Adding a copper shroud to an old PCI sound card

LePhuronn · 13 May 2019 at 20:28

Hey there. This is technically a modding question but I thought it probably best asked here given you're all likely to be audiophiles and much more knowledgable than me.

So, the deal is I'm in the planning stages of an extensive aesthetic mod of my old socket 478 P4 workhorse to bring in modern design cues like motherboard armour, I/O shrouds, GPU backplates, etc, and I want to extend that to my old Sound Blaster Audigy.

The theme so far will involve 0.9mm thick copper sheet in places, but I have no idea if wrapping some of this around the sound card is going to cause interference. Obviously the copper isn't going to be in contact with any components, just a bit of a sleeve over the top.

Thoughts, tips, etc. appreciated.

Cheers!

EsaT · 13 May 2019 at 21:16

Actually some people have used wrapping sound card into conductive surface cover for trying to lower EMI.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/2wvg20/made_emishield_for_xonar_dgx/

Monkeynut · 15 May 2019 at 13:56

It would probably lower EMI rather than increase it.

LePhuronn · 15 May 2019 at 14:02

Sweet, cheers guys. I'll be 3D printing a skeleton for the shroud and then laying the copper sheet over the top, with an acrylic sheet over the top of that for some entirely unnecessary lit etching effects

V F · 15 May 2019 at 22:31

Remember to create a section to mount it to the ground screws.

LePhuronn · 15 May 2019 at 22:45

Mount the copper to the ground screws?

V F · 16 May 2019 at 09:17

You need to do it in a way your 3D printed shell is grounded without the copper touching the PCB. Via the grounded screws.

Have a look at how other sound cards has them mounted.

LePhuronn · 16 May 2019 at 09:20

V F said:
You need to do it in a way your 3D printed shell is grounded without the copper touching the PCB. Via the grounded screws.

Have a look at how other sound cards has them mounted.

Ah gotcha, brain fart moment. Good to know for when I get some proper design work down.

Cheers!

JasonM · 18 May 2019 at 05:46

My Asus ST has a metal shield around it as standard, so I expect putting copper around the card can only lower the EMI.

V F · 5 Jul 2019 at 16:04

I'm curious, whatever happened to this?

LePhuronn · 5 Jul 2019 at 16:36

It was just some initial asking around. I'm doing tentative designs and planning for my 2nd mod project, but I don't have the space to do anything substantial (i.e. get the hardware out

) until the 1st project is finished.

Also, the use of actual copper is dependant on me getting a nice brushed finish on the metal, if I can't manage it then there's likely to be paint involved instead

It will happen though, just likely not towards the end of the year as Asteria II is a major time sink