I just learned that TCS will be making diesel horn sounds available in their “WOWSound” series decoders. Currently they’re in the BETA Testing stage.
Although listening to sounds online poses limitations, to me, the samples sounded sweet! I especially enjoyed the horn “quilling” feature which adds an enjoyable depth of realism to the melodic sound.
Below are the YouTube clips. Listen carefully and state your feedback/critiques. The K3H and K5LA samples on the first clip are really nice! On the 2nd video clip the narrator explains which buttons to press for the different horn effects.
(Oh, and respectfully to our anti-sound friends: “Yes; I know that small scale sound will not equal the low frequency response of the 1:1 world.”)
And a reply from Norm when I asked about availability:
Hi Ed, We are hoping to have the first release of the WOWSound Diesel decoder out by the end of this year. Early 2015 at the latest. The first release will be all EMD and will have a 567 that will blow your socks off!
*Best Regards,*
*Norm Stenzel*
*Train Control Systems*
*267-733-3408*
*[norm@tcsdcc.com](mailto:norm@tcsdcc.com)*
On 10/20/2014 11:33 PM, Edmund wrote: Hi, Norm My name is Ed, and I have been a recent convert to TCS DCC decoders! I have installed six of the Steam WOWsound keep alive decoders and I am blown away by their functionality and sound files!
I have about a dozen future diesel installs on my workbench and I am wondering how soon I could expect to see the diesel version of your decoder?
Also… Will there be a first generation EMD 567 prime mover in your first release? Thanks for your time, Ed
There has been an ad running in the last TWO in MRs saying that WOWSOUND Diesel IS HERE but I’ll bet they’re still a few months away.
I may have to get some Loksound decoders to finish the projects on my bench awaiting EMD sound decoders…
Ed
I had a chance to see and hear the prototype this past September at the Railroad Museum of PA during the NMRA event there…WOW is a gross understatement about the sound on this new decoder.
If they’re as good as the steam version they may become the new standard by which all others are judged. I’m still very impressed with what Matt Herman is doing for Loksound but having another great choice just raises the bar for everyone. I wonder how the folks in Durango will respond?
I hope they offer a dual 567 option for E units [:O]
Sounds like great things to come![tup] Sorry for the cheap pun! My second one tonight on the forum. My bad![:o)]
I used to have a horn reference chart saved in my favourites but the link is broken. Can anyone suggest a website where we can identify exactly which horn was used on which engine, or do we have to search out each engine’s specs and hope they name a horn?
I find it somewhat unfortunate that there is a segment of “diesel horn collectors” out there whose sole intent is to sneak up on unsuspecting pedestrians, blast an air horn mounted on their vehicle and record the results for the entertainment of the unwashed masses.
I think this practice has made locomotive air horns more scarce and, in turn, has driven up the price and taken some availability away from “genuine” collectors.
I had an experience with miss-used air horns . Several years ago when I was a member of the MG Car Club of Toronto one of the members had a transport truck sized air horn mounted in his MGB. It was deafening! He did admit that it didn’t work as well as hoped. The sound was fine but when he honked it invariably the offending motorist would look up to see where the ‘transport truck’ was, thereby usually looking too high in the air to see his MG.[(-D]
Based on the response from Durango to Loksound passing them by, I’m expecting that the new TCS WOW will be the tops - for now. Until ESU makes their next round of improvements. The interesting thing is going to be if ESU can match or exceed WOW with just firmware updates or if we will be needing to see a Loksound V5.
Tsunami claims 44KHz sampling too. Fairly useless for the typical speakers used anyway - they can’t get anywhere near the 22Khz theoretical limit for 44KHz samples.
No one else seems to publish their information. Likely all the same, or else 22KHz, which actually is fine for the dynamic range of the tiny speakers. Hooked up to a real audio system, then it would be noticeable. That, however, is not a realistic representation of what you will get when the decoder is installed.
