I received two 80mm S2s and a SX2 Pro Blacksilence 120mm fan. I'll be doing some testing and perhaps a full review with pics, etc. For now, here are my first impressions.
80mm UltraSilent S2:
I got the retail package which includes the fan, screws, 3-4 pin header and a potentiometer that also includes a header to the mobo. Overall a very nice package for a fan, everything you need.
The fan is a nice blue in a white translucent outer casing. It has enough cable lead to do a full wrap around the circumference however the cable is neither braided nor sleeved.
The fan is rated 19 dBA DIN. This is an excellent rating and with very high hopes of silence, I plugged it in.....NOISE !!! The fan is definitely noisy. At 12V, the fan displays a highspeed whine and some airflow noise. Held in open air the fan vibrates a lot. The whine also has some clicking to it, a clicking that I've come to directly identify as ball-bearing noise.
I tried the included potentiometer to see if it would perform better at low voltages. The whine and airflow noise diminished quickly but the bearing clicks remained. The fan can actually be consiedered fairly quiet if it were not for the clicking. The multimeter read 6.75V at the lowest setting for the potentiometer. Next I tried 5V for the fan. Maybe the excellent Acoustifan has really spoilt me because I still didn't like the clicking at 5V. It is pretty quiet otherwise though.
As all the characteristics reminded me of an old "friend", I tried to do a side by side comparison with the Vantec Stealth. I don't have a SPL but subjectively at 12V, it seemed as if the S2 was louder BUT less irritating than the Vantec. This trend continued as voltages dropped. At 5V, the S2 was as quiet, if not quieter, than the Vantec while pushing more air.
While the fan vibrates a lot, it looks more like due to torque than misaligned bearings. Softmounting may reduce or totally eliminate the problem. Actual tests will show.
Verdict: This is a cool-looking fan that might be useful as a CPU fan or a muffled front intage, pushing satisfactory amounts of air with little noise. However I'd be concerned about using it as an exhaust fan where noise has a direct escape path. I haven't tried it mounted to the case yet and even though the fan vibrates a lot, I've gotten the impression that if softmounted to the case, the vibrations will be less of an issue. If it were not for the clicking, we could have a winner here. As a PSU fan, it sounds much like the stock Sonata PSU fan but probably with better airflow.
Noiseblocker fans - first impressions
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
120mm SX2 Pro Blacknoise
Having tried the stock Antec, the Vantec Stealth and the Acoustifan with disillusionment, I really had great expectations for this fan. It's rated 26 dBA at 12V, pushes a ton of air, so I though I'd have a winner at 5V.
Unfortunately the fan I received is a far cry from what I expected.
The fan displays the highspeed whine that the S2 had but at 120mm scale. Included faintly in the noise is a slight clicking. Vibration is horrendous. The Pro didn't have any of the goodies of the S2 but perhaps that's because my friend removed "the extras" before shipping them to me - I'll ask.
I immediately 5 volted the thing as it's unusuable at 12V. Unfortunately while I got rid of the whine and reduced (not eliminated) airflow noise, the clicking actually increased, becoming distinctly irritating.
I haven't yet mounted this in my sonata but I was really looking forward to replacing my Acoustifan. Overall, I'd say the acoustifan with the 8.5V in-line resistor has about the same noiselevel as this fan at 5V. I really need to do further testing to determine airflow though, as even at 5V, this fan really blows a lot of air.
Verdict: Not what I expected from the literature but then who's had a satisfactory 120mm?
Unfortunately the fan I received is a far cry from what I expected.
The fan displays the highspeed whine that the S2 had but at 120mm scale. Included faintly in the noise is a slight clicking. Vibration is horrendous. The Pro didn't have any of the goodies of the S2 but perhaps that's because my friend removed "the extras" before shipping them to me - I'll ask.
I immediately 5 volted the thing as it's unusuable at 12V. Unfortunately while I got rid of the whine and reduced (not eliminated) airflow noise, the clicking actually increased, becoming distinctly irritating.
I haven't yet mounted this in my sonata but I was really looking forward to replacing my Acoustifan. Overall, I'd say the acoustifan with the 8.5V in-line resistor has about the same noiselevel as this fan at 5V. I really need to do further testing to determine airflow though, as even at 5V, this fan really blows a lot of air.
Verdict: Not what I expected from the literature but then who's had a satisfactory 120mm?
Repeating NoiseBlocker tests
It seems we keep on testings these fans until we get a different result 
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... cker#18168
Who's next? Once we are bound to get a good test result.
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... cker#18168
Who's next? Once we are bound to get a good test result.
Spydercat, I've checked out most Noiseblocker reviews on this forum before ordering. I was well aware that the S2 wasn't the absolute best, that some people considered the L1A to be superior. However, I was (still am) planning to setup an internet shop to sell silent PCs & components and importing anything from anywhere except the EU is orders of magnitude worse than PITA. So you could say I had very high expectations for these fans. And not just the fans, the guys have a whole line of quiet pc accessories.
One interesting aspect I left out was, if I extended my arms to any length, the annoying whine/click faded quickly & mysteriously. So, while in open air at close distance I find them unsatisfactory, I really will test them inside a case at different positions before I make a judgement. The noise these fans make are also less intrusive (except the 120mm) so with some trial&error, I might find a good use for them.
If you consider that my ambients are around 27-28C and I expect it to go up to 35-40 in certain parts of my country, a very low flow L1A still might not solve my cooling problems. These fans DO move a lot of air and with 100,000 hours MTBF lifespan, they are a lot more reliable. I wonder how long a sintec bearing would stand conditions of a hot case in 35C ambient.
Considering that there are no Panaflos in Turkey, that most new Panaflos come from china and most people here consider a 12V Vantec Stealth to be the absolute in silence, Noiseblocker still has a lot of business potential.
Further tests coming up.
One interesting aspect I left out was, if I extended my arms to any length, the annoying whine/click faded quickly & mysteriously. So, while in open air at close distance I find them unsatisfactory, I really will test them inside a case at different positions before I make a judgement. The noise these fans make are also less intrusive (except the 120mm) so with some trial&error, I might find a good use for them.
If you consider that my ambients are around 27-28C and I expect it to go up to 35-40 in certain parts of my country, a very low flow L1A still might not solve my cooling problems. These fans DO move a lot of air and with 100,000 hours MTBF lifespan, they are a lot more reliable. I wonder how long a sintec bearing would stand conditions of a hot case in 35C ambient.
Considering that there are no Panaflos in Turkey, that most new Panaflos come from china and most people here consider a 12V Vantec Stealth to be the absolute in silence, Noiseblocker still has a lot of business potential.
Further tests coming up.