Moving the computer out of the studio

[punching_sandwiches]

Hey guys, I'm getting sick of having to strip fan sounds out of all of my recordings. From the shape/size of my studio the only way I can see solving this problem is moving the computer into the room next door and running long VGA + USB cables into the studio for the screen, soundcard and midi controllers.

The cables would have to be pretty long since the place is rented I'm not allowed to drill holes through walls.

Would this work or would I have problems with latency in the USB or VGA?


Thanks guys,

Nathan

[H20nly]

depends how far away the room is. there is a limit to how long a USB cable you can use...

you could try daisy chaining powered USB hubs together, but i'd keep your receipts if you buy anything specially for this purpose.

why not try a couple of other PC options like;

- changing the fans - 120mm fans are much quieter than their 80mm counter parts. you can get higher end models for added silence
- switch the CPU fan to heat pipes. they work wonders and make NO (none, zero) noise.
- get a case that boasts "silent" or "quiet" as one of it's features. Antec makes a good one.


in addition you could create a wall or box type scenario where the computer can be away from your mics. i don't mean box in the mics... i mean box in the computer. just make sure it doesn't get too hot... or else the fans might get louder (if they have variable speeds) or the whole damn thing could just end up toasted.

[punching_sandwiches]

The computer is a macpro so replacing fans is out of the question unfortunately. And since I've already had one PSU blow up on me I'm a little adverse to boxing it in.

I recon the VGA and USB cables would need to be 15-20ft long.

[Tone Deft]

put a gate on the input to your recording channels just above the fan noise. something to try before tearing your studio apart. maybe play with mic placement. for that matter why not move your recording space to the other room and leave the computer where it is?

[punching_sandwiches]

The gate trick usually works but I've been recording a lot of very quiet sounds recently and the gate kills things like decays.
The problem with moving the recording space is that then I get spill from bathroom fans and fridge/freezer motors.
Unfortunately the room I have all my gear in is also the room I have to record in on my budget.

Whats the limit on USB cable length then?

[nathannn]

^ 16ft

[memes_33]

you can buy extenders that transmit the usb farther over ethernet cable. not cheap, but an option.

VGA can travel pretty far with decent cables 100-150ft, so no problem there.

there are cases made for attenuating fan noise in macs, but they ain't cheap either.

[Tone Deft]

^ 16ft

^ 16,000ft

[punching_sandwiches]

you can buy extenders that transmit the usb farther over ethernet cable. not cheap, but an option.

VGA can travel pretty far with decent cables 100-150ft, so no problem there.

there are cases made for attenuating fan noise in macs, but they ain't cheap either.

Where might I find these ethernet extenders? 15ft Should hopefully be enough on the USB front.
Does anyone know how long firewire cables can go by any chance should I upgrade my soundcard?

Thanks everyone.

[nathannn]

^ 16ft

^ 16,000ft

[memes_33]

Where might I find these ethernet extenders? 15ft Should hopefully be enough on the USB front.
Does anyone know how long firewire cables can go by any chance should I upgrade my soundcard?

Thanks everyone.

here are the ones i often use in my AV designs. i'm sure there are cheaper ones out there- just type "usb extender" in google. or you can do the cheating method as someone suggested here and just daisy chain usb over usb hubs. at that distance, you will probably only need one. in fact, i bet you could get away with no usb extender or hub if you didn't need the 6V to power your usb stuff. i'm not 100% sure, but i think the voltage loss is the main factor in the 16ft length limitation.

as for firewire, i think that can go up to 50 ft. with good cables. firewire is daisy-chainable.

[Tone Deft]

it's 5V, not 6V.

voltage drop isn't the issue, over 15 feet it would be negligible. it's a signal integrity issue due to the high frequency of the signal, you need more tightly controlled impedances on the line to avoid reflections, it's all scienceshit.

[Moody]

Build an enclosure for it.

[simonlb]

it's 5V, not 6V.

voltage drop isn't the issue, over 15 feet it would be negligible. it's a signal integrity issue due to the high frequency of the signal, you need more tightly controlled impedances on the line to avoid reflections, it's all scienceshit.

From what I understand it's more about the timing/signalling that USB uses than transmission line effects alone.

Ah well, if it works it works...

[Hermanus]

why not move your recording space to the other room and leave the computer where it is?

This for sure.

Build a recording space if you got room for it