These days, all are 16 bit, unless MRC is not telling the truth about their newest decoders.
Not saying WOW isn’t top quality - but it’s not the sound quality necessarily, but rather the more features and the way it uses those sounds, at least on the steam version. All that automatic chuff level and rod clank stuff, completely automatic from the BEMF. What I find insteresting is that TCS and ESU have gone out and made fresh quality recordings, whereas Soundtraxx only saya that they remastered their recordings for better quality - hinting that many of them are the same as in the old DSD and LC series, just with the orginals now downmixed at a higher quality than the ones used for those older decoders. Believable, when I had a Tsunami 567 alongside the old DSD-LC 567 I had. Quite close, since the LC had a HUGE speaker (filled the inside of an F7 B unit dummy, less the decoder space), compared to the ralther small speaker on the Tsunami.
In the “horns” arena, I find it interesting that some of us will say “The Tsunami Nathan M-such and such horn sounds better than QSI’s version”; and so forth. I’m guilty of this too.
But something that I keep in mind. Let’s say that I have three sound equipped diesels that have M5 horn sounds. Well, I certainly don’t want them to sound “EXACTLY” the same! Like the prototypes, there should be some variety.
For example, when viewing YouTube vids of the earliest BLI EMD hood and cab units, one thing that drives me nuts is hearing the same EXACT horn and bell on every QSI equipped diesel. This was in the past but I’m sure that particular horn and bell scheme has been burned into the memories of a number of us here (me included). I used to want to pull my hair out every time I heard that horn when I was a member of a club because at least four guys had locomotives with that same sound scheme. Here’s an example:
Yes, thankfully QSI expanded its sound library and has made many improvements. The Titan’s horns, imho, sound impressive. From my understanding the prime mover “pitch blend” issue was updated ( I hope).
During my past railfanning ventures (when I recorded trains with a portable recorder) I noticed how no two locomotives within the same class equipped with the same type of horns (such as Amtrak SDP40fs) rarely sounded alike. Depending on maintenance practices some horns sounded very melodic, some squealed, some were “raspy” and others blew more air than music, LOL [:D].
In my HO world, I want a bit of variety which is why this has me very interested. I like LokSound’s decoders but am willing to try other quality brands like the Titan within my fleet (as long as it also has good motor control).
I have always thought the name of the TCS sound is a bit funny “WOW” sound. What will they call the next generation sound that is even better a few years down the road? OMG sound? LOL Gotta love America!
You can change the speed of how any sound file plays in the Loksound decoders. This is a great option for creating slight variations of the same horn. Have one set to play normal, one set to play just ever so slightly slower and another slightly faster. All the same horn, but all sound ever so slightly different.
This can also be done with the prime mover so all the engines in a consist aren’t an exact carbon copy of each other. They will go in and out of sync with each other as they run.
I know the EMD 567 was produced in various configurations, i.e. 8 cyl., 12 cyl., with and without blowers etc. Does anybody know which versions are available on the WOW decoder? The TCS website doesn’t seem to clarify, unless I missed it.
I feel like a relic. That is so cool! I did not know that is possible to change the speed of LokSound’s sound files!
I’m still planning on obtaining LokSound V4.0 decoders but am looking forward to “hearing” more about this new WOW diesel decoder as well. I’m definitely interested but don’t want to “jump the gun” without seeing/hearing reliable reviews.
I’m assuming that TCS, which has a good reputation, is pushing for high quality.
On a personal note: This might sound silly, but the horn quilling feature heard on the YouTube clips is what really got my attention! It brought back some fond memories.
During my early teen years in the 70s, some Seaboard Coast Line locomotive engineers running trains in my area enjoyed “making music” when blowing horns instead of just “blasting” them. One particular SCL engineer running Amtrak SDP40Fs equipped with S4T’s could artistically quill 1 trumpet, then 2, then all 4. Very melodic. Easy to tell that this gentleman enjoyed his job.