plans for acoustic computer enclosure?

[Christopher Glaeser]

Anyone have plans or photos of an acoustic enclosure for a desktop computer?

Best, Christopher

[upscale]

What is an acoustic enclosure for a computer? Never heard of one before.

[Christopher Glaeser]

Acoustic enclosures are used to reduce computer noise. One of my desktop computers has six hard drives and six fans. Kell Systems is one company that sells enclosures in this market. See

typically include noise reduction, air flow to extract heat, cable paths for power and peripherals, and doors for easy access.

Best, Christopher

[Ed Edelenbos]

For a second I thought he meant an acoustic computer. (grin)

If you are recording with a microphone on the computer, you find out just how loud the things are.

Ed

[upscale]

enclosure before, just for printers, not computers. Noise from older computer systems of mine was something I used to just accept, having multiple SCSI drives and the fans to keep them cool. Then I upgraded a little while ago with fewer drives, forgoing SCSI for SATA drives and when I bought fans for it, I choose the ones with a smaller noise rating.

The only problem I have now is that I bought an i7-650 extreme processor and a Cooler Master V10 cpu cooler to go with it. The cpu cooler is damned near the size of a football and I'm dreading trying to fit it in the case I've got even though it is a monster tower case.

And no, I'm not going to try water cooling. :)

[-MIKE-]

Every other house in Nashville has a studio in the basement, so you see all kind of crazy stuff.

A fridge in the studio is a great thing to have for keeping water and juice and snacks and whatnot.

One guy had a fridge, built into the wall. You couldn't hear this refrigerator when the compressor kicked on because it was behind the wall and he did a great job of sealing up around the fridge.

This one was the kind with the cooler on top and the freezer on the bottom. He had disabled the freezer section and used it for the acoustic computer enclosure, with a fan and access in the back, from the other room. It was brilliant and worked like a charm.

[upscale]

Makes me wonder about Nashville power requirements. What kind of power generation does Nashville use? Have they got their own nuclear power reactor?

[-MIKE-]

All those McMansions popping up all over the place use much more power than any home studio, just to light their shrubbery. :-)

A whole rack of effects, processors, preamps, along with the computer, guitar amps, control room speaker amps, etc., won't pull more than one or two 15amp circuits could handle.

[Phisherman]

Start with a quiet tower PC case with 120mm slow-running fans. Put the computer on a carpeted floor. Replace many hard drives with a 1T HD.

The only thing I built is a wheeled base, made from some scrap pine, painted black with a front pull.

[Christopher Glaeser]

Or, I could use an HP calculator; those are pretty quiet. :)

FWIW, I have 10 terrabyes of storage that includes a system drive, data drive and raid array. Squeezing into a single 1TB HD is not an option. I was thinking more of a woodworking solution.

Best, Christopher

[FrozenNorth]

That isn't a desktop computer, it is a server, or should be.

Why not just network into it, then you could move the machine far away from your desk? i.e. got a garage, closet etc. where the noise would not be an issue.

[Christopher Glaeser]

It's a desktop computer for video editing.

Silly me, I thought if I posted to the woodworking forum, someone would suggest a solution that would use one of those tools with a round wheel with sharp teeth, um, I think they are called table saws. My apologies for the technical jargon. Perhaps if I post this question to a computer forum they will provide plans for a 3/4" birch plywood enclosure. I'll let you guys get back to whatever it is you discuss on this forum. Certainly can't be woodworking. :)

Best, Christopher

[-MIKE-]

HAHAHHAHA, now you know.

Took the words right out of my mouth. :-)

[Robatoy]

Is most of this noise transmitted via vibration or is it airborne? IOW.. can you feel the case vibrate?

[-MIKE-]

I don't know if we're still referring to studio use, but it's mostly the fan and drive noise, not vibration, that bug people.

[Christopher Glaeser]

Vibration is relatively low. There is some noise due to the six drives, but most of the noise is due to all the fans (fans for dual cpu chips, fan for hign-end graphics card, and multiple fans for power and enclosure).

A Kell System enclosure would be ideal, but they are pricey (though I'm sure they are worth it). I expect a reasonable design would use 1/2" or 3/4" birch plywood lined with carpeting and/or sound proofing material. One key feature is the air flow. Needs to cool 600-800 watts, yet baffle the noise inside the enclosure. Several superquiete 120mm fans could be used to exchange the air. Another feature is the door. Needs to provide easy access, but also a seal to minimize noise.

I've seen plans on the net to build the computer case out of wood. I have no desire to do that. I want the ability to swap in a new computer every couple of years, but keep the acoustic enclosure.

Best, Christopher

[Christopher Glaeser]

Correct. The problem is also cumulative. The 24 port gigabit switch is noticable but not really annoying, the NAS is noticable but not annoying, the video editing station is somewhat loud but tolerable, etc, etc, but with everything running, it's an annoying wind tunnel. My goal is to tackle the loudest PC first, and then perhaps add more acoustic enclosures as needed.

Best, Christopher

[Chris Friesen]

My first suggestion would be to get rid of some of the fans if possible, or at least slow them down. I cut my system noise way down by using only one case fan.

Chris

[Chris Friesen]

Actually, from an overall perspective his post is a good one. A sound absorbing enclosure would kill the sound somewhat, but it's going to be big and bulky. Better to move the noise elsewhere to start with.

Here's what I'd do, starting with free and moving progressively more expensive.

1) Move as much noise as possible out of the room completely. This includes things like your NAS and your gigabit switch. 2) Reduce the power requirements on the computer as much as possible. Without changing the hardware this basically means move stuff from your 10TB of local disks to the NAS. Ideally you want to get rid of entire drives from your desktop machine. Reduce the number of case fans and/or run them as slowly as possible without causing too much heat buildup. 3) Enclose the tower in a sound absorbing enclosure. I'd go with a large box made of MDF or particleboard (solid wood resonates more), with sound absorbing panels on the inside and mass-loaded acoustic barrier sheets on the outside, with baffled air intake and exit. You want the air to have to travel in a zigzag pattern so that there is no direct path for sound to escape. 4) Reduce the noise on the remaining components. This starts to cost money. Use quieter/fewer fans, more efficient cpus, quieter heatsinks, quieter video cards, quieter power supplies, cases designed for cooling and sound absorption, quieter/cooler hard drives, etc. Basically go and read

Chris

[CW]

Since this is taking the course it is, I will throw this out. It's a friggen box. How hard is it to make a box?