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  #1  
Old 01-28-2021, 03:31 PM
Halvo Halvo is offline
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Default Carbon Fan Noise

I love the Carbon with the exception of one thing. I find the fan quite noisy. It’s obviously not car engine loud but it’s a fair bit louder than my cheese grater Mac Pro that’s also in the room and certainly noticeable after a short period of time when the fan gets going.

Is there a way to turn down the fan on the Carbon?

I’d say it’s about as loud as a standard laptop pc, which is noisy for a studio environment. How loud do others find it? I’d be amazed if I’m the only one that finds this irritating.

Thank you so much for any and all responses. I so want to like the Carbon but find the fan noisier than I’d like.
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  #2  
Old 01-28-2021, 03:44 PM
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Kyle Splittgerber Kyle Splittgerber is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

Quote:
Originally Posted by Halvo View Post
I love the Carbon with the exception of one thing. I find the fan quite noisy. It’s obviously not car engine loud but it’s a fair bit louder than my cheese grater Mac Pro that’s also in the room and certainly noticeable after a short period of time when the fan gets going.

Is there a way to turn down the fan on the Carbon?

I’d say it’s about as loud as a standard laptop pc, which is noisy for a studio environment. How loud do others find it? I’d be amazed if I’m the only one that finds this irritating.

Thank you so much for any and all responses. I so want to like the Carbon but find the fan noisier than I’d like.
Hi Halvo,

This was also just mentioned in the thread here. And, I'm equally surprised to read the same thing here. Generally, the fan is never noticed or only heard when putting your head very close to the unit (as mentioned in that thread).

This is going to sound like a ridiculous question, but are sure it's not Mac fan noise? On certain Macs, Turbo Boost will kick on when using AVB and cause the Mac fan to spin faster and thus be louder. What year and model of Mac do you have and is it positioned near the Carbon unit?
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  #3  
Old 01-31-2021, 06:27 AM
Halvo Halvo is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

Hi Kyle. Thanks so much for coming back to me.

I don’t know what AVB is. However, I am absolutely 100% sure that the fan noise is NOT coming from my Mac Pro (3.3GHz 12-CORE Intel Xeon) but that it’s coming from the front and back of the Carbon. The Omni that I used before (exactly same location) had a similar fan noise but was definitely quieter. The Carbon fan is clearly noticeable and that is when I’ve not even had Pro Tools running e.g. just been listening to music & surfing the web.

I have a simple setup. I have a standard office desk with the Mac Pro on the floor to the right of the desk. In front of me within arms reach is the Carbon with two light TC Reverb 4000s on top and a single computer monitor on top of those. I’ve pushed the unit as far away as possible and moved my microphones further away to minimise the noise.

In a way, I was pleased to read the other thread you kindly sent me as I was beginning to think it was just my unit and the whole thing is upsetting me a bit. If they’re all as noisy as this then I think there will soon be an influx of people with pro studio environments saying the same as I am. I too clearly hear the mechanical transformer clicks when changing sample rates etc. but even before reading the thread you sent me had assumed this was normal and don’t have any issues with these.

The options I’m considering are (I’d really welcome your views):

- Return the unit as faulty - although I absolutely love it apart from the fan noise, which I was thinking is perhaps me expecting too much and a general cooling problem rather than being unique to my unit. It’s a pain to also change my setup again.

- Somehow putting the unit on stilts to improve air flow rather than having it directly on the desk

- ‘Hiding’ the unit under the desk somehow or putting it in a box of some sort so the fan noise is less direct - although this means I couldn’t access the controls very easily and again I’m keen to ensure decent airflow around it

- Put up with it - focusing on all the positives of the unit and simply putting the gate threshold up a bit on my mics - perhaps I’m just expecting too much

As crazy as it sounds I’ve already turned down my room heating in an attempt to keep the unit cooler.

Is there a way to simply turn the fan down a bit or at least see what it’s doing? Is there a way to see the temperature the unit is running at? I remember I had a Kronos keyboard that had a noisy fan and I was given a setting to turn it down and it’s been perfectly near silent ever since.

Thank you for your (and anyone else’s) help. I’ve several friends in the industry and have to admit that at the moment I’m struggling to recommend this product. For me, it’s superb but noisy.
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  #4  
Old 02-03-2021, 06:32 AM
Technog0d Technog0d is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

I can also confirm that the actual fan noise coming from the Carbon is negligible. I actually don't hear it at all. I did have a problem with the Mac fan noise that was fixed when I turned off turbo boost. I would say you should probably RMA it as it is not normal.
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Old 02-03-2021, 12:38 PM
Halvo Halvo is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

Thanks Technogod. With a name like that you’re probably right.

Can I ask if you’re within arms reach and in a pro studio environment? I wouldn’t say mine is loud but you can definitely hear it. I’d say it’s about the same a standard laptop fan.
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  #6  
Old 02-03-2021, 12:57 PM
Technog0d Technog0d is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

My Carbon is literally right next to me under my desk.
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  #7  
Old 02-03-2021, 01:35 PM
trimix trimix is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

My Carbon is in a rack with a stack of 1073s/1084s directly on top and an Equalux/Behritecs directly underneath (as pictured LARGELY in another thread) and I still can't hear the fan sitting directly in front of it.

I could hear my computer fan as soon as I booted the DAW, until I disabled Turbo Boost.
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  #8  
Old 02-03-2021, 03:01 PM
Halvo Halvo is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

Sounds like mine might be faulty.

You really can’t here it at all anyone? Mine starts off quiet but it’s definitely audible after a couple of hours. It’s louder than the Omni it replaced but maybe thats because it doesn’t have vents at the front.

I guess I’m delaying a little as I don’t like being a nuisance and the studio downtime while it’s getting sorted out could also be a pain. I’m worried it’s me being to fussy.

Thanks for the responses - greatly appreciated.
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  #9  
Old 02-05-2021, 12:03 PM
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Kyle Splittgerber Kyle Splittgerber is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

Quote:
Originally Posted by Halvo View Post
Sounds like mine might be faulty.

You really can’t here it at all anyone? Mine starts off quiet but it’s definitely audible after a couple of hours. It’s louder than the Omni it replaced but maybe thats because it doesn’t have vents at the front.

I guess I’m delaying a little as I don’t like being a nuisance and the studio downtime while it’s getting sorted out could also be a pain. I’m worried it’s me being to fussy.

Thanks for the responses - greatly appreciated.
Hi Halvo,

I just wanted to let you know Customer Support informed me they reached out to create a case for this. So, we'll be investigating with you further through that channel. And, I don't think you're being fussy. I want you to be super happy with Carbon.

Thanks,

Kyle
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  #10  
Old 04-14-2021, 11:31 AM
MixerGuy MixerGuy is offline
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Default Re: Carbon Fan Noise

so where did this end up?

and FWIIW in the SoS review of Carbon they said that they never once heard the fans of Carbon in all their testing.

full Avid Carbon review here - not paywalled now.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews...o-tools-carbon
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