Mouse mats as acoustic foam???

cwl999 · Post by **cwl999** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:03 am

Has anyone actually bought lotsa mouse mats and tried using this as noise blocking foam.

There's probably no real reason why it wouldn't work. Cheap as chips as well.

silvervarg · Post by **silvervarg** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:37 am

Well, it would work ok, but there are better and less costly solutions.
I used car engine room isolation 10mm think.
Cost is about $3 for what you need for a single computer.
It has one sticky side, and is easilly cut to the right size, so mounting is easy and quick. It is also made to withstand heat well.
I think it beats mouse mats is all aspects as far as sound insulation goes.
You don't get any unnessecary gaps either.
Dampening effect will be slightly less than the specialized costly materials.

wgragg · Post by **wgragg** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:49 am

silvervarg wrote:Well, it would work ok, but there are better and less costly solutions.
I used car engine room isolation 10mm think.
Cost is about $3 for what you need for a single computer.
It has one sticky side, and is easilly cut to the right size, so mounting is easy and quick. It is also made to withstand heat well.
I think it beats mouse mats is all aspects as far as sound insulation goes.
You don't get any unnessecary gaps either.
Dampening effect will be slightly less than the specialized costly materials.

Is this stuff readily available in auto parts stores or is it special order? I hadn't ever heard of it so was wondering.

Wendell

silvervarg · Post by **silvervarg** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 8:55 am

At least over here it is a common component in auto part stores.
The one I got has an aluminum layer on the non-sticky side.
I think it was sold in thickness from 10mm to 40mm.
The 10mm version is enought for computers. You are more concerned with covering as much area as possible.

foothoss · Post by **foothoss** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 11:23 am

I am curious about the mouse pad idea also.

I have access to enough to cover the interior of my case and would like to do whatever to quiet it down.

Is there a flameability issue?
Is the foam padding on the mouse pad pourous enough to dampen the noise.
Is this addition of foam in my case going to add to the heat build up? I assume it is not going to help in the transfer of heat to the outside but I may be mistaken.

cwl999 · Post by **cwl999** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 12:46 pm

Cheapness depends on how much you get get them for.

In the UK, I get get them from ebuyer for 10pence each, prob only need a pounds worth of the stuff.

moving shadow · Post by **moving shadow** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 1:29 pm

silvervarg wrote:At least over here it is a common component in auto part stores.
The one I got has an aluminum layer on the non-sticky side.
I think it was sold in thickness from 10mm to 40mm.
The 10mm version is enought for computers. You are more concerned with covering as much area as possible.

is their a brand name for this stuff, might have a lookie in the UK for something similar

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 2:12 pm

It is my guess that Mouse pads can be used to reduce vibrational noise just as well as anything else that's made from rubber. However, I don't think it would be as effecti at stopping noise in general. This is really mouse pad dependent, but most mouse pads that I've used weren't very porous(I'm now using a RatPadz, and that's DEFINITELY NOT porous

).

It's been my impression that the more porous something is, the better it absorbs sound. SPCR should do testing on commonly found household objects that are good for sound dampening. One thing that might be interesting to see/hear is styrofoam packing peanuts.

canthearyou · Post by **canthearyou** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 2:59 pm

I think the weight of the mouse pad would dampen case vibrations on large flat surfaces and it would contribute to reflecting sound back into the case (being hard), but would not do much to absorb sound (they way acoustic foam does and acoustic panels, the ones with the foam pyramids do).

Recording studios use sound absorbers that have a three dimensional shape, pyramids, depressed squares, etc. to trap the sound.

wgragg · Post by **wgragg** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 3:24 pm

Hmm, I wonder how egg crate foam, like they put on mattresses would do?

foothoss · Post by **foothoss** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:20 pm

I actually have some of the egg crate stuff.
Not enough for the whole case, and I am concerned about flameability, but since I have one my systems in the closet (and I have tile floor), I think I am going to line the closet with that stuff.

I did a very unscientific test with the mouse pads vs. the eggcrate foam.
I held two pieces of each up to my ears.
The egg crate foam dampned all noise around me. The mouse pads gave me a slight "ocean" sound.

My conclusion is that the mouse pads dont have enough surface area to make it worth your while to try and use them as a sound absorber. Although they are probably more effective at reducing noise than the metal case, I will keep searching for a better alternative.

I will keep looking. Maybe try my local Discount Auto Supply store.

Justin_R · Post by **Justin_R** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 7:55 pm

I don't think mouse pads would be very effective when being used to "absorb" sound from the air, but I have found them to be effective at decoupling vibrations.

For example, I used pieces of mouse pad as washers for attaching a set of nickel furniture feet to one case. I was once using a hollow wood door as a makeshift desk, and I used a "printer pad" (a mouse pad with four times the area) to prevent the door from acting as a sounding board for the PC on top of it. I also keep a mousepad around to sit hard drives on if I have them attached to a PC but not mounted in the case, as sitting them on a case panel or desk amplifies their noise.

Mouse pads probably aren't as good as specialty parts made for these purposes, but they sure are cheap and readily available.

cwl999 · Post by **cwl999** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 1:15 am

I agree about the lack of porousness (sic) in that it would reflect most of the noise instead of absorbing it. It's not dense enough to act as deadening either.

Oh welll, can't be any worst than paxmate.

Anyone tried the AcostiPack for Sonata yet, I'm considering it if it works.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 4:17 am

cwl999 wrote: Anyone tried the AcostiPack for Sonata yet, I'm considering it if it works.

MikeC did and he wrote a review of it on the main SPCR site.

I think someone else in the forums did too, and even posted some pics. You should try searching for "sonata AND acoustipack" (or something like that) and see what results come up.

cwl999 · Post by **cwl999** » Fri Dec 12, 2003 4:31 am

Yes, already read the above and searched on the forums.

I'm after results for the precut sonata acoustipack.

Gooserider · Post by **Gooserider** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 8:05 pm

My observation is that there seem to be two basic sorts of mousepads, with variations on details -

Type one is fairly thin foam, with a hard non porous surface on it. I haven't found a lot of use for this type, but it might be useful for decoupling where the hard surface would be useful (such as directly under the head of a screw so that the hard surface acts as a washer)

The other type is usually a thicker foam ~1/4" (4mm) thick, with a fabric coating on it, like neoprene wetsuit material. I've never used this for lining a case, and have doubts that it would work very well. However this type is great for decoupling anyplace where two peices of metal would otherwise meet - sandwich them under a PSU, between a drive and a cage, between a fan and the case, etc. I cut them to make whatever shape I need, usually narrow strips.

Gooserider