quiet fans

[timelessbeing]

In a recent podcast, Dave mentioned a forum discussion about some new Rohde & Schwarz equipment that has super quiet fans.  I'm looking for some quiet case fans, but I couldn't find the topic. Anybody know what Dave was talking about?

[magic]

You could look into known-quiet test equipment, but you will likely find fans from little-known Far Eastern OEMs which may be difficult to source in low quantities outside Asia.

For a 12V fan with reasonably common mounting hole arrangement you can always look for quiet computer fans. Plenty of those around, and plenty of reviews and user discussion. I have had good experience with Noiseblocker and Scythe fans - low noise, long service. And some mixed experience with cheaper ones.

Another matter is how the equipment drives the fan. A loud fan is quieter if it's ran at low RPM, a good fan is louder when ran unnecessarily fast.