The art of (reducing) noise - or "how to disconnect the AW4416 CD-RW fan".

By now you probably know how cool the new Yamaha AW4416 workstation is. It is one of the most full featured "all in one" studios ever built, with features like a 44 input mixer with moving fader automation, 16 tracks of 24 bit 44.1 - 48 KHz uncompressed recording, eight "virtual" tracks per each of the 16 tracks, two onboard effects processors, 4 band parametric EQ and dynamics processing on each channel, onboard 12 GB (expandable up to 64 GB) hard disk for recording, SCSI connection for backups, optional onboard CD-RW drive for data backup and writing audio CD's, optional expansion via two YGDAI card slots, and much more.

We've come a long way from the days of the first Tascam 144 Portastudio. Like that groundbreaking product, the AW4416 takes home recordists to a new level. Gone are the days of cassette tape noise and hiss, but unlike that seminal device, the AW4416 does suffer from noise of the ambient kind. Many AW4416 owners have noticed this and commented about it. This noise is primarily from the two internal fans that the Yamaha uses for cooling. The main fan seems to be of a quieter design, but in any event is less bothersome, mainly since it is located on the back panel. The primary source of the noise problem is from the internal CD-RW drive's built in fan. The CD-RW (and internal fan) is located at the front of the AW4416, and there is a more direct acoustical path for the noise to reach the user. This can be troublesome because the AW was designed for the home and project studio market, and many people in those situations don't have the luxury of a separate control room and tracking room and a dedicated engineer to run everything while they play. In the home studio, you usually have to do it all yourself, and in one room. Use microphones in the same room as the AW and you're likely to pick up the sound of the fan as you record - definitely something you don't want on your 24 bit recordings! So what's a poor home recordist with an AW4416 to do? Disable the CD-RW's fan!

First of all, a disclaimer is in order. While the following procedure is not difficult, opening the case of any electronic device will almost certainly void the manufacturer's warranty. Furthermore, while Yamaha currently has a test AW4416 in their labs with the CD-RW fan disconnected for testing purposes and have experienced no problems to date, they do not recommend this procedure for liability and U/L certification reasons. Therefore, if you decide to do this, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. Neither Yamaha nor I can be responsible for anything you may damage as a result of this modification. This modification is specific to the stock Yamaha CD-RW drive, model # 8824S that ships with the AW4416, and might not be applicable to user installed CD-RW drives of a different model number or from a different manufacturer. Furthermore, increased heat from the disconnection of the fan may shorten the life expectancy of either the CD-RW drive or even the AW4416 itself, although the second problem is not likely since the CD-RW generates it's largest amount of heat while actually burning CD's, and most users will not spend a large percentage of their time using the AW4416 for this purpose.

Still want to give it a try? Okay, let's dig in. First of all, turn the power off on the AW4416 and leave it plugged in to the 3 pin wall power outlet for grounding, and also make sure you're properly grounded so that you will not damage any electronic components with static electrical discharge. You can do this by touching a grounded metal object. See page 3 of the AW4416 Operations Guide for further details. Once you're sure you're grounded, remove the internal CD-RW drive from the AW4416. You can simply reverse the steps listed for CD-RW installation found on pages 6 -8 of the Yamaha AW4416 Operations Guide.

Great, now that we have the drive completely removed from the AW4416, what's next? Well, now we're going to remove the bottom cover of the drive itself. Make sure you remove the proper cover. The top of the drive has the product identification label on it and the bottom of the drive is on the other side. There are eight screws located near the outer corners of the drive. (See photo #1) You're looking for the 4 screws that are located in the center of shallow circular recesses, as well as the 4 screws in the nearby rectangular recesses. Remove those screws with a Phillips head screwdriver and set them aside. Then carefully remove the bottom plate.

Now you should see something similar to Photo #2. Please notice the screwdriver in this photo. You'll see that it is pointing towards a small connector on the circuit board with a red and green wire attached to it. These wires lead directly to the fan and supply power to it.

Ground yourself again and carefully remove the electrical tape that is holding the wire to the circuit board, being careful not to scratch the board itself. You can actually skip this step if you wish, although it will make removing the plug from the socket a bit more difficult. That's actually your next step - remove the plug at the end of the red and green wires from the socket on the circuit board. It's in there pretty tight, so it might take you a few minutes and some careful wiggling, but if you go slow and use either a small pair of needle nose pliers or similar tool, you'll get it out. Again, be careful that you don't slip and scratch the board itself or break the connector or socket off.

Now that the connector is out of the socket, place the wire and tape back as close to their original positions as you can, being careful to make sure the end of the connector is not shorting against any of the metal parts of the circuit board. Replace the bottom plate / cover and re-install the drive back in to your AW4416 as outlined in the Operations Guide instructions. That's it - you're done!

So what is the result? Before this modification, I measured radiated noise of the AW4416 with a SPL meter at 65 dB A weighted at a distance of 12" from the front panel, in front of and on axis with the CD-RW drive bay opening. After this modification I performed the same measurements and the results were 50 dB, A weighted. That's a net reduction of 15 dB! This should make a considerable difference in the amount of ambient noise in the room that could find its way into your microphones and onto your tracks. Aah, the sound of silence!

I would like to thank Neil Goldstein for his valuable contributions to this article, as well as the entire AW4416 unofficial user's group.