Sound Testing A Dozen LDCs

[mrbulk]

With the addition of a couple more name-brand LDCs, I re-compared their loudness with a basic (cheap) sound meter from a fixed distance. All of the LDCs were fired through with the same gun, in this case an Avenger .22 w/reg set at 1800psi and hammer spring turned inward 2.75 rotations.

At these settings the JSB .22 18.13-gr diabolos were averaging in the mid-800s fps with over 90 useful shots. Close to 30 FPE and definitely not backyard friendly without an LDC.

For this test the gun was fired downrange into a duct seal silent trap using the same JSB 18.13-gr pellets, and the decibel meter was placed even with the muzzle and 6 feet off to one side. The following comparisons are broken down by category.

Sorted by dB:
83.40    DonnyFL Sumo   
83.57    Huma 40mm Std   
84.40    STO Falx      
84.63    DonnyFL Tanto   
85.17    Rocker1      
85.63    Geo Long      
85.70    Neil Clague      
85.93    Geo Short      
86.33    TKO Slim      
87.57    Zero DB 110C   
87.57    Wolf 35mm      
88.43    Wolf 30mm      
98.83    Bare Barrel

Sorted by COST ($):
27   Geo Short      
29   Geo Long      
49   Wolf 30mm      
59   Wolf 35mm      
65   Rocker1         
92   TKO Slim      
99   DonnyFL Tanto   
120   Zero DB 110C   
129   STO Falx      
135   N Clague      
150   DonnyFL Sumo   
160   Huma 40mm Std

Sorted by VOLUME (cu. in. calculated from ext. dimensions):
5.11   Rocker1         
5.25   TKO Slim      
5.68   Zero DB 110C   
6.02   DonnyFL Tanto   
6.06   Geo Short      
7.68   Geo Long      
8.32   Wolf 30mm      
11.25   Wolf 35mm      
12.10   DonnyFL Sumo   
12.70   STO Falx      
12.88   Neil Clague      
14.14   Huma 40mm Std   

Sorted by WEIGHT (oz.):
1.7 Geo Short
2.3 Geo Long      
2.9 TKO Slim
3.3 Rocker1
3.5 Zero DB 110C
3.8 DonnyFL Tanto
4.7 Wolf 30mm
5.9 DonnyFL Sumo
5.9 Neil Clague
6.4 STO Falx
6.6 Wolf 35mm
7.6 Huma 40mm Std

Actual Meter Readings: (High to Low):
Bare Bbl- 99.0/98.7/98.8    (98.83 avg)
Wolf 30- 88.7/88.4/88.2   (88.43 avg)
Wolf 35- 86.9/87.8/88.0   (87.57 avg)
Zero DB- 88.0/87.6/87.1   (87.57 avg)
TKO Slim- 85.7/86.5/86.8   (86.33 avg)
Geo Shrt- 85.5/85.8/86.5   (85.93 avg)
Neil Clague- 85.9/85.2/86.0   (85.7 avg)
Geo Long- 85.9/85.5/85.5   (85.63 avg)
Rocker1- 85.7/84.8/85.0   (85.17 avg)
Tanto- 84.7/84.2/85.0   (84.63 avg)
STO Falx- 83.7/84.9/84.6   (84.4 avg)
Huma- 83.3/84.2/83.2      (83.57 avg)
Sumo- 82.9/83.8/83.5      (83.4 avg)

Feel free to compare these units via the different categories but keep in mind that some units, although not the best in any one measurement, came off looking pretty good by placing in the top five of every category. For example, look at the slim and lightweight Rocker1.

And the Sumo finally beat its little brother now that pellets were actually fired through the LDCs. In fact the Sumo beat everything in the dB category.

It should be said that the larger units, through sheer volume, may handle even higher-powered guns better than the smaller units, and thus results may differ from this specific test. The above comparisons are for these particular units on this day with this gun in its current tune shooting this ammo at today’s temperature, barometer, humidity and other associated weather conditions. And maybe even what phase the moon was in.

Also the sound deadening effect is notably dramatic going from bare barrel to any LDC. Even the loudest unit, the Polish Wolf 30mm, was noticeably quieter than the bare barrel. It should be remembered that on the decibel scale, doubling the intensity corresponds to an increase of 3 dB. This does not correspond to a perceived doubling of loudness, however. We perceive loudness to be doubled when the intensity increases by a factor of 10, which corresponds to a 10 dB increase. So we would perceive the bare barrel (98.83 dB) to be about twice as loud as the Wolf 30mm (88.43).

Again these are just relative comparisons that may prove useful. No science was harmed (or even used) in the testing of these LDCs!

If nothing else, I hope you found this little LDC adventure entertaining.

[Tater]

Great testing there Charlie. Every gun has different characteristics, but this is a great baseline using a fairly common set-up. Thanks for putting in the time to test/post this.

