Sound absorbtion beyond the norm.

[Buffalohed 10+ year member]

Put off by the narrow range of "choices" in sound dampening products, a lot of misinformation, and a general lack of good information, I decided to do some research myself.

Anyway, I found this site which is pretty interesting to browse:

http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/

There are a lot of things on there that look like they would work great in a vehicle. At the very least it is a demonstration that there is stuff outside the car stereo world as far as acoustical dampening goes, and most of it is probably a lot better. Why stick to the same Dynamat (etc etc) when there are more specific materials out there that might work better or help achieve a better acoustic environment?

I'm going to email them soon to try and get some prices because I'm seriously thinking about getting some of those different products and testing them out.

Input?

Click to read more...

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Go for it.

I imagine there are quite a few simliarities.

Also, ever think that Vehicle Sound Dampening/Deadening was born from this field?

The stuff MADE for the vehicle, is probably done for a reason. It works. Well. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

nG

 

[enzowho 10+ year member]

Isn't acoustic paneling super expensive? I wanted to do it in my room but it seems like the quote was 500-600 bucks. Also, a sound deadening mat isn't meant to compete with something like that. Deadener (for the most part) is designed to add weight to a panel and reduce its resonant frequency, not defuse sound waves.

 

[Buffalohed 10+ year member]

The acoustic paneling that is super expensive is the stuff that has special surface topography to diffuse and direct sound waves, such as what is used in a recording studio. That isn't really important in a car because the material is never going to be on the outer layer exposed to the sound waves actually bouncing around your cabin. The melamine foam and vinyl mats however are interesting, as are the sound stopping insulators which could be really good for the firewall.

So I think a good rule when looking at this type of stuff is that you can ignore anything with special shapes or topographical features, and focus on the actual material and how much sound it allows to pass through. In my car the most sound comes from the firewall, the floor, and the doors. The doors are easy to insulate because you can just stuff all sorts of foam/deadener/whatever in there and call it a day. The floor and firewall are more touchy though because the material can't be too thick, and it has to be heat resistant for the firewall.

I'm going to spend some more time browsing when I get a chance and post what I think would work great and where.

PS - The Acoustics 101 FAQ at the link I posted is extremely informative. Recommended read. For the lazy folks - http://www.acousticalsurfaces.com/acoustic_IOI/101home.htm

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

having somthing that will hold up in the car enviroment is a concern, and that would be a lotta money to spend for a car, which have the worst enviroment for music. there are other types of dynmat / secondskin material to look at besides the normal deadener

 

[Corey69 10+ year member]

Why dont you order some magic mate, or cactus sounds DB blue deadener if you want some good stuff.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

That site appears to sell mostly in large quantities.