"New and Improved" Acoustipack
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 3:52 am
I'm currently building a low noise Ivy Bridge system and bought an Acoustipack kit to add some extra damping. This is probably old news, but I was surprised by the changes made to Acoustipack since the last time I used it.
The "new and improved" material is thinner and significantly lighter than the old stuff. In fact, the new three layer "Ultimate" sheets aren't any thicker than standard Acoustipack used to be, and actually weigh less because of the thinner barrier mass layer. The foam layer looks and feels different too, and not just because they've changed the colour: it has a less dense structure, with larger cells in the foam.
For comparison, here are a couple of shots of the new sheets, with a leftover piece from my old kit on top:
Despite the claimed improvements, I'm a little sceptical about it working as well as the old version. After all, more mass generally equals better sound proofing. On the other hand, a case fitted with the latest Acoustipack will be a fair bit lighter, and the thinner sheets should fit in tighter spaces.
I'm sure SPCR have higher priorities than revisiting and retesting a product that that's already been reviewed, but maybe it'd be worth noting these changes in the old article. This new version really isn't the same product it was back in 2003.
The "new and improved" material is thinner and significantly lighter than the old stuff. In fact, the new three layer "Ultimate" sheets aren't any thicker than standard Acoustipack used to be, and actually weigh less because of the thinner barrier mass layer. The foam layer looks and feels different too, and not just because they've changed the colour: it has a less dense structure, with larger cells in the foam.
For comparison, here are a couple of shots of the new sheets, with a leftover piece from my old kit on top:
Despite the claimed improvements, I'm a little sceptical about it working as well as the old version. After all, more mass generally equals better sound proofing. On the other hand, a case fitted with the latest Acoustipack will be a fair bit lighter, and the thinner sheets should fit in tighter spaces.
I'm sure SPCR have higher priorities than revisiting and retesting a product that that's already been reviewed, but maybe it'd be worth noting these changes in the old article. This new version really isn't the same product it was back in 2003.