Carpet and the padding underneath are the optimal sound dampening flooring surface choice. The thickness of the padding will directly affect both the durability and level of sound absorption.
Sound insulation
What is underneath your flooring matters. Sufficient sound dampening may be achieved by installing a layer of soundproofing underlay (i.e. cork, rubber, acoustical board) between the subfloor and flooring surface.
Engineered wood, Laminate and Vinyl are all flooring surfaces with multi-ply construction that will provide additional sound insulation when compared to solid hardwoods. These options are viewed as even more ideal when considering budget, resilience and ease of installation.
Waterproof vinyl
Waterproof vinyl allows you to maintain the elegant look and feel of traditional hardwood flooring, is one of the most technologically advanced and most popular surface choices, while also ideal for sound dampening.