[Audioclyde]

Yesterday I received and installed a new Ministack 1.5TB (V3) external HD.  Transferred my music files over, connected the HD to my Mac mini via FW800 cable.

My mini and external HD's are in a cabinet 12' from the listening position (no back on cabinet, lots of air ventilation).  From my chair the mini and my 500gig Western Mybook external HD are virtually unnoticeable (even with the cabinet's front door open).  Not so with the ministack.  I can hear its fan/drive running constantly from my chair; between tracks and also at low volume passages.

Could I have a dud or is this normal?  Maybe because of the 1.5TB size (and 7200 rpm) of the ministack?

I've contacted OCW/Macsales where I purchased, but haven't heard back yet.  I know some other AC'ers use the Ministack drives and wondered if I'm too picky or if something is wrong?

Thanks for any input!

Randy

[JEaton]

I can't comment on the Ministack, but I'd suggest a 5400RPM drive in a fanless enclosure.  There are many of them available.  Also go with a smaller drive when given a choice, but leave yourself room to grow.  A smaller drive will generally have fewer platters and run a little cooler.

[ZLS]

    I have two Ministacks and have not noticed the problem you are talking about.  I in fact prefer the sound to the OWC Mercury Elite that I was using.  While preference may be subjective, the fact that the Ministack runs much cooler is quantifiable fact. 

[mshan]

I have the PATA version of the Ministack and it has a fan that spins up very audibly.

Probably sample to sample variation, I would guess the small fans they use are cheap ball bearing types designed for longevity over low noise.

As others said, 5400 rpm drives and a fanless enclosure (e. g. Antec MX100 seems to wake and go to sleep properly).

[Audioclyde]

Just a follow-up; today I received the Ministack back from OWC.  Repair sheet says that it had a faulty fan and fan board.  I plugged it in and its noticeably quieter than before; I'll try it again at home actually 'using' the disc drive for content, but the compared to before (I had tried just plugging it in before without being in actual 'use' too) it is pretty much silent from 1 foot away  .

Just didn't want people to read my original post and conclude all Ministacks are noisy/problematic.