Xserve "active cooling": Quiet when idle?

Question

The specs for the new Xserve emphasize its improved energy efficiency. I'm especially interested in knowing if anyone (Apple?) can tell us -- when in the Finder or under a low workload -- if a new quad Xserve is about as quiet as a new quad Mac Pro, or if its noise level more similar to the previous Xserve model (quite noisy)?
For example, if a new Xserve was sitting on a desk in a quiet office environment, might an average person think it was a noisy machine, compared to something like a medium-sized photocopier or other common office equipment?
The Xserve pages on Apple's site say: "... Xserve employs an active cooling system, like those designed for desktop systems, that intelligently manages fan speeds to minimize energy use in a wide range of environmental conditions. ..."
This implies that a new Xserve might be relatively quiet depending on the workload its currently handling.
First-hand knowledge & comments on this topic would be appreciated!
- Peter

Answer 1

Thank you, William & MrHoffman, for info concerning (previous model) Xserve noise levels. I very much appreciate your taking time to respond to my post.
But as you acknowledge, without having "listened" to a new Xserve in person -- and in lieu of the availability of more complete product specs -- unfortunately my question is still unanswered.
I realize the new Xserve has only just begun to ship (or will ship very soon). I wonder if any Apple employees, registered developers or anyone else has sat next to a final production version of the new Xserve and listened to it while in a quiet room and evaluated its noise levels. I'd appreciate it they could describe its noise characteristics under varying worksloads as compared to the previous Xserve and current Mac Pro.
FYI, my potential application is to use a new Xserve for on-location capture & playback of uncompressed HD video to an internal HDD array. Only capture & playback, not rendering or compression, while on-location. Small PCI cards are available for uncompressed HD video capture; for example:
http://www.decklink.com/products/intensity/
The shooting locations are typically fairly quiet rooms, such as corporate offices, boardrooms, and so forth. To record high quality audio via mics the "recording" equipment can't be especially noisy.
Capture & playback of uncompressed HD video is typically more disk-intensive than CPU intensive, so careful selection of relatively quiet & cool-running hard drives would be important in keeping the system's overall noise levels to a minimum.
The new Xserve weighs about 10 pounds less than a Mac Pro, a very valuable difference. The new Xserve can also be configured with a solid state drive, enabling extremely fast boot-up, another very valuable feature for location work: Equipment often needs to be set-up & "torn-down" several times during a typical video shoot. In terms of transportability, a new Xserve is not much bigger than a 24" LCD monitor -- a common HD video production tool including on location. Installing an Xserve in an acoustical cabinet will make it too cumbersome for my needs.
If a new Xserve can be operated relatively quietly in the application described above, then it may find a role in many video productions.
So, I hope to find an answer to my question soon. Thanks again.
- Peter