Fan Noise - Any Hope for HD Silence? (1 Viewer)

[Doug Pyle]

I'm almost in love with my Playstation3 as a Blu Ray player. I wouldn't do without it. The picture is breathtaking. "It looks real," exclaimed my 8-year old son. However, before buying, I did read the PS3 ( as well as the Toshiba HD-DVD players) would have tolerable but noticeable fan noise.

I have learned that I hate fan noise. Is there hope for future HD- or BD players to run silently?

I've moved the PS3 as far away as a 10' HDMI cable allows, and hid it behind my computer monitor to block some sound. I even put up a foam acoustic pad to absord as much of the sound as possible. I still can't stand the fan.

I'm sure most people can live with movies accompanied by a soft whir. But for my SACD-addicted ears, I'm looking forward to news of any hi-def format player that cools without "whhhhh" intruding into the movie experience. Does any current or upcoming player fit this bill?

 

[John Garcia]

I would imagine any of the standard BD players would be quieter than the PS3 as they are not running a Cell processor... Take a look at the Panasonic that has now been dropped to $599 (was $1200) with 5 free discs.

 

[Dave_P.]

Even though my Panny and Samsung have fans, they are inaudible.

 

[Paul_Dunlop]

I have a Tosh HDA2 and I can't hear the fan - it is about 10' from my listening position

I think since the game systems are basically computers, they will always have this problem

 

[Doug Pyle]

Thanks for the feedback. It is reassuring - I'm looking down the road to add an HD-DVD player or a universal player. I'm relieved to read the comments about Toshiba, Pan and Samsung fans being quiet.

For what it's worth, I'm surprised to have read so little comment about PS3 fan noise in reviews & user comments prior to buying the system, given the importance of audio quality in both movie & SACD playback. Overall I'm still mostly pleased with the PS3, as the picture is outstanding (including the new upconverting for older PS2 games).

 

[Brian Kaz]

Posted this in another thread (didn't know you had your own):

Doug, do you have your PS3 sitting horizontal or standing vertical? Mine stands vertical in an open rack 15 feet away and is quiet as a mouse. From what I've read, the fan seems to be a non-issue when placed vertical. Just curious as to how true this may be.

 

[Doug Pyle]

Brian, Thanks - have mine horizontal and I'll try it out vertical to see if it helps. What stand do you use to support it vertical?

 

[Brian Kaz]

None. There are little feet built on the side and the console is heavy enough that it stands as firm as a computer tower case.

 

[Jari K]

This is probably mostly rumor. My PS3 is placed vertically (of course, it has been like that from the start, so I haven´t really been comparing..) and there are some noise. Like many others, I can detect "3 levels" with the fan: one almost silent, the one that kicks in after 10-15 min and then the 3rd level, which kicks in at some point (not sure when). I believe it´s the "3rd level" that you´ll get if you try FoldingHome (not fully sure). One thing is pretty certain: If/when PS3 goes to that 2nd or 3rd level, it won´t come back down. You have to turn it completely off first. So it´s not really true that the fan kicks in momentarily and then goes quiet again. If it goes to certain level, it won´t come back down.

Still, fan noise is not a big issue for me (in the end, PS3 is a computer so it can´t be completely silent). But it´s there (in some degree).

Btw. Somebody created the ultimate site about this ( ):
http://asklandd.dk/ps3/ps3-fan-noise.html

 

[Jari K]

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/9775/ps3grillvp3.jpg

 

[ppltd]

Funny picture.

 

[Doug Pyle]

I put my PS3 up vertical and after about 2 weeks' use, I notice no difference - in fan noise. I regained some desk space so I'll keep it upright.

Jari - Thanks for the link - I'm interested in that "ultimate" fan noise article. Your description of the 3 levels of fan noise nearly fits my experience - except I haven't really noticed a shift from level 2 to 3. I do have the same experience with the fan kicking in even while idle. I may even try to measure it with a sound pressure meter. As to subjective measures, here's how I see it:

PS3 includes SACD capability, the primary advantage of which is high definition audio reproduction. I don't listen to music on my computer for the very reason that it is noisy. For SACD audio playback - and Blu Ray soundtracks for that matter - I expect audiophile sound. With the fan, it is not audiophile sound.

With so much good going for the PS3, I hope Sony can improve the fan sound issue over time. The "ultimate" article, linked to by Jari above, suggests there might be some difference between different PS3 units' fan noise output. If that proves the case, I'd say I have a noisy unit and may want to see if Sony would help out under warranty. Anyone have any experience checking out the noise issue with Sony customer service?

 

[Jari K]

Fan noise is there, even when some people say that it´s "silent" etc. It seems that with "silent", some people mean that the noise is quite "normal" for the computer-based hardware and they don´t actually mean that the player is "silent". It´s still pretty much a fact, that PS3 is "silent" compared to very noisy Xbox 360.

My friend’s PS3 sounded a bit more quiet than my unit, but the only way to be sure is to drag my unit next to his and then compare.. I was planning to do that at some point.. There are some stories that some units are more "noisy", but so far it´s just merely "forum talk/rumors". Hard to know for sure.

