

I returned mine for fan noise.. Too much for keeping it in control room.
Exchanged for another avid hd io (4 of them are already in machine room)
Much lower fan noise...

Regards

Michele

[Melgueil]

I will not tolerate noise in the CR, as in ANY. I worked way too hard to get it whisper quiet. Fan noise is an absolute deal breaker.

ULN-8 and be done with it.
Cdlt

[Doc Mixwell]

I have a VERY quiet studio. VERY

My Apogee sits less than a 1 ft, from my mix spot.

I have one 8x8 card inside it.

The Fan has never even been heard....once, in over a year's worth of use.

If it was, it was not annoying anyone around me

The Fan kicks up louder when you put another module inside the unit.

Apogee has a mod kit that helps to reduce the fan from kicking up.

Contact them, they are very helpful.

[nicpope]

All this talk about fan noise and nobody mentioned building a machine room?

[csauter]

okay, so now with the latest Symphony Release that's supposed to take care of all this fan noise, what is the FINAL verdict from Symphony owners using the Symphony I/O in their control room with the latest firmware installed?? How loud is the fan now... tolerable (like a nice quite Macbook Pro Retina) or unacceptable?? Is it or is it not an issue anymore???

FINAL VERDICT!! =)


-Love Chris

[bakerman]

Am running 4.2 on Snow Leopard. Verdict is 'vroom vroom' since installing the 2nd module. Was quieter than the MacPro beforehand with single module. Waiting for the mod kit but not holding my breathe

[csauter]

Thanks for that Bakerman... i appreciate it.. I don't have the base unit but i just bought the 16 analog in card, and i'll leave it at that then... lol

Anyone with the modkit have any thoughts to add?? 1 or two modules??

[bakerman]

with regret I've decided to return the 2nd Apogee module. Looking for alternatives for a 32 out system.

[skorko]

My Symphony IO sounds like a truck idling in my control room

[Melgueil]

Lord ...

I just built an ISO box to get rid of the whirling of my CPU (she gets hot under the coller when she breaks a sweat). Checked my CR yesterday - near dead silent - once again. I guess this issue is with the two modules only, but that was the route I would (have) consider(ed). SIO is a gorgeous system but it would have to locked away in a machine room, or ISO rack - so it would seem. Anyway ....appreciate the feedback.

Cdlt