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WOW - new Mac Pro superdrive is LOUD!!!

jonnysods

jonnysods

macrumors G3
Original poster
Sep 20, 2006
8,800
7,460
There & Back Again
Does anyone else have the same issue when you use the superdrive?

My goodness, it's crazy loud! Is it because it's missing a lot of it's housing so it can do the fun thing with the door?

Just curious!
 
Desktop optical drives tend to spin much faster than laptop drives, so if you're coming from using a laptop (or an iMac, they use laptop-style CD drives as well I think) the much higher spin speed would be why it seems loud...

Unless you're hearing noises that sound like a lot of vibration, no need to worry, it's just that it's spinning the disk very quickly.
 
apple stupidly makes it so that the front bezel must be removed when put in a g5 or mac pro... there is a HUGE difference when the bezel is in place.
 
Of the many hundreds of desktop PCs that I've used, none have EVER even come close to the noise of my Superdrive. Its like a helicopter taking off in my room, no joke.
 
sboerup said:
Of the many hundreds of desktop PCs that I've used, none have EVER even come close to the noise of my Superdrive. Its like a helicopter taking off in my room, no joke.
Click to expand...

My preferred analogy is "its like a hovercraft accelerating in my face" :cool:
 
Wow, okay then! That's good to know!

It was so loud man, I thought the works was coming to an end. It's the only bad thing about my new MP so far, could be worse!
 
jonnysods said:
Wow, okay then! That's good to know!

It was so loud man, I thought the works was coming to an end. It's the only bad thing about my new MP so far, could be worse!
Click to expand...

DON'T WORRY IT'S PERFECTLY NORMAL, SORRY IF I SEEM TO BE SHOUTING! I'M JUST BURNING A DISC!
 
It's the one thing I hate about my Mac Pro. Here I am, in my peaceful dojo of solitude, quietly editing this 1080p video in After Effects; disc full of music goes into the drive, and it's like a helicopter engine starting up in the room. :mad:

I wish Apple would buy some quieter drives, either that or Sony needs to make some adjustments.
 
pwn247 said:
I wish Apple would buy some quieter drives, either that or Sony needs to make some adjustments.
Click to expand...

It's not just Sony, my Pro has an LG drive and the one I'm using at the moment has Pioneer! I think they all could improve a far bit.

Also I backup what a previous poster said, the drive would be much quieter is apple had not removed the front trim.
 
jonnysods said:
Wow, okay then! That's good to know!

It was so loud man, I thought the works was coming to an end. It's the only bad thing about my new MP so far, could be worse!
Click to expand...

I have the same "problem" with my new 2.6 quad MP. The superdrive additionally makes a rattle and clicking when spinning up, and seems to have a little trouble reading some Windows discs (drivers as far as I could tell seemed to be up to date-firmware???).

I can't believe a superdrive is supposed to make this much noise, and it is all the more glaring because the MP is otherwise so quiet! Does anyone have any experience with other brands of superdrives? I read in another thread that Samsung makes a better one. Maybe the quality control is bad on these drives, no matter how good the specs are, and we are putting up with sup-par or downright defective drives in machines that are way too expensive to have this quality of drive in.
 
sboerup said:
I've never heard a CD drive as loud as mine, its crazy loud on my 2.8x8 MP.
Click to expand...

Same here on my Mac Pro 2.66 2006. I thought the thing was going to lift off into outer space... Seriously!

I found a solution though! Crank the volume on movies and music until the walls vibrate and the windows rattle... then you sometimes can't hear the optical drive going. ;)
 
jbl108 said:
I have the same "problem" with my new 2.6 quad MP. The superdrive additionally makes a rattle and clicking when spinning up, and seems to have a little trouble reading some Windows discs (drivers as far as I could tell seemed to be up to date-firmware???).

I can't believe a superdrive is supposed to make this much noise, and it is all the more glaring because the MP is otherwise so quiet! Does anyone have any experience with other brands of superdrives? I read in another thread that Samsung makes a better one. Maybe the quality control is bad on these drives, no matter how good the specs are, and we are putting up with sup-par or downright defective drives in machines that are way too expensive to have this quality of drive in.
Click to expand...

Agreed!

I guess I was spoiled by my iMac, old MBP and MacBook. I thought those drives were a little bit loud, and then I get out this bad boy!

I guess I'm talking about it so much because I'm in shock really. This is my 6th Mac, first Mac Pro, so I'm just in shock and awe opening up the box, testing out the speed of the thing, just loving it. Then I pop in an install disc, and I honestly thought that I would have to take it back to the store to get replaced!

Then I find out it's normal!?! I can't believe that everyone in the industry puts up with that noise!

It reminds me of this episode of the Simpsons from many many moons ago:

Troy McClure: (On TV, pressing orange to face) Until now, this was the only way to get juice from an orange.
Homer: (At home, pressing orange to face) Huh? You mean there's a better way?
Troy: But that's all changed. Thanks to the Juice Loosener. Let's meet the inventor, Dr. Nick Riviera.
Dr. Nick: Thanks Troy. Hi everybody!
Crowd: Hi Dr. Nick!
Dr. Nick: Troy, would you like a glass of orange juice?
Troy: I sure would. But won't we have to pay those outrageous grocery store prices for something the farmer probably spit in?
Dr. Nick: Not anymore! All thanks to the new Juice Loosener.

(Dr. Nick pours a bag of oranges into the loosener and starts it, making a lot of noise)

Troy: Dr, are you sure its on? I can't hear a thing.
Dr Nick: (screaming) It's whisper quiet!
Click to expand...
 
When I made the switch to the Mac I pulled my PC's dual SATA DVD recorders (ASUS 1814BLT) and connected them to my Mac Pro, compared to the Apple PATA drive that it came with the ASUS drives are whisper quiet (the ASUS drives are around 2 years old).
 
yomibro said:
When I made the switch to the Mac I pulled my PC's dual SATA DVD recorders (ASUS 1814BLT) and connected them to my Mac Pro, compared to the Apple PATA drive that it came with the ASUS drives are whisper quiet (the ASUS drives are around 2 years old).
Click to expand...

Show off!:p

I have a new pioneer drive on it's way hoping it's a little quieter. The '09 Pro drives take the biscuit, It's not just the horrible whirring noise it's the crunching noise the laser head makes, that just drives me nuts.
 
Had a G4 Power Mac w/ Pioneer Superdrive, G5 Power Mac w/ LG Superdrive, and now my 2008 2.8 octo w/ Pioneer Superdrive. The 2008 is by far the loudest. It is crazy loud.
 
Yes, I think that I'll be looking at getting a DVD drive and an enclosure for it soon as well! I haven't even had it for 24 hours and I don't know how much more I can take!

Even my wife was asking questions when she heard the noise in my office. She thought it was breaking the CD!
 
Of all the things to complain about... Seriously? I fart louder than the drive. Unless you are sitting 3 inches from your MP and are playing a video at 20 decibels, it really doesn't matter.
 
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