This has been agreed by pretty much everyone involved in F1, and all being well should be sorted for 2017.
I watched Friday practice for last year's British GP, and quite enjoyed the sound (the V6 race engine sound that the telly doesn't pick up). I also enjoyed being able to talk to my mate. When the GP2 cars came out, that buzzy, one-note engine sound got on my nerves very quickly.
I just crave the days when some engines sounded different to others on the grid. Won't happen though.
Having recorded current and previous F1 engines in engine dynos I can say that previous engines required very carefully selected microphones (140+ dB was enough to get most mics clipping), and the current powerplants could be recorded with just about any mic. In the pit garages I used ear foam ear plugs and ear defenders (included headphones), whereas nowadays you could get away without ear defenders if you wanted to as the powerplant is so quiet at idle.
The new powerplants were clearly not thought through buy the rule makers. If you target a very efficient engine, then the waste products (heat and noise) will be far less.