Just got AxeII... wow, fan noise.

I think we're seeing unit-to-unit variation. I expected mine to be loud, but although I can hear it, it's not very loud at all (certainly nothing compared to the ridiculous roar of my SLA-2 power amp!!). I'm listening in a quiet studio environment. The other guitarist in my band will have one and I'll be able to do a comparison...
 
Mine is (was) loud-->I followed the road described by cobbler

Still I would pay 30-50 bucks if Cliff would have a dead silent upgrade fan.

What also matters is the mount.I could make mine more silent by changing the fan mount(hard rubber insulation,scrws dont touch fan anymore because then the whole box and the upper lid are used as resonator to the fan

Roland
 
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I don`t get all this..
Having had and used Standard, Ultra and now the Axe II in studios I have never had anybody saying the fan is noisy.
The seccond I start playing that faint sound is not heard anyway.
Have I just been lucky with my units or are you guys very sensitive to it?
My hearing is supposed to be fine as well, so I don`t think that is it
 
My AxeII fan is noisy as hell!

I had one of the silentX fans in my Ultra and this is a whole different animal.

It sound more than my iMac after a five hour long mixing session with 60+ tracks.
 
Sorry guys n gals but the sounds of my pc's eclipse the very reasonable fan noise my Axe II gives out and that's only until the moment I hit my first chord / note. If I'm wearing headphones, I hear nothing but whatever I'm playing. Unless you're playing your guitar at a volume so low you couldnt even hear the tones, you're certainly not going be able to hear the fan noise above it. It'd be like a drumkit with a low pitched hum, it's irrelevant the moment you start playing.
 
DonPetersen said:
Gen1 units purchased from G66 came with a different (quiter) fan.
I'm not sure if this still applies to Gen2 units, but someone could ask Jacques if the fans are still replaced and with which model.

kicks@G66.eu

or

[EMAIL="jochen@G66.eu"]jochen@G66.eu[/EMAIL]
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Back when I was on the G66 list I asked Sussi if the fans were changed in any way. She said no, so the fans in the G66 Axe II's are going to be the same as when they left the factory.
 
The fan in my II is definitely quieter than that in my Ultra. Neither bothered me.
Maybe some folks are more "attuned" to certain frequencies and are more "aware" and "upset" by the fan noise than others.

As an example: my wife has one of those Glade Oil Air-Fresheners in the kitchen. She's loves the aroma. I DETEST it!!! Get's right up my nose the minute I walk thru the door. First thing I do is turn it off! The other one she has in the living room is fine, and doesn't bother me in the slightest. Same device, different aroma.

Putting that experience in perspective, I can understand how some have issues with fan noise.
 
To make this subject more exact. Can the Axe II owners provide us with some measurements? For example the noise at 1 meter or 3 feet?
 
s0c9 said:
The fan in my II is definitely quieter than that in my Ultra. Neither bothered me.
Maybe some folks are more "attuned" to certain frequencies and are more "aware" and "upset" by the fan noise than others.

As an example: my wife has one of those Glade Oil Air-Fresheners in the kitchen. She's loves the aroma. I DETEST it!!! Get's right up my nose the minute I walk thru the door. First thing I do is turn it off! The other one she has in the living room is fine, and doesn't bother me in the slightest. Same device, different aroma.

Putting that experience in perspective, I can understand how some have issues with fan noise.
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This is a good comparison i think. I just know my Art SLA-2 fan is louder than my axe-II fan and across the room i can't hear either of them....so not a big deal. I think people must be tuned to the pitch of the fan or not.

And whoever talked about getting made fun of for wearing ear plugs to shows....yup, count me in, and i don't care one bit!!! i love my earplugs at shows, even at bar shows (almost more at bar shows really)
 
Chris Hurley said:
THE THING HAS A LOUD FAN. It will generally be the loudest thing in the rack. It is made worse by the fact that the fan revs up and down. Is it unbearable? Not for me. Can you hear it over a loud guitar? No. Can you hear it in a quiet room? Yes. Will it be annoying if you are in a room trying to mix or do something that needs quiet and the fan is spinning up and down? Maybe.

Its OK to acknowledge a minor problem. The product is still amazing. Its OK to make suggestions or comments that might lead to future improvements.

There. I said it.
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not sure about that...
 
Confused much? Much too much!

I am on the waiting list. I just play in my bedroom at low levels. I have been reading this and other threads about the fan noise. I cant find any consistency. Some say loud some say quiet. I have read why Cliff who I have never spoken with says this fan is the right one but other people go to Sears and put in a Briggs and Straton with less air flow but they get the rubber washers from Big O Tires and everything seems ok. Of course now the warranty is worhthless. Anyone know the meaning of conundrum? I know I am a jerk but no one seems to have any consistency on this. It almost seems like every Axe has a different loudness! Cheers! Just so you know since I am not in a band a loud noise would probably be an issue!.
 
I use my Axe II in a quiet room, sitting just a couple of feet from it, and find it moderately annoying when I'm not actually playing.

That being said, it barely registers on the most sensitive setting of my Radio Shack sound level meter, which makes it about 54 db.

Danny W.
 
Either I just don't care or neither my Ultra nor my II have a lot of fan noise. My Randall RT2 50 sounds like its about to launch into orbit compared to the Axe.
 
yesfan said:
I am on the waiting list. I just play in my bedroom at low levels. I have been reading this and other threads about the fan noise. I cant find any consistency. Some say loud some say quiet. I have read why Cliff who I have never spoken with says this fan is the right one but other people go to Sears and put in a Briggs and Straton with less air flow but they get the rubber washers from Big O Tires and everything seems ok. Of course now the warranty is worhthless. Anyone know the meaning of conundrum? I know I am a jerk but no one seems to have any consistency on this. It almost seems like every Axe has a different loudness! Cheers! Just so you know since I am not in a band a loud noise would probably be an issue!.
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Every Axe has different owners :)
 
eadgbe said:
To make this subject more exact. Can the Axe II owners provide us with some measurements? For example the noise at 1 meter or 3 feet?
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At 3 ft, it's annoying...! Especially when I'm mixing/listening to something with softer parts in it...sure, you can always crank up the monitors, but that's not always good. Yes, you can shut it off, but not if I'm using it on a track I'm listening to!
 
A quick measurement here... ambient: 35.2 dBA; with Axe II on: 48.5 dBA. These are averages taken over relatively short time periods (less than one minute).

Ambient includes my computer, which is very quiet (new iMac with SSD), the blower for the furnace, and road noise filtering in. The ambient noise here is mostly down around 120 to 200 Hz, while the fan adds significant noise in the range of 700 to 1500 Hz.

Although I expect there is some variation from unit to unit on fan noise, I'd guess that the amount and type of ambient noise is the biggest variable that causes the differences in perceived loudness.

With my Ultra I could hear the fan when I turned it on, but I generally didn't notice it otherwise; after installing a quieter fan it was hard to hear even when listening for the fan. My Axe II is loud enough that I always hear it unless I am actually playing.
 
the other week I played though my mate's Axe2 and I didn't notice the fan at all even when we were not playing..

I'm wondering if there is some iffy quality control by the fan manufacturer maybe??
or if some of the fans pass quality control and then damage in shipping due to some inherent weakness maybe??

either way... comments in this area seem to differ greatly...
 
I just picked up some rubber grommets to replace the rubber feet+plastic bushing under the fan. I stopped tightening the nuts before they noticeably squished the grommets. The fluctuation has stopped and I -think- it might be quieter too, but not by much. It's still well less than ideal, but a marked improvement!
 
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