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Post by longscale on Jun 19, 2023 15:59:23 GMT -6
I'm looking at the Avid Thunderbolt 3 Desktop chassis to house a HDX core card. I'm worried about fan noise. Anybody have any experience with this or something similar like a different Sonnet thunderbolt chassis? From what I've found with google it appears the HDX PCIe card itself is the noisy one. I hate fan noise. I've spent years banishing it from my room.
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Post by sean on Jun 19, 2023 17:23:44 GMT -6
Probably the quietest is the rack mount version. I have a single slot Avid branded Sonnet chassis and it has some noise, but I shoved it in a closet đ
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Post by longscale on Jun 19, 2023 21:30:40 GMT -6
Interesting. Thank you. If only I had a closet.
I assume you mean the Avid rack mount as opposed to something like the Sonnet Echo III.
Wish they published noise specs. If the echo III is much quieter it would soften the price diff pain. Unlikely I need space for 3 cards anytime soon however.
This sounds like a possible bad path (no pun intended) for me then. I really hate fan noise.
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Post by sean on Jun 19, 2023 21:33:09 GMT -6
Interesting. Thank you. If only I had a closet. I assume you mean the Avid rack mount as opposed to something like the Sonnet Echo III. Wish they published noise specs. If the echo III is much quieter it would soften the price diff pain. Unlikely I need space for 3 cards anytime soon however. This sounds like a possible bad path (no pun intended) for me then. I really hate fan noise. A friend of mine recently got a 3 slot Sonnet desktop rack (of course, itâs the more expensive one because the other one is too small for HDX card) Iâll ask him and see if itâs noisyâŚitâs in the control room with him. I think they also make one that fits a Mac Mini? A friend of mine has that (actually I bought my Avid one from him because it was too noisy to be in the control room with him) |
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Post by spindrift on Jun 19, 2023 23:14:31 GMT -6
I have an HDX card in an Avid Desktop TB3 chassis and the HDX card fan is loud, not necessarily the enclosure fan! Like really loudâŚ.embarrassingly loudâŚ. Like what is Avid thinking? My solution? I purchased an 82â very fragile Corning optical TB3 extension cable and a 100â HDX digilink cable so that I can re-locate that damn noisy thing in another room when tracking. Iâm already in for a penny with the system, might as well be in for a pound. Itâs a $600 âsolutionâ to a noise problem that is also un-graceful and pain in the ass to deal with. Not happy with the setup frankly but I love HDX and my Radar converters.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jun 19, 2023 23:59:25 GMT -6
I just unplug my HDX card fan. Been like that for years, no issues.
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Post by spindrift on Jun 20, 2023 11:01:27 GMT -6
I just unplug my HDX card fan. Been like that for years, no issues. Hmmmmm, that sounds a lot cheaper!! |
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Post by seawell on Jun 20, 2023 12:11:09 GMT -6
I haven't checked but I wonder if there are quieter fan options? I replaced the fan in my Avid HD I/O with a Noctua brand fan and it make a world of difference. I have 1 HDX card in a Sonnet Echo Express III-D chassis but it's not in the control room so the noise on that one isn't an issue. It is pretty loud though.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jun 20, 2023 12:15:13 GMT -6
I haven't checked but I wonder if there are quieter fan options? I replaced the fan in my Avid HD I/O with a Noctua brand fan and it make a world of difference. I have 1 HDX card in a Sonnet Echo Express III-D chassis but it's not in the control room so the noise on that one isn't an issue. It is pretty loud though. I also did this with my Digi 192 I/O's. Makes a huge difference. Im sure you could do the same to the Sonnet stuff, Noctua makes fans in all sizes. They do put pretty loud fans in. |
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Post by Ward on Jun 20, 2023 13:00:05 GMT -6
So... anyone using an Avid Thunderbolt HDX with an Apple Studio and having good results? noise wise as well, I mean.
