Sound deadening mats

Looking into some sound deadening material. Curious if there are any significant differences in quality from different companies i.e. killmat, mesa mat, dynamatt. Probably will just have a shop locally do the install on the doors. I'm not looking for a whole stereo upgrade, just something to knock down some noise and if it improves the stereo at the same time then that is a win.

 

They are all more or less the same. I have used Amazon branded stuff, SKAR audio stuff, dynamat, and kilmat. They all pretty much worked the same. Get a roller kit and a hobofreight heat gun and you will be in good shape.

 

Thank you!

 

You can go down a very deep hole researching these.

https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/r...-deadening-material-independent-testing-data/

I've got mixed thoughts on that site. They claim you don't need as much thus they are cheaper, then they tell you to go 100%. A bit bait and switch. But, I think the data and the process is valid. Some people point out that in very hot places, some of these will melt inside your door. I can't verify that.

I went with Second Skin Damplifier. It was not the most expensive or the cheapest. Fairly easy to work with and I never cut my hands. The foil on these can be very sharp.

 

All sound deadeners are not created equal. Check out this page and scroll down to see the panel resonance reduction scores.

https://resonixsoundsolutions.com/r...-deadening-material-independent-testing-data/

Two things, First, although the data is posted by Resonix who happens to have the best scores, the data was tested by an independent guy on Facebook who created a group called “The Deadening”. Second, I personally recognize the high cost of Resonix. I think it’s worth it, but I’ve also used NVX from Sonic Electronix with good results (NVX scores about the same as Amazon).

The other thing is that there are different kinds of sound proofing materials. “Sound deadeners” are the typical Dynamat/Killmat/Resonix/Amazon etc. “CLD” or “Constrained Layer Damping” which are butyl rubber with a layer of aluminum on top. Peel and stick them on and gently roll them down.

There are other sound proofing materials like mass loaded vinyl, fiber mat etc. If you take panels off in Tundras you’ll see the doors have some basic CLD from factory and then the plastic door panel will have some white fiber mat, sort of like thinsulate insulation. CLD reduces rattles/improves speaker performance, but does minimal as a sound blocker. Stuff like the fiber mat is meant to absorb/block sound from the outside.

Resonix has a super in depth write up on all the materials etc., but in short the easiest route is obviously to do just CLD, and then a step up from that would be to do add some sound blocker like fiber mat, mass loaded vinyl etc. and/or some material to decouple panels etc.

 

Do you know what mesa mat would be? The quote I got was for mesa mat. Almost looked like black electrical tape.

 

Mesa Mat is CLD, and actually I totally forgot I’ve used some of that too as the closest audio shop to me carried it as their store brand. I would probably go for something other than Mesa depending on price as it didn’t seem to be nearly as thick as something cheaper like NVX. Some of the CLD will have a silver aluminum layer and others have black aluminum that makes it look like it’s all one thing, some of the black NVX I got looked like that. Anecdotally I recall the Mesa Mat being thinner than the NVX and Resonix being the thickest, and obviously in general the thicker the butyl rubber and aluminum is the better it’s going to perform.

I think I paid maybe $100 or a little more for a box of ~36 sq ft of Mesa and I just pulled up Sonic Electronix and the NVX premium Stealth Black I’ve also used is $85 for 36 sq ft.

I’ve also tried the NVX tri-layer material which is the same concept as other 3 layer materials like SoundShield and adds a layer of foam so instead of just rubber>aluminum you have rubber>aluminum>foam.

How much the foam does to absorb sound is a great question/I don’t know if it’s been tested.

Ultimately like I said before I’d probably lean towards something besides Mesa only because in my experience it seemed to be thinner for the same price or more than other brands per sq ft, and I think it’s a brand that car audio shops probably push because they can make crazy mark up on it.

 

SoundSkins has a pre-made kit, just FYI

https://soundskinsglobal.com/products/toyota-tundra-4-door-template-kit-2022

 

That kit looks nice and I watched a video of the install. For that kind of money I would hope to have a piece to install along the back wall of the cab included.

 

I have done dynamat in two tundras, I did full coverage in both - floor, back wall, and both inner and outer door panels.
My 2002 tundra I used 2.5 of the bulk pack boxes (36 sq.ft. kits) or close to 90sf.
In my current 2014, being a crew cab, I used 3.5 bulk pack boxes or close to 130sf.
If I ever drop the headliner, I will do the roof, but doing the floor and doors, the road noise was cut down a lot.

 

Just finished doing mine, used secondskin bulk pack and another half pack.

-all doors (interior and front facing)
-rear panel

totally changed the sound profile of the truck.

I'd also recommend the HUSHMAT speaker pads. It is not difficult at all to do, just takes a lot of effort depending on how clean you want it to look. I opted for bulk packs over the pre cut due to price/material. I doubled the doors and rear panel with it.

 

Did you go with the classic kit?