[Bob Pratl]

Charlie, thanks for testing and sharing, great job.

[KnifeMaker]

Great review with a lot of effort! thank You!!!


KnifeMaker

[VaporTrail]

Great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there. 

Just to add my 2 cents, I have an assortment Clagues; one for a Boss .22, another for a Bulldog. Internally, they are quite different...and I've noticed it affects sound output.

[Jshooter71]

Excellent! Thanks for putting this together, Charlie!

[Insanity]

Thanks for sharing its nicer when there is some data to back up ones ear alone.

[AlanMcD]

No science was harmed (or even used) in the testing of these LDCs!

I beg to differ!  Los of science used in this test!!

(I do agree that none was harmed though  )

[JohnnyPDX]

Thank you for making the significant effort to generate the data AND present it in a logical and easy to understand format.

I've seen some "data" that's impossible to interpret, this is EASY.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Hey Charlie, Is the only difference between this test and the previous...
 https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=178850.0
Is that this was shooting a pellet, not dry firing?
 Just wondering how the DFL Sumo came out above the Tanto this time.
I purchased a Tanto based on your previous test and am VERY happy with it..

[superchikn]

Charlie,  Very well done and very useful information.
Thank you for all of the work you put into this and for sharing it with us.

[Earl]

Good information.
Good to know the results using pellets.
I like the way you sorted the information different ways.
It is interesting to compare the sound with pellets vs the sound without pellets from before.
Thank you Charlie.

[Tonycalves]

Charlie great write up thank you.

[mrbulk]

Thanks gents (no ladies on here so far, right?), it is a good feeling to know that this turned out useful for some.

My only hope is to add more and more units as time and finances permit, as well as testing them through higher (and perhaps even lower?) powered airguns.

[Nomadic Pirate]

So,
 what's the real world difference, .......to your ear if you are downrange between 83 and 85 ?

[mrbulk]

Hey Charlie, Is the only difference between this test and the previous...
 https://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=178850.0
Is that this was shooting a pellet, not dry firing?
 Just wondering how the DFL Sumo came out above the Tanto this time.
I purchased a Tanto based on your previous test and am VERY happy with it..

Scott, you are correct. This is the same basic test except With pellets (slaps hand to forehead) . I was informed that With a pellet the air behind it is forced deeper and more thoroughly into/around/through all the little air trap crevices engineered to keep more air occupied by swirling around inside rather than exiting the barrel at the same time/velocity as the pellet itself.

To be fair the Tanto and Sumo are both subjectively very quiet to begin with, as were all the units actually, especially when fired right after hearing it with a bare barrel. But the differences present themselves in different ways, especially when talking about perceived volume as well as the more subjective "type" of sound each one makes, as has been described in other threads. At least the Tanto is more compact, but at no time did I feel the Sumo was like a "soup can" or anything overly large.

[JungleShooter]

Charlie, 😊

you've done good, VERY GOOD! 👍🏼

Thank you for all your efforts to help us select the right silencer. 👍🏼

This is excellent information.
And excellently presented.
Including your explanation of +3dB and the +10dB increases. 👍🏼


I will have this added shortly to the Silencer Specs Table! 😊

Matthias

[mrbulk]

So,
 what's the real world difference, .......to your ear if you are downrange between 83 and 85 ?

Manny, this trial was like testing a bunch of car tires on one certain car at one certain speed. The higher performance tires would likely perform and hold up better if run on a Porsche or Ferrari.

In other words, the Clague unit (which was built for 50fpe according to Neil) has a significant initial expansion chamber in the first couple of inches (based on what I could see internally with a magnifier from one end and a light shining through the other, it was impossible to disassemble without ruining it) and I suspect if this test was done with a 50fpe gun the Clague would have reduced more perceived output than most of the others which were not designed specifically for higher-powered airguns. In fact such a powerful gun would likely have damaged some of the lighter weight units.

I am starting to think of shooting these through a low power gun, CO2 perhaps, just to see what kind of readings I get. But on such a gun I don't think the significantly larger units would do much more to reduce sound output than the smaller units.

[mrbulk]

Charlie, 😊

you've done good, VERY GOOD! 👍🏼

Thank you for all your efforts to help us select the right silencer. 👍🏼

This is excellent information.
And excellently presented.
Including your explanation of +3dB and the +10dB increases. 👍🏼


I will have this added shortly to the Silencer Specs Table! 😊

Matthias

Thanks Matthias, I also have the length/diameter measurements of each one which I used to calculate their cubic inch volumes, LMK if needed and I'll PM/e-mail them to you.

The dB explanation was a conclusion I drew from studying a bunch of online articles which I thought were helpful, so I threw it in.

[joelittel]

JungleShooter, is your Silencer Spec Table for public consumption? I'd love to take a look at it if it is.