Air conditioning for audiophiles.

I sometimes forget there is a big world out there that has not been introduced to the magic of central air. But I feel your pain. I lived in a post-WW2 3-story walk-up in Alexandria VA for several years and it had no air. I had two window units, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. This helped cut the cooling demand by 1/2 on each unit and made for quieter operation as the unit wasn’t constantly cycling on and off or constantly running. If you’re electrically handy and have a centered overhead light, swap that for a ceiling fan. Moves more air than portable fans and much quieter.

Lastly, if you’re trying to enjoy quieter more nuanced listening or movies, I still revert to headphones. Especially in the evening when I don’t want to the household with explosions and John Wick gun fight sequences. I found quality headphones were great for my apartment as I could crank up the A/C on hot summer evenings, fix myself a cold beverage, put on my tunes or movie and block out the noises of city living - fighting neighbors, a/c hum, police sirens, traffic, the roommates who didn't want to listen to the subtleties of my music selection that evening. 

Hi, i happen to be an HVAC professional and audiophile.  Ductless would be ideal with sound levels in the low to mid 20 dBA when running on low speeds.  We have installed them in recording station studios and especially with near field microphones they can't be detected. However, they could be very difficult and expensive to install in an apartment.  You might consider putting your window or portable a/c in another room, preferably a larger area and letting some of the capacity and dehumidification filter into your music room.  If it's more of a studio setup, then try to get distance between the A/C to your listening area.  You Should be able to shut the a/c off during you listening sessions and get an hour or two before the temp and humidity get unbearable.  If you find it get's uncomfortable even for a short period with the A/C off, you really should focus on reducing the infiltration likely thru leaky windows and reducing solar heat gain likely thru old windows with no radiant barrier. After that, it's over the ear headphones!!! 

Hi,

you can also look into Maestro series by i think Unico.  2) 8"0 holes thru the wall instead of the traditional thru the wall PTAC style.  Inverter Driven Variable Speed, very quiet, fairly expensive when all things are factored. Warning - new to market.  If it fails or the parent company or likely Chinese manufacturer abandons product due to problems you will be left with Two 8 inch holes in your wall.   

Do you have any tube gear?

If you use a box fan make sure you exhaust air to the outside. And on low they are fairly quiet