The Power of Microcell Foam for Audio
When it comes to audio isolation, many people turn to traditional materials like felt, cork, and rubber. While these have their uses, a new class of engineered materials specifically, microcell rigidized foam offers a fundamentally different and more effective approach. MITMATS’ proprietary technology harnesses the power of this material to deliver superior resonance damping, providing a level of clarity and detail that traditional solutions cannot match. The key lies in understanding how this material interacts with vibrational energy at a microscopic level.
The Limitations of Traditional Materials
Felt, cork, and rubber mats have been staples in the audiophile world for decades. Each has a specific way of interacting with vibrations, but they all have inherent limitations.
- Felt: Felt mats are lightweight and can provide a decent level of isolation by simply lifting the record off the platter’s surface. However, they are poor at damping vibrations, are prone to static electricity, and can even cling to the record upon removal, potentially affecting the stylus.
- Cork: Cork’s cellular structure makes it a good natural damper, and it has anti-static properties. However, its effectiveness is limited to a narrow frequency band, and it can be too “soft” to properly couple with the record, leading to a loss of dynamics.
- Rubber: Dense rubber is excellent at absorbing and dissipating vibrational energy, making it a popular choice for damping metal platters. The downside is its weight, which can put a strain on entry-level turntable motors, and it can sometimes “over-dampen” the sound, removing desirable musical energy along with the noise.
The Science of Microcell Rigidized Foam
MITMATS’ technology is built on a material known as microcell rigidized foam, a specially formulated PVC matrix infused with thousands of microscopic, sealed gas bubbles. These bubbles are not visible to the naked eye but are the secret to the material’s performance.
Instead of relying on mass to resist motion, the microcell foam acts as a highly efficient energy converter. When a vibration whether from a stylus, a footfall, or the turntable motor hits the mat, the tiny gas bubbles act as thousands of microscopic shock absorbers. They compress and decompress, rapidly converting the kinetic energy of the vibration into minute amounts of heat, which is then dissipated.
This process allows the mat to achieve a high degree of damping while remaining remarkably lightweight. MITMATS claims its technology can reduce low-frequency resonance by 3-10 dB and high-frequency ringing by up to 20 dB, a significant improvement over many traditional mats.
A Deeper Dive into the Damping Process
The superiority of microcell foam lies in its ability to manage a broad spectrum of vibrational frequencies simultaneously. A key aspect of its design is its “constrained layer” construction, where the foamed core is sandwiched between two flat, rigid PVC layers.
- Low-Frequency Damping: The rigidized foam’s structure effectively dampens low-frequency resonances, such as motor rumble and footfall, without adding unnecessary mass.
- High-Frequency Damping: The flat, rigid sandwich layers are crucial for controlling high-frequency platter ringing and micro-vibrations generated by the stylus-to-groove interaction. This prevents the high-pitched “noise” from being transmitted back into the cartridge and mucking up the signal.
The combination of these two mechanisms ensures that the mat works in a comprehensive way to quiet the noise floor, allowing the subtle nuances and dynamics of the music to emerge. This is what leads to a clearer soundstage, tighter bass, and an overall more engaging listening experience.
Q&A Section
Q: Is microcell foam the same as memory foam? A: No. Memory foam is an “open-cell” foam, meaning its cells are interconnected. This makes it soft and pliable, ideal for cushioning, but a poor choice for audio isolation as it lacks the rigidity and specific damping properties of a “closed-cell” foam like the one used by MITMATS.
Q: How does the lack of a label recess on a MITMAT help? A: A consistent thickness across the entire mat surface ensures that the record is perfectly flat. This allows the mat’s damping technology to work uniformly, spreading the vibrational energy from the stylus/groove interaction evenly across the mat and platter, where it can be properly “drained away” as heat.
Q: Is a lightweight mat better than a heavy one? A: Not necessarily. The best mat is the one that is most effective at damping resonance while not negatively impacting the turntable’s performance. Many high-mass mats can slow down or strain a turntable’s motor, leading to speed instability and other issues. The advantage of a lightweight, highly-effective material like microcell foam is that it provides exceptional damping without any of the drawbacks associated with heavy mats.