EMI RFI Paper

[internethandle]

For those who have already applied EMI/RFI paper/tape to their PC interior, for RAM I'm sort of confused - if your RAM has a heatsink, is it better to place strips of the material on the outside of the heatsink, or remove the heatsink and sandwich them between the heatsink and the interior, or remove the heatsink altogether and place the material directly sans heatsink? My RAM is underclocked (to 800 MHz, like many others), so I wonder if I even need its heatsinks any longer... I've heard conflicting reports about this over at the JPlay forum when it was still being discussed, so I thought I'd ask.

[nige2000]

Yea some guys think they've lost bass by putting absorbers on the ram. Which it sort of does in a way but sometimes noise can be confused with bass
For me the bass or noise never seemed true
So the decision was easy for me

I removed the heat sinks as it will reflect
It won't get even warm
Think heat sinks are not really necessary unless for over clocking
IMO some people miss the noise in a system that could do with more bass

[internethandle]

Yea some guys think they've lost bass by putting absorbers on the ram. Which it sort of does in a way but sometimes noise can be confused with bass
For me the bass or noise never seemed true
So the decision was easy for me

I removed the heat sinks as it will reflect
It won't get even warm
Think heat sinks are not really necessary unless for over clocking
IMO some people miss the noise in a system that could do with more bass

Any advice on getting the heatsinks off the RAM? Tutorials I've seen online say everything from just using a small flathead screwdriver to slowly pry them off, to putting them in the freezer before removal, to using a blow dryer on them. I'm sort of worried I'll damage the modules if I do it wrong.

[Aleg]

Yea some guys think they've lost bass by putting absorbers on the ram. Which it sort of does in a way but sometimes noise can be confused with bass
For me the bass or noise never seemed true
So the decision was easy for me

I removed the heat sinks as it will reflect
It won't get even warm
Think heat sinks are not really necessary unless for over clocking
IMO some people miss the noise in a system that could do with more bass

Any advice on getting the heatsinks off the RAM? Tutorials I've seen online say everything from just using a small flathead screwdriver to slowly pry them off, to putting them in the freezer before removal, to using a blow dryer on them. I'm sort of worried I'll damage the modules if I do it wrong.

The ones I've got have got a tiny screw on the top of the side and it is just a matter of unscrewing it and the heatsink just slides of.

I use mostly G.Skill memory don't know how others do it.

Cheers

Aleg

[nige2000]

Not the most fun I'd ever had
But I'd consider ram treatment a must have mod

I used a very sharp thin knife to sever the glue from the ashes as adhesive pads

Anyway best of luck
It should sound good
Take your time

[internethandle]

Thank you guys for the advice.

I successfully removed my RAM's heatsinks - I had to place the modules in the oven for about 5 minutes at a very low heat, as was suggested in many tutorials (or a hairdryer/heat gun), since mine ended up being double-sided RAM with adhesively-attached heatspreaders. After the oven, they were very easy to gradually release with a small flathead screwdriver. I then attached my EMI/RFI material (I can't tell you by whom, since it is a R&D material created by an audiophile company, but its bandwith is better than Stillpoints by a large margin) to both sides of the RAM, after drawing out a template on the material for their width and height and cutting out with scissors, with double-sided pieces of electrical tape.

The results are really pretty interesting - things sound a little warmer, but this, combined with turning off all of the fans in my PC case for the first time (I have underclocked dramatically compared to when I was planning out the PC's cooling over a year ago) has definitely created one of the most eerily low/quiet noise floors I've ever encountered. The music really seems to be coming from a dark recess of space. Most of all, though, I feel like I no longer "hear" the computer as well as I did, it's a more front-end-manufactured experience, meaning the sound is much more shaped by my DAC/amp/cables/tweaks/etc. than it was previously.

[nige2000]

Thank you guys for the advice.

I successfully removed my RAM's heatsinks - I had to place the modules in the oven for about 5 minutes at a very low heat, as was suggested in many tutorials (or a hairdryer/heat gun), since mine ended up being double-sided RAM with adhesively-attached heatspreaders. After the oven, they were very easy to gradually release with a small flathead screwdriver. I then attached my EMI/RFI material (I can't tell you by whom, since it is a R&D material created by an audiophile company, but its bandwith is better than Stillpoints by a large margin) to both sides of the RAM, after drawing out a template on the material for their width and height and cutting out with scissors, with double-sided pieces of electrical tape.

The results are really pretty interesting - things sound a little warmer, but this, combined with turning off all of the fans in my PC case for the first time (I have underclocked dramatically compared to when I was planning out the PC's cooling over a year ago) has definitely created one of the most eerily low/quiet noise floors I've ever encountered. The music really seems to be coming from a dark recess of space. Most of all, though, I feel like I no longer "hear" the computer as well as I did, it's a more front-end-manufactured experience, meaning the sound is much more shaped by my DAC/amp/cables/tweaks/etc. than it was previously.

Ah yes familiar sounding experience
Don't forget to try some experiments with cleaner power supplies 12v linear for cpu and 5v batteries for ssd etc are easy experiments to try

[jesuscheung]

saw pkshan posted a funny article
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_72b3301c0101u953.html

quote:
"羊皮墊:可能是最好的音響避震材料"
google translate as:
Sheepskin pad: It may be the best sound shock material

"之前我用牛皮墊.現在向大家推薦更好的羊皮, 比牛皮更好."
google translate as:
Before I used leather pad now to recommend better sheepskin, better than leather.

"器材內部也可放一些,如電容,晶片,主板空位也可用(用雙面膠貼上去)"
google translate as:
Equipment can also put some internal, such as capacitors, chip, motherboard space is also available (with double-sided adhesive tape up)


he has always claimed that living organism > all other materials.

maybe this could work well with EMI. or as an alternative

[nige2000]

Silk cotton etc
Might not be coincidence

[tony]

http://www.head-fi.org/t/702787/chord-h ... t_10653659

See link for views of Rob Watt on rfi,optical connection and detail and harshness.
It seems Rob concurs with Adam maybe there is a roll for Farrow and Ball to produce some nice heavy RFI paper in
heritage styles.

If his views carry any weight the efforts all have been making reducing noise and improving power supply to PC's
is worthwhile.