SILENT latop for Adobe Audition use.

R

radi0j0hn

New member
I produce pre-recorded radio shows, voice work, audio books, etc. No MIDI, no music.

While I have good digital recorders and a variety of XLR mics, it is convenient for me to knock out a 30 second spot on the PC with a Blue Yeti. This way I can make changes faster, add a few needed comments, etc., without going back to a recorder, tranferring the file, etc.

I need a fanless SSD laptop for use with audio. Auditon is not that resource intensive, as some versions worked on Windows XP.

Any models, new or used, come to mind? But NO FAN an NO spinning disk are a must.

Thanks!

John
 
I hear ya.
I'm on a similar bent. I don't want to hear the friking DAW.. any more (tower in this case.
When I finish and shut down... This ..noise level.. is what I want.
 
I am typing on a 6yr old i3 HP g6 (2.4G 4 core 8G ram 5400 rpm HDD) and it makes a soft "breath" at startup but is then virtually silent, I have recorded VOs close to it no problem. If you don't give a HDD a hard time it should be very quiet.

I have since bought my son a Lenovo T430. i5, 8G ram 256 SSD. (W10 but the original was W7) I guess it has a fan but you would never know!

I don't know if the ARE any fanless laptops but in any case, unless you run 30 tracks with 12 plugs I doubt you will have a problem.

Dave.
 
I don't think there's anything in Windows or OS X that is "fanless" because heat is a natural byproduct of all those electronics being stuffed into a small package. SSD with low power processor (mobile, battery-life optimized) and minimal memory, maybe 4Gb, are the things to look for, and that'll keep things relatively cool.

And, really, how much noise could it make if you put it behind the mics so if the fan does come on it's away from the mic's pickup pattern (stick with cardioid, not hyper/super-c's).

P.S. There's no measureable slowdown transferring files, in the big picture, for me, anyway, using a Zoom F8. (F4 is up to 6ch and more affordable - saw one for $350 on BF.) Record polywave file and simply drop the sucker into a Logic project template and the tracks all fall into place. That's my feeling, anyway - compared to packing the relatively fragile PC. If I wanted to post something semi-live, I'd probably just get a compatible interface for my phone and mix on that, or take a mix off the F8 and pipe it into the phone via something simple like an iRig (which I've done).
 
I with Keith, laptops in my exp are just not that noisy. I have had about 6 in the last 10 years (mine, works, son's, wife's) and all have been used for recording purposes and even picked acoustic guitar using an LDC and never had a noise problem.

I GUESS if you chose a stonking i7 and 16G of ram in in a very small form factor AND run all kinds of ***t AS WELL as the DAW, it might puff a bit?

Dave.
 
I am writing on a 2018 HP Chromebook with a modest SSD and no fan. When I use Lexis Audio Recorder, it works fine with a decent USB mic. But I need to use Abobe Audition for multitrack mixing. I'm looking at Microsoft Surface or Surface Pros ($$$!). I just ordered a used Surface 3 with keyboard from a guy on eBay. The "touch screen" part doesn't work, so it is only $70. As I don't care about that and have read about using Surface tablets for audio, its worth the gamble.

I can also record audio on an Amazon Fire with zero noise. But the mixing or dropping in some extra verbiage is not as easy.

With Audition, I can see the noise base from a fan and use NR to knock it out, but it sometimes affects othe voice aspects. My Windows 10 machine is lovely, but the infamous HD churning is insane.
 
keith.rogers said:
...And, really, how much noise could it make if you put it behind the mics so if the fan does come on it's away from the mic's pickup pattern (stick with cardioid, not hyper/super-c's). ...
Click to expand...

To fine tune my point on this, I don't have an issue at all with the DAW's noise during recording -again a tower here not lap top. It's fairly easy to not be that close to a mic.
It's on mix down I want to loose the background noise -all be it I presume this is likely a worse problem than with a laptop.
 
mixsit said:
To fine tune my point on this, I don't have an issue at all with the DAW's noise during recording -again a tower here not lap top. It's fairly easy to not be that close to a mic.
It's on mix down I want to loose the background noise -all be it I presume this is likely a worse problem than with a laptop.
Click to expand...

Err? That doesn't quite square with the post title? You can get sleeves that quieten hard drives but in truth I have never had much of a problem with them. They CAN start to chunter when they are stuffed, fragged or dying! Have you run any disc checking software? I would also get any data off the drive PDQ.
Best of all of course would be to clone to an SSD but the latter would likely be smaller than the spinner and that could, I think pose a problem?

How much ram have you got in the tower and is it "good"?

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
Err? That doesn't quite square with the post title? You can get sleeves that quieten hard drives but in truth I have never had much of a problem with them. They CAN start to chunter when they are stuffed, fragged or dying! Have you run any disc checking software? I would also get any data off the drive PDQ.
Best of all of course would be to clone to an SSD but the latter would likely be smaller than the spinner and that could, I think pose a problem?

How much ram have you got in the tower and is it "good"?

Dave.
Click to expand...

Sorry, yeah I should bow out not being on a lap top.
My current rig is a good one, just getting on in age.
And yes, I'm Shure my next build quest is going to include all SSD's :>)
 
Some guy on eBay has a Microsoft Surface 3 with a screen that no longer works as a touch screen, but does with the (included) keyboard. It's $70 with free shipping and I'll let you know how it works out. I'm really after "time is money" workflow where I need to do a quick tag of a basic show for two networks and an independent station. Jogging back and forth to a recorder gets old. And, yes, can see the noise level on the laptop or desktop. Not as bad a years ago, but still l there. Sometimes noise reduction helps, other times not. I do use something called the "Auphonic Leveler" which saves me a LOT of time when guests talk loud, then low, then loud again!
 
radi0j0hn said:
Some guy on eBay has a Microsoft Surface 3 with a screen that no longer works as a touch screen, but does with the (included) keyboard. It's $70 with free shipping and I'll let you know how it works out. I'm really after "time is money" workflow where I need to do a quick tag of a basic show for two networks and an independent station. Jogging back and forth to a recorder gets old. And, yes, can see the noise level on the laptop or desktop. Not as bad a years ago, but still l there. Sometimes noise reduction helps, other times not. I do use something called the "Auphonic Leveler" which saves me a LOT of time when guests talk loud, then low, then loud again!
Click to expand...

Well, I can only say again that I never had a problem with laptop noise. Desktops yes, can be clunky although I had a modest HP from new that was as the grave. IMEXp the venue is likely noisier than the lappy.

Voice dynamics? I would record well down, -20 even -25dBfs, 24 bits and then level up in post, don't want to smash peep's expression?

Dave.
 
I'm happy that you are getting good recordings with you setup.

But let's assume for the moment that I do have a concern about noise from a laptop fan or drive. I have found one solution that seems to help me with when using one of the funny-looking HP desktops that has three sides and is about as tall as two plastic Folgers cannisters.

The units draw air in from the bottom and out the top fairly quietly. I found that placing it in a Sterilite brand plastic document box (used to store folders of docs) with the lid off allows plenty of room for air circulation and acts as a "sound" wall like those ones on the sides of busy highways. This puts on hold my quest (for now) for a fanless SSD laptop. Who'd a thunk it?!
 
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