RotoSub and Noctua Announce Partnership for PC Fans with Noise Cancellation

[btarunr]

Noise reduction specialist RotoSub and renowned quiet cooling fan manufacturer Noctua today announced a strategic partnership agreement for the development and commercialisation of PC fans with integrated Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). A first prototype of a Noctua fan with integrated RotoSub ANC technology will be shown at Computex Taipei next week.

Active Noise Cancellation (also referred to as Active Noise Control or Active Noise Reduction, ANC) is the technique of using sound waves to reduce noise by means of an effect called phase cancellation or destructive interference. Lars Strömbäck and Mårten Oretorp from RotoSub have invented a system (RotoSub Active Noise Control, R-ANC) that allows a fan to emit the sound signal that cancels out the original sound of the fan and thereby greatly reduces the overall noise emission.



"Mårten Oretorp and Lars Strömbäck's invention is a milestone in the field of noise reduction", says Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "It has always been our goal to push the boundaries of acoustic optimisation and this partnership will allow us to reinforce our technology leadership in the field of premium grade PC cooling equipment."

RotoSub's patented ANC technology makes it possible to achieve performance/noise ratios that cannot be accomplished by means of conventional aerodynamic or acoustic optimisations. The licensing agreement with RotoSub will allow Noctua to strengthen its position as a forerunner in quiet PC cooling by pioneering PC fans and CPU coolers with RotoSub ANC technology.

"Noctua is widely recognised as a leader in quiet PC cooling, so they were the obvious candidate when we were looking for a partner to commercialise the technology we've invented", says Lars Strömbäck, RotoSub CEO. "The performance and quality of their fans is one of the best in this industry and their new NF-F12 fan with its FocusedFlow system is ideal for integrating our ANC technology."

Introduced in late 2011, Noctua's NF-F12 FocusedFlow fan has quickly built up an excellent reputation for its superior quiet cooling performance and received more than 120 awards and recommendations from international hardware websites and magazines. The new joint development project with RotoSub pursues the ambitious target of providing another significant step up in performance.

"Our performance target is to achieve about 80% more airflow and 120% higher static pressure at the same noise level as the original NF-F12", explains Mårten Oretorp, RotoSub CTO. "There is still a lot of fine-tuning to be done, both in structural design and as far as the algorithms that compute the anti-noise signal are concerned, but we're working hard to achieve this goal within the next 12 to 18 months."

A first working prototype of a Noctua NF-F12 fan with integrated RotoSub ANC technology will be exhibited at Computex Taipei (June 5th to 9th 2012) at Noctua's booth (Nangang Exhibition Hall 1F, booth J1312).

Noctua and RotoSub kindly invite everyone to visit Noctua's booth to witness the world's first public demonstration of a PC fan with integrated Active Noise Cancellation.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[stoanee]

Will be interesting to see the results. While I acknowledge Noctua fans are quality construction and quiet fans, they still do not move enough air. I have their NF-F12 fans and still think 1850 rpm GT's literally blow them away in terms of airflow while being matching them in sound.

 

[Velvet Wafer]

i cant wait for that... finally a fan that actually uses some high technology... ordinary fans were existant (and loud) for too long

 

[lyndonguitar]

I hope it spins just as fast or faster than their noisy counterparts.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Please lord let them change the colors of the Noctuas.

 

[stoanee]

Please lord let them change the colors of the Noctuas.

Lol, agreed!

 

[Kreij]

Nice idea if it works well (and is not too expensive).

I don't really mind fan noise as I have a window fan on one side of me and the computer on the other. Sort of 3D surround fan noise.

Where can I get one of those cool mannekin things in the picture?

 

[stoanee]

Where can I get one of those cool mannekin things in the picture?

Find someone who was liberating them in the Vancouver Stanley Cup riots?

 

[chodaboy19]

I own Noctua fans and Gentle Typhoons, the Noctuas sit in the box. They are not that quiet and they don't move much air. Completely over-rated and expensive.

