An email almost immediately after the review was posted, w/ this link:
http://www.diskusjon.no/index.php?showtopic=838767

It's in German; the gist is an OC silencer's OT approach -- a drive inside SQB25 inside SQB. The end result, the poster writes, is "I do not hear anything further from the hard disk. I mean completely silent"

True, but without the added bonus of extremely increased read/write rates that SSD's offer.

This is definitely a cool product, but I'm not sure it's something I could buy when I could easily elastically suspend it for a fraction of the cost. But, for someone not as DIY as me, and with a fatter wallet, this seems like a nice product.

Which makes me wonder what the actual market is for this product...Surely all-in-one companies like dell, HP, or mac wouldn't bother silencing a drive like this. Fact is, there are few people as nit-picky about computer noise as we are. And if the big guys are out, then the only people that are left to buy this product are tinkerers like us (who don't really mind putting in the time to suspend our drives).

Sure, there's the added bonus of eliminating any HDD internal whine, but you gotta ask...is that noise even loud enough to justify spending some pretty significant extra money?

It is a lot more effective than suspension. Reduces seek noise and motor noise to practically nil. My notebook drive was the most audible component in my system, and this fixed the problem. Sure it is a niche product, but not more so than most silencing gear. I am using an X25-M for programs and a Seagate 320gb notebook drive (inside the SQD2.5 of course) for data.

What I'm saying is, a notebook drive with SQD2.5 is a great combo either as the only drive for a silent system or as a complement for an SSD drive.

That post from diskusjon.no is actually in norwegian, although he does refer to germany a couple of times in the text, something about missing components, and scythe shipping the part from Germany.

I see what you're saying, but I have two, not SPCR approved hdd's sitting in suspension, and they are 4AM on a tuesday quiet. Like..I can't hear them over my already whisper quiet PSU. (see my signature)

When my system shuts down, I don't hear them spool down. When they are defraging, I don't hear seek noise. U have to remember..90% of that noise is just the transmission of the head vibrations to the case, and by decoupleing them with this scythe solution (or by a $1 elastic band) you're completely elimitating it.

Don't get me wrong its a cool product. But I wouldn't by a 2.5in drive just to pair up with this 30$ solution. Just my take on it...

I would agree with your comments in most cases, but silent computing really has achieved new lows -- tho that sounds bad. At the cutting edge of silent PCs, fanless PSUs, SSDs and super-quiet notebook drives in SQD2.5s make a difference.

Your Corsair is a pretty quiet PSU, but it's noisier than the newest quiet fanned PSUs, a PSU w/o a fan -- or a fan that doesn't spin up till >300W. That's the new standard for low noise computing: No noise. Combine a PSU like that with a smooth sub-500rpm 120mm fan on a huge heatsink in a nice case and you're probably at like 12 dBA@1m. Then a typical quiet HDD suspended very softly becomes the single biggest noise source in the computer. It might be at only 16 dBA, but it's the limiting factor.

With the Seagate that we tested the SQD2.5 with, there's almost no benefit to suspension. A bit -- but the amplitude is so low that the SQA effectively eliminates it. The moving mass of 2.5" drives is that much lower. And that 3-4 dBA improvement measured at 1m is more like 5-6 dBA at 1/2 a meter -- if you sit close to the PC. It's very significant.

In fact, that noisier 100gb 7200rpm Hitachi is now in the SQD2.5, running as the OS drive for the experimental CPU heatsink test rig I've been poking at for a couple days -- it might as well be an SSD, it's that quiet on an open rack system.

Sounds right, but this product is also clearly not aimed at a system already running an overclocked fan cooled CPU, a fan cooled gaming card, two 3.5" HD's, a fan cooled PSU and probably a second fan pulling air out of the case.

This is a product aimed at silencing something that the vast majority of people would never notice, and something that even people that do find generally pretty acceptable. The current gen notebook drives are pretty darn quiet. Ergo, this is - as clearly stated in the article - for a small niche.

Lets put it this way: the sqd is for those who have suspended their drive and are still bothered by it`s airborne noise.

I`m one of those people and I`m not that sensitive to noise, I just happen to have a low ambient noise level at night.

You make a really good argument. I totally get it now. Thanks for your response.

I definitely think its a cool product. There's no getting around that...I guess it's just not something worth the extra ~60+ ish dollars on (between the sqd and the notebook drive).

Like Mrzed and MikeC said, my rig isn't really SPCR quiet I guess...so a product like this wouldn't be worth the money for anyone who doesn't have a near-dead-silent platform already. So it makes sense.

Thanks for the review, as always

I'm SO glad a review of the SQD came out !!!!

THANK YOU MIKEC !!!!!!

as always, a good review. A 2.5'' HD and an SQD was a step I took to make my PC quiet. The HD will very soon be replaced by an SSD but I'm keeping the SQD/HD combo for a futur one-fan quiet project. This combo rocks !

Would have been nice to test a velociraptor in this, if I was going to go for a 2.5" that wasn't an SSD it would be that!

I read somewhere on Newegg that a person tried that, and it worked, but the drive was getting too hot. I think the major flaw with this thing is it's basically a little hotbox for a drive. Sure, it's got some TIM which eventually gets to the outer case, but it's kinda like those russian dolls (see figure 1)...theres so many layers, thermal interface material or not..it's gonna trap a bunch of heat. That said, for less hot drives, I think it's a pretty functional design, and there isn't much to complain about. It's a cool product.

figure 1

Hi, I just want to add that my experience with the 3.5â€

Thanks for the review. Was thinking of getting one of these to shut up a Spinpoint F3 (3.5" version obviously), because even if I get an SSD I'll still need somewhere to store all my movies and music.

