How loud should the fan be?

I had thought my III was quiet, at least that was my impression when I got it last week. I turned it on this morning, and was greeted with a humming noise I hadn't heard before. Maybe the house was quieter, I don't know, but I could still hear it with my ATH-M50x headphones on. I obviously don't hear it when playing.

I'll probably start with the least intrusive things mentioned here, and see where it goes.
 
Thanks for the reply! Two questions:

How many reducers are there that come with the Noctua, and which one did you use?

Also, the top cover was causing a problem as well? What kind of insulating tape did you use and how did you put it on? Just cut thin strips and applied it to the bottom of the top cover?

The fan came with two speed reducers--I used the slowest.

I'd put the tape under the cover before I tried any of the other fixes, because the resonance seemed to come from it. Not sure how necessary it is after the other changes, but it's easier to leave on than to take off. It's just some thick electrical tape I found in my toolbox.

Danny W.
 
You can also just leave the lid off if you rack mount it.

I found the lid can indeed have some weird vibration and placing my palm on it really stopped it, but otherwise tightening the edges, tape etc didn’t. The placement of my hand also mattered. With the silicon mounting it certainly helped a great deal. Their is like a weird harmonic resonance frequency or something

Anyways, lid off, in the rack, slower rpm fan, problem solved and likely the lid off let’s more heat escape as well, which is probably a good thing for anyone concerned about slower fan speed lol
 
How hot does it get inside the chassis? You could stick a square of Dynamat on there, and it would certainly change the harmonic frequency of the lid.

I know in my case (SKB 1SKB-R4S 4U), there is enough of a gap at the top that I'd be paranoid of something getting in there.
 
The fan came with two speed reducers--I used the slowest.

I'd put the tape under the cover before I tried any of the other fixes, because the resonance seemed to come from it. Not sure how necessary it is after the other changes, but it's easier to leave on than to take off. It's just some thick electrical tape I found in my toolbox.

Danny W.
Cool! Thanks for getting back to me! I think I’m going to give it a try with the new fan. I already put rubber between the mounting plate and the four hex bolts and loostened the screws to let the rubber grommets of the fan not be so smashed, and that seemed to help a great deal. While I can still hear a slight drone sound (only when I put my head over it), it seems to go away when sitting anywhere else. I’ve noticed by putting my hand on top of the case, it makes that sound quieter too which is interesting. I’ll probably end up using some kinf of tape as well on the lid.
 
You can also just leave the lid off if you rack mount it.

I found the lid can indeed have some weird vibration and placing my palm on it really stopped it, but otherwise tightening the edges, tape etc didn’t. The placement of my hand also mattered. With the silicon mounting it certainly helped a great deal. Their is like a weird harmonic resonance frequency or something

Anyways, lid off, in the rack, slower rpm fan, problem solved and likely the lid off let’s more heat escape as well, which is probably a good thing for anyone concerned about slower fan speed lol

Thanks for the reply! Are you saying that tightening the edges and using tape on the inside edges of the lid worked for you as well?
 
....my III is dead silent....however , my 2018 MacBook Pro’s fan goes apeshit often, and seems to be exacerbated by use of AxeEdit III and/or Logic....
EDIT......I just installed an app called Macs Fan Control that seems to help..I hope I don't fry my laptop.....
Same here. It is in a 6 space rack case. But I cant hear it at all.
 
Since it seems a lot of the noise issue comes from the lid resonating, maybe Fractal could have the lid made with a few lines from a bead roller across it to make it more rigid? Not sure what that step would add to the price?
 
My axe 3 fan is inaudible from where I play/stand. I have to put my ear right up against it to hear any of the air moving. My matrix gt1600fx is louder but still inaudible from where I play/stand. I am sensitive to fan noise, I use Noctua fans in my PC at low rpm and have a fan controller because I hate fan noise when the computer is idle. My Axe III is quiet.
 
My axe 3 fan is inaudible from where I play/stand. I have to put my ear right up against it to hear any of the air moving. My matrix gt1600fx is louder but still inaudible from where I play/stand. I am sensitive to fan noise, I use Noctua fans in my PC at low rpm and have a fan controller because I hate fan noise when the computer is idle. My Axe III is quiet.

perhaps the fan is faulty?
 
perhaps the fan is faulty?
Hahahaha nah it's working so is my matrix. they're just quiet and far from me. At least 6 feet. I know a lot people put their units on or in their desks and play near it. For the record my Mesa Mark V fan is the loudest of the bunch but it is not audible from where I stand. It could also be I'm not in a dead quiet treated room.
 
Hahahaha nah it's working so is my matrix. they're just quiet and far from me. At least 6 feet. I know a lot people put their units on or in their desks and play near it. For the record my Mesa Mark V fan is the loudest of the bunch but it is not audible from where I stand. It could also be I'm not in a dead quiet treated room.

;-)

my III makes a loud drone that I can hear from the next room through a doorway. Much louder than my high-spec PC
 
My axe 3 fan is inaudible from where I play/stand. I have to put my ear right up against it to hear any of the air moving. My matrix gt1600fx is louder but still inaudible from where I play/stand. I am sensitive to fan noise, I use Noctua fans in my PC at low rpm and have a fan controller because I hate fan noise when the computer is idle. My Axe III is quiet.
When did you get yours? It was mentioned a couple of
months ago that the factory would make some adjustments to fan assembly in order to address possible noise issues. Maybe those units are starting to arrive.
 
My fan was noisy as well. I think it was just a bad one.
Just replaced with a Silenx ixtrema 80 11dba. What a difference.
I had the exact same problem with my axe-fx II. Wonder why fractal don't use a better fan and charge 10 bucks more :)
 
I can hear a very slight hum from the fan in my quiet room when I turn the AF3 on, but there’s no way to hear it once I start playing.
 
Just received my Noctua NF-A8 ULN fan. The existing fan is pretty noisy (even though the unit is only a month old), and G66 confirmed that I won't void the warranty by replacing it... so that's my evening sorted out...!
 
I kept Fractal stock fan but using fan compensators from a Noctua NF-A8 FLX. Fractal fan is actually quieter.

Fan is simply resting on the compensators sitting just a tad above where it was originally when mounted. Since July 2018 when I first got it. I never move it and it never leaves my studio anyway, so it doesn't matter. It is DEAD quiet and has been. Yes it is running. I only turn off my Axe III when a firmware update is released. My gear is on 24/7 pretty much. Hope this helps. Otherwise, this has been my best investment :moneybag: other than Suhr guitars. :guitar:
 

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