All has arrived well and of course I've been busy listening. I'm very very keen on silence and all I say is subjective with no scientific testing at all.
I also appear to have good hearing as I had to (almost literally
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
) pin people to the case so they could hear what I can hear from 60cm away. One person around age 40, 2 over age 50 and one person in her/his mid-thirties could not hear the high pitched noise, at all.
My friends (all between 20-25) could all hear the high pitch. Albeit some of them had to be in very close proximity of the hard drive (+- 10-20 cm)
Let me start by saying the
Himuru was a waste of time and money for me. It doesn't dampen anything. Maybe it keeps the hard drive cooler and it will largely prevent the case from resonating because of the hard drive but that is it. I'll say it once more: it does nothing for the high pitchy HD noises or anything else, it only takes care of the case vibrations.
And yes, one may be able to scientifically measure a difference. It still wouldn't matter to me because I can't hear a difference.
I've read some good reviews on the Himuru (otherwise I wouldn't have bought it) so I'm really disappointed with it.
The
Quiet Drive on the other hand, fares slightly better. When the drive is unrarring archives, or just doing a search, the produced noises are softer and less intruding. The are still very clearly audible but, in my opinion, not irritating for daily work. If you want to take care of that, use HD tune which will do a far better job (though it will have its impact on transfer rates!). If you are still not satisfied with what HD tune has done, then consider the Quiet Drive.
Now, I personally bought it for the high pitched noise. It is better: yes. Was it worth it: no. The results are audible, so one might argue it was worth it, but the rest of the computer is so quiet, it still bothers me a lot.
My money would have been better spent on a more quiet HD; Too bad the one I bought is being touted as one of the most quiet 7200RPM drive around (at time of purchase anyway).
If money and secuirty implications are no object, buy an SSD. If they are an issue like in my case, hope you get a better Samsung drive than I have bought (sample varation) or buy a different drive.
Reviews can only do so much. I believed I had bought the perfect drive (I spent days if not weeks reading reviews). In the end different kinds of noises bother different kinds of people. I for one just happen to hate that noise I really can't to much about. I'm off looking for another hard drive
* I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you might have on this. I've written this mini-review with the goal to be bluntly honest as opposed to scientific reviews (which I don't have the gear for anyway).