Leave it on or not?

[bcorkery]

I always turn my studio computer off over night but I leave my office machine on all the time. Is this not such a good thing to do?

I work my studio rig much harder and it contunues to hum along But my office machine gets wonky all the time. I've always chalked it up to being on line and all the junk it collects from that. Maybe it gets old faster because it's always on. Hmmm.

[TotalSonic]

A hard drive's lifetime is indeed susceptible to being diminished from increased mechanical wear - plus at an average of 400 watts draw for a computer's power supply there's simply a ton of wasted energy for it to be on when not in use - so if the computer is not actually acting as a website or ftp server that needs to be on at all times - then I say turning it off when not in use is the best possible policy.

A good read by Walter Sear on some definite reasons why ALL studio equipment should be shut off when not in use is at
http://members.aol.com/searsound/frmcont/onoff.html

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Carl G.]

A hard drive's lifetime is indeed susceptible to being diminished from increased mechanical wear - plus at an average of 400 watts draw for a computer's power supply there's simply a ton of wasted energy for it to be on when not in use - so if the computer is not actually acting as a website or ftp server that needs to be on at all times - then I say turning it off when not in use is the best possible policy.

A good read by Walter Sear on some definite reasons why ALL studio equipment should be shut off when not in use is at
http://members.aol.com/searsound/frmcont/onoff.html

Best regards,
Steve Berson

I not only turn my studio off, I completely unplug it each time I leave the house. (two master breakers/plugs). Two simple reasons: Fire and Lightning.
If house fire - I want to prove it did not come from electrical in studio (because masters A/C plugs are off).
If from Lightning - I want the piece of mind knowing when I'm gone the studio is safe from hits. (even the lightning arrestors don't guarantee no damage - they only guarantee replacement 'when' damaged :) )

[Gary Ray]

I always uplug the studio workstation and internet computer plus all other equipment when I am going to be away overnight. Twenty plus years ago, computer IT folks always left machines turned on 24/7. The argument then was that the initial surge to electronics (when turned on) was more damaging than leaving them on 24/7.

If that "myth" ever was true, it has certainly been dispelled by todays "knowledgeables" regarding the reliability of cooling and heating cycles of modern electronics. Today, I believe there is no valid argument for leaving such equipment turned on when not in use.

[Microstudio]

I leave my internet rig on and set the power saver setting to my needs.

After so many mins the hard Drives and monitors turn off... just move the mouse and the rig fires up.;)

I turn off my SAW rig when not using.

[Tim Miskimon]

Everything gets shut off at my house & studio when it's not being used.
Any piece of gear only lasts for so long - so I see no use in wearing it out while I'm not getting use out of it.
I know of a few studios that have tons of gear that is always on - even the stuff that they haven't used for months and maybe even years.
To me that's a big waste of electricity.
One little side note - I do try to power up my stuff (amps & effects) every few weeks or so to keep the caps from drying up, the pots from getting scratchy and the backup batteries from going dead. This seems to help keep the stuff ready for when I do need to use it.

[ambler]

plus at an average of 400 watts draw for a computer's power supply there's simply a ton of wasted energy for it to be on when not in use

I agree that there is no real point to leaving a computer on all the time but the average draw for an idle computer is nothing like 400 watts... it's more like 70 watts... or about 30 watts if you set your power settings to shut off the monitor... or about 20 watts if the power settings spin down the hard drives as well (the default for XP).

400 watts is the average maximum draw capacity of the power supply. What is actually drawn depends on what the components are drawing, which is almost nothing when the computer is idle.

Mark

[TotalSonic]

I agree that there is no real point to leaving a computer on all the time but the average draw for an idle computer is nothing like 400 watts... it's more like 70 watts... or about 30 watts if you set your power settings to shut off the monitor... or about 20 watts if the power settings spin down the hard drives as well (the default for XP).

400 watts is the average maximum draw capacity of the power supply. What is actually drawn depends on what the components are drawing, which is almost nothing when the computer is idle.

Mark

Mark -
Makes sense.
Thanks for the correction on that (mis)information.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[bcorkery]

Great info. Thanks all.

Carl - I still cringe when that lightening strike is referenced. It’s not a huge problem here in San Diego though.

[Cary B. Cornett]

... the average draw for an idle computer is nothing like 400 watts... it's more like 70 watts... .

400 watts is the average maximum draw capacity of the power supply. What is actually drawn depends on what the components are drawing, which is almost nothing when the computer is idle. I bought a power meter a while back so that I could run tests to see what my rig draws when in use. I put a 400 watt supply into my latest DAW machine. Even when running "full tilt boogie" on a multitrack mix, I am seeing a maximum power draw of less than 150 watts.

