The increasing motivation behind the recently wide industrial applications of sandwich and composite double panel structures stems from their ability to absorb sounds more effectively. Meticulous selection of the geometrical and material constituents of both the core and panels of these structures can produce highly desirable properties. A good understanding of their vibro-acoustic response and emission index such as the sound transmission loss (STL) is, therefore, a requisite to producing optimal design. In this study, an overview of recent advances in STL of sandwich and composites double panels is presented. At first, some salient explanation of the various frequency and controlled regions are given. It then critically examines a number of parameter effects on the STL of sandwich and composite structures. Literatures on the numerical, analytical and experimental solutions of STL are systematically presented. Efficient and more reliable optimization problems that maximize the STL and minimize the objective functions capable of degrading the effectiveness of the structure to absorb sounds are also provided.