Honest opinions on results of sound deadening

[DoobieBrother 10+ year member]

Ok. Before I go spend the cash on this, I'd like to know. Do you really get a significant inprovement in highway noise and such from your sound deadening work. Or is it possible some of what you perceive to be better is due to the amount of work you put into it? And I'm talking on newer cars. Not something that is 15+ years old and anything helps. I'm debating about doing just doors vs. everything. And I believe at this point, it's going to be RAAMat and Ensolite. This is for an `03 GMC Sierra.

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[reneeb7363 10+ year member]

ANY little bit helps... preventing vibration will allow more of the energy of the sytem to be heard as sound and not wasted moving panels, etc, at their resonant frequency.... go sit in /drive a hyundai then go drive a Lexus... hear the difference? Yes? Then it does matter.

 

[AppleBonker 10+ year member]

I can honestly say that I was skeptical about sound deadening before I started working on my car. However, I bit the bullet and bought a fair amount of material to do the entire car (I figured if I was going to do it, I might as well do it right). I went with Second Skin (Install log can be found here), and I could not be any happier with the results this far. I haven't gotten much work done (just the entire trunk), but I can already hear a large improvement in sound quality and a dramatic reduction in road noise. I usually keep the back seat folded down to allow air to the trunk/amp for my subs and in the rain it gets noisy. Now, I can barely hear anything coming from the trunk, but I can hear all the noise coming out of the undercarriage of the car (demonstrating the lowered noise floor). I would highly recommend deadening your car. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Curel 10+ year member]

ANY little bit helps... preventing vibration will allow more of the energy of the sytem to be heard as sound and not wasted moving panels, etc, at their resonant frequency.... go sit in /drive a hyundai then go drive a Lexus... hear the difference? Yes? Then it does matter.

What he said. God honest truth.

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Made big improvmeents on the midbass side. Not so much in the bass area. The vehicle is more insulated to outside noise and temperature.

 

[DoobieBrother 10+ year member]

I decided to quit questioning myself on it. Just ordered some raammat, ensolite, and adhesive.

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

depends on your ride, if your ride is dead quiet (lexus /merc) you dont need to deaden it, if its a rattly old tin can, deadening will help a lot.

 

[Gianotti 10+ year member]

i thought the same thing, like it was a waste of money, wow was i wrong, not i have dynamatt covering my doors, roof, floor, rear cab everything in my truck sounds great

 

[DoobieBrother 10+ year member]

`03 Truck that is fairly quiet. But I want to help components that are in the doors, cut road noise at highway speed, and get rid of as much drone as possible that I get from cat-back exhaust at 1800rpm.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

I went the cheapo peel n seal route and did 3-4 layers in the trunk, rear deck, front & rear doors. HUGE difference in how quiet the cabin is now. Just haven't gotten the motivation to do the roof/floor yet, but I'm betting it would help even more.

I car devoid of road noise and rattles lets you fully enjoy your system, so get to stickin that $hit on!!!!

 

[Rudy 10+ year member]

I had exactly the same question. After spending a bunch of money and time was the improvement real or just wishful thinking? I tried to take before and after readings with my sound level meter and didn't come up with anything conclusive.

I was certain that the improvement was substantial and real, but how could I test this? Finally got the chance. My girlfriend went back to Ireland for a week to visit her mother. She was a first time car owner, couldn't care less about cars and thinks great sound is her iPod turned up really loud with bass boost set at max. I was trying to train her to listen to her car for signs of trouble.

She drives a Saturn that is a few years old. Pretty noisy. While she was gone I took it apart and did it up. I finished and waited for her return. I didn't tell her what I had done. She left for work that morning and I waited for her return to see if she noticed anything. She came through the door and said: "Something is wrong with my car. The motor and wheels have gotten much quieter and radio is much louder". All the proof I needed and I was further pleased that she was paying at least some attention to what I had been telling her.

Another positive indicator is that since I did SDS, I have received hundreds, maybe thousands of e-mails. Not one has complained about not being pleased with the results - provided they used decent products.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

I'm going for 95 yards of Raamat (1.5 rolls) to put into my car next. I don't know if I want to get Ensolite yet or not though. It is fairly expensive, and do I really need it? I know it is supposed to absorb certain frequencies, but wouldn't enough deadening eliminate that as well?

And I've heard 1 negative reply to deadening versus 100's of positive posts, and that poster only stated it didn't make as MUCh difference as he thought it would. He did not do a thorough job though.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

esolite and raammat do differnet things. Raamat is simply used to stop panels from rattling, ensolite helps physically absorb the soundwaves. That's why they are used behind the speaker instead of raamat. 1 roll of ensolite will go a long way.

 

[Rudy 10+ year member]

I'm going for 95 yards of Raamat (1.5 rolls) to put into my car next. I don't know if I want to get Ensolite yet or not though. It is fairly expensive, and do I really need it? I know it is supposed to absorb certain frequencies, but wouldn't enough deadening eliminate that as well?
And I've heard 1 negative reply to deadening versus 100's of positive posts, and that poster only stated it didn't make as MUCh difference as he thought it would. He did not do a thorough job though.

The only reason not to use a closed cell foam like Ensolite or Neoprene is if you are purely interested in increasing SPL. For noise reduction and improved SQ, it is critical. My subjective impression is that the two together are twice as effective as double the amount of either alone.

I put at least one layer of foam on top of every square inch I apply vibration damper to. The foam helps with noise reduction, reduces reflections and distortion inside the vehicle and works as a gasket to stop rattles from trim panels. Not trying to steal glue sales from anybody, but I never glue the foam down on the floor. Carpet holds it fine and makes it easier to get to the sound deadener if you ever want to add more.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

Gotchya //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif I know Rick suggested it when I talked to him about it a few months ago. I'd only need the ensolite for the doors with speakers, right? Trunk wouldn't matter so much due to it being only lower frequencies?