Isolating my Computer

F

Farno

New member
Hey!

I'm planning on buying a Rode NT1-A mic. Problem is my room is very loud due to my PC.

There's 2 options:

1) Get quiet fans
2) Isolate the computer

I don't want to move the computer because you can hear it across the whole room. Now there is a closet I was thinking of putting it in, but heat would build up extremely quickly and it's 20+ feet away (firewire would be tough with latency problems - and I don't know where I can find cables that are that long).

The computer currently has a liquid cooling system on it. I can't downgrade cooling ability because the computer has to be able to handle heavy video editing. I maybe could get some quieter fans but not sure if I'd be better off spending it on the 2nd option, isolating.

I've thought of ideas how to do this and I'm not really sure if it will work. I want to make a box for the computer to go in that is completely sealed except for a cable hole (which would be sealed tightly) and a vent/exhaust. The vent would keep fresh air flowing in and the exhaust to let air out. Long tubing running out of the room (OR into the return vent from the central air?) with some powerful fans would really get the air moving through the box.

The more I think about it, the more I question it. I want to do this right, lining the box with foam would most likely help. There needs to be a door so I can access the computer drives and buttons that when closed would seal completely air tight and sound tight.

I'd have to find some vent fans and figure out what kind of tubing to use.

Any ideas? This might be a lost cause project...
 
quiet fans will most likely be much less expensive and easier to install and easier to deal with in the future.

Also make sure that is the best mic for your purposes - the NT-1 a condenser so it WILL pick up the ambient sound in the room and actually make it sound louder. You may be better of with a uni-directional dynamic mic that is meant to isolate the sound source and not pick up room noise.
 
The other option...use a KVM extension to remote your keyboard, mouse and monitor from the tower which can go in the closet or outside the room...and put your interface with the computer and use a longer XLR cable to extend the microphone.

The other thing that helps is soft furnishing/padding behind you (to minimise reflections) and arranging yourself so the noise source (i.e. computer) is behind the mic in the pattern null.
 
Bobbsy's on the ball. Heat will build up BUT all the other comp isolation options will end up the same. 1 opt for example is to line a box with bubble wrap/carpet/cork/Insulation/rockwool with a few holes for cables in & out & pop that over the thing when recording to reduce the noise (none of the things is very useful except rockwool) but each will assist a little but you won't achieve air/sound tight status unless you turn it off. Deadening the room will also help - heavy curtains, full bookcase, large soft furnishings etc to knock some of the room out of the equation. Quiet fans ARE a cheap option really and a good starting point.
 
Alright I think I'm going to get some quiet fans. If that doesn't make it quiet enough, I'll probably look into moving the computer into the closet (or "equipment" room) and move my desk next to the closet (no extended wiring required). This might be a bad move based on acoustics... or a good one. That's another topic, I've been talking about treating my room for years now but still haven't done anything!

Getting the fans needs to be done anyway so I guess I'm not at a loss. Plus they're only a few bucks each.

The whole thing triggering this issue is getting a mic. I do have a dynamic mic for amps and things, even the dynamic mic across the room picks up the computer! That's how loud this thing is!

Other ideas are welcomed even though I'm going to go ahead anyway and buy the well needed quiet fans.
 
Man, that must be loud. Does the fan have a playing card taped to it like a kids bicycle? :)

Definitely try the quiet fans first. Hell the one that came with my cheapo $40 Thermaltake case is super quiet. Btw, sorry if this is obvious, but largest fan you can fit will be quieter.
 
Replace all the fans with quiet fans.
Line he inside of the case with some thin acoustic foam (don't forget to cut out where the vents are).
Place the computer case on a block of foam or carpet to do-couple it from the floor.
If you can place it under a desk and line the underside of the desk with foam to stop sound echoing off the bottom of the desk.
If the rear of the computer faces a wall, place some acoustic foam on the wall so that the fan noise does not bounce back off the wall.
If you do have the computer under s desk, make a foam cover that sits in front of the computer that you can place there when recording and move to get to the computer.

Alan.
 
Recommendation from a gaming addict's setup. Flexible ducting (plastic clothes dryer exhaust) and two holes in the chassis side. Hook up two very strong fans at the ends of two sections of ducting, one blowing towards, one sucking out. Run the ducting into another room (punch holes through the drywall if you're super serious about this) to push cool air into the computer and suck warm air out of the computer.
 
Bryan316 said:
Recommendation from a gaming addict's setup. Flexible ducting (plastic clothes dryer exhaust) and two holes in the chassis side. Hook up two very strong fans at the ends of two sections of ducting, one blowing towards, one sucking out. Run the ducting into another room (punch holes through the drywall if you're super serious about this) to push cool air into the computer and suck warm air out of the computer.
Click to expand...

That's what I ended up doing. I created a cement board box around my pc and glued acoustic celing tiles to the inside of the box.
Since it was installed in a corner I cut two vent holes to the next room and placed a exhaust fan blowing out in the upper hole to vent out the heat.
Holes were cut for wires near the back of the box and insulation was pressed into the cable holes.

