I personally own both sound equipped Athearn N scale models (Big Boy and Challenger) wich I find really cool.At the club I go to,there’s only one other N scale member who has sound equipped locos (PSC E7’s) wich I also enjoy(they sound better than mine) when he does take them out.Real neat,true joy.But…both of us only run our sounders occasionally so that they are something special everytimes,some kind of a treat.
We are only a handful of members operating this layout so that there are never more than three or four trains running at the same time,so an occasional sound is fine.But this got me thinking…what would it be like if we were fifteen members all operating sounders that would whistle at every crossings they go through?Or the constant “choo-choo” of six steamers running simultaneously?Could this be called “noise”?I believe so.
In a short future,most if not all modelers will own one or more sound equipped locos as there will be a much wider choice of models and more and more reasonable prices.But as nice as these items are,I believe their greater numbers will make them an undesirable feature of a club’s operation to many.Personally,I have times that some sounds don’t disturb me but there are other times that I go to the club to enjoy “working” on the layout in “peace and quiet” and relax.How to keep everybody happy?Having “sounder’s” nights and other times where only silent runners are allowed?What do you guys think?
This would be a good thing to bring up at a business meeting - get it debated BEFORE people get set in their sound-producing ways, then put it in the by-laws so future non-compliance can be addressed from a position of legal/procedural strength.
Depending on the size of the layout, it should be possible to have sound from the far reaches be virtually inaudible at the main yard. If engineers move with their trains, sound should be just loud enough for them to hear and enjoy it. If engineers all operate from one fixed central area, you may have a problem.
As for me, years of listening to jet engines haven’t helped my hearing. What I consider comfortable volume annoys the lady in my life - “Turn it down! It’s too loud!!!” I would be a very poor judge of appropriate locomotive volume. However, since I am a lone wolf, don’t own a single sound-producing loco and don’t intend to acquire any, the question is one that will never arise in the Upper Tomikawa Valley.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - quietly)
I’ve got most of my sound engines set to about half volume, and that’s to run them on my home layout.
I’m not in a club, but I do like the sound when I go to a show or a club layout open house. I’ve gotten used to it, and now I think something is missing without it.
My own hearing is much better then my wife’s. Hers deteriorated from repeated cases of “swimmer’s ear” when she was younger, and now runs the TV at what I consider an oppressive volume level. Of course, it may be her choice of program material as well. I don’t run the trains at all when anyone else is in the family room, where the big TV is the draw for others.
But, I’d agree on finding a lower volume setting for your engines in the club layout. Bring along a “cheat sheet” card with the CV settings you use for running at home and running at the club, so you can do the changeover easily in both directions. You’ll probably need a card for each engine.
If you can adjust a engine to be heard at about 8 feet away coming at you with about maybe 10 feet radius of sound broadcasting to anyone in the area. It will be great. Our Club is large enough that activity in one town wont impact noise levels in another.
But getting DCC into that club is equal to invading the beach at Anzio. Aint happening any time soon.
Also the calmer volumes will ease the electric power use.
Im constantly calming the QSI engines a little bit on the home layout, however, I do play em loud.
I discovered also when I have a camcorder 2 feet away from the industry switchers sitting there “Chug chugh chugh xhugh pant pant chug whine…” The road engine being video taped is not heard at all until it gets to 2 inches from the camcorder.
Me thinks a laptop with JMRI next to the layout programming sound levels will eventually settle down the engines for the best sound coverage experience.
One of the hobby shops I go to alot has a Narrow gauge railroad and it runs two or three stationary sound speakers very small with about a 3 foot range of hearing. Running a log train approaching a curve with a steam donkey doing work and having that fade into the distance as your engine crosses the bridge on the other corner really adds to the experience.
I understand your question perfectly, Jacktal, and have long been an advocate of muting all engines that are not being used at any one time. When I purchase a new engine, the second thing I do is to lower the master volume setting on the appropriate CV. Depending on the decoder, it is reduced numerically between 40-70% of the range of values for that CV. When an engine is sitting unused, say in a roundhouse bay, it gets muted entirely or if a QSI, it gets put to sleep by successive double-taps on F9.
The nice thing about the versions of QSI that I own is that they will put themselves to sleep if you don’t use them after a while. It is only when I dial them up and engage the decoder on my hand-held that they come to life with sound…a nifty feature.
