What am I missing?

Has anyone tried the active noise cancelling headphones. I noticed that Sony's are now a stock item at Walmart at about 55. I was thinknig about the Bose but at 300 and bannedby the nanny state is certain locales, I don't know if they are worth it.

So are earplugs (unless you get prescription ones).

I imagine the Sony one's are banned as well.

The last time I looked at the specs on the cheap "active noise cancelling" headphones, they were pretty bad. Not much more than 10dB attennuation over a pretty limited bandwidth. IIRC, the Bose were less than 20dB.

Ten cent earplugs provide 30dB across the entire audible range, and aren't nearly as obvious to the "nannies".

Even with earplugs in and stereo cranked, I can still hear the traffic around me and the outside world in general much better than I can in my parent's Caddilac with no earplugs, the windows up, AC on, and the radio on at even a low level.

pray tell, what/where was the source of parts for your tranny mod ???

Pete

Guys its a open top sports car

It was designed to be noisy, that's part of the appeal of a sports car.

Do you guys add cola to Champaign? Chew on a stick of gum while eating caviar?

It really is an eye opener for me to see how, a few of you guys across the pond differ from the majority of Europeans.

I have many people that have become mates through MX-5 ownership, throughout the world, a fair number have done regular long trips, and I have never heard 1 person, either driver or passenger, complain about the noise.

I just hope car designers look through forums like this to gauge feelings and interests.

If they do, please guys design your SPORTS CAR to be a wind in your hair spitting bugs sporty car, Then give an option of a Lux pack, with extra, heavy sound proofing quiet exhaust, super soft suspension, extra boot space, maybe 2 more seats in the back for the kids, and maybe a roof because it does get cold in winter. As an idea you could call your new car a family car or an SUV.

If you don't like the noise buy a hard top, or a SUV, a sports care should be a full sensory experience.

Cheers Mark.

We put ICE in our tea.

And what constitutes a long trip is a matter of perspective. The CIA fact book gives a surface area for Greece of 131,940 sq km. In contrast, my home state of Texas is 692588 sq. km.

From Houston to Dallas (the next big town) is approximately 400 km. It is not unusual for someone to drive, for business reasons, and return the same day. This is all Freeway driving in fairly heavy traffic and high speeds with minimal enjoyment of the trip.

Outside of metropolitan areas, European intercity traffic appears to be fairly light. Here, the traffic is much heavier, and unfortunately, the drivers much loopier (with a high proportion of immigrants, yankees that rode the train to work and never drove, and people talking on their cell phones)

Besides this thread started with a transcontinental trip. I used to do 1450 km from Lafayette, Louisiana to Miami Florida, or back, in 16 hours fairly regular. That was about as fast as I could go because of the heavy traffic. When you pull a drive like that you want all the help you can get.

No kidding.

Sure, permanent hearing loss sounds fun and glamorous at first, but it really isn't.

No! That would be waste of good cola.

I don't like cavier.

Dude, I know people who think that the word "deaf" means cool, but they don't mean it _literally_.

I don't _have_ to complain about it. I wear earplugs. Problem solved.

No thanks, I don't want any of that stuff, and I don't recall every saying that I did. I'm not all that keen on power steering and power brakes in a car the size of an MX-5.

Why, when a 10 cent set of earplugs prevents the hearing damage while still allowing me to enjoy the car? Just because my hearing isn't being damaged doesn't mean I can't hear the engine, the tires on the road, and the car in my blind spot. Perhaps your ears are shot, but mine still have 80-90dB of dynamic range. Reducing 80dB SPL noise by 30dB doesn't make it inaudible, it just makes it non-damaging.

If you want to damage your hearing, that's your business. I don't, so I wear earplugs when exposed to dangerous sound levels. I wear a full-face helmet and protective cloathing when I ride my motorcycle. I suppose that makes me a sissy, since motorcycling should be a bugs-in-your teeth and eyes, loose most of your skin and spend two months in the burn ward when you crash sort of experience.

Strange. Some trucks on the Interstate next to your ear can be positively deafening unless the windows and windstop are up.

Maybe we just have bigger trucks up here. Or better jakes.

The only other noise I find to become a nuisance on those 12 hour days is the wind noise around the power antenna. No problems with windows, gear box, exhaust, engine noise or whatever. I pull the power antenna fuse if it becomes too much. (Use a MP3 player on long trips, anyway.)

Leon

I agree with you completely that if you want a sports car, noise, stiff ride, etc come with the package. For driving on twisty roads, around town and even for general use that's fine.

Long distance freeway driving is NOT the realm of a dedicated sports car, certainly not one as dedicated as the Miata.

Your argument is like saying that because rubber Wellington boots, a raincoat and a sou'wester hat are great in the rain, they should be worn at all times, even on a hot sunny day at the beach.

Guys just to finish the my country is bigger than your argument once and for all.

1/ I live and travel around Europe so I am a European 2/ Last year I did just over 60000 Miles in my Eunos, I am sure a lot of people have done a more miles, but then again I am pretty sure that is more than most Americans would not cover that in 5 years. So the size of a country is in no way shape or form relevant to any issue about distance.

Ian as for standards of driving, I suggest you visit any major European city before you comment, 3 cities I regularly drive in Athens, London and Paris are considered to be some of the worst in the world. (btw does that mean you are native American?)

