Soundproofing (Or Dampening/Absorbing/Blocking)

[OneFunGenesis]

sweet, thanks! Links to where you got your acoustic foam?

 

[iSOBigD]

Floor Soundproofing (Front)

- This involves the work I posted earlier + pulling/folding the carpet towards the seat. I didn't remove the part under the seat as there wasn't much space there (it's filled with foam and has vents) but you can remove 2 plastic caps to get to the vent screws if you ever need to.
- You have to pull the carpet away from the middle column as it goes right under it and over the MLV.

So as I previously said, the middle part is soundproofed pretty well already, so I focused on the bare metal area and went up the firewall as much as I could with both the Acoustic Foam and MLV. There was already good material there but I had plenty of space so why not?...

I'll add as much as I can to the doors when I get some time, and I would say the roof only needs some vibration absorption if it rattles as you probably wouldn't notice a change unless planes fly over or you drive through a tunnel.

I think what I did so far plus the doors, sub woofer area and roof would make the Genesis about as quiet as possible without major work or mods like dual pane windows. I'd love to see those outside of a Roll Royce but you'd need a completely redesigned door...

 

[iSOBigD]

sweet, thanks! Links to where you got your acoustic foam?

I'm Canadian so I had to drive to the US to pick up these things for cheap but feel free to buy similar stuff online or locally. *I only used cheap products with lots of good reviews but I'm sure others work the same.*

Soundproofing Materials I Used:

- Sound Absorbing / Foam Material ($60 / ~100 sqft):
UltraTouch 48 in. x 24 ft. Radiant Barrier http://www.homedepot.com/p/UltraTouch-48-in-x-24-ft-Radiant-Barrier-30000-11424/100661257

- Sound Blocking ($30 / 32 sqft):
Home Depot Acoustical Barrier or any brand MLV http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-4-ft-x-8-ft-Acoustical-Barrier-DB348X96BX/100663624
** This is around 0.75 lb per foot! Generally, people recommend MLV at 1 pound per foot for best price/result ratio but I made up for that with better/thicker sound absorbing material. If you're in the US, check for local MLV as it's very heavy so shipping costs more than the product.

- Vibration Dampening Material ($15-30 for 12.5 sqft) (These are Dynamat alternatives)
Cofair Products QR625 6" X 25' Aluminium Quick Roof Tape http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001N87K7O
** This one is recommended by all commenters and I found no smell at all. (See alternatives below)

- ACI Trim Removal Tools (Helps avoid scratches and damage) ($18 or buy from China for less)
http://www.amazon.ca/ACI-87901-Door-Trim-Removal/dp/B00AO0E5QQ

Cheap Vibration Dampening Alternatives:
- U-Seal 6 in. Aluminum Foil Self-Adhesive Repair Tape http://www.homedepot.com/p/USEAL-USA-Band-6-in-Aluminum-Foil-Self-Adhesive-Repair-Tape-8872AF6/202086180
** This was cheaper but smelled a bit when I first opened it. It's also softer than the Cofair one but did what I expected.
** For what I did, I used one roll of Cofair stuff, then some of the U-Seal
- Peel N Seal is also recommended by lots of people and looks about identical to USeal
** Brand name stuff specifically for cars cost around 150-300$ for similar amounts and although they generally work, I thought they were a rip-off. Also keep in mind there are composites available which may have foam and MLV glued together for example, so those tend to be good but more expensive than simple materials.

**The best stuff is probably over at sounddeadenershowdown.com but there's no easy online ordering with pricing so I just used it to learn about soundproofing. To do a full car with their stuff can be like 2 grand so that was too expensive of a hobby for me.

 

[OneFunGenesis]

Awesome, thank you. Being in the US, these products will be easy to get my hands on. Thank you for the list and links, that's really helpful!

 

[BrazGenesis]

Outstanding work and research! Thanks and congratulations.

I guess that the final outcome will produce results that will leave a LS-460 owner feeling his car sounding like a kart...

Please keep us posted.

