It suddenly dawned on me that there is a reason why the 997 had rear tire noise. It was the result of design to leet the natural sound of the rear mounted engine to filter into the ****pit. It was all natural. The 991 on the other hand needed the symposer since in trying to rectify the road and tire noise, the desingn meant that most of the natural engine noise was isolated too. So the engineers had to artificially reproduce the engine soound to get into the ****pit, hence the symposer

 

because they needed to please two different crowds: one was the sound pollution board in europe that wanted no sound; and the other, being the car enthusiasts that wanted the engine sound. What a creative way to please both. Trust me, the sound is amazing even without PSE.

 

So the European sound pollution board is concerned with the engine noise levels inside the car cabin, not outside the car??

...and I thought our US government was intrusive.

 

Move to Switzerland. You have no idea how big a brother government can be in your everyday life.

 

developing an accurate sound has always been important in the 911:

The automotive engineer's vocabulary is typically broad and precise, which makes it intriguing to hear the word "emotion" used increasingly when new technologies are introduced. In the case of Porsche's new 911, emotion was cited by engineers as a key factor in developing the car's acoustic signature.
"Sound was a major design and engineering focus," explained Wolfgang Hatz, Porsche's Main Board Member for Research and Development, who also heads VW Group's powertrain development.
At a recent technology workshop for the 2012 Carrera and Carrera S, Hatz and other Porsche engineers noted that creating a unique sound quality "between the engine and the tailpipe" has been a leading criterion for the 911 ever since the iconic sports car's 1963 debut. For the new Type 991 series (see http://www.sae.org/mags/aei/10167), the development team focused on “mechanical engine sounds characterized by high frequencies with tonal elements” together with low-frequency intake noises.
So significant is the 2012 car’s symphony as deemed by Porsche that the interplay between induction and exhaust was part of the car's design and engineering specification. Computer modeling mapping, as well as analysis of the configuration and dimensions of manifolds, pipework, catalytic converters, and mufflers, was carried out at the company’s Weissach Development Center.
The required sonic profile had to satisfy all possible operating states—from engine starting and idling (conveying power without disturbing the neighbors) to wide-open throttle on a racetrack. The goal was not only to deliver the aural “emotions” expected of a 911 but also to provide the driver with feedback about the car’s mechanical status while meeting Europe's 74 dB(A) drive-by noise requirements.
Electronically synthesized noise is not a Porsche solution, so the engineers developed a new Sound Symposer that is standard on both versions of the car. An acoustic channel picks up intake vibrations between the throttle valve and air filter and a membrane incorporated in the channel reinforces the vibrations and transmits them as an engine sound into the cabin. The system is driver activated or deactivated via a “Sport” button that controls a valve ahead of the membrane.
The result is a direct acoustic link between the cabin occupants and the engine, providing optimal transmission of the load-dependent sounds. The sound of gearshifts can also be enhanced.
The Sound Symposer incorporates a tunable Helmholtz resonator to achieve an harmonious sound pattern, damping out unpleasant noise occurring at around 5000 rpm.
If the Sound Symposer is deactivated, an aperture in the air filter housing still allows the basic engine and exhaust tones to be heard—"because we don’t want it to sound boring!” explained Dr. Bernhard Pfäfflin, General Manager of the Noise and Vibration Department.

which basically means that the symposer is giving the sound more oomph!

 

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN! SWITZERLAND 'S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE. SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

 

Unlike the new M5 which WILL have artificial sound piped into the speakers the Porsche kit is purely a means to get the actual sound into the cabin. It's not artificial but just piped in... at least as I understand it.

Best,

Matt

 

actually, is the other way around... they care about the noise outside, so Porsche channeled to the inside of the cabin...

 

After reading all of that (thanks for posting, by the way), I found this - by far, to be the most interesting fact on the entire subject:

That there is a damn department of NOISE AND VIBRATION!!! Apparently with so many people, and I imagine equipment, that there is a General Manager (with other senior officials, as the term General Manager would imply).

 

Interesting...

 

"hey dude, what you do for a living?"
"i am general manager of noise and vibration"
"for ****?"
"no for Porsche!!!"

 

 

I spent several years working on the materials side with our OE exhaust customers and auto makers on exhaust systems. You'd be surprised how many people get involved in the design and sound of an exhaust system. It gets very subjective as to the outside versus inside sound. In the end you have a group of people standing around a car as it is started, allowed to idle and then a drive by. It's almost like the videos on Sharkwerks. Then add in the people working in vibration suppression and you've got quite a crew.

 

This is true (I don't need to yell), but they don't like speeders. Their speeding fines are scaled to the wealth of the driver. So if you speed your fine could be thousands to millions of Shweeetzzer Frrrunken.

But they don't let you just move there.... now Switzerland has a restrictive immigration law.

But then Switzerland didn't allow switch blade knives, as did many other countries, so recently Germany changed its spring loaded knife laws (boo). Eliminate functionality all in the name of threats that don't really exist.

 

I'm just guessing, but I'll bet you have never lived in Switzerland. I doubt that you have ever even visited there. Take it from an expat who lived and worked there, Switzerland is more restrictive than many "police states".

But the scenery is very nice. I call it God's personal toy train set. Complete with little trains, cars and cows.