Reducing hard drive noise. Any recommandations?

[E4K1]

Has anyone tried reducing the hard drive noise in his sampler? If so, any recommandation as to what make/model can be used?

Cheers,

Francois

[Tweak]

I'd like to hear an answer to that too, other than using a quiet drive. Mine whines like heck.

[E4K1]

I found a few possibilities such as the Molex SlientDrive sleeve. However, looking at the rails inside my E4K, there wouldn't be any space to fit such as device. I'd have to remove the existing mount and make a custom one.

The other option is to use one of the latest generation drives that advertise as being quieter. They seem to come with 68-pin cabling but a 68 to 50-pin converter should work.

I'll keep digging.

Francois

[Tweak]

Yeah, we need a Good "Drive List", not all those that are compatible, but all those that are quiet and compatible.

[M!KE]

Publishing the highest recorded A-weighted measurement reading utilizing slow response time within the following 30 seconds.
Current-generation drives turn in the following results:

Note: Scores on top are better. Idle Noise in dB/A @ 18mm


1. Seagate U6 (80 GB ATA-100) - 38.8

2. Seagate Barracuda ATA IV (80 GB ATA-100) - 41.3

3. Maxtor DiamondMax 536DX (100 GB ATA-100) - 41.5

4. Seagate Cheetah 36ES (36 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 44.6

5. Samsung SpinPoint V30 (60.0 GB ATA-100) - 45.0

6. IBM Deskstar 60GXP (60.0 GB ATA-100) - 45.9

7. Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X (80 GB ATA-133) - 46.3

8. Quantum Fireball Plus AS (60.0 GB ATA-100) - 46.5

9. Seagate Barracuda 36ES (36 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 46.7

10. Samsung SpinPoint P20 (40.0 GB ATA-100) - 47.0

11. Western Digital Caviar WD1000BB (100 GB ATA-100) - 47.1

12. Western Digital Caviar WD1200BB (120 GB ATA-100) - 47.1

13. Western Digital Caviar WD1000BB-SE (100 GB ATA-100) - 47.4

14. Seagate Cheetah X15-36LP (36.7 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 48.1

15. Quantum Atlas V (36.7 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 49.2

16. Fujitsu MAM3367 (36 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 49.3

17. Fujitsu MAN3735 (73 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 49.3

18. Seagate Barracuda 180 (180 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 49.8

19. Maxtor Atlas 10k III (73 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 50.1

20. Seagate Cheetah 73LP (73.4 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 50.1

21. Seagate Cheetah 36XL (36.7 GB Ultra 160/m SCSI) - 51.7

22. IBM Ultrastar 36Z15 (36.7 GB Ultra160/m SCSI) - 54.8

[E4K1]

The softsonic motor fited in the Seagate Barracuda ATA IV one-disc model emits only 2.0 bels while spinning and 2.4 bels while seeking; the human ear can't hear sounds below 2.5 bels!

Sounds good too if you can use an ATA drive. Hopefully it will also concern scsi drives later.

Francois

[Tweak]

Many Thanks Mike for posting that list. I will add a link to this post from my emu resources page. http://www.tweakheadz.com/resources.html

[T7]

silentpcreview.com considers this 2.5" drive among the quietest drives available:

http://www.provantage.com/buy-22082286- ... opping.htm

You'll need this adapter:

http://www.provantage.com/buy-7STRP076- ... opping.htm

[Tweak]

Not bad. If you try one, let us know how it goes.

[Wigworld]

Don't forget, you can always use the Drive sleep function.