Cut away of a Dyno Max muffler #18381

Every 318 iv owned (quite a few) has been straight piped none of them have been over bearing loud. They have all been single pipe with manifolds. Is there any performance benefits in a straight pipe ( no muffler at all) or does it hurt performance? Iv heard that no muffler hurts performance and can damage valves etc is any of that true?
Dont worry about it,its not going to hurt a thing and wont cost you any power.
Not a fan of that straight pipe sound but thats up to anyone what kind of sound we all like,on lower performance engines i like a muffler/glasspack that just takes the edge of the sound slightly.