John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey all, new to the forums and I have a question...

I am rehabing and older studio for a client and I have constructed a computer isolation "closet", I ran it from the floor to the ceiling. Its about 2' x 2' x 8' luckily there was a HVAC return vent in the suspended ceiling which I am using to vent the closet.

But... they have a dual pentium 3.06 GHz computer with 3-4 fans that are soo loud I can't even describe it!

I have build the closet with 2 ' x 4' wood and 16" mineral fibre with 1/2" sheetrock inside and out. But is is still quite loud.

The sound is mostly through the door.

How can I seal the door? Its a hollow door with 703 in the cavity and 2" x 4" wood breaking up the air flow from a vent in the bottom of the door.

How can I seal the edges of the door/door frame?

How can I make this box quieter?

Is changing the fans to some quiet ones an option?

cheers,
o


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The old saying, "the best way to get rid of noise is not generate it in the first place" is true here as well. That computer doesn't need to be that loud, it was just built with the wrong components. Also, a hollow core door even with insulation isn't a good choice for sound reduction. And if the entire cabinet isn't hermetically sealed as far as the studio is concerned, you're wasting your time. I'd first try to quiet the PC down some - a quick search on AskJeeves brought back 25 pages of possibilities - some of the better names in this are Antec, PC Power and Cooling, and Enermax. There are others too, check this link for some possibilities.

http://web.ask.com/web?q=quiet+computer&o=0&qsrc=0

There are also drive mufflers, that could be part of your noise especially if the PC has high speed drives.

The case itself could be resonating - see if putting your hand against the sides quiets it. If so, get some "camper tape", that sticky foam tape used to seal between camper shells and pickup beds - cut off some 3-4" pieces of the foam and stick it on the inside of the case (not over air holes :=)

Typed in "quiet hard drive" and got another 25 pages of hits - oughta be something here that will help -

http://web.ask.com/web?q=quiet+hard+drive&qsrc=1

If you end up needing your enclosure to reduce the sound, you'll need to build it the same as any other studio wall for maximum effect. Check out some of the threads here for that, such as

http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=598

The first thing I'd do though, is cut the noise at the source. You should be able to quiet that box down by almost enough to just set it under the mix desk, if you work at it a bit... Steve

Ollie,

You could check out a KVM extender. That will let you run the PC extremely far away from the studio with Cat5 cable. My PC sounds like a 747 taking off, so I have it in a different room. I can't even hear it. Whew, it is loud.

Check it out:

http://www.cybex.com/web/en.nsf/Content/LongView

They'll run you about $200, but you might be able to find them on ebay for even less.

-Aaron

Good call, Aaron - not sure why I missed mentioning that, I've recommended that method to others. Musta had another "brain fart" -

Belkin also makes a KVM extender, about the same price. As long as your audio setup doesn't screw you up on cable lengths, that makes the most sense of anything. I'm planning my own new facility with Cat5 bays in every room including Iso rooms - I'll be able to run the entire studio from anywhere in the building using my digital mixer, Samplitude, Sonar and a portable LCD/keyboard/mouse. Should be really cool... Steve