sound deadening review and stickied?
 

I been researching sound deadening material and can to the conclusion to Second Skin on my Nismo's cabin floor and trunk.

Anyhoo, sound deadening your car and the type and material used belongs in this Audio/Vid section. A good sound system is only as good and the environment that it is used in. You can't have good music in the middle of a busy shopping mall. You need to isolate as much "noise" from the sound/music that you want to listen to.

So to those that have used these type of materials, please post up a quick review of the following to help people learn/decide what is what and how good it is.

1.what you use
2.where you used it (include car type, door, trunk, cabin, ect.)
3.how was the application (easy to roll, flexible, heavy, sticks well, ect.)
4.how much you used (x amount for trunk, x amount for door, ect.)
5.how effective it was at isolating external noise
6.how long it take to do the job
7.would you do it again
8.how much did it cost (give estimated date of purchase to try)
9.any additional comments about your install or about the material

Honestly In my years of using different brands the best I have found was second skin which was the thickest and best bang for the buck. However they are all pretty even otherwise your mostly paying for the brands anymore. IMO

I have used Dynamat, Edead, and Rattle Trap. All effective. Rattle Trap a bargain, but does have that roofing odor. Of course, I use roof tar under my arms to give me that working man smell I can't obtain in my current position. Dynamat is too expensive at retail prices for me. I have a friend in the aftermarket armor proofing of cars; they use EDead between plates of armor proofing stuff and he always has some laying around for when I change cars. It is a bit thin but easy to work with. Works great on the cat, too.

I THINK that maybe the way some people use it is overkill; covering every square inch of a panel. I've used smaller portions on one door versus the same door with a fully covered door on the same car, and wasn't sure thee was a difference. Big would know much better than I.

I Agree 100% after all, its basically about adding mass.
H20 Doc, believe me when I tell you that more is better in this case. although not the most scientific of studies, In my prior car, I tested dbs of road noise first with no mat, again with a single layer, and finally with 2 layers. The difference was great from 0 to 1. Although not that significant from 1 to 2, it definitely improved.

That's probably because most of these products mentioned are just the dampening layer. I found that out the hard way in a previous car. Loading up on a dampener material is going to be disappointing as it is just one of three layers needed to cut down sound waves.

A three layer approach is the most effective at sound deadening; you need a dampening material first, which is what almost every 'dynamat-esque' product is. This layer primarily reduces panel resonance, but lacks the mass to effectively reduce noise, it's just the physics of sound propagation - and a little goes a long way. Second you need a buffer layer of closed cell foam. On top of that you need a barrier of something with some heft, like mass loaded vinyl - this is a crucial layer for significant reduction.

I did tons of research on this stuff anticipating needing it in my Z that was on order, but after owning it a year I've been fine with the noise levels. One helpful website I found for this stuff is Sound Deadener Showdown - this guy has put together a fantastic breakdown of each layer and the reasoning behind it.

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/


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^rather new to this, very interesting read for a rookie like me. I found the sound test and the use of Velcro quite eye opening.

Great link, Rockhound. A definite must read for the enthusiast.

You might well be right, but my point is more about whether or not you need edge to edge coverage versus strategically placed material. If you are trying to keep a sheet of metal from flexing or vibrating (and thereby transmitting sound) then you might not need material near the edges (think about striking a drum in the middle versus the edge). Greater thickness will certainly increase the dampening, but I'm not sure you need material where the sheet metal is already pretty stiff.

I've done entire vehicle's and only certain panels. You may get slightly less noise doing an entire car with a rubber backing sound mat. There are other salutions such as foam which absorb sound much better than sound mat. What I am saying is the mat does give you a layer of quieting your cabin down but mostly it's used for vibration control for panels as you said, that flex and rattle. Given that I would only do door panels , wheel wells in trunk and possibly the trunk as well.

Just to be clear, foams generally make very poor acoustic barriers as they lack a key property: mass.

Closed cell foam (used as it won't absorb fluids) is used mainly as a decoupler layer between the dampener and the stuff that actually exhibits the physical properties necessary to knock down sound waves: mass loaded vinyl.


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I follow what you are getting at, and I'm sure you are right about that, But the tricky part may be figuring out how close from the edge to stop your mat and still be able to control the resonant frequencies you are looking to contain. That in itself could be a very tricky proposition, and would certainly take more research than I would be willing to put into it. I would say, since panels are off, and mat is in hand, go 100% and leave no question.

You want GTMAT QUADRO. /thread


:tup:

One layer of Raamat in the hatch, with a layer of closed cell foam over it. It cut down on the road noise, and the bass does sound clearer. No before or after db readings, though. I'll do the doors, floor and headliner when it's time to redo the stereo. I'm only opening the doors up once. I'm trying to avoid creating rattles.

stay away from anything tar based, other than that second skin is my fav stuff.

:iagree: the heat makes it stink... :icon14: