Quieting Your G5?

metajunkie wants to take a bite out of this issue: "I recently set up an at-home recording studio with a DP G5 and a ProTools mBox. Problem is, I can't record (like, say, a voice over) anywhere near the computer because when the cooling fans kick in, it comes in way too loud over the mic. I can't move the computer into another room, and while I'm tempted to throw a blanket over the thing, I don't think that'll help. Does anyone know a place that sells a silencer box for the G5 or some good DIY way to cut out the noise?"

Comments

Minimize CPU usage, Maximize distance from the G5

[daviddennis]

This is an odd question. I've never used ProTools, but I have had no problem at all with fan noise while recording voice overs in Final Cut Pro.

That being said, here are a few notes that should help you.

The G5's fans are very nicely fine-tuned to CPU usage and temperature. The more heavily you use your G5, the louder they are.

So you might be able to solve this problem by minimizing usage. Quit your email program, your web browser, and any other programs you have open. Many of them burn CPU cycles even when they appear to be doing nothing. Quit every program other than Protools.

I don't know much about ProTools itself - I use Final Cut Pro and After Effects - so this is just general advice. If you're playing tracks through your headphones that you don't need for the voiceover, turn them off. If ProTools has a draft playback mode to minimize CPU usage, turn it on.

If you don't already have it there, put your PowerMac G5 under your desk. It sure looks pretty on top of it, but it will make a lot less noise if it's even a little further from your microphone. In an extreme case, you might want to run long cables to it and store it in a more distant part of the room.

If you are running a lot of programs on your system, quit everything but ProTools while doing the voice over, and tell it to play a bare minimum of tracks through the headset.

Put your microphone on a stand and make sure it's close to your face. Get one of those absurd looking anti-poppers (someone at Guitar Center or similar stores can find one for you). Then make sure you're using the bare minimum recorrding volume needed to get a strong signal from your voice.

Put your PowerMac G5 in back of your microphone. Most microphones are pretty directional. If yours is not, get a shotgun mic designed to pick up mainly what's in front of it.

I've never had any trouble recording from Final Cut Pro's voice over tool, but it's possible that is less CPU intensive than Protools. If ProTools is the CPU hog, you might want to use your copy of Final Cut (Final Cut Express is just $299) to record the song and then transfer the audio track to Protools. Final Cut is not the be all and end all of audio, but you can certainly lay out other audio tracks and play them into your headphones.

Hope this helps.

D

Cable extensions

[ptolemu]

"I can't move the computer into another room"

Is the reason for this simply that cables are too short? It may seem a little unprofessional but why not buy an extension cable for your monitor and keyboard so that you can move away from the computer?

gCab

[pcrook345]

Check out the gCab . It's huge and expensive, but man, does it cut down the sound. I'm using one with an older Shuttle cube, and the noise level has gone from maddening to a mere whisper. The iMac next to it is a lot louder.

Re:Usual Suspects

[highcaffeine]

I was going to use the last of my mod points on some other posts in this story that gave some really good tips. At least until I saw this post.

Nothing personal, because I'm sure your comments were made with the best of intentions, and in the PC/non-G5 computing world they'd be great suggestions. However, I would not do any of the "standard tricks" with a G5. Here's why:

Apple has done a serious amount of engineering with the cooling in the G5s. Nine fans, 21 temperature sensors and four "thermal zones". Not to mention those gigantor heatsinks. Replacing their fans, or going so far as to run them at different voltages (and thus speeds), may well cause the opposite effect you're looking for. Mac OS X may end up running the fans much more often to keep the ambient case temperature in the zones you've "played with" at their target temperature(s).

You can get a brief overview of their cooling design here: http://www.apple.com/powermac/design.html

Are you still in the original warranty, or did you add AppleCare? If either of those is true, you may not want to start mucking around with the cooling system components. If I were you, I'd check the warranty/AppleCare legalese very closely first to make sure that you're not voiding those agreements -- especially if you end up damaging your system.

Here's what I would suggest instead:

- Close all unnecessary background programs (fewer programs == less CPU usage == less waste heat == less fan noise) when you are recording your voice overs.

