Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] SNR (not audio)
From: Paul Winkler (pw_lists_AT_slinkp.com)
Date: Mon Jul 29 2002 - 22:00:18 EEST
On Mon, Jul 29, 2002 at 12:51:11PM -0400, Richard Seymour wrote:
> till 2003. There are also all sorts of modifications you can make to
> your current PC to lower th dB level. The best is probably changing
> the power supply and the fan/heatsink combo on your processor(s).
I've got a CPU fan and power supply from www.quietpc.com.
A bit pricey, but much quieter than the generic ones I had
before. I've also got a pair of relatively new hard drives,
both of which had a good reputation for noise performance,
and they are by *far* the noisiest things in the PC now.
The drive whine isn't too bad - clearly audible, but
much better than the 4 GB drives I used to have - it's
the clicky seek noises that are most prominent now.
One caveat - *something* in my system overheated
last week. Seems to be the motherboard (I've swapped
everything else). The system was fine before that,
and I've been using the quiet fans for about 6 months.
I think it's a combination of the high heat (in the 90s
fahrenheit), the CPU (866 mhz, the max the mobo was
specced for, and it's attached via a Slocket adapter,
which may have increased the stress on the mobo), and
the fact that I was playing quake all day :)
Another case fan might have helped. I just wanted
to mention this so people don't get mad at me if they
buy stuff from quietpc and overheat their systems too.
I intend to get a more heavy-duty mobo when I've got
the cash, we'll see if that fixes things...
Anyway, before it fried, I could get OK recordings in
the same room as my PC, by
close miking with a cardioid mic and accepting a bit
of subtle background noise. It's better than it used to be,
but not as nice as a controlled studio environment.
Actually the PC noise is now quieter than my neighbors,
so it's no longer the bottleneck :)
To make it quieter, I'd prbably have to put the PC in another
room.
The biggest improvement is that I can *listen* to music without
being annoyed by the hoover-like roar I used to have (and I've
heard *much* louder PCs). For playback and mixing, it's really
really nice to remove that dulling blanket effect caused
by too much fan noise.
--Paul Winkler home: http://www.slinkp.com "Muppet Labs, where the future is made - today!"
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