# Sound proofing?



## t77snapshot (Jan 17, 2009)

Whats up,

Does any1 know of a good websites where I can get sound dampening foam for cheap? I'm building a budget rig and all I can find is AcoustiPack which is a little pricey.

thanx-


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## kenkickr (Jan 17, 2009)

Maybe a little ghetto but works awesome..SoundSolution.  It's carpet padding that Menards(hardware store) sells and when I started there I tried it out in a case.  What a huge difference it made..cut a Vantec 80mm Tornado down to half of it's audible.


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## t77snapshot (Jan 17, 2009)

Thats a good idea, but I need black material to match my case.


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## mlee49 (Jan 17, 2009)

Here ya go:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g7/Sound_Dampening.html?id=zqF8Niw2

plenty of options for making a case quite.

There are some cases that have pre-applied dampening foam. Maybe that might be an option?


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## kenkickr (Jan 17, 2009)

About the only other thing I could think of is Dynomat which is used for sound dampening in cars with descent to excellent audio systems but I'm not sure if they make them with a black aluminum skin.


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## crtecha (Jan 19, 2009)

I would honestly check out some craft stores.  You can get low profile foam egg crate for really cheap.  Thats what I used when helping a friend but in a small recording studio.


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## coodiggy (Jan 20, 2009)

The low profile egg foam; like what used to come in white box modems/vid cards works, but the foam can get in the way of airflow if not done carefully..  Dynamat is too expensive, I found a roll of it at the flea market n used it on the big panels of one of my cases and it works well, but again, expensive, and shiny.. black spraypant won't hurt the aluminum heatshield on dynamat, if that is what you wind up with.. 

Two to three layers of 30lb roofing paper works well, how many layers that you can use depends on how much room you have between the panels/drive cages etc.. First layer of roofing paper glued 100 percent to the base metal, second glued on to the first with either a square and x patern, or two to three inches between glue lines, so there's some air space between layer one and layer two to convert sound and vibrations into mechanical vibrations in the constrained layer of paper.. Use rubber cement to glue the pieces together etc.. let it "vent", set it all outside for a few days to help get rid of volatile gasses from the tar paper/glue combo, so your case don't stink like a freshly tarred roof. It helps to put some rubber pads between the fans and the case metal as well as cutting out any of the perforated fan vents, then place wire fan grills over the holes, to prevent random stuff like fingers, or cats from going into the fans. Rubberized automotive undercoating also works well on bare metal surfaces to prevent the metal from "ringing" and goes a long way to help deaden sound, but some types of undercoating do not dry/cure completely and can stick to things that come into contact with it, like wires, other parts of the case, fans etc, so look for the "curing" type... If you use rubberized undercoating on the bare metal, you don't need rubber pads between the metal and fans. Be careful not to get any spray or paper in the way of the expansion slots as it could prevent cards from fitting correctly.


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## Exavier (Jan 21, 2009)

I found an industrial foam supplier to the UK, they do soundproofing for machinery and grommeting so I consider them a good choice for anti-vibration and anti-whine personally but I've heard great things about Dynomat too. It all boils down to cost for me...3" foam in 'eggcrate' style in your dimensions for cheap is a winner.


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## t77snapshot (Jan 21, 2009)

these are all good ideas, thanx!


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## crtecha (Jan 30, 2009)

I heard of a guy using roofing tar paper in 3-5 layers.


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## coodiggy (Jan 31, 2009)

crtecha said:


> I heard of a guy using roofing tar paper in 3-5 layers.



It works pretty good, it's one of the things that some audiophile's use in sub-woofer enclosures.


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## sneekypeet (Jan 31, 2009)

you could buy one or two of these....http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1336&ID=1703


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## thoughtdisorder (Jan 31, 2009)

sneekypeet said:


> you could buy one or two of these....http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1336&ID=1703



+1 on the Sneekymeister! What Sneeky spec'd is not only easy on the wallet, but it's designed to release the heat from within. Tar paper and other options don't allow this release of heat, which IMO makes it quite a viable option.


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## Tau (Jan 31, 2009)

I would suggest two layers basically.  a dense heavy layer against all the sides of the case (dynamat or equal) basically what dynamat does is prevent the metal its on from resonating with the frequencys of music (or in this case fan noise), then a medium density eggshell pattern foam on top of that (only has to be 1" thick or so) that will absorb as well as deflect the soundwaves.

If you dont want to use dynamat (its expensive) there are lots of other options out there, Homedepot/lows sells some roofing material that you peel the backing off and stick on... basically its the same thing as dynamat...  and it should work perfectly in a computer case.  

In the car industry its frowned upon to use it on the roof of a car as the hot/cold cycles have been known to cause it to come off the roof... (not a fun sight)  but for in a computer it should be perfect.

I have a similar setup lining the inside of a couple of my server cabinets and it has substantially dropped the sound level.


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