# DAW Computer Noise - putting it to silence



## polyfonic (Aug 19, 2020)

My stuido is very small and I dont have any possibility to store my computers (DAW+slave) in another room.
My problem is that I want to do recording of audio in this same room.
Will there be any issue if I make a case with sound isolation material to get rid of the computer noise? That meaning that the air flow outside the box will be aprox zero.


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## Kent (Aug 19, 2020)

polyfonic said:


> My stuido is very small and I dont have any possibility to store my computers (DAW+slave) in another room.
> My problem is that I want to do recording of audio in this same room.
> Will there be any issue if I make a case with sound isolation material to get rid of the computer noise? That meaning that the air flow outside the box will be aprox zero.


You *need* airflow. Or at least something to move heat out easily.

But, remember that sound follows the inverse square law—the further you can get away from it, the better. 2 meters away is 4 times better than 1 meter away.


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## Jdiggity1 (Aug 19, 2020)

The key to a quiet computer in my opinion is unrestricted airflow (and high quality fans). The harder your fans have to work, the louder they will be. If you put more thought into buying a high-quality and quiet CPU cooler, GPU, and power supply, you will benefit more than if you only focus on the case.

Trying to 'trap' the sound in the case is more likely to cause overheating, and thus your cooling systems and fans to work harder and louder.

If it's an option, the new mac minis are virtually silent, and would work well as a computer to record to in the same room


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## BassClef (Aug 19, 2020)

Dont do it... they can overheat pretty quickly in a sealed box. Can you:

1) put them on a small wheeled cart?
2) connect all to one power strip?
3) connect to them wirelessly?
4) prepare for live recording?
4) shut down all and unplug power strip?
5) roll the cart just outside the door, plug in a boot all up?

If not wifi is not an option, perhaps you could use long network cables that could run under the door while recording.

Good luck


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## marius_dm (Aug 19, 2020)

All you need is a Fractal silent case and a Noctua fan for the Cpu. I have 3 of those right next to my desk and I can’t hear a thing.


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## vitocorleone123 (Aug 19, 2020)

A great case and high quality fans (replace all the fans with Noctua - but be careful to get the ones that match the size, airflow, and more). Or even just replacing the fans in your existing case would helps - though not as much as a new case with space for one or more large fans that can move a lot of air but rotate slowly and quietly.

A modern PSU of sufficient wattage where the sweet spot of typical operation means that the fan won't kick in (most now are somewhere between 20%-30% before the fan starts in) also matters.


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## Pictus (Aug 19, 2020)

No air circulation and the PC probably will overheat...
But with proper elements it is possible to have a silent PC.

BIG CPU coolers are more silent efficient 



Best case fans











Best PC Airflow Cases for 2020 So Far: $60 Budget to $200 High-End


Today is a round-up of the best airflow-focused cases currently out, which can also be tuned to be good acoustic performers by nature of unrestricted intakes. -




www.gamersnexus.net













GN Awards Show: Best & Worst PC Cases of 2019 (Thermals, Quality, Noise)


This year’s award nominees pick up from where we left off, starting with the lackluster Thermaltake Level 20 MT in December of 2018. Spoilers: it didn’t win anything. -




www.gamersnexus.net






Get a passive GPU





MSI GeForce GT 1030 2 GB 2GH LP OC Video Card







pcpartpicker.com





A passive PSU


https://pcpartpicker.com/product/rbvbt6/seasonic-prime-titanium-600w-80-titanium-certified-fully-modular-fanless-atx-power-supply-ssr-600tl


or
A semi-passive PSU, up to +-250W the fan is off and up to +- 600W the RPM/Noise is very low





Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply







pcpartpicker.com




https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-rm850x-v2-psu,5568-5.html





Another interesting option is to use a custom water cooler kit and place the
radiator/fans/pump into another room and if can not do this, get a BIG radiator
and use it passive or with big 200mm low RPM silent fans.




Get a motherboard with TOP quality VRM, the most expensive ones, so it will not generate
much heat and limit the CPU maximum wattage and/or underclock/undervoltage...

For Intel Z490 








24 Intel Z490 moederborden review: van koorts tot kookpunt


In deze review vergelijken we 24 Intel Z490-moederborden. We stellen ze op de proef met een Core i9 10900K, de meest luxe 10de generatie Core-processor...




be.hardware.info





For AMD X570 (the one to get is the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme, it is the only X570
that does not have chipset FAN!)








25 AMD X570 moederborden review: op de proef met een 3900X


Met de Ryzen 3000-processors lanceerde AMD ook een nieuwe chipset: de X570-chipset. Welk X570-moederbord je moet kopen vind je hier, want wij hebben er...




nl.hardware.info





As the Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme is too expensive, better get a B550 motherboard
as they do not use chipset FAN. The best B550 motherboards are: (both have Thunderbolt header)


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## rgames (Aug 19, 2020)

Noise and heat go together. The more heat you generate, the more noise you generate. Therefore, the less heat you generate, the less noise you generate.