 

I bought this KilMat kit on Amazon

$75 KILMAT 80 mil 36 sqft Car Sound Deadening Mat, Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener, Audio Noise Insulation and dampening

Amazon.com: KILMAT 80 mil 36 sqft Car Sound Deadening Mat, Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener, Audio Noise Insulation and dampening : Automotive
Bought it to do my Tacoma a few years ago when I upgraded the speakers. I fully covered inside of the doors on the Tacoma and had enough left over to put almost 4 full pieces on the inside of the Tundra doors last weekend. Absolutely love the results!! One of the best things about it, is when I close the doors, I get a nice solid sound, no more empty pop can sound anymore. Highly recommend it.
Very easy install, a couple hours all in.

 

The only problem with this kit is it doesn't put any deadening onto the door skin itself.

 

I’m thinking about putting this on the outter door shell.
https://a.co/d/0VYzay6

Then using this 3 in 1 on the inner shell.

Siless Hybrid 3in1 200 mil 25 sqft Car Sound Deadening mat - Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener - Noise Insulation and Vibration Dampening Material

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6JKF9SC

would that be a good setup for noise reduction?

 

Whenever I installed my Killmat, I put it on the outer skin and inner skin.

 

Like @Snert was saying - there are a few different materials that achieve different things. Basically, there’s sound reducing and absorbing materials, and then there’s sound damping materials.

Most traditional sound deadening materials like original Dynamat targeted the excitation of body sheet metal, damping the induced resonance or noise. Road noise, big bass, etc causes the panels to vibrate and transfer noise in to the cabin (or buzz and make noise). Ever been in an older pickup or vehicle with bare metal surfaces in the cabin or the interior removed? Notice how it echoes and buzzes compared to a carpeted, upholstered vehicle cabin, even if it’s just you in the car talking to another person? Everything is louder because those panels resonate and sounds bounces off and reflects around the cabin. Dynamat and the like dampen that.

Constrained layer damping targets these resonances as well using the same damping method. If you add mass to the panel, you shift that resonance down in frequency to a point where you either can’t here it or it requires much more energy to excite than you would typical find in a vehicle environment, thus eliminating unwanted resonances. You only need to add small pieces or “tiles” at semi-random spots and especially on large flat surfaces, or panels adjacent to known resonance inducing items (like speakers, motors, exhaust, etc). Also as noted, this is how the factory does it, yielding a noticeable sound reduction while saving cost and weight.

100% coverage with one of these damping mats isn’t 100% more effective than partial coverage with tiles. It is more effective, but has diminishing returns after the initial tile method treatment.

That’s where sound reducing and absorbing materials like mass loaded vinyl and insulation come in to play. Luxury vehicles utilize more of these materials (among other methods) to quiet the cabin even more by blocking or absorbing sounds. Insulation diffuses sound waves by “slowing” them down. Because someone is going to throw a fit about me saying that I used air quotes; it doesn’t really slow sound down the sound (it’s stil traveling at the speed of sound..), but that’s the easiest way to think of it. Like driving through mud or snow, the insulation creates mechanical opposition to the wave, thereby limiting its propagation.

Also like mud and snow, the thicker the layer, the higher the opposition, and the slower the progress. Different insulation opposes different frequencies better but something like rockwool works very well as a broad spectrum diffuser. I used 4” rockwool in the ceilings of my basement with outstanding results. It helps reduce noise transmission from the kids talking and playing in their rooms, as well as the home theater speakers. Unfortunately, there isn’t usually room for 4” of insulation in most cars, so insulation only works so well - still very helpful in many places, but we still need some help.

So let’s look at mass loaded vinyl. It is heavy, dense, and of minimal thickness so we can sneak it between carpets and door panels and such without tok much hassle. Because it is dense, also mechanically prevents sound wave propagation from one side of the matt to the other like insulation. As a bonus, if left free to “float” between the carpet layer and body panels, it does double duty as semi-movable but well damped panel that absorbs some resonances that will still be introduced through the body panels. It’s like wrestling a mattress, but for resonances.

Then there’s higher end solutions, like visco-elastic polymers, that are more difficult to implement in to a mobile environment. I’ve used them very successfully in home environments, but mass loaded vinyl serves some do the same function with unconstrained.

If you look at all the specialty sound deadening options available, they attempt to combine a lot of these elements in to one product. While original Dynamat worked by using a butyl rubber sticky back to mass load a panel, combined with a pliable aluminum top layer to encapsulate the sticky rubber, newer mats add a vinyl or foam layer. Some do it very well, some not so much. They are striving to go beyond the initial resonance reduction principle of dynamat, and introduce some sound blocking or absorbing material all in one mat.

So the big differences between the brands and offerings are: resonance reduction base layer type and thickness (look for butyl rubber, NOT asphalt or other garbage that stinks and will melt in high heat); and secondary layer or layers such as vinyl or foam. These layers will add to the overall thickness of the mat which may make it more difficult to work with, but may be easier and cheaper than adding a seperate layer of MLV or foam to your install.

