[Rob Babcock]

Does anyone know the best place to buy this stuff?  Usually I'd buy from Parts Express, but they don't seem to carry Extreme.

Any leads would be appreciated.

[mgalusha]

Car Toys sells it but they are not high on my list of places to shop. My experiences there were not very good.

[bubba966]

Well the place I get mine is local, so that's of no help to you.

Your best bet would be to hit up car audio places. And pick up something like the door kit (4 1'x3' pieces if I recall properly) if you're going to be putting it in more than a thing or two. You can also get it in smaller computer kits, but it's horrendously expensive that way. And there's not a lot in the computer kits.

[byteme]

I always get it off ebay.  There are usually plenty of sellers and prices are decent.  Not to mention there are tons of other brands of similar stuff that are available that way.

[TheChairGuy]

Rob,

I don't know the Dynamat stuff but I just looked it up and it is a constrained layer damping pad.  The (relatively) same item is Cascade Audio Design (or CAE) V-Max (that Parts Express carries page 302 of latest catalog).

I'm not sure of the minute differences between the two, but they seem more or less equal.  Actually the thickness fo the V-Max is .06 vs. .044 so there may be some additional damping weith the V-Max.

I just bought some from Parts Express before the holidays and, boy, I am impressed with it.  I used it to damp my Sony DVP-S7700 tray (in place of non-constrained damping pads from Parts Express applied last year) and I didn't expect to hear a thing different...I was pleasantly surprised.  It is beter than non-constrained damping - by a fair margin. Bass tighter, everything is just a little more in focus.

I damped my DAC, DAC Power Supply and Preamp internally two nights ago.  I didn't hear a difference, but they are all well isolated to begin with...I doubt it did any harm.

I used about 1 sheet ($15 worth or so) on my Saab 9-3 doors this past weekend.  It is noticeably quieter inside now...more in the keeeping of a luxury car that SAAB often tried to imitate.  I intend to get two packages (about $64 worth) and finish off the car and I think it will be a smaashingly good tweek there for that money.

It's good stuff - regards.

[Rob Babcock]

Yeah, they have two pages of damping sheets, and the CAE stuff looks to be pretty similar.  I think the main diff is that the top layer is some type of polymer/vinyl or something, where the Dynamat Extreme is metallic (supposed to block RFI?).

I've bought tons of stuff from Parts Express and they've always been great to do business with.  I may try the CAE & a can or two of Quiet Kote.

[kendrid]

Also check out secondskinaudio.com and a product called 'FatMat'.  They are at least 1/2 the cost of Dynamat, and they receive very good reviews.

100 sq ft of FatMat is around $80 on Ebay.

[Rob Babcock]

Cool.  I'll check out the website, thanks.

[BrunoB]

Cool.  I'll check out the website, thanks.

Here is another one:

http://www.b-quiet.com/?ovrtr

[Rob Babcock]

Thanks.  The B-Quiet's spec's are almost identical to Dynamat Extreme but at about 1/3 the price.

BTW, my main purpose for this stuff is to quiet a couple of computer cases- but I'd also like to mod my Xbox with the stuff, too, and quiet down a couple of audio components.

[_scotty_]

Rob you can also use sheets of sorbothane. Search on sorbothane at http://www.mcmaster.com/
Oven weight Reynolds aluminum foil woiuld give you a constrained layer damping effect. It will stick to the sorbothane because of sorbothanes self- adhesive qualities.

[TheChairGuy]

Yeah, they have two pages of damping sheets, and the CAE stuff looks to be pretty similar.  I think the main diff is that the top layer is some type of polymer/vinyl or something, where the Dynamat Extreme is metallic (supposed to block RFI?).

I've bought tons of stuff from Parts Express and they've always been great to do business with.  I may try the CAE & a can or two of Quiet Kote.

Rob, I'd guess part of the 'Extreme' of the Dynamat product may be that it can be installed in higher temp areas...hence the metallic top layer to reflect off heat better.  That's only a guess, but that's the type of shiny sided stuff that resides in most engine compartments these days to reduce heat and maybe damp the hoods.

The CAE V-Max product is not shiny, but cheaper and thicker...highly recommended as noted earlier.  The other ideas on this post sound reasonable, too..I can only vouch for the CAE V-Max.

However, the Quiet Kote is very good.  I sprayed the inside of my cheap 50W Omni Audio 'powered' (ha!) sub with 2 bass-lovin' 6.5" coated paper drivers and, you know what, the damn thing is almost listenable now.  Almost.  Really tho, it did improve the presentation a bit....if it were better braced or made I may not have found it as useful, but I did on this cheapo sub.

[Rob Babcock]

I guess the hightemp aspect wouldn't matter in a PC case.  I know tho that it's extremely sticky, which is good- I just don't know much about the CAE stuff.  Probably plenty sticky though, I guess.

I'm not sure whether to go with just constrained layer damping, just Sound Kote, or both- I'm leaning towards both.  You can spray the Q Kote into places and onto surfaces where you wouldn't be able to stick the damping mat (eg front of the case, rear of drive bay covers, etc).

As I said, I want to try these techniques out on some of my audio gear, but my first project is to build a 2nd, "Silent PC", and then to quiet down my Xbox & P2.  Bubba was telling me about how he dampened his 'box, and I want to try that, too.

Thanks for the many good suggestions, everyone.

[bubba966]

Yeah, they have two pages of damping sheets, and the CAE stuff looks to be pretty similar.  I think the main diff is that the top layer is some type of polymer/vinyl or something, where the Dynamat Extreme is metallic (supposed to block RFI?).

The top layer of Dynamat Xtreme is a 4mil thick piece of aluminum. Which does make cutting it a bit fun sometimes.

The other thing about Dynamat Xtreme is that it's the only Dynamat product rated for use in upside down applications. So it's the only product from them suitable to use on the lid of your CDP/DVDP/Xbox/etc.

Who knows if the other products being mentioned are suitable for upsidedown applications?

I know Xtreme isn't cheap. But it works damn good. I was very impressed when I lined the lid of my old DVDP's case with Xtreme. It was no longer resonating at all after the aplication.

Same goes with my 'puter. I put Xtreme everywhere I could fit it. Much quieter now...

[bubba966]

You can spray the Q Kote into places and onto surfaces where you wouldn't be able to stick the damping mat (eg front of the case, rear of drive bay covers, etc).

Oh yes you can apply Dynamat Xtreme to the front of the case & rear of the drive bay covers. If I had a digital cam I'd send you pics from my 'puter case. You'd be surprised where you can put that stuff...

[Rob Babcock]

Hmmm...not sure if the other stuff can be used upside down, but I've wondered about it for awhile, too.

Maybe I'll try several different kinds.