You’re talking about N scale here. I’ll confess that I’ve yet to hear a sound equipped N scale engine. Are they really that loud? I operate on a friend’s large HO scale layout, all engines now have sound. There are usually 6+ trains operating at one time. They are usually a fair distance apart and can be heard but not that loud. No one has any problems with the sound.
Perhaps running some tests to see how much noise many locos would produce at one time, then club members can decide the rules?
Actually, at one business meeting (my first and only, before I left because of the dues), the onlything interesting was listening to a member’s trio of sound-equipped SD70MACs idling over on the layout…
Most of the club’s members had sound equipped locos, and even when I was operating on the layout I didn’t find it distracting. At the business meeting, just those SD70MACs weren’t annoying even while listening to the meeting, but if it was a whole bunch of locos it would be too loud.
The problem isn’t one I have to solve though. I don’t own any sound-equipped locos because of the price, so only visitors will make noise. I have had one operator bring a BLI sound-equipped loco, and it sounded pretty good. And I do know sound equipped locos are a lot of fun to operate for the first time! It might get boring to others after a while, once you’ve gotten past your fifth time.
There are only a couple that run sound equiped locos on our HO club layout and they sound great and only loud enough to be heard when up close to them. However, we also have a couple of guys that have G scale and they have built an around the ceiling, double track that goes around the perimeter of the depot’s warehouse area we have our trains in. One of the trains they run is a large articulated steam and also an ABBA diesel set up. All with sound turned up high. They can be heard out on the street. Talk about annoying!!! I guess someone must have said something as they were turned down a notch or two the last time I was up there. Ken
Yeah, I like to go through the shutdown on my QSI engines, too. Most of my QSI’s are steamers, so all that idle cycling and hissing can be a distraction.
Another thing to discuss at that club meeting is shutoff toggles for roundhouse tracks or wherever you keep inactive engines. I initially wired my stalls with separate leads, because I still had DC on the brain. I realized that I didn’t have to do that with DCC, so I twisted all the wires together. When I started getting sound engines, though, I went back to my original idea and put in toggles. That way I don’t have to mute or shutdown the engines.
At one club we recently went DCC mostly for sound…Today we operate 70% of the time in DC and the sound of silence is deafening.Even at low volumes we decided the noise wasn’t worth the hassles espiecally the need to keep the track squeaky clean least the locomotive cut out and go through the start up mode-very annoying.
Here’s the rub I don’t understand…There are many howlers and screaming brass diesels from the 60s yet no one complains about this noise…
Anyway after a long discussion we decided sound operation will be limited to twice a month…DCC operation is twice a month…The motion was put forth and pass by the majority of the vote…
For us that was a win/win…Everybody was happy except our 2 resident hardcore DCC/Sound flag wavers…[swg]
N scale sound does not work for me with my bad hearing. Everyone around was going ooh and ahh and the sound E unit in N was round the loop. I felt like the kid at the Emperor’s parade but kept mouth shut.
Tomi - like yourself I model alone and without the need to have company in something I find to be a peaceful respite from the noisy world around me.
I have heard steam and diesel sounds from two locomotives a friend runs on his shelf layout and I sat there consumed with joy as these prototypical noises filled the room. After about an hour or so, the novelty wore off and I longed for the usual quiet running of these locomotives. I realise that sound can be a thrill and an added dimension to in acheiving greater realism in our modeling, but if I really find myself pining at some point for the sounds of steam and diesel, I’ll just pop in a cassette and let her rip - but that is unlikely to happen.
No, I won’t be equipping my small roster of locomotives with sound - I don’t think that I will be missing out on much either. When modeling trains my senses are stimulated more by visual que’s than by audio experiences so I’m happy enough carrying on in the presence of my soundless trains interupted only by the chirpy call from upstairs - “dinner’s ready!”
Agreed 100%. You shouldn’t hear it over 5 feet away. There are two benefits:
No distortion. This gives you a little more headroom for things like re-eq’ing the sound.
It actually sounds better when it comes up and catches you by surprise.
However during an open house show, I crank the sound on purpose. Kids love to hear the choo-choos go. And when you get 60+ people inside a building a once, it gets kind of noisy with people talking.