Anyone know what is the best acoustic material for lining the inside of my new case? I've seen a few different ones available and one review but they didn't do a comparison of the differnt db differences with the same system lined with the different samples. I'd hate to spend $80 only to find out that the $25 would have done the same but at the same time, I'd hate to put in the $25 if the $80 will reduce the noise more.

Thanks

i use paxmate bc its like 10 bucks and its very easy to use.. it doesnt really cut down on sound but it does cut down on vibration that causes noise

Paxmate gets bad reviews overall from most folks on the grounds of everything but price.

In the US, the 'cost no object' winner seems to be Acoustipak, preferably the deluxe kit. For the budget minded, look at the roofing tape and carpet foam camp. For the McMaster's fans, much good is said about their acoustic barrier mass and melamine foam.

I don't know of any objective comparisons that I'd trust between these and / or any other solutions, but all of the above have been reported by some folks to produce good results.

Note that sound barriers are not the magic cure for a noisy system, though they will help. However you will get far better results by building with quiet parts and doing some basic decoupling of fans, drives, etc. without sound barriers than you will get from noisy parts with a sound barrier.

The two rules of silent design which apply here are that the closer a fix is made to the noisy part, the more effective it is; and that it is easier to quiet a quiet part than a noisy one.

Gooserider

I used an acoustipack deluxe kit, and it definately quieted the system down.

stay away from the cheap stuff like the paxmate and the spire soundpad (which are actually the same product from the same factory)

first, as goosey says, always tackle your noise problems at their sources. acoustic dampening material will help, but it can only do so much.

what you want to look for is a combination of dense barrier mass layer (usually 2-5mm thick) to absorb vibrations (i.e. resonance) and dense foam (usually >5mm thick) to prevent 'echoing' or 'reflection' of sound.

iirc, the well-performing acoustipack uses 2mm barrier mass with 5mm acoustic foam.

the acoustic material i'm using uses 5mm foam + 3mm barrier mass + 10mm foam which is very thick (18mm) but it also very effective.

don't go straight for the retail solutions - do what i did and hunt around the shops specialising in acoustics, especially the large ones with factories. chances are they'll have a little bit left over and will give it to you for cheap/free

I have read every single piece on this issue that I've been able to find and I've come to the conclusion that the best candidate (unless you order made to order) is this:

Black Hole 5
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdet ... er=268-886

I have tried industrial materials (bitumen+polyether open cell foam, rubber+polyester closed cell foam), Noiseblocker Evolution EQ Premium (considered "the best" by German reviews) and most do their job, when there is enough sound barrier, damping, sound absorption and diffusion through the material.

But based on the construction and selection of materials (+ user reviews from acoustic people building loudspeakers), that Black Hole 5 stuff looks even better.

If you try it out, be sure to report your experiences.

As for made to order stuff, there would be some interesting things one could do with a combination of Sorbothane + neoprene + melamine resing closed cell foam and felt lining.

However, one would have to buy that made-to-order (or DIY) and just sourcing materials can get expensive really fast.


regards,
Halcyon

Noise barriers are used for a lot of applications and it is a fairly mature industry. There are lots of suppliers that have done research and come up with solutions. I would find it hard to believe that the best existing products could be noticeably improved on (but if I am wrong, you should apply for a patent).

The most common technique (such as AccousticPak or the Black Hole 5 mentioned above), is to use a combination of reflection material as a base, with a top layer of sound absorbing foam.

There are many manufacturers of such foam, including this one:
http://www.sonex-online.com/

Here is another interesting link:
http://www.noise-control.info/

I've learned, that in industrial noise control, what matters is bang for buck.

You are using the cheapest EVA or EPDM rubber (or even bitumen) with fairly standard foamed plastics/polyurethane.

Just by making materials thicker will increase the damping and absorption, without increasing costs a lot. In industry it is common to use 30mm (1,25" +) materials and thicker. For home computers sometimes even 10-15mm is too thick (depending on application).

However, properly selected "better" materials (ones that measure better anway) could in theory be combined into a product that is even better (esp. for lower frequency absorption) for total blocking, vibration damping and absorption.

The point is that once you go to Sorbothane and other "propietary" compounds, the costs increase dramatically.

This is one of the reasons they are not used IMHO in most industrial noise control applications.

After all, if some product does 60-80% of the work for 20%-40% of the costs, then why bother?

But for us home builders, that extra 40% could mean a lot.

regards,
Halcyon

also, if you don't open your case much then you can just stick a heavy block of wood to the side panels. this works wonders to stop resonance

Do any of you have an opinion on the CompUSA Acoustic Absorbing Mat?

Looks like cheap paxmate style stuff, hard to tell though.

Yes, it's some unbranded Paxmate. Don't waste your money.

You all had good points. I ended up getting the acoustipack deluxe after comparing pricing, thickness, and TOTAL cost.

My opinion so far on the acoustipack is as follows in case any of you haven't tried it yet. (I'm heading out today to get some dampening spray so I haven't had a chance to try it yet or even remove the sticky cover to apply it). The material seems very similar to the grey foam material hard drives are shipped in with about a 3mm thick layer of rubber attached with an adhesive on the rubber. It is fairly easy to cut as long as you have a sharp knife. It takes about an hour to measure (twice) and cut depending on how intricate your case is.

The good :
It it comes with a thicker piece of foam to place on the panel opposite your motherboard with contours to help block more sound.

It also comes with two sheets of thinner material that are good for areas you can't fit the thicker contour material.

It comes with precut blocks to put in your CD and hard drive bays.


The bad:
It would have been nice if there were enough (a second sheet) of the thick contour foam to use on the top of my case and a few other places. The single sheet is really only enough to cover most peoples side panel.

It would have been nice if it came with a can of plasti-dip or some other paint-like dampening material for all the areas you can't reach with foam or where any foam would be too thick.

It doesn't come with enough of the precut drive bay foam (I realize you can't pack them in so tight their is no air flow but my case came with AMPLE hard drive bays.)


The ugly
The price $80 + shipping!

ahh yes.. the grey foam that comes with hard drives - problem is i've never bought a hard drive in retail form, it's always been in oem form in a transparent plastic ribbed box but the material in the acousti stuff is most probably very different, as it has to be MUCH more dense than simple packaging foam.

you thought that stuff took a sharp knife to cut - i had to use scissors to cut up my 18mm thick acoustic material

just as a point of interest - the acoustipack deluxe v1 also came with 2 sheets of plain barrier mass - none of the foam stuff, just the hard stuff. i believe the precut kit for the sonata does indeed come with 1 piece (for the bottom of the case) which is purely barrier mass material.

chylld -
Same here on the hard drive purchases, but I have returned some SCSI Seagates for repair over the years and they send me some nifty return boxes. I just compared, the packing foam is grey and the acoustipack is black. They have different depth dimensions but the cells appear to be the same size and they both compress with a similar amount of pressure.

Good to know about the scissors - that probably would have been much easier if I had tried that.

heya....

I was following this thread and in the end....there's no other damping material CHEAPER and as good as the AcustiPack ...correct?

The Saint: you can try going to the warehouse of an acoustics company and asking for leftover scrap material like i did - i got $160 worth of the stuff for free

hmm good point there chylld.....like stereo company for home theaters or stuff?

that wouldn't be a bad place to start. the best place would of course be a company that specialises in acoustic materials

hmmm no companies around here.