I have a box purchased from Comet on Saturday just gone. Yes, I can hear the fan when not in standby, but it's not what I would call overtly loud. I hear it more if I go down with my ear close to the machine, and it sounds like a combination of humming and air being gently blown out.

I must listen when it's in standby. I'll report back.
Last edited by TonyW : 07-11-2006 at 17:50

I think that the disk spinning. When you put the machine into standby the fan remains on, but you should hear the hum die along at the same rate as the disk spin down

The best way to check if your fan is working, is to put it on the kitchen table and plug just the mains in. Then look round the back and shine a tourch at the fan grill. If you can see the fan blades, the fan is off. If you can see straight through the fan grill and it looks like theirs no fan, the fan blades are spinning. You can switch the box on without anything else connected = it will not harm it, infact thats how you update it with only the serial PC lead plugged in it to update it(mains or course as well).

I am very sensitive to noise and it also depends on the room, were in the room and what it sits on and whats around it. My box is an old one and is much quieter than any original XBOX or computer. Its much quieter than a video recorder (only when the video is on or course).

bworth

I don't think its a factory reset thing. I have always done a factory reset and meny others do when changing the software or firmware, I think it was barry that told us all to do it in the early days with the first software update and it has been mentioned several times since.

Marc - I agree with Tony! Mine does the same. Once switched to standby, the disc spins down, but the fan remains on humming quietly, as described.

Lancer, Agreed

I have a brand new Humax which I got from John Lewis last week.

1. Software is 1.08 and 4.09a.

2. The fan *definitely* stops a few seconds after entering standby. I can see the stationary blades clearly through the grill.

3. The fan is noisy (like a laptop pc) when in active mode.

4. Vibration noise is reduced if you place the box on rubber feet but the fan is still just as noisy.

conclusion: not just a bad batch at currys/comet but at John Lewis too.

I suspect a change to the:

a) fan component

or

b) assembly of the fan in the case

with the latest boxes.

As somebody has said - maybe Humax will confirm?


johntres

Looks like (a) is the case. Humax have replaced the quiet fan with a noisy one which powers off in standby.

The only sane conclusion. Other ideas like micom/firmware/motherboard changes seem too drastic for such little rewards (from Humax view point).

EDIT: maybe Humax managed to get a fan that stops below a certain voltage and put into the 08 firmware to drop the fan's voltage down below that level in standby... whilst the rest of us have a standard fan that keeps moving even with the voltage drop... just a theory - Humax have certainly change voltages and output via the scart with the source button effect.
Last edited by son_t : 08-11-2006 at 10:40

I suspect that what you're hearing is the hard drive operating, rather than the fan....

Does the disk spin when not recording?

If the disk spins continuously, even when not recording then I guess it could be a combination of hard drive and fan noise.

However, when you put it on standby you hear the hard drive stop first. For the few seconds that the fan is on by itself it is still noticeably noisy - as I say, just like a laptop pc fan.

My money's on the fan making most of the noise.

If the machine is on (rather than on standby) the hard drive is working (receiving and de-coding signal, recording to buffer etc).

My fan does stay on in standby, but only makes a quiet humming sound if close to the machine. If yours is loud, after the hard drive stops, then that doesn't sound right.

Sounds like you have a noisy box like the two new ones I've had over the last week.
I have the same fan noise like you when it's on. Like you I'm not convinced its the hard drive making the noise.

The Hardrive spins all the time when not in standby(unless you get the thinks its still recording bug). It spins at 5400rpm and is 3.5 inches in size = I think thats the radius not the diameter.
The hardrive is spinning much faster and the disc is bigger than the fan, you could easily mistake it for a loud fan.

When the hardrive is only doing one thing, like recording or playing you will hear only a single click every few seconds and may not even notice it.

But when you are doing 2 or 3 things at once it will click far more and be noticable. Like recording 2 things and or recording 2 and playing another.
The clicking is the hardrive read and write heads moving from one part of the disc to another.

I'm glad I got one of the older boxes! I'd be sending mine back if the fan was as noisy as that .

I think there is some confusion here between the disk noise and fan noise, it seems very unlikely that Humax would put in a much louder fan than switches off with the box when the box runs very cool anyway.

It's possible that they have made a change to the hardware to turn the fan off in standby but this is not firmware related as my 1.00.08/4.09 box keeps the fan on all the time.

So..........have they changed Hard disc suppliers, and thats why it seems the new boxes are now noiser than old?????????

Has anyone confirmed there is a noise difference by having two in the same environment?

Could have gone with WD - their drives are noisier than Segate...

I downloaded the user manual back when the humax first came out, on page 8 it says
This product provides best performance with Seagate ST3160022ACE(160G) Hard Disk Drive.

Hi Neil
please see post #59 in this thread, Only difference in mine is the fan is off in standby with my new box.

Obviously other members do have some type of problem with the noise from the fan/disc,it could be due to new parts but I suspect maybe a bad batch

Guess I've been really lucky
Last edited by Northern Soul : 08-11-2006 at 17:11

I was meaning regarding the "loud" boxes a few have reported, they may have changed the fans so that they go off but i wouldn't have thought there is a new generation noisy box.

There seem to be quite a few people moaning about noisy new boxes - so it would seem that there *is* an issue with the latest generation of boxes, or at least a large batch of them??

I have had a listen when machine in standby mode. The humming does indeed die down, and I can hardly hear the fan at all.

The hum was the disk. When you put the machine in standby the fan stays constant but the disk spins down and the hum dies away accordingly.

I thought it was the fan too at first but its just that (perhaps different depending on surface/enclosure) the disk can make an innocuous hum like a fan.
Last edited by marcdavis : 08-11-2006 at 20:05