You should consider the purpose of the ferrule before putting so much stock in how it should perform. A ferrule is installed with the idea that it keeps the end of the shaft from being damaged from impact. With no ferrule, the shaft is subject to mushrooming, cracking, breaking, etc. The ferrule is a reinforcing component, not an acting one. That said, not all are created equal.
Some are solid & unforgiving while others compress & absorb energy. Some are heavy, some are light. But in the end nothing about a ferrule is more important than how it was installed. My experience is that most are 1" long, 5/16-18 threaded onto the tenon with roughly 1/8" solid cap that the tip glues to. This is a pretty standard, accepted way to install ferrules. This also leaves much dependence on the material type to influence the feel & overall playability. Another accepted way but less common is a 3/8" unthreaded tenon with a ferrule pressed on & the tip glues directly to the end of the shaft wood. In other words, it's a thin sleeve that does minimal beyond reinforcing the end of the wood. This will put all of the playability & feel aspects on the rest of the cue to determine, no matter what material is used, within reason. There are as many install techniques as there are materials to use. It's a science all in itself. I'm not sure how many people actually experiment & form their own technique or how many simply just follow suite & do things the way they think everybody else does, but it's a very critical area of the cue. So my point is, there's no good answer to the question unless you sincerely consider all factors.
I'll not go into how I do mine, but high grade, very hard LBM is my choice. Even though I love the stuff, I can use an old school cotton fiber ferrule & my cues still feel & play the same. I have even tried PVC just see what happens, and still no change. But I will say that when I was using 5/16-18 capped ferrules I had to be very choosy which material I used because it made a difference. Now I choose ferrule material based on how thin it can get & still be trustfully durable.
Just my thoughts. Again, you should consider all factors before assuming. There's far more to the ferrule science than just material.
