[Osamede]

I am considering getting a Digtial media Server, primarliy for audio. But I have noticed so far a good number of comments on fan noise and heat. Seems they use cheap desktop drives in these things.


Why dont these things use laptop drives, which run cooler and quieter? Seems a very simple thing to do, and well worth any extra component cost, plus you probably save some build cost in design and build of fan+ cooling apparatus.


Are there any with this?

 

[dp70]

 Here's one . But it looks like media players using 2.5" drives are trying to be ultra compact and therefore lack features like digital outputs...

 

[redondoman]

What format is your music in? AppleTv runs a laptop hard drive and is ultra quite. What about a Sonos system?

 

[jberger]

Laptop drives are usually not designed for continual use, they are designed for quick spin up/down to save power. Keep that in mind if you want an "always on" device.


It's not hard to find a quiet 3.5" hard drive.

 

[digitalkid2]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jberger /forum/post/0


Laptop drives are usually not designed for continual use, they are designed for quick spin up/down to save power. Keep that in mind if you want an "always on" device.


It's not hard to find a quiet 3.5" hard drive.

Desk top HDDs can also be had with a great deal more storage and for quite a bit less money. I have many 3.5" drives that are very quiet.

 

[Osamede]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jberger /forum/post/0


Laptop drives are usually not designed for continual use, they are designed for quick spin up/down to save power. Keep that in mind if you want an "always on" device. It's not hard to find a quiet 3.5" hard drive.

Problem is no matter what, a 3.5" drive normally needs a fan. And inevitably, they produce noise. Either because they are cheap, or if not, with use they get loose.


Also, dunno about you but my only computer is a laptop and it is on all the time - for both work and personal. Been that way for years with different laptops and never a problem with the HDD. A digital media or music server would probably get less use than my laptop, since it would only be on when I am at home with time to play.

In any case, I just found out about the Olive Symphony, which seemingly does use a laptop drive. It is music-only though. Will take a close look at that...

 

[mrdavet]

Why not just use a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter and run the laptop HDD?


Startech (and others) make tiny little adapters.

You could easily put an adapter and a laptop HDD into a MediaGate or an Mvix.

 

[Osamede]

But wouldnt the fan still be running? The models explicity designed for 2.5" drives seem to also have been designed fanless to begin with. That seems to be the main source of noise.

 

[mrdavet]

I have a MediaGate MG-35. There is no fan.



On some of the other units, I'm sure the fan can be unplugged.

 

[Osamede]

Which ones?

 

[incog]

If you want music only, I recommend going with a NAS and a nice device like a Squeezebox. Music doesn't require much processor overhead, but if you have a lot of tunes, you probably want some redundancy.


I have several Squeezeboxen throughout the house, all served up by an old 450 MHz Intel box in the basement - doesn't get any quieter than that.