Drone-seems to me to be an easy way to check if you have it or not

i look forward one day to installing a no drone muffler and yes, its my issue, but drives me nuts to read no drone posts without a clip given its kind of a holy grail thing....and not a cheap thing to change out if it has to be welded and you can't do yourself. anyway, i was driving to work today and i thought there's an easy way for anyone to tell if they have drone or not (level depending on ears may vary) but its pretty simple. if it was just "the level of my exhaust sound" and not drone, it shouldn't disappear once out of the 1500 to 2000 range. matter of fact, i would expect it to get louder with added rpms.

i can test this on my truck simply by dropping my 6th into 5th at highway speed so it gets above 2000 rpm and it clearly sounds like the stock muffler before 1500 rpm and beyond 2000 rpm.

So on that basis, would be nice if people would confirm if they tried that or not when they say "no drone" when they post here. or post a video from idle to beyond 2000 rpm. easy either way and would be more helpful.

(a bit of a rant maybe but i just read a post where the member says their muffler is as loud as x muffler (one of the louder ones i've heard of) but says there's little to no drone) maybe it is, maybe it isn't. would sure be interested to hear that theory tested out to help us out.

If you've cut the resonators off,there isn't any decent straight through muffler that won't drone,no matter what anybody tells you,and you're nuts to swap out the stock muffler for a chambered muffler,you might as well set fire to your money ,lol.You can do a J pipe and play with adjusting it to minimize drone,but it's a bit of work installing one ,and then crawling underneath the truck to fine tune it a few times to get it right.Google J pipe there's lots of video's and info for installing them.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/cadillac...ce-pipes-aka-j-pipes-aka-helmholtz-tubes.html

Wild one said:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/cadillac...ce-pipes-aka-j-pipes-aka-helmholtz-tubes.html

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That's what I did but I have a welder and lots of time these days. I make my own cat back systems for all my cars. I guess it's become a bit of a hobby for me. I bought the welder and taught myself how to weld specifically because of exhaust systems. I was looking at a $2000 dollar system for a C5 Z06 and I thought to myself, it's just a bunch on mostly straight metal pipe. How hard can it be? Turns out it's harder then I thought but I enjoy the process.

I tried 3 different muffler types on my 2007 MegaCan with the 5.7L (No MDS) and got bad drone from two of them and minimal drone from the third, which was a Magnaflow single in/dual out unit. The worst drone occured around 1800 RPM which was freeway speed.No resonator on any of the setups.

I tried 2 different mufflers types on my 2014 CC with the 6.4L (with MDS) and got bad drone from one of them and minimal drone from the other, with MDS On & MDS Off. Again, it was a Magnaflow muffler, this time a single in/single out 3" unit. The worst drone occured around 1800 RPM which was freeway speed. Again, no resonator was used.

The only aftermarket system I've had on my 300 SRT8 6.1L HEMI that doesn't drone is a Corsa. It has resonators at at mid-throttle it growls and at WOT is freakin' roars. Sounds good.

All I can say is that when you have drone there is no doubt about it when you are in your vehicle. The volume and tone of the drone can vary from vehicle to vehicle depending on what muffler was used. But it's there.

All I can offer is a video of a system that doesn't drone:

Wild one said:

If you've cut the resonators off,there isn't any decent straight through muffler that won't drone,no matter what anybody tells you,and you're nuts to swap out the stock muffler for a chambered muffler,you might as well set fire to your money ,lol.You can do a J pipe and play with adjusting it to minimize drone,but it's a bit of work installing one ,and then crawling underneath the truck to fine tune it a few times to get it right.Google J pipe there's lots of video's and info for installing them.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/cadillac...ce-pipes-aka-j-pipes-aka-helmholtz-tubes.html

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no i still have resonators and from what i've heard online my drone is mild to moderate depending on the rpm (i can't remember which way it is but at 1700ish its more..or less than 1500 rpm i've gotten used to it now. funny cause the post after yours he talks about the Corsa not droning while another post today says droned with Corsa until switched to a Borla. lol. i guess its just the nature of aftermarket mufflers that experience will vary. i'm not spending money on another exhaust until the MF muffler or pipes wear out. i am glad i made the change in general, i love the tone of the MF. just wish there hadn't been a trade off to get the nice tone. this all started for me with a few posts at least that claimed the MF had NO DRONE. hardly.

