Quote:
The aesthetic is a bit wrong, I'll agree - the same people that make the butyl matting stuff that I've already used make a similar product which is the matting with 3mm of black acoustic foam on top, which is what I'm intending on using as the last layer on top of what I've already put on. Another couple of layers of the current material and then a layer of the butyl+foam will bring the added material on the base of the case to be flush with the lower lip of the holes in the HDD cage, which is where the current foam is sitting... which would be ideal to me and look a whole lot nicer being black! Next time I'm in town I'm going to pick up some more sound deadening material and see how that goes.
What's the thickness of that mass loading material you have there? I'm asking cause you mentioned many laying multiple sheets of it on the case...
Yes with a black foam top it will look great and uniform...and it will of course be more efficient...
Quote:
I think we're thinking along the same lines here - just with different products available... I'm more concerned about the vibrations at the moment, though, which as far as I understand are better dealt with by mass-loading rather than adding the lighter acoustic foam - there aren't many (or any, really) higher frequency noises coming from the case that I can hear.
Yes, we are talking about the same thing..the reason I mentioned the other products, without being explanative is to account for two different approaches to mass loading...
- The
acoustipack product has the heavier tar sheet in the middle of its 3 layer sound insulating material among the two foam layers...this adds weight while at the same time supposedly allowing better absorption of vibrations, by preventing the heavier, harder materials, e.g. the cases side panel surface and the tar sheet, from "interacting", so that the small movements of the tar sheet caused by vibrations are not transmitted to the outter metal surface...i.e. the foam layer between the panel and the tar sheet acts like a "buffer" of some sort, while the whole package still adds the extra weight needed to prevent vibrations
- The other product approach, most common to other sound insulation packages, is exactly to have the heavier materials contact each to produce a better "binding" effect, thus reducing the vibrations more effectively...it may also be regarded safer to have the heavier materials "glued" together to support the weight of the added material instead of having the tar sheet further away from the contacing surface and laying on the foam base...don't know if this actually stands, i.e. that it could peel off easier...at least it sounds more logical for the side panels or the top of the case, instead of the bottom, where this would make no difference
Quote:
I am envious of the solid black colour of the material you posted photos of, though... would make the case look a whole lot nicer in its current half-done state
It's better to have that in areas where you won't be adding foam on top...I've also used it to fashion custom "Moduvents"...
the downside is that if the surface is not absolutely flat it won't stick properly, and there also is less margin for error when cutting pieces to apply to the case...