Sound Deadening Insulation

It is important that you are always thinking about your hearing, as excess sounds can cause distractions on the road. While driving is necessary, having to listen to loud engine sounds is not, thanks to the help of sound deadening insulation. This effective tool is simple to install and extremely cost effective, allowing you to reduce engine noise by up to 10 decibels. Now, you can enjoy a more comfortable experience when driving from A to B, free from engine noise and other road sounds that can distract you from your drive.

What Is Sound Deadening Insulation?

“Sound deadening insulation” is a catch-all phrase for materials that reduce sound and vibration in vehicles. In practice, this usually involves a laminated structure composed of:

Damping layer (butyl or rubber-based) to absorb vibration from metal panels
Barrier / mass-loaded layer (vinyl, foil, etc.) to block airborne noise
Foam or decoupling layer to trap residual noise or provide thermal insulation

Together, these layers reduce resonance, block sound transmission, and isolate cabin noise from mechanical and aerodynamic sources.

How Does Sound Deadening Insulation Work?

Sound deadening insulation, such as the type provided by the team at B-Quiet, is designed as a roll of butyl rubber material, sheets of decoupled vinyl sound absorber or insulation, featuring a foil sheet and sticky bottom. These features allow you to affix the insulation on the bare metal of the floors of your vehicle, even in the more difficult to reach places. This layer of protection dampens the sounds that reach your vehicle cab, leading you to enjoy a more peaceful drive free from engine noise. You can also place your sound deadening insulation in your doors, trunk, roof, and other areas of your vehicle for even more protection from noise.

Understanding the Key Terms

Acoustic Loss Factor: a measure of the ability to reduce structural borne sound. It represents how much vibration related energy is absorbed by the material at a given temperature. Based on a linear scale of 0 - 1, with 0 being an undamped steel panel and 1 being a theoretically perfectly damped panel (no vibration). The higher the ALF, the more effective the material is. Also known as Damping Loss Factor (DLF)

Transmission Loss: the reduction in noise level resulting from passage through an obstruction at a given frequency. Sound transmission class (STC) is the overall measurement of the effectiveness of a material to attenuate sound. Values are expressed in decibels and as such form a logarithmic scale. The higher the transmission loss, the more effective the material is.

Absorption Coefficients (B-Quiet Hliner): the amount of sound energy a surface absorbs and reflects at a given frequency. If we say that a surface material has an absorption coefficient of 0.25 we are saying that the surface will absorb 25% of the incident acoustic energy, while reflecting back 75% of the total acoustic energy at the specified frequency. The higher the absorption coefficient, the more effective the material is.