 

[srobak]

Do you have any plans to do anything to the doors? This is where I hear a little bit of noise and would like to improve it - if it is easy enough to do hint hint... wink wink..

 

[iSOBigD]

Thanks guys! All the mods and repairs I did to my previous car were thanks to people posting how to's online, so hopefully this saves people some guess work.

Do you have any plans to do anything to the doors? This is where I hear a little bit of noise and would like to improve it - if it is easy enough to do hint hint... wink wink..

Absolutely! I should have a few days with the car and no girlfriend later this month so I plan on working on the doors next.

However, here's what I realistically expect: The doors will probably make more of a thud when they close (although they don't sound hollow as it is), and they will block more sound. BUT, it won't affect window noise at all, and unfortunately that's where I hear most of my noise from (mainly some wind noise at high speeds or sometimes a loud car passing by).

I'm not aware of any way to make glass quieter as it's already "soundproofed" by Hyundai, but if there is sound going under the window/glass and bouncing around inside the door, that echo should get absorbed...So maybe it'll make more of a difference than I expect? I don't know, but I'll try it out and let you guys know if it's worth doing or not.

 

[srobak]

BUT, it won't affect window noise at all, and unfortunately that's where I hear most of my noise from (mainly some wind noise at high speeds or sometimes a loud car passing by).

Maybe this is what I am hearing, then. All I know is that the rest of the car is already really quiet out of the box (not to discount your efforts at all).... so this noise when it does happen does stand out to me. Not loud or annoying by any stretch - just... noticeable.

I'll try it out and let you guys know if it's worth doing or not.

Thank you I appreciate your efforts.

 

[BrazGenesis]

Thanks guys! All the mods and repairs I did to my previous car were thanks to people posting how to's online, so hopefully this saves people some guess work.


Absolutely! I should have a few days with the car and no girlfriend later this month so I plan on working on the doors next.

However, here's what I realistically expect: The doors will probably make more of a thud when they close (although they don't sound hollow as it is), and they will block more sound. BUT, it won't affect window noise at all, and unfortunately that's where I hear most of my noise from (mainly some wind noise at high speeds or sometimes a loud car passing by).

I'm not aware of any way to make glass quieter as it's already "soundproofed" by Hyundai, but if there is sound going under the window/glass and bouncing around inside the door, that echo should get absorbed...So maybe it'll make more of a difference than I expect? I don't know, but I'll try it out and let you guys know if it's worth doing or not.

You are obviously an expert on what you are doing, but let me add my two cents: I read somewhere that Lexus, in their effort to make the LS-4XX totally silent, used a different approach to this kind of continuous wind related noise: an electronic neutralizing sound that is generated after "hearing" the noises. In essence what we have in the noise cancelling system of headphones.
Any knowledge/product to be shared here?
TIA. I think this is a very interesting subject that may well be worth the extra research/work/expense.

 

[OneFunGenesis]

So I took a shot at this today. I picked up some Peel & Seal from Lowes for $17 and went to tearing the car apart.

I started in the trunk. I looked at the area where the amp sits and the other wheel well and determined that mine had a good amount of stock sound dampening but the horizontal surfaces did not, so I pasted some there.

The spare tire well was a tin can of sound. I put a ton of deadening in there and really shored it up. That was nice. I also put a little on the tailgate of her to deaden that just a little more.

Then I moved on to the back seat. I ripped the bench out and then peeled back the back carpets. There is NO sound deadening on the rear floorboards. I will have to go back in with more material at a later date when I fell like really really tearing into the car.

I put some deadening on the vertical surface leading to the rear bench where I put the arrows.

I really need to find out how many things and how far I have to peel the carpet back to get to the floorboards of the rear area...more research to come.

See the pics below for annotations.

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[amartz]

Gotta wonder how much weight all this sound deadening adds to the car?

 

[BrazGenesis]

I had spare memory foam so I basically filled up space like this around the tire to cut down on exhaust noise:

/QUOTE]

Is this memory foam a member of the acoustic materials set you published the links or some spare you had at home?

I like the idea anyway. Could you please provide a link?

I understand it is not glued at all. Right?

