I don't have the audio equipment or setup like SPCR, I can tell you that I have a Spinpoint and that it is subjectively much quieter than any of the multiple WD and Maxtor drives that I have. To complicate things further, I would also highly recommend the relatively new Seagate Barracuda 7200.9, I ...

I'm not happy with the sound level of my Maxtor and WD drives, I really like the Seagate 7200.9 drive, based on my experience, if I had to choose, I would pick the Seagate right now, just because of my positive experience. Obviously, if possible I would go for the .9 instead of the .8 just because I...

But can we really trust what the manufactors say about the noise their drives make? 25 dB (Spinpoint) vs. 29 dB (Maxtor), how big is this difference with the HD box that comes with Arctic Cooling Silentium case? Or has anybod experianced less/more noise with these drives? Especially the Maxtor DM10...