Quietest yo-yos?

General Yo-Yo
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I’ve been meaning to open a topic on this and Mr. Smiley of the Pants made me think of it again:

What makes a yo-yo quiet, and how? I have a few thoughts. First, material. The material the yo-yo is made of has a big effect:

  • Plastic is more resonant and louder than Aluminum.
  • Delrin is a little quieter (because it is denser, I think) but still has that plastic sound to it.
  • Hybrid plastic with metal rings is almost always the loudest there is because that adds to the resonance of plastic – see Overthrow for an extreme example
  • Titanium as a monometal isn’t loud per se but “sings” so it isn’t exactly quiet. Bimetal titanium does not sing nearly as much so if you want the quietest titanium, you want a bimetal.
  • Very large aluminum yo-yos tend to ring a bit, e.g. Sasquatch 2018, Big Boi

Also the bearing has a big impact on noise in play, as you’d expect:

  • If you like quiet, you definitely want a lightly lubed bearing and not a totally dry one.
  • Certain bearing brands may be “smoother” and thus quieter than others
  • But some bearings are inherently more noisy than others, even from the same batch and brand, there seems to be a fair bit of variance

I’d say if you want a quiet yo-yo… go for a normal sized monometal aluminum, and swap in the quietest lightly lubed bearing you have in your collection. And avoid plastics and hybrids at all costs :wink:

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I imagine cup design has to play a roll too, along with material and bearing. The Top Deck for example, the cup almost amplifies the noise of the bearing. I have never played a Ti yoyo, but at it’s quietest, the Top Deck “sings” too.

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Yeah thickness throughout is desired to reduce resonance. So even with aluminum you’d want a yo-yo that has kinda “all thick” sections, and not extreme thin-ness?

Also I was thinking an undersized Al might be the quietest of all because it’s THICC throughout to get the proper weight in a small size.

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And for the record, the N12 is THE quietest yoyo I have played. It’s crazy. No joke, I can’t hear it spinning. No subtle metallic shhhhhh, nothing. Literally dead silent. It is the yoyo I play at night time so as not to disturb the Mrs. Smileypants. It’s actually kind of incredible.

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I’ve always found plastic the be quiet as it tends to deaden the sound. Some of my aluminums have a bit of a ring, especially a couple of thinner wall SPYY models, and I think the aluminum amplifies the sound. The biggest source of noise is the bearing.

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I’ve never found any plastics to be particularly quiet, but you’re definitely right that some metal yo-yos are noisier than others.

And the overthrow is just crazy loud. It is literally the loudest yo-yo I own, and I own… a lot…

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I know I’m biased, but the 2018 eH is pretty hush.

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Yeah I didn’t even cover wood, but due to people using super thick amounts of it, I would say it is fairly quiet. Not really a fair comparison unless you have a bearing based wood on hand though. I do have one that @Glenacius_K made for me!

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I put my NSK bearing in my Moose and it makes no sound at all

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With a lubed (responsive) bearing, I can definitely report that the Sage and the SFX are both as silent as plastic gets.

I also found that with a lubed (unresponsive) bearing, the Format:C and the Prime8 are virtually silent, only the slightest hint of a whirrrrr sound. But that’s just because, well, air resistance!

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Quietest yoyo I’ve ever had was a One Drop Markmont Next with a lubed 10 ball bearing. No sound to it. Makes sense, thick walls don’t ring as much.

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Just wondering how many?

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My alleycats and deep state are super quiet

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I’m still wanting one-of the two

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I find delrin yoyos with lubed bearings to be quite quiet.

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Nine dragons :rofl: That thing makes a tremendous racket.

Seriously though, my edge beyond is so quiet it throws me off. From its design I would never expect it to be so quiet. My opyoyo 543 is super quiet also, they happen to be my only throws that have that NSK bearing.

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Very high quality bearings (consistency!) are definitely a plus.

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Your upgraded bearing should be in the mail this week. It should stay quiet for longer

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Thanks! That 543 amazes me every time I pick it up. After mentioning it earlier, I had to pick it up and throw it again.

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My MYY Y01 Node is dead quiet, to a surprising degree in fact! I’ve not had it that long and I am half expecting it to end soon what with it being a cheap yoyo and cheap bearing and everything. I’ll be very happy if it proves otherwise however :slight_smile:

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