What about TCS Wow!? I don’t know if they have the particular sound file that you need though. I’m not a big fan of Tsunami because of their average motor-contorol…
The MRC onve isn’t even worth wasting time on. At present it seems Tsunami or Loksound. I know I’d go witht he Loksound, I’ve nevber experienced thus humming you talk about, and I have several diesel ones and a couple of steam 3.5’s. Though they don;t yet have the Genset, it’s still listed as coming coon on the downloads page. The crew is out recording sounds across the US so as they head west they may finally get the Genset. I follow them on Facebook and right now they are recording some narrow gauge steam in Colorado. Maybe they’ll get a Goose, too.
Matt at ESU has had the Genset recorded for some time and it is pretty much 95% edited. The real hold-up is Atlas. They are going to be re-releasing the Genset and will need this sound file.
A couple years ago, he had hit a wall as to how to get the different engines to start and stop based on some kind of actual demand like the proto-type. With the discovery of how to use sound slots to control functions (think Full Throttle and cycling class lights) that was the break-through needed to finally get the functionality needed.
I know it’s been a long wait. I personally have a customer’s engine sitting here for over two years waiting for that file. I’m sure it will be worth it when it’s done.
As for the motor humming … I have experienced it myself, and is more prominent on lesser quality motors where there is some excessive tolerance between the motor shaft and bronze bushings. My Atlas and Kato motors run perfectly silent, my Protos - not so much.
The humming gets better as the motor gets better. That is correct but it is even with the excellent GMD-1 not acceptable to me.
I had long discussions with ESU developers years ago about that sad topic. They have their roots in the Maerklin toys world. There are some rumors the V5 wil get a new motor handling. Until than “NO”.
Anyhow thanks for all the nice answers but it looks like there is no Genset sound available today.
ps. I have a bunch of Loksound V4 in the drawer and do periodically tests as new models with new motors become available (e.g. GMD-1, GP10…). I will try it with a Genset sound file too but…
I always liked the response … “you don’t hear the humming if you have the sound turned on”. Which IS true I suppose. Why bother adding a sound decoder if you are going to run it with the sound turned off ?
I have the same experience with ESU humming as Reinhart. Specifically, my Atlas S2 and C424 as well as Fox Valley GP60. All are OEM LokSound. Interestingly, I have one Atlas B23-7 with aftermarket LokSound that has no humming.
Perhaps there is a slight difference in the LokSound supplied OEM. Likely not.
Or, as Mark indicated, the combination of the Sound with a particular motor induces hum. I believe the B23-7 has the older Atlas Kato style motor and the newer S2 and C424 Atlas units have the lesser quality, IMO, silver-colored motor.
I’m with Reinhart on this. An ESU OEM in an Atlas Genset (which will have the silver motor) will likely produce a hum that is annoying at switching speeds (which is how the Genset is used). The hum is a deal-stopper for me as well.
Odd. I’ve never heard this. But I realized every loco I have that has a Loksound in it has a Canon motor. Except the Bowser F unit, that one is a Buehler motor. I don;t think I’ve ever run them, except for the PCM steamers, witht he sound off, and I am sure they don;t hum, I was running them silent and slow to check for binds when I first got them. They are 3.5’s though, as well. The others are all Select.
Well, speaking only for myself, I don’t run my locos with the sound off. But I do run switchers, road switchers, and 4 axle diesels at switching speeds. At slow speeds with less than 10 cars I have to lower the volume to about 20 percent to not get blown out. Its been my experience that at slow speeds with no gear noise, no wheel clack, and low volume, the hum bleeds through the sound.
I assume most folks don’t hear the hum since they run probably 3 unit consists pulling 30 cars at 40 to 50 mph, and the volume set to at least 50 percent to overcome the noise of the train. All that noise will drown out the hum with no problem.
5 car trains running at 15 mph is probably a different operating situation than what about 80% of model railroaders have. But its appropriate for switchers and road switchers, expecially in modern era modeling. Heck, its 2017 and I even saw an SD45 pulling then spotting three cars.
I tune the sound drastic down. Switching one or two car on a small layout directly in front of me in the middle of the night in total silence is my comon operating environment. That is the situation when humming is a major problem.
The problem becomes even bigger because my hearing capabilities are far above average. I understand that most of you don’t know about what humming sound I am speeking.That is the reason why I excluded ESU decoders from the list in general. We can not discuss things you can not even hear
Conclusion:
Most of you wait for the ESU sound file and I wait for the Tsunami 2 sound. Until than happy Genset switching in total silence.
Oh, trust me … I can hear it. I have very sensitive hearing as well. I once had to get rid of a new car after three months because the squealing of the digital dash drove me nuts. If I dimmed it down to nothing, it went away. Frustrating part was that no mechanic could hear what I was complaining about !
Ensuring that CV 124 is set to a value between 20 and 24 helped lower the hum quite a bit on my S2 and C424, but did nothing for the FVM GP60. I don’t have a big problem with running the Atlas locos at switching speed since the hum can be ignored close enough, but I may have to end up switching out the sound decoder in the GP60.
I have had some low speed chugging jerky motions with other manufacturers locos and decoders whereas older runs of the same loco and decoder work perfectly fine. I suspect that when manufacturers changed over to “lower quality” motors it impacted the performance of factory tuned decoders in unforseen ways.
Its always best to test run and hear a factory sound loco to make sure it meets your requirements. As has been pointed out, relying upon internet reviews or others opinions might not capture the issues you might find because we all dont operate the same way and dont look for the same “flaws”.
