Recommendations for computer isolation box?

[mojobone]

Yep, before I built my portable booth, I simply ran mic cables to a quieter room; for a bonus, I had a choice of really bright, reflective kitchen, or relatively dead and damped living room.

[bobmelanson]

Yep, before I built my portable booth, I simply ran mic cables to a quieter room; for a bonus, I had a choice of really bright, reflective kitchen, or relatively dead and damped living room.

I hear you ! ... if I was "allowed" I'd have tie lines to every room in the house

[doncoyer]

I made an iso box that worked well, for my first studio incarnation. I went to Home Depot and for about 80 bucks, bought a small sink/vanity kind of cabinet, cut it down on top and bottom so it would be the right height for my desk (rack height on one side) and modified it by adding this bed foam, all I could find was PINK. So I attempted to spray paint that black with mixed results, but I lined the interior with that. The hinged cabinet door on front wasn't padded, and it isolated the sound quite well with 2 computers inside.

On the back, I cut 2 round pass-through holes and bought a thick foam rubber door mat and cut it up with asterisk shaped slits for cables to pass, then stapled it to the inside of the cabinet. Where the whole back of the cabinet would usually be solid, about halfway up, I made a horizontal door that opens downward on a piano hinge, and has a hook to secure it when I need. I did cut a fan hole for a big computer fan above that, but ended up not using it.

The result was that it blocked most of the noise I had even with the back door open. If I needed to record extremely quiet parts, I could close the door with no problem of overheating...or it would take a good while. Oh, the computers rested on a couple of 2 x 2's that I screwed to the base, right over the foam, then put some of the foam material I made the pass through's out of between the computers and the wood. A fairly cheap option that worked surprisingly well. A little Cherry stain and some poly urethane, and it looks great with the whole setup.

However, getting a brand new custom built quiet rack mountable computer eliminated that problem. I had a guy in Portland, Oregon, build it, he really knows what he's doing and is a musician, reads all the white papers and it comes to you tweaked. It was cheaper and better than the Sweetwater setups, and has been a workhorse. I keep it in stealth mode.

[remmet]

. . . However, getting a brand new custom built quiet rack mountable computer eliminated that problem. I had a guy in Portland, Oregon, build it, he really knows what he's doing and is a musician, reads all the white papers and it comes to you tweaked. It was cheaper and better than the Sweetwater setups, and has been a workhorse. I keep it in stealth mode.

Thanks for the post, Don. I think the solution in my situation will be to locate the computers outside my studio. But since I live in Portland, I'm curious about the local guy who builds iso boxes.

Thanks.

Richard

[ochaim]

Some info about reducing computer noise.
http://pcworld.about.net/magazine/2203p174id114163.htm

Thought it might be helpful if your comfortable getting under the hood of your computer.

Owen

[flyingtadpole]

Like Mojo, I'm still using a Pentium D machine and the fans are noisy, but anything I'm running commercially is direct recording with virtual instruments (my vocals are not, not, commercial). But for PC box people to consider:

"silent" power supplies running a 120mm fan are very very quiet, so much so that I have frequently switched my office computer (dual-core, yes we're behind the times, it's cheaper that way..>) off in the mistaken belief it was off to begin with. Doesn't need much to dampen the disc hum either. Such a computer doesn't have to be parked very far away for quiet.

They're cheap on eBay, and simple to install.