 

[OneFunGenesis]

Gotta wonder how much weight all this sound deadening adds to the car?

4.6L V8...weight doesn't matter lol

 

[LandoAWD]

Gotta wonder how much weight all this sound deadening adds to the car?

When we used to strip the deadening material from "racecars" back in the day (DSM factory sprayed in goop), it came to ~10-12lb. Nothing too crazy.

 

[iSOBigD]

You are obviously an expert on what you are doing

Thanks but I'm actually just a guy who did a month of research before taking apart an interior for the first time, so anyone can do this!

in their effort to make the LS-4XX totally silent, used a different approach to this kind of continuous wind related noise: an electronic neutralizing sound that is generated after "hearing" the noises. Any knowledge/product to be shared here?

Yeah, this is something a few cars do which is exactly what Active Noise Canceling headphones do and I wish all cars had it because it's so simple.

They record sound from outside and in real-time play back an inverted version of that sound, thus "canceling" it. In theory, we could have a mic under the car (or in multiple places) wired to a phone app or device which then outputs sound to the car speakers. I'm sure it would be very cheap for car companies to do but my knowledge of electronics is pretty basic. Also the Genesis mutes or lowers the volume of other inputs while it plays back sounds, so we'd have to bypass that somehow...

So I took a shot at this today. I picked up some Peel & Seal from Lowes for $17 and went to tearing the car apart.

Looking good!

Gotta wonder how much weight all this sound deadening adds to the car?

Good question!

16 lb (Acoustic foam, but I didn't use it all)
24 lb (MLV and I have small bits left)
3-4 lb (Vibration reduction roofing tape)
6-7 lb (3" Memory foam I had lying around. This is not specifically meant for soundproofing but thick foam just naturally absorbs/dissipates sound and vibration so I used it)

So I used around 50 pounds at best or around 1.3% out of a ~3800lb car. Basically, it's not noticeable unless I'll add MLV in the doors too. That's the most dense/heavy thing at 0.75 to 1lb per square foot but it does the best job of blocking sound...and even then, it's another 1% or less more weight. Personally, I don't think it makes a difference except the doors may feel more "solid" due to being heavier.

By the way, yes I did not glue foam or MLV in most places. I generally put it on flat surfaces, compressed between existing carpet or stuffed it vertically so it does not move. It's hard to glue foam or MLV, even Hyundai themselves used Velcro in some places or squeezed it in between panels.

 

[iSOBigD]

Rear Door Soundproofing

- Difficulty: Medium (due to having to cut around everything). I suggest getting a friend to help speed things up as you need hold the door while also disconnecting a few things.
- Also, space is tight around the edges, so my thick foam barely fit. CCF + MLV should fit if you cut the edges off a little.

Getting to the 2 screws:

Popping out the door trim and putting in acoustic foam (or CCF + MLV if you have it):

I had to push some foam edges in to pop the trim back in all around, so I probably should have cut a little more off the edges. With simple testing, I originally found the front doors blocked a bit more sound that the rear ones, but I'll compare again once I finish all 4 doors. Right now the rear door minimizes noise well, but you can still hear sound through the window, pillars, etc.

Also the doors sound hollow if you knock on them, but since water and the window get in that area, I didn't put any foam in there (as it would hold water). If you wanted to make knocking on the door sound better, you could remove the metal plate and put waterproof sound dampening material on the inside of the outer door layer to strengthen it more...but I mostly wanted to block sound and not risk any foam getting wet, so I skipped that, put the material directly on that metal plate and then acoustic foam over it (between it and the door trim).

 

[xiaphin]

Unfortunately all of the picture links are broken. Never heard of dump your photos before (static.dyp.im) Personally I use photobucket cause it's free and easy to use.

 

[LandoAWD]

I'd love to see the removal process back, too. I have a rattle by the upper door speaker and the panel removal is a bit harrowing using the limited diagrams in the FSM. "Pop this off" = scary.

 

[iSOBigD]

Sorry guys, the free hosting site I used went down and I can't edit my old posts. I'll try to repost what I can.

 

[iSOBigD]