[Traddad]

Boy it's been a long time!..but I find myself with a question this board is uniquely qualified to answer:
I built an entertainment computer w/o a CD/DVD drive bay thinking I could just add an external drive. Problem is, the ASUS external drive I bought is louder than bombs and vibrates like a...um...vibrator.
Is there an external drive that is quiet and built well? Something I can rip/burn/play CDs/DVDs as well as use as a computer drive?
Thanks!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

If you have any Vibrapods lying around I'd try the the external drive on those first. Maybe also put something on top of the drive.

 

[Traddad]

Unfortunately, the drive I have is in a relatively flimsy case and adding something to the top would probably bend the case enough to touch the disc.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Unfortunately, the drive I have is in a relatively flimsy case and adding something to the top would probably bend the case enough to touch the disc.

If it's wider than that drive's outer chassis then most likely it should weigh it down at the corners instead of bending the outer shell at the center. I used a bathroom tile from the hardware store on a clunky regular size CDP before, there's a rectangular size around 8 x 14 in size so it should be larger than your drive.

If you don't have Vibrapods, but you have some of those rubber mats for children's play pens that can be assembled like puzzlepieces, sandwich the drive between two of those then get a tile to put on top (make sure the tile is still wider and longer than the drive). The rubber should absorb vibration on both sides while weight can help mass-load it, no different from people slapping on Blutack on the rear of the baffle of a Sennheiser HD580/6xx driver.


Note though this only deals with vibrations created by the motor, so if the noise is generated by the motor itself, this won't help. One way to test before you go off to Home Depot or something: hold the drive with both hands and lightly grip. If it does totally nothing, that's mostly the motor whine, so you really need a new drive. Best bet for that if none of the regular size external optical drives are still around is to get an internal 5.25in (not the slim type) drives and put it in this.
https://www.amazon.com/External-eSA...s=5.25+drive+enclosure&qid=1618898713&sr=8-13

If it still has any noise but is not the motor (ie rattling), massload it as above, and maybe stick blutack inside as well but avoid it in locations where they can fall into the mechanism or the disc.