how to minimize transient computer noise

M

mintwax

New member
The case fan, cpu fan, hard drive make a lot of noise. I don't have enough room (I rent out a room in a house) to construct a soundproof anything. The best I've done is to put my computer in a closet, add some padding, and run 1/4" lines out from the digi96 pst to my preamp on the other side of the room.

I'm concerned that because the setup is analog that the soundcard is picking up noises from vibrations from the computer. So I'm thinking that the signal needs to be digital as soon as possible and definitley before it enters the closet. Would this help make the sound tighter and cleaner? Right now there is some low audible hiss that I can't figure out what is causing it.

So I'm thinking about buying a alesis ai-3 to convert the analog to ADAT and run the ADAT to the Digi96 pst. Does anybody know if these two peices of hardware are compatible? And does this *help* to solve my problem? Is the ai-3 worth $400 to make the sound digital to minimize picking up artefacts from the computer?
 
Don't see how the card will be affected by stuff going on in the computer unless there's a interference prob or something. Something would have to be defective or cheap..?Running long cables especially if they're unbalanced might cause more probs too...

As far as mics picking up ambient noise:
You can always make the computer quieter. Search for hard disk reviews that test quitely and replace your stuff. Memory serves me the newer Maxtor 7200 RPM drives are quiet, as are the 7200 RPM Seagates I've been buying... The loudest fan in the computer's gonna be the CPU fan, especially if you have an Athlon with some 6000 RPM hair dryer motor cooling it. I custom fabbed a 80x60mm heatsink and mounted an 80mm (3") case fan to it. Cools an XP2000 great and it's very quiet. Computer's quiet enough to put a mic a few feet away and not pick up anything you'll hear in a recording.
Also, if you have tons of memory the computer won't file swap as much and you'll hear less of the hard drive crunching...
 
For acoustic noise, it makes no difference how long your cable run is before the A/D conversion. If you are using an unbalanced cable, then you might get more RF interference with a long cable run, but that's not what you are asking, your problem is acoustic noise from your PC.

I don't understand why isolation in your closet isn't enough though. Hang a couple of blankets up in the closet, and hang one on the closet door, and put a towel along the bottom of the door. Just make sure your computer stays cool enough.

If that doesn't work, you need to make your computer quieter. Get a quiet power supply, quiet CPU sink/fan, quiet case fans, hard drive enclosures, and case acoustic treatment. I buy my stuff from quietpc.com. The whole works will run you up to $200, not cheap but it works extremely well.
 
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