Recommendations for computer isolation box?

[remmet]

I know these things are expensive, but does anyone have a recommendation for an isolation box that can hold at least 2 computers?

Thanks!

Richard

[mazz]

Richard,

It might actually be cheaper to get one of those Gefen boxes that allows you to have your computers in another room by extending the monitor and keyboard/mouse cables. If you can put your computers in another room or even in a closet, you'll save a lot of cash, because you are right, those boxes are expensive. They need to be dense enough to dampen the computer noise, and also have some sort of air circulation system to keep the computers cool as well. Both of those things don't come cheap.

http://www.gefen.com/

Good luck!

Mazz

[Hookjaw Brown]

The studio where I record has has a new Mac that is stone cold quiet. We are all amazed and astounded, plus it is fast running Cubase. It cost $3000 but it is worth it.

[gtrmann]

Sometimes when I record acoustic guitar I put a gobo in between the computer and myself, then I place the mic with the connector side toward the gobo for max rejection ( cardiod mic )....I don't seem to have a problem with the computer noise getting in the track....... but I am old and deaf.......

[remmet]

Thanks for your responses!

Currently I have 2 computers – a Mac and a PC – near my feet at my workstation. The PC is quite loud and the Mac has its moments as well. My fiancée and I just bought a house and I’ll have a studio with a control room area and a separate room for recording live instruments. Yay! So, in trying to plan for as quiet an environment as possible, I’m looking for practical solutions to the computer noise.

If I was good with woodworking and construction – and had the time – I’d consider building something myself. But none of those descriptions apply, so I probably need to buy something.

However, there may be a possibility of putting the computers just outside the studio wall. That might be the best and least expensive solution. I’ll need to talk to our contractor to see if it’s feasible.

Richard

[mazz]

If you're actually going to be doing some modifications, then try to budget the space for a small "machine closet" that you can put your computers, hard drives, etc., in, and then just run longer cables. If you're using HDMI for your video, then you can run fairly long cables, longer than regular VGA, that's for sure. USB cables can be long and KVM switches are pretty cheap. There's no reason the computers need to be in your control room!!

[mojobone]

OTOH, it's nice to be able to load and unload the DVD burner from the mix position, and it's far easier to isolate a mic than a computer case. I have an old Pentium D processor; it runs very hot, so ventilation is a must. A machine closet, without special ventilation or adding a liquid cooling system, is not an option, in my case. I record mostly direct and with virtual instruments, these days, and I use a homebrew semi-enclosed vocal booth to isolate the mic.

[mazz]

Point taken Mojo, a machine room needs airflow!!

I think when one gets more than one or two computers going in a room, the noise floor, even if the computers are fairly quiet, goes up. Even for mixing that becomes an issue because certain low level signals such as reverb tails, could disappear into the hum of the computers' fans and hard drives clicking away.

An alternative would be to put the slaves in the tracking room and only turn them on when doing MIDI stuff, the assumption being that when tracking, the main DAW computer would be the one that would be used for the recording and the slaves wouldn't be needed. A cheapo small monitor and KVM switch could be dedicated to the slave(s), which typically would just have a template loaded on them and then it wouldn't be necessary to interact with them beyond that point. DVD burning would be on the main computer which could be in the control room and if it's a quite mac, wouldn't add much in the way of ambient noise to the room.

Just another idea.

Mazz

[bobmelanson]

I'm a big fan of having the computers in another room ... I tried to make isolation boxes before but it was too hard to seal everything and still allow air to flow and easy access to the computers. I'm lucky enough to have a utility room/shop/machine room between my control room and record room ( I use those terms loosely! ) My record room doubles as my family theatre and listening room ... If you can get computers just outside the studio wall, as you mentioned, then do it ... In my last house my studio was in the garage and there was a narrow hall leading to it. I put a shelf up and had the computers in the hall. I had to duck down and walk under them but it was worth it for the silence ... I'm sure you'll figure something out.

[bassman]

Another thing which will reduce computer fan noise quite a bit is recording with a cardiod polar pattern as opposed
to omni.

Fine for full production tracks. Not so fine for acoustic tracks.

Here's another suggestion:

Record in a different room. Can get a bit fiddly running back and forth but it will definately reduce noise.