AcoustiCase™ C6607 A(Beige) & B(Black) - REVISED

ITPro Magazine (Sweden) review the AcoustiCase™ AC C6607B (Black) in Group Test

[Translated from Swedish]

"The AcoustiCase AC C6607B is the chosen winner. It wins the test because of it's low noise level. The case is a little bit narrow and it is a little complicated to get the acoustic kit in place, but when everything is in place the case has the lowest noise level. And besides that, there is plenty of room for hard drives and optical units. There are also place for two 120mm case fans which makes it easy to obtain a good airflow through the case if needed." Group Test - awarded 'Best in Test' with a score of 49 (Issue 2/2004)

Test Cases Included the following:

• Acousti Products AcoustiCase AC C6607B
• Antec Sonata
• Chieftec BX01BBSL
• Compucase 6A Series
• Inwin X710
• JJ Computer Matrix HT PC20BL
• Superpower Superb LC KC-2301B
• Coolermaster Wavemaster TAC T01

TrustedReviews on the AcoustiCase™ AC C6607B (Black)

"So how does the AcoustiCase fare in use? Well, it’s certainly a lot quieter than my previous case, even though I used most of the same fans and a standard power supply.... my wife stopped complaining about my PC being noisy, which to me is proof that the padding is doing its job." [full review]

Lars-Göran Nilsson, TrustedReviews -

"...if you want every last drop of silencing potential, then AcoustiCase™ is a must!!"

Once upon a time, I had a self-assembled, every day, beige box computer. The noise had always bothered me but I never did anything about it, until one day I decided there must be a way to make it quieter. At this time (about early 2001), the whole ‘Quiet PC’ thing hadn't quite taken off yet, so I was forced to go about my mission alone. Did I really need the fan on my CPU heatsink, or was the heatsink enough? What about the power supply fan? After some (admittedly stupid) attempts at going fanless, I discovered that they were there, in fact, for a reason! Since then I have discovered some great resources on the Internet, and have been able to go about silencing my computer in a more educated and effective manner!

Finally I got to the point where I had done everything but one last thing to quiet my computer, namely installing some sort of acoustic dampening material. I had read good things specifically about AcoustiPack™, but was turned off by the labour intensity of cutting all the sheets out to fit my case (one person reported it took a whole day). Imagine my delight when I heard about the new AcoustiCase™, specifically the AC C6607. What drew me to the AC C6607 was its dual 120mm fan configuration. The larger fans can rotate slower, and hence create less noise, while still moving the same amount of air as a smaller fan.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

Upon examining the various pieces of AcoustiPack™ in the kit [that comes with the AC C6607], I was left with a positive impression. This stuff is thick and heavy, and consists of two materials to boot (Acoustic Foam and Acoustic Barrier Mass). It exudes quality. I was however a little disappointed that none of the pieces appeared to have the AcoustiContour™ anechoic surface. Then again, even Acousti Products' top of the line generic Deluxe kit only includes one sheet of it. Perhaps this allows for a better fit, as the pieces included [in the AP C6607 kit] were already thick and apparently the AcoustiContour™ pieces are even thicker!!

Five foam blocks are also included. Two are for 5¼ inch drive bays (although one more may have been nice in case you are using only one 5 ¼” device, however I use one empty 5¼ inch bay to tuck in extra wires anyway). One is for a 3½ inch bay, and the other two are for vacant slots in the hard drive rack. There are even pieces to adhere to the back of the 5¼ inch and 3½ inch bay faceplates and an air filter for the front. The only part of the case left uncovered is the very front bottom between the front bezel and the front/side of the hard drive cage. This is hardly worth mentioning though as the area is so small.

All of the pieces in the kit were of consistent quality except for one of the side panel sheets that had a small imperfection. There was some sort of small white spot (about 1cm square) that I had to cut out, but overall, quality control seems stringent. I didn't find that some pieces were a lot thicker than others, or that the foam was uneven for example.

INSTALLATION

The AC C6607 was not the labour free endeavour that I had hoped for. However, after thinking about it, I can see why, as having the case come with the AcoustiPack™ already in place probably would have increased the cost of the AcoustiCase™ significantly. An automated factory set-up does not seem plausible for a smaller company selling lesser volume specialized products.

On the bright side, the installation of the kit was a pleasant experience. It should only take about a half hour. All pieces were cut perfectly to fit like a glove, and the instructions are well laid out and easy to understand for the most part. One thing that stumped me was the installation of the material to the right side wall/panel (if looking at the front of the AC C6607). I wasn't aware that the right panel came off, so I expected to see a pre-cut piece to fit on the tray around the motherboard. It's good that they didn't do this though, as significantly less surface area would have been covered and the case would have been harder to work with. Anyway, this part of the instructions should be more detailed to avoid any confusion.

Another small complication was figuring out the exact location to adhere the side panel sheets to. These sheets are a bit shorter than the side panels of the C6607 (by about an inch or so). I just placed the sheet in the middle, not giving it much thought. However, when I went to screw back on the right panel, I noticed that I had applied the material too close to the back end of it, causing interference with the hinges. So there should be a note stating to place the materials flush with the front edge of the side panels.

One thing that helps, as noted in the instructions, is to position the soundproofing materials before removing the entire adhesive backing. This allows for an easier, "lift and reapply" should you mess up. Although the adhesive sticks very well and is solid, it is also quite forgiving should you require a few tries to get it right. Strangely though, one of the 3½ inch bay faceplates pieces kept curling up in the corner. This is probably due to some dust that I didn't clean away as there didn't appear to be anything wrong with the adhesive. Regardless, it's something that can be easily remedied by some crazy glue.

EFFECTIVENESS

So how well does the kit work with the AC C6607? In a nutshell, pretty darn good. It's most effective at eliminating high pitch frequencies, such as hard drive whine. For example, the whine from my 10,000 RPM Raptor was effectively contained, which is a relief considering it's irritating nature. Of course, acoustic hard drive enclosures (such as the Smart Drive 2002) are another option, but they usually cause your drive to run hotter since they must be mounted in a 5¼ inch drive bay (hot air rises) and the direct metal to metal mounting transmits vibrations to the case.

Other fan noise emanating from within the case (such as a graphics card or a CPU fan) is somewhat reduced, but not a whole lot. After getting close to the case and critically listening, I have concluded that the vast majority of noise escapes outside the back exhaust port, not because the AcoustiPack™ isn't absorbing sound. Another benefit of AcoustiPack™ is the reduction of case resonance. Just by virtue of adding so much weight to the case walls, a lot more "force" is required to cause anything to rattle, not to mention any acoustic dampening properties. I guess that's part of the benefit of the beefy, Barrier Mass layer.

Lastly, noise from intake/exhaust case fans is not reduced since these fans are mounted near the outside of a computer case. Select your case fans carefully; otherwise any benefits realized from the AcoustiPack™ kit may be undone. All in all, AcoustiCase™ is another weapon in the arsenal against computer noise. I especially recommend it if it's hard drive noise that you are seeking to get rid of. Other noise sources seem only slightly reduced, but if you want every last drop of silencing potential, then AcoustiCase™ is a must!!

By Marc Mantovani - Calgary, Canada