 

so, in your opinion, are the budget friendly brands on Amazon even worth the money and time? Or stick to bigger name like soundskin, etc.

 

Depending on budget Amazon is a good option imo. If you look at the data on the Resonix website Amazon is something like 11dB reduction vs Resonix regular is like 18 or something. All of the closest competitors to Resonix score around that 11-12ish mark, but also according to Resonix the Amazon brand used to be thicker. For a sound deadener/CLD it basically just boils down to weight/thickness. They’re all made of butyl rubber with an aluminum top layer just different consistencies. Amazon/NVX were the two budget brands that seem to be about the same price/score.

 

In all honesty, any deadening is better than no deadening. Just by adding some to the doors you will notice quite a difference.

 

True. But i’d like some road noise reduction as well. Still trying to figure out which brand with foam to go with. While not getting too expensive. For now it look like NVX CLD 90mil for me but still looking at the foam part.

 

You're not wrong, but there is a point of diminishing returns. Every 6 db cut represents a reduction in sound of approximately half the original volume. There will come point that any additional sound reduction isn't detectable by the human ear.

 

They will all accomplish some degree of sound deadening. If you have the money, the big names work great. On a budget, NVX, Siless, Killmat, Fatmat, etc work well. However, they don’t all use butyl rubber so look very carefully at the product. Even same brand mats will use different mixes on different products. Usually the bottom price tier products are going to use a “proprietary polymer” of some sort that really means asphalt and/or tar mixed with something else like garbage. That will melt in you car, make a mess, and stink like mad from the outgassing. A good test is to pull out a sheet of material and simply see how bad is smells. Leave it out in a warm area like on the floor of your vehicle or even in the sun and see if it melts and/or smells worse. The butyl has a smell kind of like a bicycle tire but not like a new road under construction.

If memory serves, I used Dynamat in my ‘13 with 1/2” mass loaded vinyl which worked well as expected. I’ve used FatMat in one vehicle, Killmat in another, have some Siless ready to go in the sequoia, and have yet to decide what to put in the ‘21. There are a few other brands I’ve tried but don’t remember offhand. I have some NVX stuff in the back doors because it was free with something else I bought.

IMO, heavy partial coverage with a simple sound deadener mat, followed by full coverage MLV (doors are hard to do MLV, so as much as you can behind the door card), then finishing with foam in crevices and hard to reach places yields the best results for the money and time.

As noted, some sound deadening will be better than no sound deadening. So start somewhere simple and check your results. The wall behind the back seat is the easiest place to start to see results. The door cards are easy to pull and sound proof. The floor yields some of the biggest results for road noise, but requires a larger chunk of time.

 

I did my whole truck in killmat and loved what it did for noise reduction and solid sound when door closing.

If I would have done research I would have gone with resonix or one that tested higher but I still am happy with what I got in the noise and rattle reduction.

I honestly stripped the whole truck and went nuts, double layer on floor and back wall and as much as i could reach inside door skins and all outer door skins. I probably did overkill but it made my little brain happy. use a roller and your fingers will be sore from picking, cutting and pressing

Honestly one of the best bang for your buck upgrades you can do, audio sounds better and less road noise

 

How much material did you end up using? If you remember.

 

I think I ended up using 2.5 of the 36sq ft boxes if I remember correctly

2013 double cab, did not do the roof but completely plastered the rest of the cab

 

I think i may try the NVX tri-layers when i do mine.. butyl, aluminum, and foam all in one..

 

Check out this thread for an in depth explanation mostly from Nick at Resonix:

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threads/car-audio-sound-deadening-comprehensive-guide.463283/

Like RickWilson's post says at the start, while Nick obviously pushes his brands, the knowledge/explanations are scientifically sound.

Having used the NVX tri layer, it's butyl layer is thinner than just the CLD they sell. They don't specify what type of foam it is although it feels like CCF. If it is CCF, it's not doing a whole lot to reduce road noise, but it does/would act as a decoupler between the door itself and door panel. If you look at the testing data from "The Deadening" Facebook group you can see there's a couple of 3-in-1 products that were tested and did not score super well. For reference, the data on Resonix is directly from "The Deadening" which is run by an independent testing guy that started it to compare products but recently pulled down the data as it's being used maliciously to misrepresent products.

IMO you'd be better off getting a thicker CLD, either the regular NVX or one of the other decent scoring ones, and then installing MLV or fibrous mat type material if you want to block outside noise. Thicker CLD will lower your doors resonant frequency more than the thinner tri-layer materials, and MLV or fiber mat will do a better job of blocking outside noise than the foam in the tri layer materials.

 

thanks for the link. Will read up and make decision later. I was researching the nvx trilayer and it is definitely thinner in total thickness even compare to their regular 90mil sheet. So the tri-layer is definitely out. I will look into MLV and fiber mat next.