Latest electronics gizmo added to layout for soundscape mixing.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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Finally, after adding several sound sources/sound scapes I hit on the perfect mixing board. This is a Xenyx 802 mixer made by Behringer of Germany (tho the unit probably made in Asia) same brand as the equalizer shown below.

It has up to 8 possible inputs, either balanced or unbalanced, but most importantly it costs just $50 used (like mine from Craigslist) or about $75 new. These units are amazing for the price, compared to what I used to have to pay ordering mixing equipment for the high schools.

Just add a cupboard door hinge on the back for an angled bracket to hold it near my sound equipment below the layout fascia…

and there you have it. Plug the lines in and mix away.

Because the unit also provides a small three band equalizer for 6 of the inputs, I can tweak up the sources not already sent through the main equalizer.

What is it I need mixing?

I have fed i

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Thank you for the ideas. My long term dream is to mix locomotive sounds (localized) with background sounds at a small lumbering port, driving under the layout speaker sets. My tiny HOn3 locos (tank switchers, 20T Shays, etc) really don’t do sound very well due to such limited speaker space - I would rather use the space to weight the locos, and put decent speakers under the layout.

Fred W

…modeling foggy coastal Oregon, where it’s always 1900…

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That’s a neat little board. Looks much better than my cruddy little Radio Shack board, that is actually bigger than that one.

Is the ambient sound in files on your computer, too? Or something else, like on tape?

Did you record your sound or ?

I’ve got some river/ambient noise tape I recorded just south of Silverton on the D&S that I run through a pair of computer speakers after my wife ripped it and put it on a little MP3 player. I would really like to expand that in the long run to something more comprehensive like your system.

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Thanks M. The ambient sound was a project in itself…a learning curve and several weeks. I didn’t find a reasonably priced railway sound CD that I wanted to splurge on…and splurge is the word, looking at some of the prices…and it might not have a great deal of what I want either.

So last winter I started downloading sound effects from a number of sources on the internet, using capture software on the computer…just MP3 quality, mind you. Some are from sites specializing in sound effects and some straight from Youtube files (though good ones are harder to find as many have voices and poor wind buffetting on the microphones.)I stored up perhaps six dozen or more files of locos, shunting, ambient yard noise, animals, wind, vehicles, etc. etc…just choosing the ones I wanted for the Arizona type locale of the layout.

I used some mixing software to mix everything down…great products out there allowing many tracks to be mixed at once, with many effects and so on. That was the real learning curve, and a lot of fun.

I ended up with a four-hour mix of diesels, yards, shunting, agriculture, animals, weather etc. that I was happy with.

I play it on a Panasonic MP3 player I picked up for $30…just jacked in stereo inputs to the board you see. One of the shots has the player, I think, showing in its throttle holder I put on the fascia. With stereo, of course, I can pan effects like locos and vehicles in the background track from side to side. Makes a great thunderstorm effect passing over too, plus overhead jets and prop planes occasionally.

Lots of fun mixing in effects of old locos too, gleaned from the internet…old Fairbanks Morse starting, Alco, EMDs of various kinds. Good to quiz my friend with.

Currently working on

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That’s a really great looking set up for a layout. Your ambient sound track seems like something that even large club displays or exhibitions could use.

I liked the display at your Youtube video of the stationary decoders. That is something I would like to explore as well. There is a commercial product that came out after you built yours. Have you seen it? I forget what it is called, but I don’t think it has the flexibility of yours.

What kind of stats and info about the locos are you talking about on the JMRI throttle? Is that something from the program or did you create that?

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Thanks for the interest.

No, the original JMRI script merely demonstrated the playing of a crossing bell when the F3 key was pressed on the throttle. I modified it to play whatever I wanted. I am not skilled at all in Python or Jython script writing, but with a little experimentation and help on the JMRI Yahoo forum from the great moderators there, I made modifications to the script so it does what I want…

The statistics and historical data are stored in the sounds folder of the JMRI resources folder. One only has to create a wav file and direct the script to it.

So I created a short data file for every loco on the layout and added other materials.

For example, every loco will divulge basic info like this for my B & O No.370, which was created with data from websites and converted to a spoken wav file with a good text-to-speech editor. I hear the following spoken with a nice simulated voice when I push F3 while loco 370 is on the throttle:

" Baltimore and Ohio 370 .
EMD F7 A.
Engine Builder, General Motors EMD.
Engine, 567 B 16 cylinder .
Horsepower, 1500 .
Speed, 65 mph .
Weight, 230,000 lbs.
Tractive Effort (starting) 56,500 lbs @25% .
Tractive Effort (continuous), 40,000 lbs @ 9.3 mph .
Multiple Unit Capability, Yes .
Dynamic Braking, Yes .
Quantity Built, 2,366 from 2/ 1949 to 12/ 1953 .
Total Length 50’ 8".
Minimum Turning Radius 30 degrees .
Fuel Oil, 1200 gallons.

Proto 2000, D13sr
Consist with Rock Island 6 76."

Now, I was also interested in being able to access particular data on the railroad to which the loco belonged and the history of the particular locomotive model, So I further modified the script and adde

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That is pretty impressive for a kind of multimedia angle to a layout. Where did you get the information for the locomotives and the railroads that you used for the text to speech? Was is all from websites?

Were you able to convert any from print sources?

I can see how your system would be a good angle for a club or a exhibition to use. That is kind of interactive if the person could call up information like on your layout to present about famous trains, railroads and history as the models were shown to guests.

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Cisco,

Fascinating. This would be a great idea for museum or other educational exhibit layouts. Thanks for sharing.