 

[Sasqui]

I own Noctua fans and Gentle Typhoons, the Noctuas sit in the box. They are not that quiet and they don't move much air. Completely over-rated and expensive.

Maybe they should invent active anti-suck cancellation, whereas the cancellation waves turn a mediocre fan into a really good one that doesn't suck...

"Progress is the complication of simplicity"

 

[theJesus]

Nice idea if it works well (and is not too expensive).

I don't really mind fan noise as I have a window fan on one side of me and the computer on the other. Sort of 3D surround fan noise.

Where can I get one of those cool mannekin things in the picture?

*mannequin

 

[phanbuey]

If i suspended a fan like that in my case it would be quiet as hell. They need to record these things with the typical components in front of them, because Noctua fans create a ton of turbulence and vibration, and they are freaking loud.

Of course its quiet when you suspend it in the center of a room with rubber cords.

Stick it inside a steel PC case, attached by steel screws, with a perforated grate in front of it and THEN crunch the numbers to make it quieter.

 

[TheMailMan78]

If i suspended a fan like that in my case it would be quiet as hell. They need to record these things with the typical components in front of them, because Noctua fans create a ton of turbulence and vibration, and they are freaking loud.

Of course its quiet when you hang it in the center of a room with rubber cords.

I dunno what Noctuas you are using but mine are dead quiet.......as a matter of fact every review I have ever seen shows them as some of the lowest noise fans on the market. If your Noctas are making noise I'm gonna say its how you are mounting them or you have a cheap case.

 

[phanbuey]

I dunno what Noctuas you are using but mine are dead quiet.......as a matter of fact every review I have ever seen shows them as some of the lowest noise fans on the market. If your Noctas are making noise I'm gonna say its how you are mounting them or you have a cheap case.

I have had the NF P 12's - 3 of them, and they were WAY louder than the scythe or yate loon fans at the same RPM, and more than one review has confirmed this. I have mounted them in 3 separate cases including a Danger Den Black Series tower. They were real quiet out of the case (but still louder than the scythe or yate loon), and loud due to turbulence when anything was remotely close to them (even if i got my hand near the blades).

The 14cm fan that I had was quiet, but only spun at 1000 RPM, so that is kind of to be expected.

 

[Athlon2K15]

You gotta be rocked in your noodle if you think NF-P12s are loud i have a bunch of them here and not one of them is louder than 30dba

 

[MAXLD]

They were real quiet out of the case (but still louder than the scythe or yate loon), and loud due to turbulence when anything was remotely close to them (even if i got my hand near the blades).

P12's are specifically designed to provide more static pressure to deal with tight obstacles in front of them: cpu's, watercoolers and so on, therefore are a bit "louder" (they're still damn silent compared to most of the junk out there, but anyway...). For a more typical/general use (majority of the fans on sale), favouring airflow and silence, the S12B FLX model is the weapon of choice.

I have 6 Noctua fans installed (P12, P14, S12B FLX, S12,...), I'm very pleased with how silent they are, and how each one works in the place it was designed for. For a long time my previous Gigabyte HD5870 was, by very far, the loudest thing I had inside my case and this included turning all the fans to the max RPM (which is a thing I never do, unless it's at least 45ºC outside).

Noctua fans do a lot of things right, and they are greatly balanced in airflow and low noise. Besides, they put 6 years of warranty on top of that. They do worth the money, pretty much like anything else they have on sale... Only the colour scheme tends to annoy some people, but it's a relevant matter of brand identity.

Of course, that doesn't mean there aren't other very good brands out there, because there are a bunch (although, Scythe isn't what I consider one of them).

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I dunno what Noctuas you are using but mine are dead quiet.......as a matter of fact every review I have ever seen shows them as some of the lowest noise fans on the market. If your Noctas are making noise I'm gonna say its how you are mounting them or you have a cheap case.

You're looking at the wrong reviews then. They've never been notable in any fan roundup I've seen. The one place they shine is on their own coolers because the fans and fin spacing are designed in tandem, but generally speaking they're a waste of money.