ode You may never have consciously related sound to feel, but science says that you probably have done it subconsciously. In fact, the suggestion is that a majority of what people say is "good feel" is directly related to sound. If you block sound and have people hit clubs their perception of the club's feel changes completely.
As far as cast versus forged is concerned, cast clubs don't ding as much from bag chatter. A flush strike with either type will yield the desired results and feel great. Cast is generally less expensive. Therefore, I prefer cast.