Does your DAW make you sweat?

This post was first published in May 2014 at projectstudiohandbook.com/PSHforum

The Gods have decided that once again we will have a summer here in London. If you've lived in London as long as we have, you notice these things. Until recently summers in England were optional, but now for whatever reason (global warming, the jet stream getting jiggy, etc) they've become a regular thing.

Wherever you are, summers may be compulsory. Perhaps all buildings in your country are fitted with air-con? Not here. And that's a big problem. Despite their many advantages over old tape and analogue recording systems, DAWs and digital equipment can run hot, and once those fans start-up you soon need the kind of air-con that is fitted as standard in all pro studios. But for most project and home studio owners, installing a whisper quiet system is not practical or affordable.

We can't simply open an outside door or window either, because we need sound isolation to work. And we can't use a portable air conditioning unit because they're so damn loud. We have one here that we salvaged from a second hand shop, but you need to keep it running constantly and with the din it makes you can't record or mix. The other problem with it is we don't have a permanent way to vent the hot air, the hose is gaffer tapped to a half open window, which of course compromises the sound isolation of our domestic grade double glazing.

We've tried turning unused equipment off, but it doesn't make much difference when the main culprits are the computer, hard drives, and power amps. After an hour wearing headphones, the sweat starts to run down our ears. 

We also have concerns about our equipment overheating and getting damaged. We've had a hard drive going to sleep mid playback before, presumably to save itself.

If we're very unlucky we'll have 4-5 weeks of this weather. If you live in a hot country, think about being without air-con in your studio for that length of time.

We don't have a solution for this issue, and so have to comfort ourselves with the fact that at least we save money on heating during the colder months.

Does this all sound familiar?

Thanks for reading.
FairFax