Quick question. I wear the nightingale boots for the muffle enchantment but I am still not sure if it is worth it. Sometimes it seems like I'm not muffled and I can still hear my our footsteps. Does it work properly?

bump?

I remember thinking I could still hear my and and especially my followers' footsteps when we both had Muffle boots on. But it soon became apparent that enemies couldn't.

I think the game's sound effects are not coded to change just because you have the enchanted gear on, that would be my guess. I've got muffle enchantments on my gear now and have always used it when I could find it, and it always seems to make a difference.

Nightingale boots give you 100% noise reduction if you get it at Level 32 and above, but if you get it earlier, it gives you 50% or 25% noise reduction. Do you know when you got it?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Nightingale_Boots

Actually abacus707 you are partially right. The muffle spell gives your character 100% silence. Muffle boots gives you 50%, and the Muffled Movement perk under Sneak gives you the other 50%. Keep in mind there are many factors that are calculated when you are sneaking, for instance, ambiant lighting, NPC facing, armor, casting a spell, speed during sneaking (which ceases to be a factor when getting the Silence perk), etc.

Actually Artist of War, you are mostly right. Most muffle boots that you find in the wild give you 50% noise reduction, but Nightingale boots are exception to that. If you get Nightingale Boots under level 18, you only get 25% noise reduction. If you get Nightingale Boots after level 32, you get 100% noise reduction.

Muffle enchantment is a bit quirky. If you disenchant a pair of ordinary muffle boots and enchant a pair yourself, you always get 100% noise reduction, even if you have no skills in enchanting and use petty soul.