Axe-FX III fan noise advice

ElectricPhase

ElectricPhase

Fractal Fanatic
I've been using my Axe-FX III since 2018. In all that time I never noticed any significant fan noise. After finally setting up my new recording space, I just fired up the Axe-FX III in the wooden rack desk that I got for it. All of a sudden, the fan is really loud....as in, I don't want this thing next to me loud.

I don't know the reason for the change. The only difference I can think of is that it's now at a 45 degree angle. Before it was flat on a table. Alternatively, maybe it's some resonance in the rack. I'll try rearranging the equipment. Barring that, any other ideas for quieting things down? Thanks.
 
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Some fans simply don't like being mounted at an angle. It could also be a worn fan.

The Axe-Fx 3 fan is very easy to replace. Go buy yourself a Noctua A8 ULN, open up the Axe-Fx 3 top lid and remove the fan. Then use the little nipple looking mounting things that come with the Noctua in place of the screws and mount the fan on that. Connect fan cable to its connector. Done, enjoy a silent Axe-Fx 3.

Another trick is to apply a bit of electrical tape or similar to the top lid where it connects to the chassis. This can help reduce resonances.

I'm not super happy about the fan system on the Axe-Fx 3. Even with the Mk2's Noiseblocker fan it made more noise than I would like when I have it right next to me on a table in an otherwise quiet room. The 20 euro Noctua was the only real fix that worked.

I think the point when the fan kicks in could be a bit more lenient as ~38C ambient temperature (weirdly reported in Fahrenheit in the UI) is not that much or maybe there could be a couple of fan curves so it doesn't ramp up to full speed at that point.

By comparison my FM3 never turns on the fan except on boot. I like how it's silent.
 
laxu said:
Some fans simply don't like being mounted at an angle. It could also be a worn fan.

The Axe-Fx 3 fan is very easy to replace. Go buy yourself a Noctua A8 ULN, open up the Axe-Fx 3 top lid and remove the fan. Then use the little nipple looking mounting things that come with the Noctua in place of the screws and mount the fan on that. Connect fan cable to its connector. Done, enjoy a silent Axe-Fx 3.

Another trick is to apply a bit of electrical tape or similar to the top lid where it connects to the chassis. This can help reduce resonances.

I'm not super happy about the fan system on the Axe-Fx 3. Even with the Mk2's Noiseblocker fan it made more noise than I would like when I have it right next to me on a table in an otherwise quiet room. The 20 euro Noctua was the only real fix that worked.

I think the point when the fan kicks in could be a bit more lenient as ~38C ambient temperature (weirdly reported in Fahrenheit in the UI) is not that much or maybe there could be a couple of fan curves so it doesn't ramp up to full speed at that point.

By comparison my FM3 never turns on the fan except on boot. I like how it's silent.
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couldnt agree more, noctua is the answer.
 
laxu said:
Some fans simply don't like being mounted at an angle. It could also be a worn fan.

The Axe-Fx 3 fan is very easy to replace. Go buy yourself a Noctua A8 ULN, open up the Axe-Fx 3 top lid and remove the fan. Then use the little nipple looking mounting things that come with the Noctua in place of the screws and mount the fan on that. Connect fan cable to its connector. Done, enjoy a silent Axe-Fx 3.

Another trick is to apply a bit of electrical tape or similar to the top lid where it connects to the chassis. This can help reduce resonances.

I'm not super happy about the fan system on the Axe-Fx 3. Even with the Mk2's Noiseblocker fan it made more noise than I would like when I have it right next to me on a table in an otherwise quiet room. The 20 euro Noctua was the only real fix that worked.

I think the point when the fan kicks in could be a bit more lenient as ~38C ambient temperature (weirdly reported in Fahrenheit in the UI) is not that much or maybe there could be a couple of fan curves so it doesn't ramp up to full speed at that point.

By comparison my FM3 never turns on the fan except on boot. I like how it's silent.
Click to expand...
Do you use this with the fan: ”The NF-A8 comes with an Ultra-Noise Adaptor (NA-RC12) that allow you to reduce the fan speed from 1400 to 1100rpm in order to achieve even quieter operation.”
 
AxeFXer said:
Do you use this with the fan: ”The NF-A8 comes with an Ultra-Noise Adaptor (NA-RC12) that allow you to reduce the fan speed from 1400 to 1100rpm in order to achieve even quieter operation.”
Click to expand...
I only recently got the Noctua and did not have much time to mess with it beyond installing it and finding it quiet without the adapter. When I take it back on my desk I will have to see if the adapter is beneficial.
 
