PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

I want to build a new Core Duo DAW with 2 gb RAM for 1 scope pro card. My current DAW is noisy even though I bought a Zalman power supply and fan. The CPU I have is a 3.4 GHz P4 Prescott which runs so hot. I intend to change the graphics card for a fanless one as I think the fan on the card is noisy. Also the case may not be helping either?

My budget is up to £800/$1500.

just spend some of that money on making an isolation cabinet vented outside.

the upgrade will cost less than $800 for good parts. with a $1500 budget that leaves $700! you can really improve your work environment with $700!

there are midi, ps/2 and usb extensions that use lan connects if needed.

on problem with "silent" pcs is that the fancy silent cooling systems are often fragile and not very portable. a pc is only a little more trouble than a laptop to move in reality, with a good case and standard cooling, although that's not likely to be an issue for most.

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... reserator2

This thing looks cool (!) ...perhaps fanless mobo and graphics card (won't be playing games on it), fanless PSU (ok for 2 hard drives, cd-rom, dvd-rom, usbs, scope card??) amd this water-cooled thingy.

I hate noise so much!! I have to get rid of it!

I my last pc - not a DAW - but verry quiet,
I have 2 low noise (papst) 120mm fans 1 front (IN) and 1 rear (OUT) + 1 80mm spinning verry slow at the side.
As graphic gard i choosed ASUSU 6600 Silent, with a big aircooled radiator. I then replaced the chipset fan with a zalman passiv cooler.

good air flow is alfa omega

the absolute solution would be the closet approach as garyb pointed out or moving the system to the room next door.we drilled a hole in the wall and put the two pc's in that room.having made so much investment for quieter machines, i think this is the ultimate solution.if you have the slightest opportunity, do consider...even if it seems hard to setup, you will not regret it.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: mr drummer on 2006-10-15 06:46 ]</font>

On 2006-10-15 06:44, mr drummer wrote:
or moving the system to the room next door.

you loose however instant access to the drive then

On 2006-10-15 14:20, hubird wrote:
you loose however instant access to the drive then

agreed!..that process sometimes touches my nerves:) however i am still happy that we got rid of the noise.maybe using external drives would be a choice...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: mr drummer on 2006-10-15 15:06 ]</font>

I wish to put my computer in the other room or another planet? How about time shairing for Creamware with a dumb flash based terminal equiped with audio i/o?

a dumb terminal isn't a bad idea...

really, it's normal to put tape machines and things with fans in another room. you only need access to the cd/dvd drive intermittantly and it's no big deal to use a usb drive. there are kvm and midi and usb extenders that use cat5 cable to go 100s of meters, so it's really easy to never worry about noise again.

Gary, I think I am understanding this. I will do this!

http://sewelldirect.com/gefen-usb-exten ... i-cat5.asp

http://www.kvm-switches-online.com/0dt23008a.html

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2615

I also need a MIDI switcher for the input devices. I have two keyboards, a drumkat and WX5 wind controller. I could not find a passive MIDI switcher. Do they still make those?


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: braincell on 2006-10-15 19:50 ]</font>

yes, i think so.

i'm sure that you can get one on ebay even if it's used.

maybe someone has one of these:
http://www.philrees.co.uk/products/selector.htm

also, if you ever need to run midi a long way:
http://www.midilite.com/midilink.html these work great!

Those look nice. Ebay has this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Roland-MPU-104-MIDI ... dZViewItem

I see by default that my AMT8 sends MIDI to all the outputs when no computer is on. That seems too expensive though even on ebay. I wonder if most other MIDI interfaces work this way.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: braincell on 2006-10-15 20:31 ]</font>

yes, i believe they do. the steinberg interfaces do.

mpu-104. there you go. cheap and easy.

The Philip Rees '5S' (5-way selector) is a great little gizmo. We've had one for years & they're great. Passive & bi-directional. Really handy.

They don't deliver outside of the UK.

we're using miditerminal 4140 by esi audio for multiple midi devices.it's a simple cheap device, works ok..serial though.