Grant, The point I was making, was mainly regarding Chucks comments about engine noise, noise damping in the trunk, stuffing Coats and similar soft items in the sides of the soft-top well and the rear glass panel flapping, this to me seems extremely excessive. No one wants anyone to damage their hearing, but there is no way that the exhaust noise in normal driving conditions, from Chucks turbo charged Miata (so unless its fitted with a monster drainpipe as an exhaust, is probably quieter than standard, as turbos damped exhaust noise tremendously) would be loud enough to damage the drivers hearing. Before we purchased our Miata's we knew that it was an open top sports car, and we knew that being noisy would come hand in hand with Miata ownership, yet it was a deal that we obviously all thought worth while as we purchased the Miata and then continued ownership, it is no use complaining about the noise afterwards, we should have thought about that before we handed over our hard earned cash. In my mind it's like buying a truck then complaining its difficult to park.

Wearing ear plugs for extended top down high speed driving, seems reasonable to me, But most people watch TV, work, listen to their music or in the case of some Greek women even TALK above the recommended db health level guidelines, and it's not just the db you have to worry about the frequency of the noise is just as important if not more. Whats the point of having a nice fruity exhaust and kick ass stereo if you cannot hear them? If any of you guys travel over this side of the pond be careful with the noise reducing earphones if your driving, in most European countries it is illegal to drive with earphones so you would more than likely get stopped, and then have to explain the differences between those and walkman earphones.

Natman,

A Miata is not, has not, and never will be a dedicated sports car, Caterham

7, Ultima GTR, Radical S3/S4 or an Ariel Atom are dedicated sports cars, even an Opel VX220 can sneak in there, Jesus my mum had a MX-5 for 4 years was 62 at the time. Sorry mate but I can't afford a SUV for commuting, a GT for touring and a sports car for the odd Sunday afternoon drive, and even if I could I wouldn't. My argument is not that the Miata is a Wellington boot, If the Miata was any footwear it would be a Gortex, Vibram soled, sports, army boot, as worn by Jesus, (waterproof, can go any distance you ask of it, fast enough, kicks arse when ever you ask it to, and walks on bloody water)

Cheers Mark.

What are you talking about? I _can_ hear them. Earplugs merely attenuate sound, not eliminate it. I can still hear the exhaust note and stereo. If you turn the stereo up so that it's 20dB above the road, traffic, and wind noise, it's _still_ 20dB above the road and traffic and wind noise wearing earplugs. I can still hear the tires on the car in my blind spot. I can still carry on a conversation at a normal level.

On this side of the pond walkman earphones are illegal as well.

Obviously you missed the entire point of the rain gear analogy.

I agree with many of your points. However if someone is reluctant to spend four 12 hour days in a Miata droning along he has my sympathy and understanding. It's simply not cut out for that sort of work.

I think I'll go paint my house with a hammer.

Quite the wrong tone for Mark to take in a newsgroup with mostly USAians. :)

Gourmet US food is sugar and tomatoes, with sophisticated refinements such as a dash of cheese, chicken, or tomato paste. We also like pizza and Budweiser or Coors, which is haute cuisine, especially with extra tomato sauce.

Quick food is ketchup with some bread and ground beef or salt and beef byproducts. This can be upgraded by us>We put ICE in our tea.

And make it really good by adding enough saccharin to glue it to the glass. Our hot drink is coffee, for which we greatly prefer the instant version because it tastes better and is quicker to make.

Now you know the reason why we are so paranoid about the innocent noise levels produced by the Miata. We are panicked about losing our hearing too, with our taste buds already gone.

Leon

Cheers Leon, its spooky how things suddenly fit into place after your enlightenment.

I owe you a Beer dude.

To be honest English food is better but not by much, we have fish and chips, Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, and not much else worth shouting about.

But the place can't be that bad I mean you did give us Dukes of Hazard, Night Rider, Bifocal specs and so many brave Yanks gave up their everything to bail out our broke asses during WWII.

As a small token or our appreciation we gave you, who wants to be a millionaire, That American Idol thing, and the GT40.

gixer 2/26/05

gixer 2/26/05

I'm getting dizzy.

rammm@REMOVE_THIS_TAGdommelen.net (Leon van Dommelen) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

LOSE OUR FEARING? IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID? CAN YOU SPEAK UP A LITTLE? ;-)

Today I got one of them there Miata thingys but I have no worry about my hearing since I've been shooting and motorcycling for 50+ years and only heard about hearing protection recently....

BTW, I have to pick it up tomorrow, I drove over to buy it and they couldn't drive me home until tomorrow...

I gotta say a Miata really isn't what I want but I can't ride any more and the Miata is the closet thing I've found to a motorcycle..

Why? They are all true and consistent statements. It seems to me he did a turn-about on the ear plugs, but not here.

Leon

First it is a sports car, then it isn't. I suppose the word "dedicated" might make some difference.

WOW ! That is a lot of seat time !

Let's see, If you drove 8 hr's a day 5 days a week, that's 2080 hours a year and you needed to stop for gas, eat and pee, plus start and stop, you needed to average 28.846153 miles per hour. [ it is hard to average much faster than that, no matter where you drive ] You must have a good paying job on the week-ends to do that ! :-)

Bruce RED '91

Excellent choice. I had to sell my Ducati Monster and got a Miata for the same reason; I haven't regretted it (much). That's to say that I haven't regretted buying the Miata, though I have regretted having to sell the Duc. Oh well.

Enjoy the Miata - and keep your leather jacket or whatever you used to wear on the bike, and the earplugs; they'll come in handy when you're driving with the top down in sub-freezing temperatures :-)

Eric