CSL DD+Boost kit - 2 Wheelbases make a very annoying high frequency noise that gives me headaches
I got both a CSL DD+Boost kit replaced by Fanatec due to a very annoying, high frecuency noise that came from the wheel base that gave me a headache in 5 minutes (literally the time that took to load the sim) and annoying even while driving on loud speakers.
After a replacement process that took almost a month, and after 1 week of testing the replacement, I can confrim that the PSU is way noisier than the previous one and the new wheel base still makes the same high frequency noise that drives me crazy.
Video below. Please use headphones.
The noise is not itself way too audible before the simulator session, but it must have a particular frecuency that gives me headaches way too easily. The noise gets more audible after the motor loads for the first time to produce the forces in the simulator. It's like this motor is overloaded with the 8Nm PSU.
I am not sure whether to end up just returning it or not. I am creating this post to see if some users can reply so I can see whether I have been extremely unlucky with the two units I received, or I am just way too susceptible to these kind of very high frecuencies.
I have just seen one post on reddit about this high frecuency noise driving another user crazy, so I am not sure what to think.
I have one more week to think about it. Could you CSL DD+Boost kit users please post here If you have noticed this high frecuency noise coming from the wheelbase, and wether you are reaching the point of easily getting a headache from it?
Thank you all very much in advance.
Comments
Your background noise is louder than the whine though, is it not? I suspect the fan in a DD1 and DD2 is louder than that.
Did you say the PSU makes a noise as well?
Let me check tomorrow if mine does that noise.
The background noise is my PC, full Noctua setup.
The video is just to show the kind of noise I am talking about so you can check it on your wheelbases. It has been difficult for that microphone to catch the high freq noise, and represent how I hear it, so all the other lower freq noises sound a bit louder in the video. I wouldn't mind a loud wheelbase (had a loud G27 all my childhood, and I come from a CSW 2.5) but I do mind a "silent" wheelbase with such a high frequency whine.
The PSU is in fact way louder than the wheelbase, more coil whine and whirring-ish, but it's the much quieter, super high frequency noises of the wheelbase what is giving me headaches. Even re-watching a few seconds of this video with headphones is driving me crazy.
The performance of the wheelbase is great, but I am not sure if not being able to play with it on speakers and risking a headache each time I use it will be worth the money savings over better DD systems, or even over my current CSW 2.5, and that's what I need to decide ASAP this week😓
I created this post just to make sure all wheels make this noise and it's just a few of us very sensible to these high frequencies coming from the back of the base having issues with it. So yes, please tell me when you can if your CSL DD wheelbases make the same kind of noise.
Thank you all very much.
To be perfectly honest, I can't hear what you're talking about in the video you posted. All I hear is the ambient background noise and the click from you pressing the button. (I tried with and without headphones). And I don't hear anything out of the ordinary coming from either my CSL DD or its PSU (5Nm).
Sorry you're having issues with yours.
Thank you for sharing your experience with the CSL DD without the Boost kit. If that is the case, it confirms my suspicions that the motor coils are overloaded with the 180W Boost kit PSU. It's mind blowing that Fanatec removes the standard PSU from the box when you get an extra Boost kit. Would have loved to have it around to test.
The noise is not easy to pick with a microphone. You need to raise your volume quite a bit in order to hear it. Annoying for others or not, the noise is clearly audible in the video. Tested with various headphones.
Please, anyone else with a CSL DD+Boost kit let me know if you can hear a noise coming from your base.
I just want to make sure this is the expected noise level of this product and I am not being extremely unlucky. Just to make sure a third exchange doesn't make any sense.
I also can't hear it. Alfonso, you must be super sensitive to a particular frequency. All of our bases emit some degree of electrical or mechanical noise, and it is also normal for the power supply to make a very small amount of noise too, but this is imperceptible to most users. It is possible that the slight variations between units could mean that you get one that doesn't annoy you at this particular frequency, but that can't be guaranteed.
Hi Alfonso,
i can say, that my csl dd in 5nm also makes a noise, that i thought in the beginning, a fan is inside.
But it was not hight frequency, i am 54 years old and my ears are ... not so good.
Also, and that is my Problem, i have a Harman Kardon amplifier on my desk, Monitor on top and klipsch speaker also on the desk.
The CSL dd is not "Funkentstört", sry i do not have the right english word for it.
When i turn on the DD, i get a constant sound through the speakers, which will not be forced, when i turn the volume more on.
The sound is like a Handy, which sometimes i alsocan hear through the speakers.
That DD sound is getting louder, in the beginning i had not such a problem.
I check today evening, if the DD is making itself the noise, i let it check by the son of my girlfriend.
His ears are better than mine
Hi there, I have the same high pitched coil noise coming from the csl dd wheelbase. I was hoping after a new firmware update that it would be solved but unfortunately not. It's definitely not coming from the 8nm psu.
For some reason the motor is getting a weak input signal that is causing the whining noise. If you slowly rotate the wheel you can feel the feedback from that signal/noise.
What I also encountered is the simple quick release not fitting perfectly onto the wheelbase causing it to make clunk noises.
Hope Fanatec will find a solution to these issues.
Kind regards,
Duncan Banks
I’ve measured the high frequency sound from a normal distance at 55 decibels as I couldn’t figure out what was causing my migraines. Turns out this wheel base emits a 16kHz ultrasonic tone, so this wheelbase doubles as a sonic weapon as well. Good job Fanatec.
Any updates on this? I can confirm I have the same problem with my new csl dd 8nm. I get a headache after just an hour of having the base turned on. You'd think they would have tested the base with a spectrometer before release, unless this isn't a problem with every base.