Indeed! Even though I was initially ecstatic about my Momentus 7200.4 drive, now that I have lived with a nearly silent computer for a week, I am thinking "do I really have to hear that?" every time the drive spins up. So I have been planning on getting a Scythe quiet drive.

Not also that, in NSK1380, with a drive cage that has to be lifted up pretty much every time one opens the case, suspension is not a very good option!

Thanks very much for a timely review, Mike C!

Uday

One other point to keep in mind is that the enclosure remains useful for its form factor's lifetime. I have a Smart Drive that's had probably 4 different HDs in it over the years, and it has reduced the noise of them all. In that light, an extra $30 or so is money well spent. Compare that to a $50 heatsink that's obsolete when a new socket comes out 2 years later...

Shouldn't we put some pressure on the manufacturers to provide mounting brackets for new sockets? Some of them already do.

Where can I buy Quiet Drive 2.5" in US?
I could not find it anywhere. Only AeroCooler lists it and it has always been out of stock (as well as 3.5" version).

Anybody wants to sell me it? I need 2 or 3.

Contact Scythe USA. I'm sure they'd be happy to help.

I am in the market for something like this now and found the review helpful.

I am planning on going to an SSD for my system drive and upgrading to Windows 7. I will then have a HDD for bulk storage. At the moment it's a choice between a 2.5" drive in something like this or a 3.5" drive (encased or otherwise).

Any comment on how it compares to one of the lower RPM large capacity drives from WD or Seagate? I have a P182 but could rig up some suspension. The decouplers it comes with seem to be inadequate, and recently my 500GB WD AAKS drive which used to be virtually inaudible has started to vibrate the entire case.

I just did it after you advised and they responded within about an hour.

Basically this product doesn't exist in North America. The only option is to buy from Europe. I asked about shipping fees but so far I guess after currency conversion each SQD may cost up to $80 shipped to US. For the same price Kingston promised 40GB Intel SSDs (after rebate).

Here is their response:

[i]Thank you for your interested in and inquires Scythe in this time.

We are afraid of telling the Quiet Driver 2.5â€

As always a flawed and incomplete test by SPCR (YAITBSPCR for short) - why didn't you test the SQD 2,5" with an SSD drive? That would be an awesome combo. But noooo, you saw no reason for that What a fail...

So I've been using this nifty lil' enclosure for some time now. I now have a VR in it and a Travelstar as well (guess it's the same model as in your test). The VR is a weeee little noisier than the Travelstar, but not much really. Both drives are inaudible in my case from where I sit (actually, where my ears are, way up). Both SQDs rest on standard shelves with gromets (P150). No vibrations, nothing. Both drives are like 33-37 degrees, with 92mm fan down there @ 600 rpm. A third SQD is lying somewhere, waiting for ... another VR, currently on its way (hurray!). Fitting the VR - no bi deal, just use zip ties instead of screws. The whole contraption is a wee thicker but hookers. Er, who cares.

Availability - new SQDs sell for approx. USD 43 here, plus shipping. 2nd hand are hard to come by and most of them are bought on the spot by ME

All in all - a highly recommended product, especially that lotsa other stuff is already dead silent in our PCs. And SSDs are still on the spensive side.

This has got to be a joke...right? I would think that no one on these forums is that thick.

SSD's have no moving parts. You silly person, you.

poking fun at the nirvana review?

anyway, this is pretty much what i expected from the sqd, it makes me regret not pushing my friend some more when he was over in japan.
i have a regular sqd too, so i could've had like the holy grail of mechanical hdd quietness

One thing 2.5" silencers might want to consider is that an enclosure intended for 3.5" drives can easily hold two 2.5" drives. Not an option for mini PC fans, but practical for anyone with a 5.25" bay going spare, or space at the bottom of the case.

I used an old SilentDrive enclosure that I'd discarded due to high temperatures when using 3.5" drives. With a sheet of foam stuffed between the two drives they fit in quite snugly, and modding it slightly to accommodate 2x SATA cables was trivial. As you'd expect with 2.5" drives there's no problem with heat, and a cheap 5.25" enclosure like that is better value than a couple of these Scythe Quiet Drives.

My two 500Gb 7200RPM 2.5" drives were clearly audible beforehand, even when soft mounted, but are inaudible in that enclosure. For 1Tb of silent local storage that's cooler and quieter than a 3.5" drive, and a hell of a lot cheaper than SSDs.

... I deleted this message because it seems to have got cut off due to some control characters.

So do you think that 2x2.5" in SQD would be more silent than modern 3.5" in the same enclosure? I can tell that 3.5" hdd in SQD won't be enough for extreme silencers, so SQD inside SQD seems like more interesting approach.

This has to depend on the HDD, don't you think? The recently reviewed Seagate pipeline 500gb HD.2, for example, has amazingly low vibration/seeks. Substantially lower than the previous single platter champ (of a couple months), the Samsung F2-500gb -- which is very slightly quieter at idle but has much noisier seeks. Sad thing is how hard that pipeline is to find in the retail market!

The last 3.5" drive I tried in a quiet PC was a 500Gb Western Digital Caviar SE16. Even carefully enclosed it was much louder than 2x 2.5" drives, and I was unhappy with its temperature in a low airflow system.

Obviously certain newer 3.5" drives are a fair bit quieter, I might give them a try in a future build, but their heat is still an issue.