New Mac Mini SuperDrive LOUD?

[Konradx]

Hey guys,

Just curious if its my mini or all slot loaded SuperDrive are extremely loud. I hear a loud fan and clicking when watching movies, or putting in cds. Is this normal?

Thanks,

Kx

 

[bigbird]

You probably are hearing the optical drive reading the CD or DVD. The roaring noise is very typical. It's not a fan but the drive spinning at high rpm.

 

[larrymarshall2]

I would tend to agree that it's normal. Drives in small spaces like mini's, macbooks, MBPs, and even the iMac can come off as loud when spinning discs like DVDs etc.

 

[aaquib]

If you're a recent switcher, you probably will find that roar annoying and unusual. However, all Mac's have it and it's completely normal.

 

[wkearney99]

Just curious if its my mini or all slot loaded SuperDrive are extremely loud. I hear a loud fan and clicking when watching movies, or putting in cds. Is this normal?

I agree, the superdrive IS LOUD. It's louder than the older combo was. It's actually loud enough to be distracting when navigating on a DVD. This based on actual experience having used both types, in exactly the same setup. I got the in-laws a combo mini last xmas, and just got a superdrive mini here. The superdrive makes a lot more noise. Whether or not this is typical for the superdrives doesn't make it acceptable.

 

[michael.lauden]

my mini's super drive is VERY loud. it isn't new - but it is significantly louder than the combo drive IMO

 

[sngx1275]

Just adding another comment on how loud it is. I do think my 09 mini's drive is quieter than my CoreDuo mini's was, but still far louder than I'd like. Fortunately I don't do much with dvds/cds.

 

[Wheaty]

yes it it fairly noisy. not surprising from a small box with very little gap around the drive or sound proofing..

I have noticed that better quality CD's and DVD's are less noisy as the manufacturing tolerances must be a little better. May be negligible from a visual point of view, but spinning at a few hundred to few thousand rpm it all adds up!

Oh and I dont think its noiser than the PC laptop drive sitting next to me!

 

[kennyli]

The original combo-drive in my Mac Mini is just rubbish! It is noisy and it is slow!

Upgraded to a new Super-drive SONY NEC Optiarc AD-5630A, and now is much better! But still noisy, specially when you are using it to watch a movie!

 

[CubeHacker]

I too find the loudness to be odd. Most newer drives have some kind of throttle, especially when watching DVD's. For example, a Pioneer DVD-RW I have slows down to 1-2x speed when watching DVD movies and almost makes no sound at all. The one in the Mini however prefers to stay at full speed all the time. Very distracting.

 

[calchia]

I'm glad you asked. I was wondering about this too ... if something was wrong.

This is my experience:

I bought the mac mini 2009 in the first week it was released. It had a Pioneer drive and was exceptionally quiet. After I returned and got a new mac mini, due to a loose power connector, I found that the drive in the new mac mini was really noisy. I checked the specs of the drive and found that the make was different: OPTIARC, a division of Sony.

Hope this helps.

 

[three]

If it is not making a grinding, or loud "wrrr" noise it is normal. *Stabs my mini's combo drive*