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Post by longscale on Jun 20, 2023 13:54:11 GMT -6
So... anyone using an Avid Thunderbolt HDX with an Apple Studio and having good results? noise wise as well, I mean. I don't yet have that experience - but this is exactly what I want to know. How to build a control room friendly config out of a Apple thunderbolt rig for a HDX Core card. It sounds like the Avid Thunderbolt Desktop is out as an actual desktop unit because of the HDX card noise. Scratch that from the list - unless I invest in a silent case or do the remote cabling (but even that if the extension is fragile it won't work for me - would be laying on the floor for foot traffic) Interesting enough I do know that a M2 Apple Studio does not like a HD Native Thunderbolt box. The HD driver does not work. This is for the 2023.6 HD driver. I've not tried to backup to the 2023.3 HD driver yet. I don't know if PT itself heats up the M2 Studio to the point of loud fans - because I can't use it yet. I need to get out of the HD Native setup - and I'm sensitive to latency anyway so that config drove me insane for years. Thus my interest in the HDX Core card. |
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Post by longscale on Jun 20, 2023 14:07:29 GMT -6
I just unplug my HDX card fan. Been like that for years, no issues. Man. now that is commitment. Not sure I have the fortitude to do that. But an interesting datapoint non the less. |
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Post by drbill on Jun 20, 2023 15:16:18 GMT -6
but even that if the extension is fragile it won't work for me - would be laying on the floor for foot traffic) . Kinda off topic, but not really......consider doing overhead soffits for cabling. For me, that was 1000% worth it. In my old studio I had huge looms of snake cables going all around the room and out into the center for the console. I hated it. Fast forward to the new room. There were a few mandatory things - one was no cabling on the floor, and two was a quiet machine room for anything with a fan. I accomplished both with a simple ceiling built soffit. It requires more length to the cables, but was sooooooooo, SOOOOOOOO worth it for me.
Something to consider... |
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Post by longscale on Jun 20, 2023 16:55:45 GMT -6
but even that if the extension is fragile it won't work for me - would be laying on the floor for foot traffic) . Kinda off topic, but not really......consider doing overhead soffits for cabling. For me, that was 1000% worth it. In my old studio I had huge looms of snake cables going all around the room and out into the center for the console. I hated it. Fast forward to the new room. There were a few mandatory things - one was no cabling on the floor, and two was a quiet machine room for anything with a fan. I accomplished both with a simple ceiling built soffit. It requires more length to the cables, but was sooooooooo, SOOOOOOOO worth it for me.
Something to consider... Thanks for the tip. I wish I had planned this space much better when it was built 20 years ago but I did not. I barely had the wisdom to put mic and speaker lines into what was to be my "guitar cab, live room". In my defense my wife was about to give birth so I was more than a little stressed/busy as we moved house just at the end of that. Wheee |
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Post by Blackdawg on Jun 21, 2023 10:51:05 GMT -6
I just unplug my HDX card fan. Been like that for years, no issues. Man. now that is commitment. Not sure I have the fortitude to do that. But an interesting datapoint non the less. To be fair I have mine in a PC case that vents pretty well. But still, been going strong for a while. An error message pops up warning about the fan every time I open PT but never not works. |
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Post by longscale on Jun 25, 2023 18:51:23 GMT -6
Anybody have experience with the noise of an Avid Carbon? However I really want zero latency this time round. I'm running out of options if a HDX Core card is loud.
I suppose I could attempt to build a small box to house a screaming thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis in. Create multiple 90 degree turns for air intake, and outflow. add a super quiet fan to keep pushing air through it at slow speed. I'd rather build that then spend >1k on a giant silent case to house something like a HDX/PCIe Thunderbolt chassis.
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Post by sean on Jun 25, 2023 19:16:46 GMT -6
Have you considered getting a longer DigiLink cables and keeping the card/box somewhere else? That what I'm going to do...just run a digilink into a closet or the storage room.
This thread did make me order some quiet fans for my HD I/O's because I have to keep those in the control room and they do sometimes get loud
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,961 
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Post by ericn on Jun 26, 2023 13:55:32 GMT -6
The fans of Avid / Didgi proof that the development guys spent all their time in places with machine rooms or closets.
