I have been running a DC sound engine to see how I like it --sound OK but without a DCC controller the control over the engine speed is not that great
I will only be running 2 at any one time so I got another sound equipped to see what that would be like–both were on sale ($150-$170) and improvements over my current engines looks wise so even without the sound I have gained ( I had 15 year old IHC Mikado , Mountain, Consolidation )
Problem is with both running the sound is very disconcerting–anybody else bothered this way
I don’t have any problem with two DCC steam engines with sound running at once. I like it!
I guess it’s a matter of personal tastes or preferences.
My layout is a little larger than yours, mine being two mainlines with sidings and more track being prepared
to lay down yet.Mine is 6 feet wide by 24 feet long.
Maybe the size has an effect also, depending on how far apart the engines are at any given time.
Simple solution - turn down the volume! Most sound lcoso come out of the box with the volume cranked all the way up. You can;t hear a real train 30 miles away, you shouldn’t hear it on th other side of the room in HO scale. It’s much more realistic when you hear it get louder as it approaches and then fade away - adds to the distance illusion as well. You should pretty much only hear a given loco when it’s right next to you, probably no more than 1/4 to 1/2 volume for most that have decent speakers. Give it a try, I think you’ll like it a lot better. Two together sound really cool when doubleheading, as the exhausts are not in sync.
Heh’ more than a couple of times I’ve lost mine on the club layout…thank god I had sound on’em or It might’a been days before i found’em again…[:D] And have to agree 100per cent with randy,keep your sound low …sounds much more realistic
If my future wife has her way, that 6 by 24 foot layout room will be her new family room! (ugh???)
Not really a problem, I plan to move it later on up to my present garage after I build mynew garage.
Cause if Momma ain’t happy, aint nobody happy! LOL!
Besides the garage after I close it in and insulate it, etc, is a lot bigger than 6 by 24!
Bob, truing down the sound may help. On the other hand 2 sound engines can become just racket. I have 8 sound engines and you would hate me for the sizes of my layout. I still run my none sound engines more than my sound engines.
I had a bad train night to night, seems ever engine I wanted to run need to go to the round house for maintenances! (wheel cleaning) I did not feel like messing with them so I pressed my SDR 15, AC 6000 and M1A (steam) in to services, all with sound. After 15 minutes, I was rattled by all the sound. I shut down 2 lines and fired up my none sound Monon F 3’s consists. Do not need 3 engines to pull 20 cars, but it is quite and I am unwinding from a bad day.
I love sound, but the old saying Silences Is Golden does not only apply to children.
The fact is that sound, like water and smoke, doesn’t scale very well at all. The first thing I do when I get a new engine is to reduce the “master volume” setting to about half of what the factory default is. From there I tweak individual sound volumes to please my tastes. For example, the BLI injector sound drives me up the timbers on my trestle…I have creosoted slivers to prove it! Same with the pop-off. So, they get further reductions. The others are generally left as is. Now add two more engines, say in the yard at my elbow, plus the ones chuffing around the layout…sheesh! It’s just too much.
The QSI decoders have a neat feature, and maybe newer editions of the most popular sound decoders as well. You can set the mute (F8) to as high as 50% of the current volume setting or anything in between that an “0”…no volume at all. When I want a quiter layout, I simply mute all my engines and they go into whisper mode. I still hear faint air pumps and injectors, but the real sounds come from the working engine or two.
Use the mute function! It makes for more pleasant and realistic trains in scale, plus it keeps the amperage and the resultant heat down in your power supply. That makes it a green thing to do as well.
I’m in NScale and NScale sound always sounds like three marbles being swished around in the bottom of an empty tomato juice can. HOScale is a little better but I’m not sure whether its worth the price to get six marbles swishing around in the bottom of a tomato juice can! And two locomotives chuffing away reminds me of a cacaphony of cows bleating in a corral–it can get so bad that you can’t hear yourself think!
Got to agree with Randy and a couple other posters on this one. We have a large room at the club and a couple members have sound equipped locos. Unfortunately, they used to insist on having the volume turned up all the way (rules have changed). If you need to raise your voice to talk over the sound of an HO locomotive, it’s too loud. Sound, just like any other effect, is meant to enhance, not overwhelm the layout viewing experience.
Problem is as of now I only have DC sound and no way of controlling volume
I am still debating whether to go DCC
Only running 2 engines on a 4x10 with 2 cabs is no problem
I may disable the sound and DCC features thus getting rid of the pain in the butt cable between the engine and tender on the 3 I have and just be content with the sound from my sound and power 7000 (which I really like )
I did eliminate the cable on my original Bachman 2-8-0 ( back in 98 ) and found I could close couple the drawbar and run 18 "no problem
WHich ones are they? Some of the original Broadway releases had a volume control hidden under the water hatch on the tender, no DCC needed. Others, once QSI added the reed switch to their decoders, can be controlled with the magnetic ‘magic wand’ although I’ve had poor luck making it work without taking the shell off to see the reed switch rather than just hunt around on the outside about where it is supposed to be. It won’t give adjustment over the individual sounds, just the master volume, but it’s better than nothing and can be done with DC or DCC.
Yes,Sound can become annoying even at low volume after(for me) about 30-35 minutes…
This became a issue (ever hear the “racket” several noise makers make?) at one of the HO clubs I am a member of even with the volume set at a comfortable level…Today sound is seldom use.I guess the WOW! factor wore off.
The sound of 2 steamers is great. What bothers me is the sound of 1 diesel.
[:D] [:D] [:D]
(Joke)
RTP:
Now, the strange part is that this was pretty much how one of the Tyco sound cars worked. There were more than three marbles,and they swished around the sides of the can. Horrible yet ingenious.[:D]
I have 5 BLI steam engines, 2 T1’s, an M1A and M1B, and a J1.
I am not sure as to how to adjust or lower the sound level on them other than what I heard about the
sound adjustment being under a hatch on the tender
Actually, this scales nicely. Though when they are in sync, two steamers can be nice. Other times, You can get quite a bombardment from two out of sync locomotives.
A few thoughts, some allready expressed, some new.
If you want sound, you need DCC - and that comes from a DC operator.
Volumes need to be as low as possible without loosing the effects, regardless of layout size.
One reason two of them may seem anoying is the poor sound quality in the first place. Those who like sound try to deminish the importance of this, but as a HiFi speaker designer I can tell you it has been proven that poor quality sound reproduction does “grate” on the human brain.
With a layout of you size, effectively low volume to give a sense of distance will be hard. Sound does not scale down well and is much more effective in O scale and above where the viewer is automaticly in a more intimate relationship with the train by virtue of its larger size.
Even with the volumes down, on large basement sized layouts, with 6-10 people talking and 3-6 trains running, I find the poor quality sound of HO or N scale very anoying.
The speakers in these locos can not even get close to the lowest tones in locomotive sounds, so its like playing a great piece of music on a 1963 9 transistor radio.
As for the wires, I would not elliminate them. They are not just for the sound, they connect the tender trucks to the motor to improve electrical pickup.
My thought, if you want good sound go large scale. If its not good, I don’t want it.