I have LT headers and the 22" Magnaflow does drone a little using dual, but without headers it must be very minimal?

I had to replace my 22" Magnaflow last spring since last winter it got full water that froze and was never as quiet after that.

buddy guy said:

no i still have resonators and from what i've heard online my drone is mild to moderate depending on the rpm (i can't remember which way it is but at 1700ish its more..or less than 1500 rpm i've gotten used to it now. funny cause the post after yours he talks about the Corsa not droning while another post today says droned with Corsa until switched to a Borla. lol. i guess its just the nature of aftermarket mufflers that experience will vary. i'm not spending money on another exhaust until the MF muffler or pipes wear out. i am glad i made the change in general, i love the tone of the MF. just wish there hadn't been a trade off to get the nice tone. this all started for me with a few posts at least that claimed the MF had NO DRONE. hardly.

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You have the mufflex dod24m i guess?
Im up in the air with that one or the solo mach 40 or just adding the borla pro xs with extension pipe.
Thing about the borla is the muffler can be set back farther then the other 2 kits by extending the 3" pipe, the others extend the tailpipe. Not sure if that makes any difference.

Cableman said:

You have the mufflex dod24m i guess?
Im up in the air with that one or the solo mach 40 or just adding the borla pro xs with extension pipe.
Thing about the borla is the muffler can be set back farther then the other 2 kits by extending the 3" pipe, the others extend the tailpipe. Not sure if that makes any difference.

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no just the 22" magnaflow welded in place of original. no other changes to the system.

bassheadhemi said:

I have LT headers and the 22" Magnaflow does drone a little using dual, but without headers it must be very minimal?

I had to replace my 22" Magnaflow last spring since last winter it got full water that froze and was never as quiet after that.

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i only have videos on youtube for other examples of drone level. i've heard worse. i can't judge if its minimal or its moderate. you do get used to it to a certain degree. its not teeth chattering or resonating in your head type drone, but you can't miss it.

I have the Corsa system on my Ram and there is no drone whatsoever, I love it. I found it used from a member on Facebook Ram group and got it for $600. I wouldn’t hesitate to pay full price for it though, that is how much I like it. It is not as deep as some of the other systems out there but I love the sound.

I have the Corsa Extreme on my 2017 Mustang GT and holy crap that thing is loud, but again no drone. IMHO Corsa makes the best exhaust system out there. If you are in the Cincinnati OH area I would be happy to take you for a ride so you can see for yourself.


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The solo is not a big muffler either, more like a mag 14", i dont understand how it could be quieter and less to no drone vs the mag 24!

Cableman said:

The solo is not a big muffler either, more like a mag 14", i dont understand how it could be quieter and less to no drone vs the mag 24!

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Drone is very subjective,what 1 guy will say is "no" drone,another guy will claim the same exhaust set-up has terrible drone ,it's more to do with how sensitive you are to low frequency pulses.Personally I think if you're worried about drone,don't fluck with the exhaust system,leave it alone.All straight through mufflers are going to drone,but to some guys it's livable,to the next guy,he'll hate it.

Wild one said:

Drone is very subjective,what 1 guy will say is "no" drone,another guy will claim the same exhaust set-up has terrible drone ,it's more to do with how sensitive you are to low frequency pulses.Personally I think if you're worried about drone,don't fluck with the exhaust system,leave it alone.All straight through mufflers are going to drone,but to some guys it's livable,to the next guy,he'll hate it.

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Little dont bother me, just figure try and find the one that seems to have the least.
Now back when i was towing a camper with my avalanche, man that thing droned! Cherry bomb muffler and a cai, the cai made the worst drone.

buddy guy said:

i only have videos on youtube for other examples of drone level. i've heard worse. i can't judge if its minimal or its moderate. you do get used to it to a certain degree. its not teeth chattering or resonating in your head type drone, but you can't miss it.

