KRONOS Fan Information

NavidSyed · Post by **NavidSyed** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:31 am

Yeah small group of people are actually having problem could be due to quality control issues at Korg, maybe a bad batch of fans? Or maybe that small group has OCD, similar as data knob for some people, if you are not hearing the fan noise good for you, conratulations ! why are you even posting and following these threads?

maphill · Post by **maphill** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:35 am

popmann wrote:I picked up my K88 today. My studio is STUPID quiet. After reading here, I was SURE I was going to have to rip this guy open, void the warranty, and replace the fan. I SO anal about keeping the ambient noise level down in here. I can here the sound of the skin on teh bottoms of my feet when I walk across the floor...if a CFL develops aslight whine--OUT--ANNOYING...KSP8--gutted as soon as I fired it up. Heard it, shut it down, ripped it open and spec'd a new fan. I can hear the PC, but it's only on to sequence strings. While I spec'd that and got it really quiet--with three drives...handful of fans--you CAN hear it in use. But, like I said-that was a compromise because I don't record to it, so it's only occassionally on.

I would not have even known there was a fan IN it...if I didn't listen for it. Barely audible. I don't know...unless this goes bad or something...I'm thinking it's NOT a global issue.

Do you have an SPL meter to measure the level?

Mark

Dniss · Post by **Dniss** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:51 am

I wonder if it has been fixed. My fan is hardly noticeable.

popmann · Post by **popmann** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:34 am

I don't have an spl meter. I played all evening. I mean it's audible if you sit and listen for it...I'm only chiming in because reading this prior to purchase I was worried, because I'm super vigilant about the ambient noise here...and for perspective, I could put up and LDC right over the keyboard and cut vocals...let alone other side of the room where I would normally have live mics.

aribo61 · Post by **aribo61** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 8:03 am

So, which OS version do you have?

popmann · Post by **popmann** » Thu Sep 29, 2011 5:31 pm

Pretty sure it was 1.04. I can check for sure tonight-but, that's what I remember. I have not updated anything from out of box.

It came out of the box last week...where it's been sitting in the store (they pulled the 88 for me specifically-I was there)...I was concerned because I had read these threads but couldn't hear it in the store at ALL-even getting really close. In the super quiet studio, I can hear a very low level whir from players position...but, it's low enough that 10th away where my piano or vocals would be done-not even audible.

I also listened for the variable speed obvious in the audio clip posted...don't hear it. It's consistent from power on...

aribo61 · Post by **aribo61** » Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:01 am

So I assume Korg now switches the fan to a fixed speed in the BIOS or they wired it to a fixed voltage.

Do you have a well noticable hot spot somewhere on the top cover at the right side? This means a relatively small area (may be half of your hand) where the temperature is significantly higher than at other places? If so, how warm is it?

popmann · Post by **popmann** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:23 am

Nothing particularly warm. It's a touch warmer over both control surface areas than the cool metal...but, I wouldn't even call it warm. Just relative tothe cooler than room temp metal, it feels more room temp.

aribo61 · Post by **aribo61** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 11:52 am

so the fan may be configured to run a bit slower then mine.

Because my new ordered fan didn't arrive yet, I again tried some possible solutions with tunnels/pipes etc. Also I looked for a well dampening material.

If I use a kind of material like the isolators for hot water pipes, the dampening isn't good enough. This kind of material seems to be too dense.
The bubble foil still works best.
Foam (word? very soft, open-pored) also gives good dampening, but isn't strong enough to hold the fan in place. If pressed more dense, the dampening is reduced dramatically.

Tunnels do work very well.

But directly placing the tunnel to the motherboard leads to a warmer PSU.
I think I should divide the air flow in a well balanced way.

popmann · Post by **popmann** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:32 pm

I did notice last night, when I dug into starting to learn the sequencer, I was hearing it...so, I experimented-you can get close and have it, as I described-audible, but not a problem for recording around it--but, if you get close TO the SCREEN, the spl increases noticeably. So, if your head or mic is not directly above the middle of the unit (wouldn't be in playing position), it's super low noise--but, it was certainly more noisy as I was leaned over, squinting at the awfully small MIDI track readout.

popmann · Post by **popmann** » Sat Oct 01, 2011 2:37 pm

My experience, to get back on topic, days a new fan and it's rubber gromet mounts are the only things witha chance of quieting it (while keeping airflow, obviously). And hope what you're hearing it not the air being pushed up throughout the slits of the sliders! In which case, you'd likely need to play with the angle, reduce the rpm...and possibly add a second to pull air in the same direction at the other end of the mobo/CPU.

dfahrner · Post by **dfahrner** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 4:59 am

My K61's fan wasn't very loud - I don't have an SPL meter, but it was maybe slightly quieter than a typical laptop fan...not a problem with headphones or at any normal volume level, but I live in a quiet area and often play at very low volume...so I replaced the stock fan with a Silenx Ixtrema Pro 60mm (12dBA, 14cfm), using the included silicone vibration dampening mounts (the Silenx is much lighter than the stock fan, and I'm sure the dampening mounts are strong enough to support it)...in a quiet room, the difference is pretty dramatic: you have to put your ear against the front panel to hear the fan at all...the 3-conductor power cable on the Silenx is not long enough to reach over to the Kronos fan power connector, so you do need an extension cable...I also added another 2GB of memory while I had the back off, using a second Hynix RAM module, a HYMP125U64CP8-S6, the same as the one installed by Korg, from superbiiz.com, part number D2-2G800HY (thanks for the tip, Kronik)...so now I have a (nearly) silent 3.2GB K61, for all of $35 more...

df

curvebender · Post by **curvebender** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:46 am

dfahrner wrote:I replaced the stock fan with a Silenx Ixtrema Pro 60mm (12dBA, 14cfm), using the included silicone vibration dampening mounts (the Silenx is much lighter than the stock fan, and I'm sure the dampening mounts are strong enough to support it)...in a quiet room, the difference is pretty dramatic: you have to put your ear against the front panel to hear the fan at all...the 3-conductor power cable on the Silenx is not long enough to reach over to the Kronos fan power connector, so you do need an extension cable.

You don't happen to have any pictures of your new fan installed in the Kronos?..

SanderXpander · Post by **SanderXpander** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 8:57 am

Does that fan have comparable airflow to the stock one?

maphill · Post by **maphill** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 1:54 pm

dfahrner wrote:My K61's fan wasn't very loud - I don't have an SPL meter, but it was maybe slightly quieter than a typical laptop fan...not a problem with headphones or at any normal volume level, but I live in a quiet area and often play at very low volume...so I replaced the stock fan with a Silenx Ixtrema Pro 60mm (12dBA, 14cfm), using the included silicone vibration dampening mounts (the Silenx is much lighter than the stock fan, and I'm sure the dampening mounts are strong enough to support it)...in a quiet room, the difference is pretty dramatic: you have to put your ear against the front panel to hear the fan at all...the 3-conductor power cable on the Silenx is not long enough to reach over to the Kronos fan power connector, so you do need an extension cable...I also added another 2GB of memory while I had the back off, using a second Hynix RAM module, a HYMP125U64CP8-S6, the same as the one installed by Korg, from superbiiz.com, part number D2-2G800HY (thanks for the tip, Kronik)...so now I have a (nearly) silent 3.2GB K61, for all of $35 more...

df

Now THAT is what I like to hear. Thanks for sharing the information! If that fan I have on order doesn't do it, I'll try this suggestion.

Thanks again,
Mark