In fact, when I was working on a stage show recently, I decided to check the power draw of the audio gear I used. I included the power drawn by the active speakers we used for most of FOH (above 120 Hz), the amp driving the floor wedges on stage, the headphone cue system for the pit, the rack holding my converters and such, the video screen, and the motorized fader pack... not to mention some of the receivers for the wireless mics. The Volt-Ampere total (always reads higher than "real" watts) was STILL less than 400 at the loudest points during the show. (I should note here that this was a kids' show of "Schoolhouse Rock", and we did NOT try to put "rock concert" levels out to the audience.)

Let's just say I found the numbers very encouraging... :cool:

[Jay Q]

I bought a power meter a while back so that I could run tests to see what my rig draws when in use. I put a 400 watt supply into my latest DAW machine. Even when running "full tilt boogie" on a multitrack mix, I am seeing a maximum power draw of less than 150 watts.Cary, what are the specs on that machine?

Jay

[Cary B. Cornett]

Cary, what are the specs on that machine?
I posted an article (http://www.cprec.com/html/my__06_daw.html) on my website about building my latest machine. My best recollection of the specs...
ASUS A8N-VM motherboard
Athlon64 3200+ processor
2 512 meg sticks of Crucial ram
Connect3D PCI-E dual head video card using ATI Radeon X300 chipset
Foxconn TLM436 uATX mini-tower case
Coolmax CU-400T 400 watt power supply
Seagate 160 gig SATA2 HD (forget model number)

I believe the total bill for the above list came in around $600. I should also note that this machine will be a year old this summer, so for all I know there is a better set of stuff now available at about the same overall cost.

The only additional "part" in the box is the RME HDSP9652 PCI sound card that I pulled from the "old" DAW machine (Intel D845GRGL with P4 2.8G Northwood and 1G ram), which I recently put one of my old Sonorus StudI/O cards back into.

[Dave Labrecque]

Everything gets shut off at my house & studio when it's not being used.
Any piece of gear only lasts for so long - so I see no use in wearing it out while I'm not getting use out of it.
I know of a few studios that have tons of gear that is always on - even the stuff that they haven't used for months and maybe even years.
To me that's a big waste of electricity.
One little side note - I do try to power up my stuff (amps & effects) every few weeks or so to keep the caps from drying up, the pots from getting scratchy and the backup batteries from going dead. This seems to help keep the stuff ready for when I do need to use it.

Um... I've heard that caps last longer if the equipment is not turned on. The reasoning is that if they're warmer, they dry out faster.

[Craig Allen]

Um... I've heard that caps last longer if the equipment is not turned on. The reasoning is that if they're warmer, they dry out faster.
True, but they usually fail when you turn them on. If left on, they tend to keep on working.

[Dave Labrecque]

True, but they usually fail when you turn them on. If left on, they tend to keep on working.

Interesting. Any idea why they fail?

[Craig Allen]

Interesting. Any idea why they fail?
Because when they are charged after power up, they usually only discharge a little to keep the voltage even, but when they're fully discharged and then recharged by power cycling, they just can't take it (don't ask me the physics behind it, because I don't know). I was moving a radio station a few years ago and the optimod had been powered up for 10 years. As soon as it was turned off, moved, and turned back on, the power supply failed.

[Tim Miskimon]

Um... I've heard that caps last longer if the equipment is not turned on. The reasoning is that if they're warmer, they dry out faster.

I am referring to the eletrolitic (spelling?) caps. When they are left off for a long time they tend to dry out & leak. When you turn an amp on after it sits for several months it will hum & make noise until the caps heat up and the stuff inside reforms it's shape - if they don't quiet down after half an hour chances are they are gonna need to be replaced.
Amps are kinda like automobiles in that they perform better when you run them on a regular basis. When they sit too long parts tend to dry out, collect dust, dirt - parts corrode, etc.
Just like car batteries & rechargable batteries they last longer if you use them regularly.
This information was passed on to me by a repair guy with 40+ years in audio repair. His explaination was certainly more detailed than mine but I think I at least got the point across - which is run that sucker from time to time...:)

[Cary B. Cornett]

I am referring to the eletrolitic (spelling?) caps.
"Electrolytic" is the correct spelling, from the root word "electrolyte".

[Tim Miskimon]

"Electrolytic" is the correct spelling, from the root word "electrolyte".

Thank you Cary...I knew I was close but it didn't look quite right...:D

[Cary B. Cornett]

Thank you Cary...I knew I was close but it didn't look quite right...:D Always glad to help... :cool: