My arrow makes more noise hitting the target at 30 yards than my Excal does firing it.
Outside of game there are other benifits to dampening the whole system, I shoot a whole lot and that noise gets on my nerves after a while. Sorta like someone slamming the door on your new car.
I think the neatest part was Don's ability to find the harmonics of a string and counter it with whiskers. The bow has always been a pleasure to shoot, losing that "crack" sound (and feel) makes repetitive shooting more enjoyable.