I recently built a computer based on the Athlon 500 processor and am about to invest in the Digidesign Digi 001 recording system. Unfortunately, Athlon processors require specially designed power supplies, and the one that came with my case (recommended by AMD) is exceedingly loud. The problem is made worse by the relatively high pitch at which this sound occurs. Consequently any recordings which I make in the same room as the computer, even if I build a temporary sound partition, are unusable because of all the background noise.
There must be lots of people using Athlon computers to make music who have found the same problem. I am aware that there will always be a certain amount of noise generated from a computer, but someone must have devised either an external power supply that can be moved an adequate distance away from the computer or, failing that, an extremely quiet Athlon power supply. I would be grateful for any information on any products which could help to solve this problem.
Gavin Taylor
Martin Walker replies: Noisy power supplies are a common problem for all PC owners, and several manufacturers have designed special low‑noise versions for musicians to install as replacements — take a look at the article on the subject in SOS January 2000. Sadly, I'm not currently aware of any manufacturer doing the same for Athlon power supplies. It's the law of supply and demand — musicians are a tiny minority of the PC‑buying market, and Athlon‑owning musicians are an even tinier minority.
However, you may still be able to replace the noisy part of your PSU — the cooling fan — with a quieter temperature‑controlled model. Once again, these were covered in January's article. You will have to void the guarantee of your current supply by breaking its seal, and of course there are mains voltages inside which can be lethal — thankfully most fans run at 12V DC, so you won't be directly handling anything dangerous, but do make sure you not only switch off your PC, but also unplug it from the mains and leave it for several minutes to fully discharge any high‑voltage capacitors before you open up the power supply.
Assistant Editor Sam Inglis adds: Before you take the plunge with Digi 001, you should also bear in mind that Digidesign do not support or recommend PC processors other than Intel Pentium II and III models. They say that 001 has not been tested with Athlon CPUs and cannot guarantee that there will be no compatibility problems.