Laptop cooling fan....

[sickstring69]

Just got my Cake Home Studio 2XL and began playing around (using my Indigo IO) and I'm blown away by the the sound quality. The only teenie glitch is that my mics are picking up my pc's cooling fan ever so slightly. Of course, I'm currently playing around at a desk in a small bedroom and my mics are only 3 feet from pc. Soon (with any luck) my kid will be moving out of my finished basement "den" and I'll be setting up my whole mess down there. My question...how do you deal with pc fan sound and have everything in the same room? And if you set up the PC in another room (Not an option for me) how do you deal with operating the gear while recording? Any easy ways to mask the fan sound? Not that I can ever hear it through the acoustic playing. Just at the 2 seconds before and after. Thanx

 

[ssscientist]

Any easy ways to mask the fan sound?

Yeah. Try this. It's a free audio editor called Audacity and after rendering to stereo just chop the noise off the front and back of the song with this handy little gizmo. After years of SoundForge and WaveLab, I realized this was free and what it doesn't have I never used anyway...

 

[XLR]

If you're using cardioid mic's, use their null to minimize direct pickup of the fan - position them so they're pointing away from the computer.

Or, put the laptop in a closet, and close the door during takes.

Or, set a cardboard box over the laptop during recording. Won't overheat if a few minutes at a time.

I've got my desktop comp just outside my monitoring room using extension cables for monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. I just cut a small hole in the wall, ran cables through and the comp's just on the other side in the next room's closet.

When I'm multitracking, and recording myself, I usually record in my monitoring room, but if I'm doing solo guitar I usually run mic cables to my best recording space about 100 ft away. After I set levels (couple walks back and forth) I just hit record and let it run for an hour or so while I do multiple takes.

I've got a laptop also, with a VX Pocket PCMCIA card, but its fan never comes on when recording, only when processing with lots of plugs.

Good luck,
Tim

 

[Clit Torres]

I've got a laptop also, with a VX Pocket PCMCIA card, but its fan never comes on when recording, only when processing with lots of plugs.

Good luck,
Tim

Mine rarely kicks in at all unless I'm using it in an unusually warm space.

Sickstrings:
I think the key here is to keep the room farely cool. Alternatively you could find yourself a quiet cooling pad for your laptop.

 

[CoolCat]

pcu fan noise

Just got my Cake Home Studio 2XL and began playing around (using my Indigo IO) and I'm blown away by the the sound quality. The only teenie glitch is that my mics are picking up my pc's cooling fan ever so slightly. Of course, I'm currently playing around at a desk in a small bedroom and my mics are only 3 feet from pc. Soon (with any luck) my kid will be moving out of my finished basement "den" and I'll be setting up my whole mess down there. My question...how do you deal with pc fan sound and have everything in the same room? And if you set up the PC in another room (Not an option for me) how do you deal with operating the gear while recording? Any easy ways to mask the fan sound? Not that I can ever hear it through the acoustic playing. Just at the 2 seconds before and after. Thanx

a cuople inputs:

1) i'm somewhat electronic inclined.
i just told a friend of mine with this same problem
to snip the red wire on the fan. it worked great for the noise issue,
but he soon had a burning plastic and CPU lockup kind of problem
and i recommended a new computer that was quiter.

2) i know in my "noisy" room narrow-pattern/directional mic's help a lot.
my first LDC- CAD E100...dammnn,
I swear I could hear the bearings on the
fan in my attic!!
most LDC pick up more room-reflections
as their open in the back..

I use a small condensor, trying a new SM7 (funky lookin guy), SM57.
all have smaller pattern or room reflection rejection.

room reflection rejection is just crazy.

3) the new DLP/LCD projectors for HD TV have a noise issues, may find uour answer over there in TV projector land.

.