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Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:01 am
by Abula
Since the 3tb red was reviewed to be a good quiet drive by SPCR, im looking forward to the new 4tb. Also WD is introducing 2.5 REDs.... could even quieter.

Western Digital Launches 2.5-inch WD Red Hard Drives for NAS

Tweaktown Western Digital Red 1TB 2.5" HDD Review

Hope SPCR gets some samples of 2.5 1tb and 3.5 4tb hdds, seems promising.

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 10:00 pm
by Abula
Seems the 4tb reds are louder than 3tb reds and 2tb greens,

Hardwareinfo Western Digital Red 4TB review: 4TB NAS hard disk

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Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 1:05 am
by fjodor2000
The jump in noise level from 3 TB to 4 TB for the Red does not seem that big in idle mode.

But in active mode the jump is quite big, from 29.4 dB to 33 dB. The jump in noise level between the 2 TB and 3 TB Red drives is not that big at all, from 29.1 to 29.4 dB. So could they have made some mistake when measuring the 4 TB Red noise level?

I'd like to see SPCR make a review of this drive to see if those noise levels actually can be confirmed.

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 12:44 pm
by MikeC
fjodor2000 wrote:The jump in noise level from 3 TB to 4 TB for the Red does not seem that big in idle mode.

But in active mode the jump is quite big, from 29.4 dB to 33 dB. The jump in noise level between the 2 TB and 3 TB Red drives is not that big at all, from 29.1 to 29.4 dB. So could they have made some mistake when measuring the 4 TB Red noise level?

I'd like to see SPCR make a review of this drive to see if those noise levels actually can be confirmed.
We do have a 4tb sample coming, but one reason for the bigger difference could be a higher number of platters... and it should be remembered that Harwareinfo measures the noise from a 10cm distance. Such a short distance could lead to exaggeration of small differences when compared to measurements at 1m -- "The noise production test is done in a sound-proof cabinet at a distance of 10 cm."

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:29 am
by fjodor2000
MikeC wrote:We do have a 4tb sample coming, but one reason for the bigger difference could be a higher number of platters...
Yes, perhaps. But then isn't it strange that the 3 TB Red is not much louder than the 2 TB Red according to the same Hardwareinfo review, neither in idle nor active mode? The 3 TB Red has 1 platter more than the 2 TB Red, but the noise level is almost the same.

Also, I noticed that there has been a similar discussion over at Hardforum, see: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1779588 .
MikeC wrote:and it should be remembered that Harwareinfo measures the noise from a 10cm distance. Such a short distance could lead to exaggeration of small differences when compared to measurements at 1m -- "The noise production test is done in a sound-proof cabinet at a distance of 10 cm."
That's interesting! How many dB exaggeration could that measurement method result in? After all we're talking about 33-29.4=3.6 dB difference in active mode between the 4 TB Red vs 3 TB Red. Could the measurement method they used explain all of that?

In addition, if their measurement method results in such a severe margin of error, is it really valid to specify the noise level in tenths of a dB? Are their measurements accurate enough for that?

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:59 am
by MikeC
fjodor2000 wrote:But then isn't it strange that the 3 TB Red is not much louder than the 2 TB Red according to the same Hardwareinfo review, neither in idle nor active mode? The 3 TB Red has 1 platter more than the 2 TB Red, but the noise level is almost the same.
MikeC wrote:and it should be remembered that Harwareinfo measures the noise from a 10cm distance. Such a short distance could lead to exaggeration of small differences when compared to measurements at 1m -- "The noise production test is done in a sound-proof cabinet at a distance of 10 cm."
That's interesting! How many dB exaggeration could that measurement method result in? After all we're talking about 33-29.4=3.6 dB difference in active mode between the 4 TB Red vs 3 TB Red. Could the measurement method they used explain all of that?

In addition, if their measurement method results in such a severe margin of error, is it really valid to specify the noise level in tenths of a dB? Are their measurements accurate enough for that?
We'll see with our 4TB sample. We reviewed a 3TB & a 1TB Red -- http://www.silentpcreview.com/WD_Red -- but not a 2TB. At 1m, the difference between idle/seek was essentially nonexistent, and the two drives were just about 1 dBA apart, the 3TB reading 12-13 dBA.

As for how much exaggeration hardware.info's method could produce, it's hard for me to say with any precision without actually seeing and playing with their setup. Definitely, at 10cm, there'd be bigger measured dB differences than at 1m! And you are totally right to question the validity of citing 1/10 dB readings -- even 1 dB is not obviously audible to a lot of people, and acoustic measurements less than 1 dB are difficult to obtain consistently (because of setup & background noise variations; even temperature & humidity can affect these things.) Our general rule of thumb for our own measurements is not to be concerned about noise differences of 1 dBA or less, especially when it's under 20 dBA -- below the background noise of most rooms.

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 10:45 am
by fjodor2000
Thanks for the info Mike! I'm really interested in the WD Red 4 TB HDD, so I just wonder if you know approximately when you think SPCR will be able to publish a review on it?

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 11:44 am
by MikeC
fjodor2000 wrote:Thanks for the info Mike! I'm really interested in the WD Red 4 TB HDD, so I just wonder if you know approximately when you think SPCR will be able to publish a review on it?
Samples just came in today... so not too long. I just plugged one into a SATA/USB dock on my desk 2.5' from my head. I have to say it's pretty darn quiet. It's not inaudible, but quiet enough even during seek/write that I wouldn't mind it on my desk permanently... esp. behind the monitor.

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:16 pm
by fjodor2000
Sounds good! Don't rush it though. I'm looking forward to a thorough and professional review from you as always!

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2013 1:01 pm
by CA_Steve
I came across an interesting tidbit on another forum...if you look at the Newegg reviews you'll see a fair number of DOAs for the 1TB, 2TB, and 3TB 3.5" drives. In fact the 3TB shows 139 out of 359, or ~39% 1 and 2 stars. If you look at Amazon, it's only 44 out of 566 or <8% 1 and 2 stars. Why the difference in poor reviews/failure rates?

The thought is it might just be how they are packed. I've heard Newegg wraps the OEM drive in bubble wrap and then into the shipping container (don't know if it's a cardboard box or what). Amazon is said to pack the drive into a cardboard frame and then that goes into a cardboard box. I haven't received a bare drive from either in a long time - so I can't speak to this first hand. Anyone out there confirm this?

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2013 1:27 am
by battleangel
Would love to see a review of the WD RED 4TB as well.

Reading from the official WD specs the noise benchmarking could very well be accurate. The increase from the 3TB model is about 1dB seek and 2dB idle. The question is if Seagate's 4TB NAS drive is any better? I've looked at quite a few reviews but only one of them compared these drives' secondary characteristics. Namely power consumption. WD seems to be better in this regard:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7258/batt ... -faceoff/5
Too bad they didn't look at temperature and noise. But it stands to reason that WD would be better. Also, WD still has free advanced RMA? Could be a big deal if the reseller wont help and you need a new drive quick.

Saw someone over at Hotukdeals who claimed that many of the bad reviews over at Amazon were from buyers who had picked the "frustration-free" packaging. Googling the issue and it seems to check out. At least it was true a couple of years ago. Probably a good idea to be on the lookout for bad packaging. I thought the plastic "cradles" were pretty much "frustration-free" to begin with ... ?

Re: Western Digital launches new 2.5" Red Line and 4tb RED

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:40 pm
by JazzJackRabbit
Apparently WD also introduced 4TB Green drives as well. Does anyone know where WD makes their 4TB Green and Red drives? Do they make them in China or Thailand?