Shooting without a moderator

For your ears probably not, for neighbors yes.

Depends on the power level you are shooting.

heresy ,,,,

Lots of info missing here. What moderator? How fast is your projectile moving?
Not sure how you conducted this test, but there are quite a number of situations where there may not seem to be any noise reduction. If you dry fired indoors, yeah, you're not going to perceive much in the way of noise reduction when using the moderator. I find that my moderators are much more effective when shooting an actual projectile vs dry firing. And they are far and away more effective in an open space vs inside a room. I find my longer moderators tend to work better than my shorter ones, even when the shorter can is fatter. Therefore, I prefer longer, skinnier cans.

Jnewood said:

I'm shooting 30 grain slugs at about 930-940 fps...moderator is a Sumo. It incredible how quite it shoots.

Click to expand...

The Sumo was still loud on my 50 fpe Maverick .22, then I put on a STO Falx and all I can hear is the hammer hit, using that same mod on my 60 fpe .25 Ghost also.

You don’t need a moderator unless it’s too loud or it affects accuracy.

How is your hearing? This seems impossible to me...

Jnewood said:

I'm shooting 30 grain slugs at about 930-940 fps...moderator is a Sumo. It incredible how quite it shoots.

Click to expand...

You may simply have a great tune!

Jay308 said:

The Sumo was still loud on my 50 fpe Maverick .22, then I put on a STO Falx and all I can hear is the hammer hit, using that same mod on my 60 fpe .25 Ghost also.

Click to expand...

Oooh, I'm happy to hear this. I just ordered a STO for myself.

I have gun/ moderator combos that have no discernable sound reduction

at that tune you are not working your gun hard at all. If the tune is well balanced it should not be very loud. I had a Sumo and it was the beginning of the end of me using DFL moderators.
too many other brands that I have found more effective.