The problem there is that performance also goes with heat, so performance goes with noise.

But the flip side of that is that if you can get by with less performance by, e.g., downclocking your CPU, you can reduce noise and potentially eliminate fan noise entirely by going with totally passive cooling while you're downclocked. So one option is to just reduce max CPU speed when recording. That might be enough to enable you to turn off all fans. Then you can increase it again when you're done recording and turn the fans back on.

However, that only deals with fan noise. There are still electrical hums and whines that come out of computers (which are audible to anyone with good hearing). That noise can only be dealt with by putting the computer on the other side of a wall. I've never been in the same room with a computer that I can't hear. Maybe I have superhuman hearing but I don't think so.

You say you don't have an option to do that but, alas, that is the absolute best solution. It's also the cheapest unless you live in a castle or otherwise have interior walls made of stone or concrete.

Another option is to record to a tablet or dedicated recording device. They're much quieter than computers. I can't hear tablets so I'd be more than happy to record to one. Most recent audio interfaces have some kind of tablet compatibility.

rgames


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## rojarvi (Aug 20, 2020)

Hi,

I just updated my PC case and CPU cooler for the very same purpose - to be able to record acoustic guitar in the same room where my PC is. I ended up buying Fractal Design Define 7 case, which has acoustic isolation and decent stock fans. 

For CPU cooler I went for Scythe Ninja 5. Why? Because it has low RPM fans and is very silent, always. Someone will probably comment that low RPM means bad cooling. It is true that the more there is air flow, the better the cooling is. However, with such massive cooling element with heat pipes, this is more than enough for my 10-core i7-6950X. There are more efficient coolers out there but I believe this one ranks very high when we compare noise and efficiency.

Now my computer is very silent - with frequency throttling disabled (always full) I cannot hear a thing. Under full load you can hear very slightly fans spinning up, but this is not a problem in my use case because I do not record and blast CPUs 100% while recording. And I doubt mics would pick up that noise in any case, it's very low. So, I would recommend checking the fan RPMs of the CPU cooler you choose.


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## Saxer (Aug 20, 2020)

Decades ago I had a self made wood box for the computer. It was big enough to have some air around the computer and the back side of the box was open. The open side was turned towards a wall with about 20cm distance from that wall. At the wall was carpet to absorp the noise. It wasn't a solution for a design award but it worked well for years and it was silent enough for acoustic guitar recordings in the same room.


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## polyfonic (Aug 22, 2020)

Thanks a lot for nice tips on how to solve my problem with computer noise.
Buying new case, cooler and fans is what tempts me less. After all I did put some money in buying good quality cases and coolers.

After thinking it through closely, I might find a place to store my computers outside the studio room.
If I go for that solution, what steps do I need to take? 
I guess a big USB-hub need to be purchased. How will a long USB-cable work - will it lose effect the longer it is?
I use ethernet cable (CAT6) and switch to connect from main DAW to slave.
Are there any other considerations I need to make putting the computers outside my control room?


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## Solarsentinel (Aug 23, 2020)

polyfonic said:


> Thanks a lot for nice tips on how to solve my problem with computer noise.
> Buying new case, cooler and fans is what tempts me less. After all I did put some money in buying good quality cases and coolers.
> 
> After thinking it through closely, I might find a place to store my computers outside the studio room.
> ...


Long usb cable is not a problem. There is an amp with long cable to prevent loss signal.
I think a big hub will not too, but sometimes there is problem with hardware connected to same hub, they prefer a single port for good use. You will have to test it and choose which one is good for you.

Is your other room far away? If it is the case, consider to let your computer on the main room and purchase a silent case + fan. Because sometimes some cables are far more expensive than the first solution...
For ethernet CAT 6 no problem too, even if the cable is very long


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## polyfonic (Aug 23, 2020)

Solarsentinel said:


> Long usb cable is not a problem. There is an amp with long cable to prevent loss signal.
> I think a big hub will not too, but sometimes there is problem with hardware connected to same hub, they prefer a single port for good use. You will have to test it and choose which one is good for you.
> 
> Is your other room far away? If it is the case, consider to let your computer on the main room and purchase a silent case + fan. Because sometimes some cables are far more expensive than the first solution...
> For ethernet CAT 6 no problem too, even if the cable is very long


The other room is right next to the control room.

Another challenge is that my set-up is with 3 screens, so these also has to be connected to the other room as well


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## Kent (Aug 23, 2020)

polyfonic said:


> Thanks a lot for nice tips on how to solve my problem with computer noise.
> Buying new case, cooler and fans is what tempts me less. After all I did put some money in buying good quality cases and coolers.
> 
> After thinking it through closely, I might find a place to store my computers outside the studio room.
> ...


