Fan noise question

Re:Fan noise question (foxwolfen)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:53:06 GMT

Like you I have a couple of crazy machines, one for video editing with a monster vid card (8800GTX) with huge fans, but they are slow turning and fairly quiet.

The DAW has mostly passive cooling, with a small case fan and is virtually silent. But the server box, with dual PIII processors (not dual core) has 4 very loud fans.

I record about 6 feet away from them and the server is always running, and usually the VGW too, and if the gain is too high, then I do indeed hear the computers. But if I reduce the gain, and move a bit closer to the mic, its virtually silent. But I am not a huge fan of the sound of the mic close in (an Audiotechnica LDC cardioid).

I may decide to shutdown the server and VGW when recording.

Re:Fan noise question (Ron Vogel)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:31:51 GMT

I'd keep the fans, but you can quiet down the case a little by rubber mounting the fans so it doesn't transfer the noise to the case. I had to do this in my mATX case, because I don't want to lose my fans either.

As for me, I'm not concerned with picking the fans up on the mic...surprisingly they don't for me. I've recorded acoustic guitar right in front of it with no bleed.

However it is the sound in the backround for me when I'm mixing that bothers me. I have a VERY quiet mixing room, and the room becomes noisy when the computer is on. I like to check mixes at low and mid levels, and the computer makes it hard to hear fine detail.

Re:Fan noise question (bitflipper)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:21:19 GMT

A 1" sheet of 703 propped up between the computer and mic suppresses fan noise immensely. I'll take fan noise over a CPU with smoke coming out of it.

Because you know it's magic smoke.

Re:Fan noise question (Spaceduck)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:27:22 GMT

Yup, I think you're right... for most of us, it's a matter of having the fan too close to the mic & getting over-the-air noise. Not many of us have a proper sound booth, so there's often a wisp of fan noise getting on the track. If you put heavy compression on the track, the problem becomes painfully obvious. (Another reason to avoid heavy compression I guess?)

I'm with ya about the heat ...I also turn off the fridge in the next room. More than once, a long recording session has resulted in spoiled leftovers " />

Re:Fan noise question (LpMike75)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:19:57 GMT

I have an external soundcard that I plug everything into.
I havent run into a problem with noise at all with a bunch of loud fans running in my PC, as long as my mic is a little ways away.

I guess I'm wondering what Im missing as far as everyone wanting the ultra quiet fans. Unless its simply a matter of having your mic close to the PC and not wanting the fan noise to beed in through the mic. That would have to be sensative and in close proximity.

Seriously, I have more of a problem when my heat kicks on and my steam radiators start clanging lol. My wife hates when I shut off the heat!

Re:Fan noise question (Spaceduck)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:29:35 GMT

I've never heard of internal bleed from fans, but that's a good question. I think most of the bleed/noise comes from hi frequency electronic components in your CPU, and that's pretty well shielded by the case.

As far as acoustic fan noise, folks here have tons of solutions... everything from quiet fans to CPU enclosures, to putting your CPU in a different room.

My rig is so noisy, I'll probably have to do a combination of all the above. As it stands now, I do as you do--keep the mic as far from the DAW as possible. Also, I use my laptop for recording (Acer laptops have ultra quiet fans), and then I power up my regular computer, "the hair dryer" " />, to mix & do the rest.

I record almost everything by plugging direct into the soundcard

Is your soundcard internal? If it is, you might get some electronic noise from components inside the case. That's why most soundcards come with breakout boxes where the AD/DA conversion takes place. Some people even say it's smart to keep the breakout box 6' to 12' away from your CPU.

Fan noise question (LpMike75)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:01:39 GMT

My computer is monster, I initially bought it for duel purpose of gaming and being my DAW (yes yes I know). For the gaming thing, I have the ATI Radeon 4870X2 video card and use 6 fans to keep it cool. I literally get "cool" air blowing out of my case after hours and hours of recording.

Anyhow, I did a bunch of reading on the fan noise thing and see that having a quiet fan set up was prefered. My question is this, do people want a very quiet DAW because they are micing in the same room as the DAW? or because of some possible "bleed" noise internally that may get recorded somehow?

My DAW is slightly louder (due to 6 fans) than most PC's but I have never had any extra noise in my recordings because of this. Although, I record almost everything by plugging direct into the soundcard and my Mic is far enough from the DAW where it doesnt pick up any sound.