noise treatment

At the Winter NAMM Show, Primacoustic announced the Machine Room computer silencer; a $699 fan-cooled enclosure designed to quiet down computers in recording studios, broadcast facilities and post production suites.

The Machine Room features three chambers that work together to handle the task. At the bottom rear, cool air is sucked into the Machine Room through a porous foam air filter, into an air distribution chamber. This dissipates the fresh air to provide an even flow around the computer inside the main chamber.

To reduce self noise, the inner walls around the computer are treated with absorptive open cell acoustic foam. Through natural convection, warm air rises to the top where it is then sucked into the output manifold by an ultra-low noise multi-blade fan. The manifold ducts are also lined with open cell acoustic foam to reduce noise from the computer and air-flow turbulence. Air travels around several corners before exiting. The warm air is then pushed out the rear top side leaving the noise behind.

“The challenge with using computers in the same room that you are recording in is PCB fan noise and hard disc whirr,” says Primacoustic’s Jay Porter. “The Machine Room helps reduce the noise by allowing the user to contain the computer and noise inside the enclosure.”

At $699, this is beyond the range of most, but this could be a problem solver for professional recording setups. Read more…