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Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
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MushyHeirloom
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
The iPhone, with its microphone facing into the wind, will do you a lot worse than your ears, which are conveniently angled to block out much of the wind rushing around you. Compare a consumer video camera mounted on the front of a race car to one mounted on the rear bumper.
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philibuster
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
NOW YOU TELL ME.
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MushyHeirloom
10/07/09

@philibuster: WHAT DO THE JEWS SELL, OLD CHAP?
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brandegee
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
In my neighborhood, 88 dB is a motorcycle from one-half mile.
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dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
What about that ear piercing screaming in my right ear every time I go round a corner at my normal speed? That can't be good for my hearing.
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
10/07/09

@dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!: I'd recommend drowning it out with squealing from all four corners.
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DonSchenck
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
"I just got a new hearing aid!"

"What kind is it?"

"About quarter after three!"
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OM617952
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
Why is Jalopnik reporting uncalibrated and unscientific tests done by two individuals as fact?
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pauljones
10/07/09

@OM617952: It wasn't reported as fact. Peter simply reported what the results of the study were.
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ss750ie
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
My old '74 Jensen Healey not only made me deaf, I'm sure it damaged the hearing of even some Harley riders when I flew by them! I had Dave Bean headers that fed straight back to an 18 inch Supertrapp with about 16 discs in it. I was a stupid teen then, but to me it sounded better than any music could. Problem is that damn car not only made me lose my hearing, but all my spare cash at the time too!
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MOPAR-MAN
10/07/09

@ss750ie: You did the right thing.
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powermatic
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
"....while motorcyclists are well versed in using ear protection...'

It would be nice to think so, but you'd be amazed at how many riders I meet who don't have a clue-'I can't hear the engine when I'm riding' , 'I wear a helmet, I don't need ear plugs' etc. etc. Just amazing.
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Racin_G73 - dirt track legend (some day ... maybe)
10/07/09

@powermatic: To support your point, I'll say "Huh? I wear a full-face helmet. You mean I need ear plugs, too?"

I wear ear plugs when I drive my racecar with its two-foot header pipes sticking straight off both sides of the 377 motor. (Under a full face helmet, as well.) But I had assumed that the helmet, by itself, was adequate for my 800 cc motorcycle engine with its street legal exhaust.
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veronykah
10/07/09

@racin_g73: I don't see why a full face wouldn't be good enough. Its preventing the noise of the wind in your ears and also the wind rushing INTO your ears which is also apparently bad for them.
I recently started wearing ear plugs with my 1/2 helmet and it actually feels better with them anyway.
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that ain't the way to have fun, son
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
The Sebring convertible will allow your hearing to be damaged because of wind noise, but it'll result from the trucks passing you while waiting for a tow on the shoulder.
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Edited by that ain't the way to have fun, son at 10/07/09 11:43 AM

MushyHeirloom
10/07/09

@brake booster by Lucas...I'd better get religion!: I'd be more concerned about going blind from the styling than deaf from the wind noise.
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GuinevereEscared
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
Apparently, the dBMeter Pro app for iPhone uses linear frequency weighting, whereas most current standard limits are given in A-Weighted units. (A-weighting uses frequency filtering that attempts to simulate the hearing response vs. frequency of a "typical" human subject, based on empirical testing done many decades ago. This is over-simplified, but there you go.) Without A-weighting, dB sound levels tend to indicate much higher when there is substantial low-frequency content, such as is present in turbulent air, such as would be the case in a convertible traveling at highway speeds. The measured levels reported are not meaningful in this context. Further, the iPhone has not been established a a valid measurement instrument for such situations, especially without any sort of windscreen for the microphone. Beyond that, we have a measurement done with an UNCALIBRATED instrument, a point which the App's author makes very clearly in the description of the software.

I also agree with all of the common-sense arguments raised by previous commenters, regarding COMPARING the results for convertibles with other types of vehicles, including with windows and/or sunroof open at the same speeds.

No offense, but this is what happens when someone with a little engineering background decides to do acoustics work. "Engineering judgement" can help with some issues, but a lack of expertise in the field results in a "study" that is basically flawed and useless.

Thanks for listening

_Dave_
!

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Peter Orosz
10/07/09

@GuinevereEscared: Thanks for all the science…I knew I could count on the Jalopnik community to deliver it!
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RandomGuyWithaMazda
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
Now I'm gay AND deaf for driving a miata? Well fuck, I bet there is fetish for that, at least.
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gla2yyz
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
I'll pretend I didn't hear that.
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1300ccsoffury
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
Roll the windows up in a convertible? Why not just buy a car with a sunroof?
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brigal
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
Your Decibel explanation is wrong a numerical increase of approximately 3 dB is equal to a doubling of the sounds energy, an increase of 10 doubles the subjective loudness of the sound, and a doubling of the amplitude of the sound is an increase of 6dB
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Peter Orosz
10/07/09

@brigal: How correct. And how far my days studying physics suddenly seem.
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01NB, now with less 01NB
10/07/09

In reply to Will Convertibles Make You Deaf?
As a Miata and motorcycle owner, I must say that I'm listening to you, but I don't hear you.

And yes, the elbow-windowsill-age is CRUCIAL to my experience. Roll up the winders... PFFT!

Did the study check to see how much damage is done by cranking the stereo so it can be heard over the wind noise?
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
10/07/09

@01NB needs a vacation: I bet you wish now (as do I) that NBs had the same headrest speaker option as the NAs!
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