Fan noise is basically the only minor "flaw" with PS3 (well, perhaps also the lack of analog 5.1 out) and I can live with that. I talked to my local PS3 people, who said that the fan noise is there because of the cell-processor and their opinion is that it´s actually more quieter than it could´ve been. Some people started the rumor that Playstation has promised that PS3 is "as quiet as PS2", but that was just a rumor that got widespread. Officially, Playstation never promised that (since it´s probably impossible).

 

[Jari K]

Just wanted to point out, that I read a few reports from my local forum (non-English) that this "fan noise" can be lower if the room is not hot, there´s solid ventilation in the room, etc. If the room is warmer, the air doesn´t circulate in the room and PS3 is in the tight corner somewhere, it´s probably "louder" (because the fan blows higher). At least in my house (and in the room where the PS3 is), it´s more like "hot" than "cool" and I can hear some fan noise.

So this might be another factor.

 

[Doug Otte]

I'm another owner who's distracted by the noise. I guess I'll have to keep my other player for CD & SACD listening.

However, today I experienced the fan going from higher to lower gear. Don't ask me if it's level 2 or 3, as I can't distinguish them yet.

I'd been playing a game, and the fan was in high gear. I stopped the game, plugged in the controller for charging, and went to pick up my daughter from soccer. When I returned about 30 minutes later, I noticed the fan was back in low gear.

Doug

 

[Doug Otte]

I'm going to do some more testing. Yesterday morning, I played a CD while waiting to leave for work. Now, I've moved the PS3 off the shelf cabinet (where it was horizontal and had plenty of open space on all sides, but none on top) to a vertical position on top of my SW, where it has plenty of space all around. This might have affected things somewhat. Anyway, while listening for about 15 minutes, I couldn't hear the fan from the opposite end of the room (around 12 feet). Granted, all the windows were open and there was some outside noise (neighbor's AC; crickets), but I couldn't hear the fan until I put my ear next to it. Previously, I could clearly hear the fan in high gear during games and BDs from the same position.

Conversely, my daughter had left the PS3 on all night after playing a game. When I got up, I could hear the fan clearly when I walked in the room.

So, I'm starting to think the PS3 might need to put the fan in high gear when it's doing more processing, e.g. games or BDs, while when it's just passing the bitstream through the optical output, it does less work and thus doesn't heat up.

I'm going to check out my hypothesis and let you know. If it's quieter during music, I'll be happy. I guess I can live with the noise during a movie, and don't really care when playing a game.

What I won't know for many months (when I can get an HDMI receiver), is whether it will run quiet when outputting Mch SACD via HDMI.

Apologies for the long post. Regards,
Doug

 

[Eric_Connelly]

I am very unhappy with the fan noise and I've tried everything to cut it down.

I'm going to wait and see how things go in the winter but in the summer we keep the house at 72 degree's. I've noticed that even my PC, a E4300 OC'd to 3.2ghz, usually silent, is making quite a bit of fan noise. I haven't used it much since I use my laptop mostly. My heavy usage comes in the winter when its a lot cooler in the house.

Here is the kicker. My PS3 is just as loud no matter where I put it and its speed fan schedule is the same regardless. We currently move it between our bedroom and our living room. We'll eventually pick up a used 20 gig or our bedroom but for right now we transport it. In the living room, sitting out by itself in open air, on its bottom or side, within a few minutes its audible. Even sitting on top of my receiver, drawing hot air, the fan cycle is the same. In the living room its not that bad but still audible.

In our bedroom however even after a few minutes of being on the fan is incredibly loud. Thats sitting on a shelf, open air around, a good 3 degree's cooler than the rest of the house with a ceiling fan circulating the air. Its so loud than playing games I can hear over the sound off the game itself.

I've heard that depending on the output res effects sound level too. Our living room TV is a 1080p but we set it to 1080i because that is all my AVR will pass through. My TV in the bedroom is a 1080p and we run the PS3 at 1080p.

I seem to think that is it. Folding in the living room seems to be as loud as watching a movie in the bedroom.

I wish one off the websites would take apart a quiet PS3 and a loud PS3 and see what the differences really are.

 

[Doug Otte]

Eric, I think a thread over at AVSForum has a link to some recordings of the fan noise.

Since my last post, here's what I've found out, different to what I thought:
1) My fan kicks into high gear on any type of disc (game, CD, SACD, DVD, BD) after about 15 minutes. It remains there until the disc is stopped, then reverts to lower gear after about 2 minutes.
2) I can't hear a difference from my position (opposite end of room; about 12 ft) whether the PS3 is horizontal in the rack, or vertical outside the rack on top of the SW.

Some people who describe the fan noise as "grinding" have had them exchanged by Sony. However, mine isn't grinding; it just sounds like a normal fan. I don't think mine's defective, just that I'm more sensitive to the sound than some owners. My wife and daughter say they can't hear it, but they're often oblivious to these audio and video problems that I obsess over. I'm baffled, though, at those who have their PS3 within a few feet of their position yet claim they can't hear it at all!

I've put it in perspective. This is still a nice box, and the fan isn't loud enough to bother me except during very quiet passages of movies or music. Of course, my opinion might change during the winter when the windows are closed and I don't have ambient noise from outside to partially mask the sound. When I upgrade to an HDMI receiver, I'll try SACD via HDMI and see if I can live with it. If not, I'm keeping the Pioneer for music. The PS3 provides a much more detailed image on DVDs, so I won't use the Pioneer for any video material.

Regards,
Doug