Which digital recorder?

[Ruphus]

I´m having a problem.
Have a great sounding room. A lucky strike.
Have a DAW PC in that room. A saboteur.

The PC sits in an insulation box already, I can put in a resistor cable to bring down the CPU fan to 9 or even 7 volts, can put blanket before the exhaust tube, but still ...

Noise.

Thought I liked the booth. But I hear its walls. It would need rigid fiber and defusers at least for lots of its inner surface to dampen it = investment, while I believe dry records can´t come up to the results with a good room.

After chewing on how to mute the PC ( no way ) and about modifying the booth I ended up thinking about a digital recorder.

At best it wouldn´t have convertors, wouldn´t need sturdyness like for field work, not too many sophisticated features and maybe only 4 tracks or so.
But it should enable reliable, silent and lossless capturing of a couple gigabytes 24 or 32 bit 96k recordings ( and have any sort of a monitor output.)

Is there anything affordable one could look for?

Thanks,

Ruphus

[jajjguy]

So you have a nice-sounding room with a noisy computer, and a lousy-sounding booth. Hm. Put the computer in the booth and run longer monitor and keyboard cables? Dunno your situation exactly, but this has worked for me.

[Henchman]

There is a way to make your computer completely silent. Use watercooling. it eliminates the need of noisy fans.

Quiet PC

Check out this link, and sroll down the page to the long post by a guy named "alienhack". He has removed all fans from his overclocked computer, and it runs completely silent.

I'm gonna try the same thing in the next few months. I've just started experimenting with watercooling myself, and it's allowed me to remove my CPU fan and one of my 120mm fans as well. My next goal is to get a bigger radiator and hang it on the back of my case.

[Ruphus]

Thanks Jonah, for your idea, but that would be too radical as it would make the booth otherwise completely useless. The booth is somewhat large scaled two shell construction with windows and all, would be a bit too luxury for only isolating PC. Lastly, the environment is unreliable, should neigbours decide to be loud one could yet escape into the booth at least and also some possible instruments like maybe wind stuff or amps in the future would have to happen in there.
... Got me thinking though for a moment.

Hi Henchman,

Thought about watercooling a while ago. First water close to the electronics gives me weird feeling. Next I know of a person who used a system from etsablished manufacturer and returned to normal fans, because watercooling is not really noiseless. There is a pump working which makes noise itself.

So far a recorder seems really best solution to me ( also because of its advantage that if already prepared / wired up one should be able to start it much faster in a creative moment.)

But the fact that no proposals have been made I assume there is no device like what I described. Probably all equipped with convertors onboard and with maximal up to 48k rate I guess.

If only the computers were noiseless ...

I have been expecting those things to come without noisy fans since years now. And it will certainly be coming, only the questions is when.

Thanks for your hints, guys!

Ruphus

PS: When you reduce fans on your PC or its isolation box a bigger fan certainly is a good method for its lower RPM ( got a 120 mm Papst too on my box ). Also consider that you don´t need a fan on the front / way in. Only what is important is exhaust.

[Teacher]

they make a radar 24 thats just strictly digital....maybe out of you price range thought its about 6K

[Ruphus]

Yap, definitly out of my price range.
Unfortunately. :O(



Ruphus

[Henchman]

Originally posted by Ruphus
Next I know of a person who used a system from etsablished manufacturer and returned to normal fans, because watercooling is not really noiseless. There is a pump working which makes noise itself.

The thing to do is not buy a kit.
Also the article states that the pump he used was virtually silent.

My only concern is the PSU. But I'm going to adapt it so I have an internal 120mm fan blowing the air out thrugh the PSU, instead of the 80mm fan on the rear sucking the air out. Because right now, it's the noisiest thing in my computer.

[Ruphus]

The person I meant had bought a Koolance watercooling case.

Here the PSU is very quiet. It is the CPU fan that makes the most noise in this system.

Ruphus