I’m not sure if this should be posted in the DCC section or not but here goes.
I’m well on my way to finally getting a full Southwest Chief consist in HO scale. The new plated Walthers Supers are great (I love the interiors), and I’m hoping to see a IVb painted Transition Dorm, Coach Baggage, and Heritage Baggage in the near future to complete the trainset.
But my question here deals with the two Athearn/Walthers P42s I have on order. They are DCC ready and I’m thinking of adding sound to them. I’ve done plenty of Soundtraxx installs but I’ve never been truly happy with their sound and my Athearn with MRC sound F3’s are even weaker.
I was almost set to go with Loksound because it gives you the ability to modify sounds and they have a pretty good K5LA sound already. And a friend compiled proper compressor and bell sound files for a LokSound decoder. But I just found out about QSI Quantum Revolution and I’m very interested with thier product.
The draw back I see is they don’t have any good Amtraky (is that a word [:o)] ) horn, a K5LA, at the moment. But QSI has three different P42s (441-443) on their list of sounds so they’re likely sound files for the future. 442 and 443 don’t have any horns listed but I’m assuming they’ll be a K5LA. Why 442 has a Leslie S5 is a weird one to me.
I also like the 6 light outputs and that it is LED ready.
And it seems Soundtraxx now has Diesel Tsunami coming out but I was never really thinking Tsunami since you can’t alter the sounds. Plus no GE sounds at the moment either.
So what to do, what to do. I definitely want sound in the units, just what system to go with is my puzzle.
When (fill in diety of choice) rewrites the laws of physics so that a speaker the size of a quarter can produce the quality and volume of sound of ANY prototype locomotive, then I’ll worry about it.
(Great, booming voice from the clouds, “Holdeth not thy breath!”)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - silently)
I’m strictly DC. I’ve got some BLI dual-mode steamers with sound. I don’t run them anymore because the darned things take so much voltage to get going, and when they finally do, the sound is sort of like watching an early sound film on TCM. Small and scratchy.
I have a Soundtraxx “Heritage Steam” system installed under my layout for when I want sound, it comes out of 8" speakers situated at intervals under the layout. My DC brass steamers run just fine with or without. I can choose whether or not I want the sound system. A lot of times, I just listen to the quiet ‘whirr’ of the can motors. Sometimes I want one or another of my articulateds to sound like it’s REALLY working when I hook up 20-30 cars behind it. I can program in the sounds by pressing one or two buttons. I can rock the garage if I want. It’s not ‘realistic’, as far as having the loco ‘come at’cha’ but it’s LOUD! And not scratchy.
If someone could fit a 1" speaker into the tender (or better yet, the boiler) of an HO scale loco that wouldn’t take up the entire voltage in the neighborhood to make sound like an authentic steamer from my childhood, then I’d bite. Until then, I’ll use the Soundtraxx at my discretion.
I’m waiting for QSI, but I’ve quiete a few Loksound decoders. The Loksound micro suits into many small engines. And you can make any sound into the engine with the programer:
You want sound? Drop in a quality decoder with speaker or get it factory. If not? There are plenty of analog engines ready to go with future sound should you want it then.
Some sounds are not as good as others. Either you like it or you dont.
Sound is sort of becoming routine and taken for granted these days. Gone are the crowds that eyed the Broadway limited Hudson in awe and wonder at the hobby shop.
It probably wouldn’t be too difficult to build a device that would channel very low frequencies to a remote 15 inch sub woofer, giving you awsome sound, but I suspect that the other people in your immediate vicinity would not be crazy about listening to it more than once or twice.
I like the idea of the soundtraxx system and larger speakers. I have been thinking of giving Air Horn a try when I am ready for sound. It is computer based and can address up to four soundcards allowing sounds to play simultaneously and in specific areas to a degree, (wherever the speakers are located. The program has a number of sounds included but you can record your own sounds as .wav files and use them too. I thought that if a fellow had a recording of a train approaching it would sound pretty good if you slid the sound file into cool edit pro etc. and added a right to left pan effect to the sound, giving the illusion of a train approaching and then passing a crossing, for example. [2c]
The “onboard” sound is a neat gimmic and I’m sure the little ones love it, but as far as any realism goes…I’m not sold on it yet. [:)]
Edit: After visiting the Air Horn page again, I see they have added the ability to connect X-Keys programmable keyboards etc. to the usb port and control the sounds via those interfaces. For example if one were to add an X-Keys USB switch interface you could connect up to twelve triggers, located on the layout, to trigger sounds to play from Air Horn. Add an X-Keys button panel, keyboard, stick or foot pedal for more control options that would not require one to sit at the computer. Use the X-Keys USB extender to move control up to 150 feet from the co
I’m going to chime in on the pro-sound side. I used to think it was a gimmick, too, but then I heard a Proto 0-6-0 in action, and I was hooked. I’d heard diesels before, and I wasn’t terribly impressed, but steam is another story. I wonder how the sound/no sound choice lines up with the steam/diesel selection by modellers.
Many sound engines come configured with the volume up full blast. I found that running at 40-50% of maximum is much more appealing in my train room, which, incidentally, has high ceilings and carpets, so it absorbs sound.
The P42 probably isn’t popular enough for the mass-produced, non-programmable sound decoders. You could wait, but I think it will be a long time. I think that the trend right now is towards programmable decoders anyway. Remember, though, that you will need access to a programming unit for that decoder (every manufacturer has its own programming box) and there may be some learning curve involved, too.
Considering that sound basically doubles the cost of an HO diesel, and it’s hard enough keeping up with the new stuff coming out, I haven’t gotten any sound at all until just one set recently, I got the Proto 2000 F7AB set with sound. Thats it and probably will be it for most of my future diesel purchases.