How do cue balls affect the sound of the hit

[Tom1234]

Thoughts from your experiences with different brands of cue balls and different tips would be greatly appreciated. I recently installed a Precision hard tip on one of my personal cues. I played for a few days on my son's table; don't know the brand of balls that came with it. Bottom line, when I returned home to play on a Diamond table with a different set of balls (I was told they were Cyclops), the hard tip sounded like a brick hitting a concrete wall!! The tip made a dull thud sound on my son's table. Why the huge difference? Thanks.

 

[Sunchaser]

I hear ya...I can also tell hear a difference on Diamond tables too. The cue ball is / seems heavier, and like a different coating on it too. Hard and slippery. I play on Diamond tables two nights a week...enough to notice a difference. Matt D.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... the hard tip sounded like a brick hitting a concrete wall!! The tip made a dull thud sound on my son's table...

Two possibilities I can think of: different room acoustics with less echo in your son's room; your son does not have phenolic balls.

There is a demo somewhere on the interwebz of a gun being fired in an anechoic chamber. It sounds like a mild pop. Here is a comparison of a balloon popping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq07ZFMvo-c