Music servers are incredibly noisy inside. Its because of all the computer chips working at very high speed along with all the switching that goes on at a motherboard level. The best servers are always the quietest. Manufacturers go to great lengths to lower noise by using methods such as outboard power supplies, elaborate grounding/Isolation schemes, or a bunch of little contraptions in line with the USB or CAT5.

Well we went ahead and applied our knowledge of modification and radio frequency noise reduction along with electromagnetic noise reduction to give you the simplest, easiest way to lower noise in your server, or digital circuit, which will help your audio system image deep and wide with layers that were not there before. We spent 3 months developing this kit and are proud to offer it to the Audiogon community. Before you think about another server or DAC, give this a try.

 

The kit comes with 2 different noise absorption materials. These are different than shielding materials which simply reflect interference somewhere else. These actually absorb the offending frequencies and convert them into heat. 

The black foam is a wideband absorber which is good for inside lids or on any reflective surface. It keeps waves from propogating inside chassis, so good anywhere you can imagine energy reflecting back off the metal chassis. Its also great between audio cards and motherboard. This is a "light duty" absorber which is nice because it tunes slightly rather than heavy handedly. 

The Gray sheeting is a highly permeable material which "sucks up" noise right from chips or hard drive, and even cables. Its a near field absorber meaning it pulls noise from whatever its in contact with. This is the stronger of the two, and this stays away from say power supply caps for instance, because in digital they need to discharge fast, and this may slow it ever so slightly. 

Both are adhesive backed, so the best way to determine where to use it is to simply cut to size, set it on the chip, drive, cable, etc, then go back an listen to the change. To simplify things into extremes, either it will become rolled off and dark, or opened up and too lively or lean. The trick is to find the "just right" inbetween the two. This will expand soundstage and increase presence. When you like where it is, simply peel and stick.

Main areas to try are RAM sticks, Hard Drives, DATA cables, Ethernet jack input shell, power supply inlet,  and any of the chips you see on the motherboard. Keep in mind some of these chips need to release heat, so use the material sparingly and dont cover the whole chip surface.

Also be careful not to have the material hanging over the chip and touching other things nearby like the legs of the chip. In other words be neat not sloppy. 

You wont believe the difference this little tweak makes !