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I would think your 22" MF drone is on the minimal side. I had a 14" MF and that thing gave me a headache the drone was so loud. Either way, drone sucks and I've been there with many mufflers. The 22" Solo Mach 44 I had was the only muffler that had zero drone. All others had minimal to excessive. I can deal with very minimal drone, but am sensitive to the loud, pressure inducing drone that some mufflers produce. I'm running an 18" Heartthrob Velocity currently and it produces a great sounding deep tone with a very quiet cabin. It does drone a tiny bit around 1600 rpm but it's nothing compared to many mufflers I've had on my truck. If I'm not paying attention (or have my radio turned up) I don't even notice it.

I have a mufflex drone suppression pipe if you're interested in trying it. It will most likely take care of the drone you have with your MF.

thx Gdawg. Now I would be interested to hear the Solo Mach 44 (assuming there is no drone) and what it brings to the table sound wise otherwise. Nick claims the Solo (not sure which one...maybe that one) has no drone as well. I suspect my drone level is on the minimal side based on your comment, "if I'm not paying attention or have my radio turned up". and it's definitely not pressure inducing and giving a headache drone.

so, why the switch from the Solo Mach 44 to the Heartthrob Velocity? deeper tone i assume. i just read your post from nov 18 when you had the solo and you seemed to be loving it.

was the mach 44 a complete cat back or just the muffler? and if just the muffler did you keep the resonators or not? do you have a crew cab? did the solo have an nice tone just idling around or do you really hear the exhaust note only when you step on it? i just watched a vid of it and sure it sounds nice when you floor it but i don't drive around town flooring it all the time. one of the things i do like about the mf 22" is just tooling around it has a nice sound and i do a lot of just tooling around

buddy guy said:

thx Gdawg. Now I would be interested to hear the Solo Mach 44 (assuming there is no drone) and what it brings to the table sound wise otherwise. Nick claims the Solo (not sure which one...maybe that one) has no drone as well. I suspect my drone level is on the minimal side based on your comment, "if I'm not paying attention or have my radio turned up". and it's definitely not pressure inducing and giving a headache drone.

so, why the switch from the Solo Mach 44 to the Heartthrob Velocity? deeper tone i assume. i just read your post from nov 18 when you had the solo and you seemed to be loving it.

was the mach 44 a complete cat back or just the muffler? and if just the muffler did you keep the resonators or not? do you have a crew cab? did the solo have an nice tone just idling around or do you really hear the exhaust note only when you step on it? i just watched a vid of it and sure it sounds nice when you floor it but i don't drive around town flooring it all the time. one of the things i do like about the mf 22" is just tooling around it has a nice sound and i do a lot of just tooling around

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Hi Buddy. Yes, I had just the Mach 44 muffler not the entire cat back system. I liken it to the 22" Magnaflow in terms of size and sound. They may use more internal sound deadening compared to MF because I didn't get any drone at all.....and I've had plenty of mufflers that droned (including MF). Quality is the best I've seen so far. It's not overly loud, but had a very nice tone to it. I took it off to try other mufflers because I can't keep well enough alone. It did sound nice, but I wanted just a tad more volume. I have a 2018 crew cab with resonators still on.

Not to bore you, but from the Solo Mach 44 I went to the Flowmaster 50HD. It sounded really good as well and had minimal drone, but alas I wanted something a bit deeper sounding so I tried a Spinach 3000XL. It sounded much better than the Flowmaster, but it droned a bit too much for me. So enter the Heartthrob Velocity. I just went out on a limb on this one and it turned out to be a good move. Very deep sounding muffler, but it does have just a tiny bit of drone....nothing that bothers me unless I'm really paying attention to it. I drove about 150 miles the other day and maybe heard the drone a couple of times. Not bad compared to most all the other mufflers I've had.

Nick at GotExhaust usually recommends the direct fit Mach 40 kit which is a 14" muffler. I had the larger 22" muffler as I wanted something a bit more tame at the time. I'd say if you like the sound of your MF 22" then you'd like the sound of the Mach 44.