Silent Studio Cooling Solution

Another home studio blog! I bought my foam panels, my carpet, got everything set up, the place sounds so much better. Great! I’m done right? There’s nothing else to consider? No. There was one thing I didn’t consider, and that I didn’t see anyone mention in my research; a crucial problem: heat.
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It gets stupid hot in a dedicated room for recording, especially in the summer. This is mostly due to the fact that you have to keep your door and any windows shut as you record, which makes for very limited airflow in your studio. This problem is compounded when you realize you can’t even turn most fans or air conditioners on as you record because they’ll be picked up by the mic.

​So what’s the solution? On an initial search, you might be drawn to the plethora of options that pop up in a google search. My favorite was the ChillWell… but don’t be fooled, a quick background check on the product reveals that many reviews are actually paid advertisements for a faulty product. Now there may be some portable AC units that actually work, but I’ve yet to find them. Not only are they wildly overpriced, they often spit out an additional misty spray which just adds humidity to a terribly humid room. They also tend to still make SOME sound. Even if it’s quiet, nothing is soft enough when you’re trying to record two feet away. My solution, albeit partial, came from the world of PC gaming. 
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The Noctua NF-A20

​The Noctua NF-A20 is a fan built for cooling your computer as you push it to the limit, opening 50 tabs of music to create some kind of monstrous modern music installation… no? Fair enough, but a key feature of the fan is that it's dead silent. It also conveniently plugs right into your laptop via USB. I point it directly at myself as I roll my recording and the mic doesn’t even pick it up. Granted, the airflow isn’t anything mind-blowing, but having even a slight breeze of silent cooling as I’m cooking under my cello trying to nail a perfect take is life saving. In fact, it’s been used in every recording I’ve made since finalizing my studio. Let me know if you can hear it in the background of the my <3 cover: 

If you’re interested in this silent studio fan you can pick it up here: 
(Using these links will support me with a commission!)​

Noctua NF-A20 5V PWM Premium Quiet Fan with USB Power Adaptor Cable

Another Option?

​I also found another contender from VocalBoothToGo.com. Their ventilation fan advertises a 47.5 decibel sound level on its highest setting. Unfortunately, they were out of stock when I went to make my purchase, but I got a response stating that they’d get more soon. I may do some kind of review of it once I’m able to get my hands on it.

I’m still looking for more solutions to use in tandem with the Noctua, so I’ll keep you posted as I find them. Thankfully, we’re approaching the cooler months soon, but given the heat this summer, I’m itching to prepare for whatever craziness next summer brings. Until next time, thank you for reading!