What to do about the noisy fan ?

[dreamsongs]

I noticed my acoustic tracks are not as quiet as I'd like them to be...

I record and mix in the same 16x16 room. When I'm doing vocals and acoustic tracks I can hear the friggin' fan in the computer running. I've tried to go as far away from the PC as possible and cover it with a blanket while tracking but I can still hear it in the background.

Aside from getting a 1k iso box, what other solutions are out there ?

Are there any quieter fans out there and how tough is it to install them ?

Thanks for your help thumbsup

[Kiwiburger]

Try oiling it.

Next - get a long video cable, a video splitter adapter, a long USB cable, a USB mouse and keyboard and place the PC in the next room. It's much more fun to operate your PC in silence.

[theblue1]

I keep a small target gun, a .22, handy for silencing noisy fans. You know, if you time your shot right, it sounds like a snare accent...

[dreamsongs]

C'mon blue, gimme something I can use...

[ShamansDream]

There is a whole industry related to this topic. I even bought into MusicXPC's claims about "quiet" audio computing only to find they know didly about acoustic treatment.

There are water coolers for CPU's and even closed liquid systems, but they can get spendy. There are likely 3 or 4 fans in every system:
1. the main CPU
2. the power supply
3. the primary chipset
4. the video card

Quiet technology or 'smart fans' work great as long as your CPU isn't being worked to death. I think Dell has the best noise control out of the box. But when you get into 90-95% cpu usage, they whine like any other box.

The real shame it that the fans operate at a critical frequency range making it difficult to clean up afterward.

If that's not bad enough, when you start tweeking the cooling structure of your PC, next thing you know your HD dies or your video card freaks out (having been known to blow monitors) and then your RAM starts flaking out. And drinking all the beer in the little office cooler to put your PC in there also defeats the purpose, as the fridge too has a loud compressor and likely a fan.

The best away around a loud pc is this:
Run your session from a remote simple quiet laptop (VPN)
put mics at least 15 feet from this remote console
Use directional mics
keep the 'workhorse' PC in another room, or even the closet

~or~ switch over to recording softsynths

Be happy, however that you don;t have a wife at home 24/7, a dog that lives inside, and outside, and back inside... Neighbors with children... live under the flyway to the local airport... being the main drag through your bedroom community... and a lightrail not far away... I think I can clean up a little fan noise with DINR LE a lot easier than some of these other distractions.

Good Luck

[dreamsongs]

Damn, I didn't know this whole fan business was so complicated...

Like I said, my studio is a standalone structure detached from the main house. That is the good part !

But...I don't have many places to run to inside my 16x16 cave. The shame is that that ugly distant hum in the background is noticeable if I'm doing an acoustic guitar and vocal demo. That's where it shows the most...

As far as tracking anything else..., bass, synths, electric guitar is not a problem. The bass and synth go direct and micing the cabs is loud enough that you obviously don't even hear it.

Are there any inexpensive iso boxes out there ? The ones I saw all run around 1k!

[Curtis Franklin]

the best solution is to put the computer in another room, but barring that.....

why dont you just build a "hutch" that you can put you computer in outside.

it should be well ventilated and only serve to keep the elements out of your computer.

you could put casters on it and wheel it inside if the weather is bad.

it would not cost 1k.

[ShamansDream]

I agree Puma...
All you need is a small wooden crate (cheap pine works great) lined with convoluted foam. It will cut the fan noise about 15-20db. I also put a brick on the PC case since it can cause harmonic vibration from the fans. The large side panels can be a real problem. Having some rubber feet, at least 1" thick under the case will also absorb some of the case/crate vibrations being transmitted into the floor.

You might also consider making some baffles for your room to break up the large open spaces. This is probably half of your problem.

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by theblue1

I keep a small target gun, a .22, handy for silencing noisy fans. You know, if you time your shot right, it sounds like a snare accent...

That's my technique, only I roll the highs off and use it as a hot potato

[dreamsongs]

So covering up the case with a thick blanket while recording these tracks actually makes the fans run harder, right ?

I will look into building some kind of iso crate. What about turning the AC down to about 65 before you go in and record ? Might work right ?

[ShamansDream]

You need some vent holes on top and bottom of the crate and you will have no worries. A 3" slit on the bottom and 3" slit on the top to make sure the air keeps moving. Convertion will do the rest.

[DeeDrive]

check out http://www.endpcnoise.com. I built a pretty quiet system with an antec sonata case and a scythe "ninja" heatsink. It's about as quiet as computers can get.

[Jim Williams]

www.pcpowercooling.com

Jim Williams
Audio Upgrades

[Cojo]

Go to this manufakturers website! http://www.zalman.co.kr/

/Cojo

[heathen]

Ok for a start which fan is it? The northbridge fan is the main one which I've had trouble with. You can get special northbridge heat sinks,which work great.I used one on my pc and got rid of the northbridge fan.Next im going to test a heat sink on a main cpu when I get my new pc (i do expect it to die,but it may not.). The pc with the northbridge heatsink has lasted 2 Aussie summers on 16 hours a day sometimes in 40 degree c heat.So they do work.But a warning ,do this at your own risk as the computer may die from overheating. I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile getting rid of the power supply out of a pc and putting it in a silenced box with the power cables running into the pc from the silenced psu box. Alot of screwing around but hey it could be done.
A guy I knew made a silence box for his mac,I said don't stick it in there,so he did and it fried 2 days later,in winter too I think. I'm glad pc's are cheap.
As Cojo said try Zalman.

[biggator6]

my PC is whisper quiet.. but it took some work.

I built it with this in mind from the get-go... so I went with the Zalman on the CPU - a special VGA cooler... a pair of 120mm super-silent fans (on speed-controllers) and a PSU with a 120mm fan as well...

then, line the case with Dynamat - the stuff used in car audio.. kills all resonance in the metal case.

All told - mine is pretty silent.
"-)

[dreamsongs]

Some good tips here... BUT...

If you go with a crate or iso box of some kind. How do you get ventilation in there ?

Then if you change the cooling system, you also run the risk of frying your HD ?

What gives ?

It seems there is no safe way to do this without some sort of risk !

[Riad]

Get a fan control unit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...l%20-%20Retail

Buy Zalman fans, try using large fans at slow speed.

Usually fans become noisy when the bearings go, or if you have those small fans that whiz.

[ShamansDream]

Originally Posted by dreamsongs

Some good tips here... BUT...

If you go with a crate or iso box of some kind. How do you get ventilation in there ?

Then if you change the cooling system, you also run the risk of frying your HD ?

What gives ?

It seems there is no safe way to do this without some sort of risk !

Yes, you need vents.
The nice thing about ISO boxes is that they use the skins of the cabinet as 'heatsinks'. You can alternatively use an elaborate labyrinth for ventilation while trapping audible frequencies. You can do this with a crate with little effort.
It may take a few tries to get the best sound trap, but it can be done with stuff you find in the industrial garbage can.
The worst culprets in most PC chassis is the grill right in front of the fan. These cause the fan to work harder and what you hear is the air blowing on the edges. Just use a good pair or clippers and remove these so there is no restiction in the air path. For the CPU, the Zalman's are a great bet.
Nice call on the Dynamat, Biggator6 Got a link for a good deal on this?