F1 engines just don't sound the same.

[bsmooth]

I've been watching F1 since the Jim Clark days, and everything in between. Maybe its just because of that that I think the engines now just don't sound cutting edge. Even If a race was a blowout before it was still a treat just to hear the engines. It was part of the whole F1 experience.
The engines are very technically advanced, but the rawness of sound just isn't there. I fear those sounds will never be heard again, at least not in F1 anyways.
Maybe some are too young to remember these days:

 

[Philip Heck]

Let's just wait and see what the exclusive wastegate-pipe will do nect year

 

[Turk]

I've been watching F1 since the Jim Clark days, and everything in between. Maybe its just because of that that I think the engines now just don't sound cutting edge.

I think regardless of the decibels they make that they do sound cutting edge. It's just that cutting edge today means efficiency, which means quieter engines. It's the same with all modern cars, even road cars make next to no engine noise, that's why companies have used tricks like pumping sound into the cabin.

I like the new engines in principle, I even like the sound, or at least the sound isn't as much of an issue for me. I think it would be a step back for F1 to make a loud engine at the expense of everything else that matters.

What gets me is that Formula E was slatted before it even started because of the expected lack of sound, but a lot people have come around to the formula E series and now that the new engines are in testing I've heard people say they even like the sound they make.

I think the current engines have so much more to give too, I really think they need to be given more of a chance. 2 years is nothing when it comes to developing technology like this, in reality what the F1 teams have achieved is probably a engineering marvel.

Bringing out new engines is only going to take the teams back to square one and reliability would become a major issue all over again.