Enclosure to quiet noisy equipment

[Analog Kid]

Anybody have a recommendation on a sound deadening enclosure I can put noisy equipment into?

I have to drive sets, one a 2 HDD array and one a 4 SSD array that both have fans that are unpleasantly loud. I think a good amount of the HDD noise is also the fact that I moved from 5400rpm to 7200rpm drives. I could keep looking for quieter drive enclosures, but in the end that seems like a lot of trial and error with little chance of every being as quiet as I'd like.

I'm looking for a box I can put my boxes in... It needs to stay relatively close to my desk because it's all thunderbolt cabled. I'd like it to be reasonably attractive, since it will be visible. It obviously needs a way to circulate air, maybe even passively, because there's no point having a fan in the drive enclosure if there's no cooler air to circulate.

Ideally it would be a wooden box with sound deadening material and a larger, quieter fan...

 

[ssmed]

You can get sound isolation boxes for use in sound recording environments, but they are not cheap! Perhaps look on Sweetwater.

 

[Analog Kid]

You can get sound isolation boxes for use in sound recording environments, but they are not cheap! Perhaps look on Sweetwater.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that... Most of what I'm seeing looks like rack equipment, but I'll keep browsing.

 

[chabig]

My 2 drive enclosure had a small 2” high speed fan that was too loud, so I disconnected it and simply enclosed the array in a homemade square cardboard tube with a larger USB powered fan taped in the end. It’s silent.

 

[kasakka]

Anything that would reduce sound most likely also will be terrible for cooling. I would start by replacing the fans or reducing their speed as I don't see an array of drives needing some massive cooling.

 

[Analog Kid]

My 2 drive enclosure had a small 2” high speed fan that was too loud, so I disconnected it and simply enclosed the array in a homemade square cardboard tube with a larger USB powered fan taped in the end. It’s silent.

Thanks, that's promising. I'm going to try something similar. I think I can get my system into a box similar to what I use to hide all the various power bricks. It's a wooden box with openings on 3 sides for cable egress. I'm thinking if I stack these two arrays in there with a USB fan pushing air out through one and in through two of the openings, I can quiet it down and keep it cool.

Anything that would reduce sound most likely also will be terrible for cooling. I would start by replacing the fans or reducing their speed as I don't see an array of drives needing some massive cooling.

Yeah, that was my concern, but I'd hope if I can put a secondary fan in the enclosure, it will keep the ambient temp close to room temp and not degrade heat transfer much more than slowing the fans would.