I recently pulled the intake manifold on my 2015 GMC Yukon Denali.
After reading and viewing others opinions regarding the elimination of the foam pad between the intake manifold and the VLOM plate I decided to leave it out. Wrong choice! There was so much noise from the high pressure pump and fuel injectors that I pulled the intake and put the foam back in.
I agree it would be loud with that pad. The Ford Ecoboost have a small piece of the same material over their hpfp and it makes a huge difference. I normally hate the foam stuff underneath intakes but in these hpfp scenarios it actually makes sense.