We Bought Apple's Old Acoustic Testing Mini-Chamber

You know it’s something special when we do an unboxing. This acoustic chamber will be used for our noise testing (including frequency spectrum testing) of fans, coolers, and PSU fans.

We're still working on our large acoustic chamber, but this one is a good start! This chamber will allow us to test case fans, CPU coolers, and PSU fans (which we can do without a power load inside the chamber) for noise levels. The biggest additions to our existing methodology are these two points: (1) a lower noise floor, so much easier to collect data below a certain threshold (e.g. identifying which fan is the best at a low RPM), and more importantly, (2), frequency spectrum analysis. This means we will finally be able to test the *type* of noise being produced by a product, not just the noise level! Cases will not be tested in this chamber, nor will pre-builts. Those will follow our standard methods until we get the larger one.



TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Unboxing Our Sound Chamber
02:49 - What to Expect from the Mini Sound Chamber
04:15 - The Plan
09:03 - Destruction Begins
11:05 - MISSION COMPLETE
12:13 - Sound Chamber Walk-Around
14:36 - Quick Demo of the Chamber
16:55 - Current Noise Testing Methodology & Background


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Hosts: Steve Burke, Mike Gaglione, Patrick Stone
Video: Andrew Coleman, Keegan Gallick

[Nexinator]

Steve, as much as you hate "unboxing" vids, these unboxings of stuff that the general public will NEVER see is super interesting. Please keep this part of it up!

[simplyscholar]

I bet Apple wishes they could stick Louis Rossmann in one of those things.

[WhenDoesTheVideoActuallyStart]

Careful with using non-Apple hardware, like testing tools - the chamber might disable the sound isolation feature.

[samtherat]

If they were truly confident in its abilities, they’d have this in the background of all their videos with a Bluetooth speaker playing copyrighted music inside.

[Jsteeezz]

The content has been so freaking great lately. Love the amount of uploads we been getting. Really appreciate everyone at GN

[futurebues]

For stuff that comes freight packed with built in casters, a set of 5 foot angle irons might make good ramps and they can spread the weight out, and they're cheap and don't take up much space in the closet since you wouldn't need to use them often.

[gerriti]

I love that Mike had a good well thought out plan, and the execution basically fell to STONE SMASH. 10/10 Great Video

[skatterpro]

Diagonal mic placement will likely cause an increase in bass frequencies measured, especially in a 3 side corner (cube corner), but even in a 2 side corner (square side) due to what's commonly referred to as "bass buildup". I have a feeling that a mic placement in the middle of a panel is going to leave you with the most uniform and baseline measurement.

[Blutzen]

23:59 I have had tinnitus for as long as I can remember, and didn't realize it wasn't normal because the phrase "the silence was deafening" _just makes sense._ So I absolutely understand what you mean, Mike.

[mick]

An open box from Apple is far better quality then an open box item from Newegg.

[the_wau_]

something to bear in mind with a small-ish enclosure like this one, while taking frequency response / frequency spectrum measurements, is that you may actually find that the low frequency data is a bit exaggerated as a result of standing waves resonating within the enclosure. to what extent this will be problematic, idk, it's just something I thought I'd mention, as it's potentially worth looking into.

[probusthrax]

Dang Steve, you guys are becoming some serious hardware testers. I'm a recently retired Electrical/Test Engineer and I'm jealous! I'll have to settle for living vicariously through you guys. :)

[andyderp]

seeing you guys become even more of the "go to place" for information and niche but important tests over the years has been amazing, looking forward to future tests.

[buff]

If this sound engineer is MikeC from SilentPCReview (who else is it gonna be?), these setups and tests are going to be worth looking forward to.

[Hortifox_the_gardener]

I love so much how you constantly invest in awesome niche equipment that propels the already top tier quality of your content further and further instead of investing into shiny gaming lounges, stream setups, overbuilt servers, and overkill cameras.

[goldcd]

I'm fine with "uncratings" - if it's something amazon can deliver, I can do that myself.

[oscarserrano]

Attaching a mic to the exterior of the chamber will help you be able to assign cause to any measurement abnormalities picked up by the inner mic. If you'll also do frequency response testing, keeping track of temperature and humidity is a good idea, also keeping a copy of IEC 60268 on hand. Excited for more content like this GN!

[NoProHarrie]

Oh this is such great content.
I wouldn't say I dislike the way LTT is doing their stuff but the sheer quality of testing you guys are aiming for while still remaining the same people who will go and find stuff at a good price, from surpluss sales makes me smile.
This is allot like how I have been building things for both work and my private life as well!

Exciting to see what's next!

[Some_Guy_From_The_Internet]

I'm impressed. It's difficult to impress a cynical man, but you did it. I don't think there's another PC hardware channel with this level of dedication.

[chalor]

The stick is a non standard unboxing tool but the sledge is just fine lol