Topic: I want to put my PS4 Pro in a cabinet. Need suggestions!

Hello everyone,

I am sick of my PS4 Pro coil whining and I made my cabinet a nice place for the console.

The cabinet is a drawer that has a front door that will be closed during gameplay and the whole back is opened.

The drawer is big and there is nothing else inside except the console.

I also bought some acoustic foam to isolate the walls and the back of the front door in order to further muffle the coil whine.

The only thing I am worried if I kill my PS4 Pro. All the hot air is coming from the back and there is plenty of space around the console. But still I fear that I might make the wrong decision.

The big question is how well it would work if the front door is closed all the time since that is the main part blocking the horrible sound.

@Zuljaras Is the coil whine when the console is on? Mine only bothers me when it's off so I turn it off at the plug.

I had a TV stand with a shelf that I put my base PS4 on. It was closed at the back but open at the front and made SO much noise that I had to move it to sit on top behind the TV. If it's up against the wall, I'd be worried yours won't cool down enough, especially if you've padded the drawer as well.

As an aside, downloaded games are so much kinder on my PS4's fan than when I play off a disc but I know that's not the problem you're having.

@Thrillho There is space left behind the drawer on purpose. I just wonder if front space is as much important as the back.

Also the whine happens in certain games not while off. Digital or Physical makes no difference.

@Zuljaras You should be fine. The heat is meant to come out at the back of the pro. It only heats upto a max of 40 degrees and that is few and far between.

Two things I would be concerned about are;

1)Sound insulation is highly flammable. Not from the heat of the pro but if you ever got a spark from your plugs, Pro or other electronics, In such a tight space that could start a fire.

2) charging up your DS4 if the door is Always closed.

I'm not an expert but my pro has never really suffered with noise other than in quite a few sections of GoW and in sections of Spiderman when Peters in the lab (no idea why tbh). It does have a weird issue occasionally if a disc is in the drive regardless of what I'm doing and it makes such a bizarre whirling noise (potentially this coil noise?) I just take the disc out. Its quiet and fine until the next time it randomly occurs.

@themcnoisy the whine is present in certain games and it is very ugly.
Datksiders 1 and 2.
Spider-Man is really making the pro work when in the lab but that is no issue.

Some games like Wolfenstein the new order and Bloodborne are just a joy to play. I can't hear my pro when playing them.

God of war "will always be a monster" in terms of loud fans.

@Zuljaras Personally I would advise against enclosing the console - even with the rear open.

If the design is still basically similar to the base PS4 - which I think it is - the air intakes are still at the sides. It's almost inevitable that the air in the drawer will be warmed by the console unless you can find a way of channeling cool air in to the drawer.

@KALofKRYPTON I will try because the console will be vertical. I just bought the Sony vertical stand.

From time to time I will open it but that "defect" whine is too much for me since I can hear this annoying grinding and focus on it.

@Zuljaras Vertical would be worse as you'd be effectively blocking an intake as well as being enclosed in a drawer.

Perhaps a cooling stand?

@KALofKRYPTON Why cooling stand? That does not stop the sound.

I do not see a difference in the console standing horizontal or vertical with stand of course.

@Zuljaras the stand goes where part of the hot airflow is routed. It's been reported when the pro initially released, I haven't looked into it as my Pro has been fine other than the examples I have given but what your doing probably isn't suitable.

Have you tried cleaning the fan? You don't need tools and could be a better option.

Maybe @Bamozzy can help with this one?

The sound from the console is a result of the fans trying to cool the console down. You're planning on enclosing the console which will itself, compromise the cool air flow in to the air intakes, the vertical stand is fine when the console is out in the open - but the clearance for the side vent (that will be nearer the bottom of the drawer) is minimal.

So the console will be both boxed in and have a compromised cooling solution. A cooling stand could feed air to the lower vent better than just being on the official stand.

As I say, I'd recommend against the whole idea anyway.

@themcnoisy The fan is clear there is not even one dust particle. But again why do I need that? The sound is not coming from the fan at all.
The fan and the heat has nothing to do with coil whine/buzzing/grinding (call it whatever).

@Zuljaras What do you mean by coil?

Also, regardless of where the sound is coming from - putting the Pro in an enclosed drawer with no air flow will not help anything.

@KALofKRYPTON Buzzing sound made from the coils of the console that has nothing to do with the fans.

It is called coil whine. Some games make the console emit that sound other games do not.

This is how coil whine sounds.

The heat, vents, fan have ZERO influence on that.

As I said Bloodborne runs fine without any buzzing while Darksiders 2 runs with buzzing noise.

@Zuljaras Even so - putting it in a box will not do your Pro any favours.

Have you tried removing the top of the case to see if that affects the noise?

@KALofKRYPTON Yes.

That noise comes from the inductors of the console. When electricity moves through them and they vibrate and emit that sound. There is nothing to be done beside putting it somewhere where I can't hear it.

This is a wide spread complaint on consoles and video cards. Even many other electronics have it.

Many people don't bother with it or they exchange 5-6 consoles in order to find one that has quieter coil whine. And again it depends on the game and how well it is optimized.

@Zuljaras That's unfortunate - it's probably fixable with replacement parts with some effort, but I still wouldn't recommend boxing it in a drawer.

@KALofKRYPTON Probably not the best idea but there is no other.

If Sony had to replace all buzzing Pros they would bankrupt.

@Zuljaras I don’t think I’ve ever heard that sound from my vanilla PS4. I hear the fan sometimes, but not that sound like an idling automobile. I play with headphones. They are not even noise cancelling, just a nice set of over the ear headphones plugged straight into the DS4 and I am never bothered by extraneous noise. It sounds like you’ve done your research and the issue is not a mechanical malfunction, so it would be easier and safer on your console to just plop some headphones on and play on. A decent set of headphones actually improves the sound quality and immersion in the game, imo. I’m so accustomed to it that now when I try to play without headphones I feel like I’m only getting a portion of the potential experience because of the lack of the more full 3D sound effects.