It is dead silent and runs as cool as it did outside of the box.
 
And you can buy the highest CFM rated fans you can find. Or if you do a bit of junking, you can find used bathroom exhaust fans, gut them a bit, and use that hamster cage fan setup and MacGuyver a very efficient blower to force air through that computer.

If you do the cement board box with insulation inside, try to isolate it from the floor. Get some expanded foam neoprene, kinda like the stuff used for bicycle handle grips, and make four pedestal feet for it. Or, go hit Home Depot, get a 2 foot length of large diameter tubing. Say, 1-1/2" diameter. Cut them 2-3" long, drill one large hole and one small hole through the side. Stick a screw through the small hole, and the drill driver bit through the large clearance hole. Screw them to the bottom of the box, and they act like shock absorbers.

Example from McMaster, but you can DIY this for much less money.

5822kp1l.gif
 
Ok that's some good info. I got some quiet fans coming which should knock down some of the sound. I think I will end up building a box anyway, I've looked into where I can punch out the vent holes in the wall and have a pretty good design in mind. When I install the fans I'll see where I'm at and then revisit this if I build the box. If I end up building the box, I'll be sure to do it right - I want this to be a quality product!

Thanks a lot!
 
Thats odd, I could have sworn I posted a reply yesterday.:confused: Oh well, I'll try one more time.

At the risk of getting inundated by rolling eyes, I'll show you what I did. Fact is...it works SUPERB. So fuck em.

Problem is...this ain't for the faint of heart..or skill challenged.

This project requires lots of computer modding and equally skilled woodworking using tools,/plex/hardware etc.

Frankly I've posted various portions of this project, and don't have the time to go through it completely again. So, here's a couple of links to other sites showing various things I did to make this work.

Here is the Sketchups and basic idea.
For the guy who asked about soundproofing a computer... - Gearslutz.com

Here is SOME of the computer mod's I did. This required completely gutting two identical Thermaltake Sonata cases, reorienting the HD cage, building a new front facia, reversing the air flow direction, fabricating complex plenums, fan shrouds, HD decoupling cages and various other things.

nubee with studio computers project mod questions - Soundcards, Speakers, & Audio - Xoxide Forum Network

And here is the finished product minus one computer which I'm working on right now.
is.php


If you are interested in how this is built, just holla. :)
 
3/4" MDF boards all glued and sealed, no holes allowed. Make one board the removable door. Build it like an Anvil road case with the tightening latches, and FAT weatherstripping. Punch holes in the door for your duct ports, and your cable ports. For the cables, I'd recommend rubber grommets or the sealed rubber cable anchors like these, I think they're called Cable Glands:

Cable%20Gland703.jpg



If you REALLY wanted to look pro, make a jack plate! Run jumper cables from the PC to the jack plate, attach a bunch of panel mounted connectors/adapters, and then no cable has to go directly into the box, they can all plug in externally. Parts-Express.com is your friend! They'll have panel mount connections for your IEC power cable, USB ports or hubs, 1/4" or XLR jacks, probably even the keyboard and mouse connectors. Or find cable extenders (with male and female ends) and epoxy them in place, then run to the PC chassis. Only thing you should ever have to open the box for, is CD's or DVD's.
 
Wow there's so many directions I can go with this.

Rick, I've seen some of your stuff before, it's truly amazing! Your gearslutz thread is very helpful! I'll definitely use that as a reference if I do decide to build the box.

The jack plate got my thinking... but then I thought well I could just install the motherboard into the box and have it act like a jack plate. But then again - isn't that defeating the purpose of building the box? It'd be like me building my own case (except I guess there would be no fans or openings for sound to escape because it would have the vent fan). I just don't know if I could get as good of a sound proof seal if I had the motherboard and disk drives/card reader on the outside part of the box then if I were to epoxy or use those cable glands for the cables (this also makes future wiring to the computer much more difficult). If I went without the drives or card reader available then I'd have to build a door.

So it's whatever the most efficient method is:

1) Having a door with wires sealed through the box and drives/motherboard inside the box
2) Having no door but hard drives/motherboard/card reader built directly into the box
3) Having no door but hard drives/card reader built in the box with motherboard inside (wires sealed through box)

If I were to build my box, I think I'd rip apart my current computer case apart and use parts of it inside the box. I think I'd build some sort of box or frame (current computer case that all the components would attach to then have foam and kinds of dense sound proofing materials and then a nice looking exterior box that would be placed in the room with vents running in and out with fans probably running out of the room (a distance of about 20 feet!)

Now looking at ducting for the fans, what diameter should I look for here?

Something like this?

flexductuninsulated.jpg


Then this:

DB_204.jpg


Then I though about getting fancy and having a inline vent filter to prevent dust from being blown into the computer. Don't know where I can find one of those, but that's not the highest priority!

EDIT: I'd probably go with one of those centrifugal fans for increased air flow
 
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