Many people use usb-over-Ethernet extenders for running connections to computers in another room.


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## Solarsentinel (Aug 23, 2020)

polyfonic said:


> The other room is right next to the control room.
> 
> Another challenge is that my set-up is with 3 screens, so these also has to be connected to the other room as well


For screens, hdmi and display port cables exist in many version with no need of amplifier. you can easily find any cable from 10 to 20m.



kmaster said:


> Many people use usb-over-Ethernet extenders for running connections to computers in another room.


Good idea! never tried for now.


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## polyfonic (Aug 23, 2020)

kmaster said:


> Many people use usb-over-Ethernet extenders for running connections to computers in another room.



I didnt know those existed...


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## EgM (Aug 24, 2020)

Solarsentinel said:


> For screens, hdmi and display port cables exist in many version with no need of amplifier. you can easily find any cable from 10 to 20m.



HDMI is no problem, but DisplayPort cables longer than 1.8M (6ft) will be prone to dropouts if you're using > 1080p resolutions.


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## Pablocrespo (Aug 24, 2020)

How about dvi cables? can I use long ones?


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## rgames (Aug 24, 2020)

Whether or not a monitor cable will work depends mostly on the type of connection, resolution and refresh rate. Higher res and faster refresh drive to shorter cables. You really need to buy a cable and try it because there are a bunch of other factors that determine max run length as well. It's tough to predict what will work for you.

I have a 10 ft DP cable running a monitor at 3440x1440 60 Hz with no issues. I've had occasional issues with it at 100 Hz but I can't say it was because of the cable. Might have been the screen or video card. That video card did end up dying a fiery death, so I'm inclined to think it was the card.

rgames


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 24, 2020)

I haven't had to worry about it for quite a while because my MacPro 5,1 is so dead silent I can't tell if its on. 

My previous computer was a PC and the last two PC's I put a lot of effort into trying to make them quieter. You can get them considerably quieter....perhaps good enough..none of them were ever as quiet as this Mac Pro, but its possible to get them pretty darn quiet.

For one thing as others said, you want to make sure the case has good airflow and you want MORE fans...but bigger fans running at low RPM. 

for another thing you should get an aftermarket high performance heat sink for your CPU..which will help pull heat away from the CPU, where the big fans running at low RPM can move the air out. 

Get rid of non-SSD drives. Traditional Hard drives are noisy as F__K

My last PC I also bought a noise suppression kit, which amounted to a lot of acoustic absorption material that lines the case inside. I'm not sure that really made that much difference though. Probably a little bit, it all helps.

I also had the hard drives "hanging" instead of screwed into the chassis. Yes literally there are these elastic bands and the drives just kind of hang in them instead of being screwed in...and believe it or not that made a big difference in sound.

make sure your motherboard can be configured to use lower fan RPM (but with enough fans that they move the air at low RPM).


I got my last PC pretty darn quiet, for me, quiet enough to keep under my desk no problem. its not as quiet as this MacPro, which still blows my mind how quiet it is. For a while I was also thinking about how to keep it another room and stuff like that. But honestly I would find that a huge hassle, I think its easier to make it quiet, but it wasn't that easy to make my PC quiet, I spent a lot of time researching and trying things and buying things...it used a lot of time to get it sorted out. I don't look forward to doing that again.

That being said, if I had VePro Slaves I would personally put them in another room or closet, but in a closet you have to worry about heat too inside the closet, so there is always that.. Its simply not always that convenient to move a PC away from the desk and not inexpensive to do it right either.


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## polyfonic (Aug 30, 2020)

Dewdman42 said:


> I also had the hard drives "hanging" instead of screwed into the chassis. Yes literally there are these elastic bands and the drives just kind of hang in them instead of being screwed in...and believe it or not that made a big difference in sound.



Interesting, seems lika a good idea...



Dewdman42 said:


> make sure your motherboard can be configured to use lower fan RPM (but with enough fans that they move the air at low RPM).


Do you think case fans with low rpm will minimize the noise issue?


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## vitocorleone123 (Aug 30, 2020)

SSD drives can go anywhere with a little ventilation. Mechanical drives... I always used the rubber gaskets or whatnot so there's less vibration and that always worked for me.

Large fans with low rpm is the way to go to minimize fan noise. Noctua is my go to, even if some of the fans are $20-$25 each. I always replace fans that come with anything I put in the computer (or the case fans) with Noctua. Every time.


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## Dewdman42 (Aug 30, 2020)

polyfonic said:


> Do you think case fans with low rpm will minimize the noise issue?



depends. more fans = more noise. But if you have few fans that kick in at high RPM...then yes, adding more and larger funs and making them all run lower RPM will be quieter.


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