If you’ve been following my recent posts, you know I upgraded my microphone and tweaked my recording setup to capture cleaner keyboard typing sounds. But when I listened back to the audio files, I noticed a steady background noise underlying every keystroke. It turns out the microphone wasn’t the culprit—my video lighting was.
My desk setup featured a Godox SL100D, an Ulanzi VL-120Bi, and a BenQ ScreenBar Halo 2. That combination worked fine for still photos, but once I started isolating typing audio, fan noise became impossible to ignore. So I picked up a Nanlite FS-60B, which lets you turn off its cooling fan completely, and benchmarked it against my existing lights.
The Verdict: FS-60B for ASMR, SL100D for General Short-Form
My top pick is the Nanlite FS-60B. I’m surprised the official product details don’t highlight this feature more heavily, but being able to shut off the cooling fan completely was the deciding factor. When recording quiet sounds like keyboard typing, ambient noise matters just as much as light output. Of course, turning off the fan limits power to a maximum of 25%. While test photos came out slightly darker than with my previous lights, pairing it with ambient lighting still provided plenty of light to capture keycap contours and surface textures clearly.
While it falls short as a primary key light for full-scale video shoots, it proves to be a practical silent fill light on a compact desk setup.
The Godox SL100D isn’t a light you need to replace immediately. It doesn’t allow you to turn off the fan entirely like the FS-60B, but in my space, its fan noise wasn’t loud enough to ruin recordings. If you’re creating Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts with background music and voiceovers rather than ASMR or raw typing audio, the noise level is completely manageable. Its ample output also lets you shoot at low ISO settings without pushing the camera sensor, capturing keyboard shapes and colors with ease.
If image brightness and creative freedom matter more to you than absolute silence, the SL100D might actually be the better fit. The right choice ultimately depends on what kind of audio you plan to record.
The Ulanzi VL-120Bi was the most disappointing of the trio. I never noticed issues during still photography, but once I started recording keyboard audio, the fan noise became very obvious. Compared to ambient desk noise with only my PC running, turning on the VL-120Bi raised sound levels in the 2–5 kHz range by about 15.2 dB. Beyond the raw numbers, the high-frequency tone left in the audio track was distinctly irritating.
That doesn’t mean it’s unusable for every video project. But if you need to capture quiet ambient audio with an active mic on a quiet desk, it falls short. Cleaning up that noise in post-production is an extra hassle, so I wouldn’t recommend it for audio-focused video production.
Photo Output at Identical Camera Settings
My original setup used an Ulanzi VL-120Bi continuous light mounted high on the right side of my desk, with a Godox SL100D continuous light and a Godox MS300 strobe on the left. To evaluate brightness differences, I captured test shots on a Canon 6D paired with an EF 50mm F2.5 Macro at F8, 1/80s, and ISO 640.
First, I replaced the right-side VL-120Bi set at 20% power with the FS-60B at 25% power, keeping the left-side SL100D (20%) and ScreenBar Halo 2 (20%) unchanged.
Next, I swapped out the left-side SL100D at 20% power for the FS-60B at 25% power while keeping the right-side VL-120Bi and Halo 2 locked.
In both test shots, the frames using the FS-60B appeared slightly darker. However, the brightness remained sufficient to render keycap outlines and surface textures clearly. Keep in mind that other lights were active during these shots, so these images don’t reflect isolated output from a single unit.
Frequency-Specific Noise Comparison Across All Three Lights
I recorded uncompressed WAV audio comparing baseline room noise (PC turned on) against each light fixture. Rather than focusing solely on overall volume, I wanted to see which specific frequencies showed increased noise. I analyzed seconds 1 through 9 of each recording without volume normalization. Note that noise across frequencies is calculated in dBFS based on the recorded signal, which differs from dBA sound meter readings.
The 2–5 kHz band showed the most dramatic differences. Compared to baseline PC noise alone, turning on the SL100D increased noise in this range by 5.4 dB, while the VL-120Bi jumped by 15.2 dB. The FS-60B at 25% with fan off showed a negligible difference of just 0.4 dB. Clearly, the Ulanzi VL-120Bi runs far louder than the Godox SL100D.
The second chart subtracts baseline PC noise (dBFS) from the combined PC and light noise level (dBFS). While this doesn’t isolate exact sound pressure levels, it gives a clear picture of how much recording levels change when each light is powered on. The mid-to-high frequency spike from the VL-120Bi stands out significantly.
For the FS-60B, I ran it at 100% output for over 10 minutes to warm up and trigger the cooling fan, then recorded audio at 100% power with the fan turned on and off. With the fan running, noise levels rose by about 3.1 dB in the 2–5 kHz range and roughly 3.2 dB in the 5–10 kHz range. While the total RMS change was modest, noise in specific frequency bands definitely increased.
Keep in mind these are quick tests that don’t fully isolate background ambient room sounds or PC fan rumble, but they offer a solid general picture of real-world noise trends.
Offsetting Power Limits with Camera Settings
When shooting video, camera settings give you room to maneuver. On my Sony ZV-1, my standard settings were F4, 1/60s, and ISO 125. Opening up to F2.8 at 1/60s and ISO 200 gains roughly 1.68 stops of exposure compensation mathematically. While I haven’t thoroughly verified depth of field and image noise on actual video footage yet, pushing ISO up to around 400 feels completely manageable.
That said, with its fan disabled, the reduced output on the FS-60B feels more like a fill or accent light than a primary key light for heavy product videography.
For beginners filming small items on a desk, however, that trade-off makes sense. Finding a video light at this price point that lets you turn off the cooling fan completely isn’t easy, and in my setup, silence outweighs the reduced brightness.
Choosing Lights Based on Your Shooting Goals
Swapping lights didn’t eliminate every source of noise. Once I removed the VL-120Bi, I started noticing the PC cooling fan instead. Ultimately, audio quality comes down to evaluating your entire recording space.
If maximum brightness matters most and your videos feature background music, the Godox SL100D is a solid choice. But if you’re capturing subtle audio details like keyboard sound tests, the Nanlite FS-60B is the one to pick. As for the Ulanzi VL-120Bi, I wouldn’t use it again for audio-sensitive video work.
The key lesson turned out to be simple, long before upgrading to high-end cameras or ultra-bright lights: consider exactly what you’re filming, and what sounds you need your mic to capture.