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Post by christophert on Jun 26, 2023 16:02:38 GMT -6
The fans of Avid / Didgi proof that the development guys spent all their time in places with machine rooms or closets. Or in my case, my thunderbolt chassis lives in the rear of my racks, which has a door and vents out the top rear. Perfect
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Post by subspace on Jun 27, 2023 7:17:19 GMT -6
Anybody have experience with the noise of an Avid Carbon? However I really want zero latency this time round. I'm running out of options if a HDX Core card is loud. I suppose I could attempt to build a small box to house a screaming thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis in. Create multiple 90 degree turns for air intake, and outflow. add a super quiet fan to keep pushing air through it at slow speed. I'd rather build that then spend >1k on a giant silent case to house something like a HDX/PCIe Thunderbolt chassis. I've had a Carbon since release but don't have any experience of noise coming from it, the only time I've heard it's fan was when using the built-in talkback mic, which should've been put at the opposite end of the chassis from the fan. |
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Post by longscale on Jul 2, 2023 17:04:45 GMT -6
Since I'm only planning on running one HDX core card I *might* try the fanless option. I ordered a Sonnet Echo III Desktop to hold the HDX card. I'm considering going used for the HDX card itself. The early cards had no fan - or I might just unplug the fan and take my chances. I'm more willing to roll those dice if I'm only in it for 2.5k (used) vs 5k (new).
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Jul 5, 2023 11:17:07 GMT -6
Since I'm only planning on running one HDX core card I *might* try the fanless option. I ordered a Sonnet Echo III Desktop to hold the HDX card. I'm considering going used for the HDX card itself. The early cards had no fan - or I might just unplug the fan and take my chances. I'm more willing to roll those dice if I'm only in it for 2.5k (used) vs 5k (new). In the old days of giant Magma Chassis when Avid only supported the use of 7 slots there was this guy who would dampen the hell out of the lid by putting a bunch of acoustical Caulk on the inside of the unused portion of the lid. Any external chassis is going to have a slight increase of latency because non communicate from the host to the cards in PCI, there is always a Codec involves a conversion ( takes a bit of time ) to a proprietary protocol then another codec at the chassis that converts it back to PCI. There was a project by a major PC vendor to try and build a blade server with a proprietary â PCI bus outboard connector â to a special out board Chassis but it was only stable if the cable was less than 6in. So it really didnât offer any benefits and I was told for some reason their Servers were not compatible with the Military system they were trying to design for or any AVID products. One interesting note, Avid and Magma have always had an interesting relationship, I have seen AVID Chassis with Boards with Magma printed on them and Magma Chassis with Digidesn and Avid markings, these were all brand spanking new. |
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Post by tim on Jul 5, 2023 15:27:32 GMT -6
I have a Sonnet chassis with two HDX cards and a ua octo sitting under my desk. HDX cards are used and from somewhere around 2014. Both cards are pretty quiet and fans run at low rpm. Sonnet fan runs constantly but is pretty quiet. I had a different HDX card that would run the fan full blast constantly. Sent that one back. I think if sonnet chassis doesnât work out you could always blow a ton of money on a new Mac Pro. đ¤Łđ¤Ł Haha! Iâm also curious about unplugging the fans on the HDX cards but thought an error pops up in PT regularly.
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Post by longscale on Jul 10, 2023 22:08:46 GMT -6
The Sonnet Echo III arrived, as did a HDX card. Simple to install. I'm happy to report that the combo is not a screamer. The fans on the echo III run at a fairly low rate - and are not noisy. I have it on my desk at the moment aimed at my head - and I don't find it annoying. I'm impressed with the Echo III. I'll find a place for it in the back of a rack - to help dampen what little fan noise there is. I've not tried stressing the HDX card yet to see if I can hear the fans step up in speed. The other interesting part is my M2 Mac Studio runs ProTools with this setup (HDX) just fine - whereas a HD Native Thunderbolt was not happy at all with the M2 Studio. I did uninstall the 2023.6 HD driver and installed the 2023.3 HD driver for these tests.
I'm quite happy with this setup. The HDX card is from 2012, and seems quiet. I may try unplugging the fan on it to see if I notice the difference.
Thank you all for helping me land on a solution I'm happy with. Appreciate the input/suggestions/advice/experience offered.
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Post by Blackdawg on Jul 11, 2023 2:05:29 GMT -6
I have a Sonnet chassis with two HDX cards and a ua octo sitting under my desk. HDX cards are used and from somewhere around 2014. Both cards are pretty quiet and fans run at low rpm. Sonnet fan runs constantly but is pretty quiet. I had a different HDX card that would run the fan full blast constantly. Sent that one back. I think if sonnet chassis doesnât work out you could always blow a ton of money on a new Mac Pro. đ¤Łđ¤Ł Haha! Iâm also curious about unplugging the fans on the HDX cards but thought an error pops up in PT regularly. error pops up only at start up. Never comes back once you click "ok" until you shut down and then boot up PT again. I do not find it annoying at all. |
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