Motorheads will definitely be appalled at the idea of drowning out the sound of a high performance car’s engine, such as those from the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley and Maserati. Sound Design Lab LLC and the Takeshi Toi Laboratory at Chuo University are working on a particular project that will make your engine sound a whole lot more comfortable. It is said that until now, engine sound was perceived by us humans as noise (although motorheads will definitely disagree), and along the way, the very same research team realized that engine sound is actually very similar to the tonal characteristics of stringed instruments.
The research team mentioned, “Electric and hybrid vehicles are gaining popularity, but these types of cars don’t generate any engine sound. There are concerns that they may be dangerous to others who can’t hear them coming. The best solution would be if a person could hear the sound of the engine and immediately recognize about how fast the car is traveling and from which direction. The only way to create comfortable engine sound is to examine all of those sounds and determine what types actually sound like an engine but are comfortable.” I could not agree more.
I’d hate to have the Ferrari sound like a violin playing when you floor the accelerator – give me the throaty growl any day.
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