AxeFXer said:
Do you use this with the fan: ”The NF-A8 comes with an Ultra-Noise Adaptor (NA-RC12) that allow you to reduce the fan speed from 1400 to 1100rpm in order to achieve even quieter operation.”
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I needed to do this plus put thick tape on the mounting flanges for the lid before I was okay with it. The III sits 2 ft. from my right ear, so maybe an extreme situation.

Danny W.
 
There was one lid screw that created a buzz when fully tightened on mine, still using a noctua anyway because they're high reliability and quiet.
 
Thanks everybody! I tried shuffling rack spaces...no help there, so I just ordered the Noctua. The 1400 rpm version. Hopefully that will take care of it. 👍
 
I do a lot of late night playing in a quiet home basement studio setup.
My Axe Fx 3 Mk2 is not racked and on a desk with my DAW setup about 2 feet away from me.

Regular stock fan was OK. No real complaints. (I have had several Axe Fx versions before and usually replaced the fan).

The Noctua A8 ULN was an improvement.

The Noctua A8 ULN with the low noise adapter is very quiet.

Temp is about 88--92 degrees Fahrenheit after an hour of playing with various patches using 60-75% CPU and when it does kick on you can really barely hear it.
 
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I’ve been running mine with the low noise adapter for a few years now without any problems. Did a good bit of temp testing using thermo couplers and IR heat gun reading with no significant increases in temp but much less noise
 
Lkdog said:
I am not pretending to be a hardware expert but having built computers for years, if the temp reading in Utlities of 88-92 F is of the CPU that is not hot at all.
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It's ambient temp apparently. The DSP chip is rated for up to 100 Celcius or 212 F.

I still think reporting the temp in F is so weird when absolutely every other system I've ever seen uses C for temperature.
 
laxu said:
I still think reporting the temp in F is so weird when absolutely every other system I've ever seen uses C for temperature.
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I was told in elementary school, maybe grade 4 or 5, that by the time I get to grade 12 in high school, everything in the USA would be metric and Celcius. That was 40 years ago! All of the equipment at my dad’s sausage and smoke meats factory was made in Germany, Austria and Italy, (my parents hailed from Germany), so I was used to it.

Too many reasons why that didn’t happen, unfortunately.
 
Turns out even with the Noctua fan in there, the Axe-Fx 3 does not like to be set at an angle. I brought my Axe-Fx 3 back to my desk yesterday and could clearly hear the fan with the device tilted a little bit using a piece of foam under it. I replaced the foam with a larger piece so that the Axe-Fx 3 is raised a bit and won't scratch my desk but is oriented horizontally and the fan is no longer audible even sitting right next to the unit.

So I would advice avoiding mounting it at an angle and use either horizontal or vertical placement. Fans tend to work best when positioned like that. An alternative if you insist on an angled mounting would be to build a setup so that the fan itself can sit horizontal.

I think I'll build a nice looking desk rack for the Axe-Fx 3.
 
I do have my Axe-Fx III MkII Turbo laying flat on my desktop with an 8mm thick tempered glass plate on it to spread the weight for my 27'' iMac sitting on top of it. This helps me save quite some space compared to a 3U rack and air flow is unrestricted that way but, much to my despair it makes some unwanted vibration noise when the Axe fan kicks in.
Today while tidying up my "play room", I found a new, sealed, never unboxed Noctua NF-A8 ULN fan in a cupboard. I bought it for some project in which I messed up the needed diameter when ordering so I decided to give it a try in the Axe-FX.
Being in the EU, it already shipped from G66 with a quite good Black Noise - Noise Blocker type X-2 fan (see https://www.blacknoise.com/site/en/...-fans/nb-blacksilentfan-series/80x80x25mm.php).

The results are not as good as expected, I have used Noctua fans with extremely good results in different applications in the past and their rubber mounts are the best but in this particular case I think the Noise Blocker is quieter.
The Noctua A8-ULN makes a clearly audible 280Hz hum when it kicks in



Also to be noted, the Noctua NF-A8 ULN without the ULNA (low speed) adapter only moves 34,8 m3/h where the NB-BlackSilentFan X-2
moves 45 m3/h, quite a difference. What is the expected airflow like ? Noise is not the only important spec when choosing a fan...
The strange thing though is that Noctua states a 10,4 dBA where BlackNoise states 18dBA. That is not what I perceive ... at all. Fan own noise differs from resonance noise within a metal case.


I will try and put the Noise Blocker fan back and compare the peak hum frequency when I get time. Maybe tomorrow.

Edit regarding crossed text : see #23 that was user error on my side mounting the fan.
 
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