- The type of recording discussed in the parent article won't need remotely near the power of the G5. Because of this, it may also help to go into the Energy Saver system preference panel and switch to the "reduced performance" power profile. This should reduce the need for the fans. When you're done recording, switch back to Automatic or Highest.

- Keep discs out of your superdrive when recording. That drive, when it has a disc in there spinning around, can be loud.

- Get a good directional mic and don't have your G5 tower in front of the mic, where you'll be sitting to do the recording.

Having said all that, you may have something else going on that's causing the noise in your machine. I vaguely recall something about a batch of power supplies in earlier G5s that (I think) Apple will replace under warranty/AppleCare because of excess noise/hum. Maybe you could look into that, as well.

And just to put all my comments in more context, I also have a G5 (dual 2GHz), an Mbox and have used ProTools for voice overs. My G5 is dead silent, and always has been. When I'm sitting at my desk, I literally hear more fan noise from other people's machines down the hallway than I have ever heard from something inside my office, including my G5.

I can't recall, since getting my G5 last October, ever hearing the fans kick into a high speed (and this includes the times I've had FCP4, ProTools, Cinema4D, DVD Studio Pro, Photoshop and LiveType all running at once). And on the recording side, for reference, I've been using a Shure KSM27 mic.

Re:Usual Suspects

[Elwood P Dowd]

Right. But fans on Apple machines have three (visibly) identical black electrical wires.

Fan speed on Apple machines are controlled by Apple. There is no way to choose "Two fans at 1/2 speed" instead of "one fan at full speed".

Also, Apple has a huge amount of case fans in the G5. They are supposed to run at very low RPM. I believe they have already made the decision to go with "two fans at 1/2 speed":

To that end, the Power Mac G5's anodized aluminum alloy enclosure is designed around four independently controlled thermal zones for intelligently channeled airflow. To make the Power Mac G5 even cooler, a see-through internal air deflector channels airflow over the processor heat sinks and the expansion slots.

Each of the four thermal zones is equipped with its own dedicated, low-speed fans. Apple engineered seven of the nine fans to spin at very low speeds for minimum acoustic output. Using 21 different sensors, Mac OS X constantly monitors component temperatures in each zone, dynamically adjusting individual fan speeds to the appropriate levels for the quietest possible operation. As a result, the Power Mac G5 runs two times quieter than the previous Power Mac G4 enclosure.

I realize that's marketing speak, but unless a whole bunch of new stuff has come out about Apple's heat management on G5s, we still need to treat it like a black box. Do you read me now?

Move the damn mac

[MrChuck]

You don't want things with fans in a room with an open mic (not "mike", people).

I've recorded a lot. In pro, semi pro settings and in converted barns. Especially when doing voices, you want a SILENT room. A little acoustic padding on the walls, but perhaps not. I've taken dead rooms (too dead) and hung maple plaques up to liven it a little bit.

But machines with fans go OUTSIDE, even if temporarily. I've tossed a laptop out of a room because the DISK was non-silent.

That might mean you rig up a closet as a voice room (you can even leave the clothes in it). It might mean you run the mac in the hall for 5 minutes while you record.

But no fans near mics. And no deep mods to your case. A dual processor 1GHz machine in a tight space needs lots of airflow.

The G5 isn't the problem...

[metrazol]

It's the mBox.

Yeah, you heard me. The mBox. The inputs on those pieces of crap are so noisy you have to use a separate pre-amp if you want any kind of range. Seriously, I own one, THEY SUCK.

Now, enough trolling about the mBox, that horrible horrible toy. Tinkering around inside the G5 is a phenomenally bad idea. But there are many products that let you quiet a machine w/o oh, melting it. I can't find a link, but there're a number of thin (4mm) foam materials you can put on the inside of your case walls that have great sound dampening ability. Now, the fans are the tougher problem. I'd recommend the venting idea proposed in another post. All external, all cheap.

One last note: To save the recordings you have made, try out Sony/Sonic Foundry's Noise Reduction plug in. I've used it to remove the machine noise from my DAW and it's really, really good, especially for voice. Now, yes, it's on a PC, but it'll run FAST on any relatively new (P3 or better, Athlon) desktop.

But dump the mBox if you want to be taken seriously. I can't stand the damn thing, but it wasn't my purchasing decision...