Lionel Sounds vs. MTH Sounds

[Fred Bear]

I only have one engine that makes sounds, an MTH Shay. The older Lionel stuff whisles and that's about it of course. The new Lionel stuff, what kind of sounds are offered? To they compare to Proto 2? or are they Proto 2? Is Proto 2 limited to MTH? Thanks for any clarification, Jake

[Anonymous]

Lionel's sound set on their Command Equipped locos is called Railsounds. The lastest version is Railsounds 5.0. This would be the equivilant of the PS 2 sound set. RS will work in both command and conventional environments but many of the special sounds are only accessable in Command Control. With conventional control, you're usually limited to the chuff/diesel rev, whistle/horn and bell.
PS2 seems to offer a few more sounds than Railsounds but the general opinion is that RS 5.0 has the best quality sounds. This is just opinion however and many will chime in with their own thoughts.
Mike

[laz 57]

FRED,

  PS 2 is your sounds for MTH engines.  Lionel has Railsounds up to 5.0.  The big difference between the two is that the MTHs PS2 engines has lots more dialect on the passenger talks as well as the dialog on freight sounds.  They basically have the same sounds on chuff whistle, bell, ect.  It depends on how much dialect you want to hear.  Some say one is better then the other?  I say after a while going around the layout I can't tell the difference.  Of course I'm going deff though.

laz57

[Fred Bear]

Might have to buy one of the Lionel deals then to see what it's like. I take it that my Lionel Shay I'm selling on the net will not have Railsounds? Built in the mid 90's? Jake

[chuck]

Digital Railsounds was released in the mid 90's under the banner of Railsounds 2.0.  There have been several updates over the years and the current top of the line set is 5.0.  The upgrades over the years mainly involved physical characteristics of the boards (original package was an "L" shaped board, newer units are paired modules that fit in the loco's backplane), power of the amplifier board, and now we have additional sound set features. 

The biggest differnce between PS-2 and RailSounds are the way the sounds are processed.  PS-2 is a digital recording of the whitsle/horn but the playback is a straight play back.  Railsounds uses an on board soundprocessor to "assemble" the whistle/horn on the fly using inputs like how long you hold the button down and how fast the train is moving.  RailSounds was developedby Neil Young and his associates and they use real field recordings of the equipment (whenever possible), or they find something as close as possible and post process the sounds in the studio.  The engineers doing the recordings are experts in field recording and the sound system on model train includes baffles and seals to make the sounds as accurate as possible.

http://www.trubitt.com/train_sounds.html

[CSXect]

Sound technology has come a long way from the very cheesey but lovable BB's in a large wheel that rode on the center rail in the tender and made a distinct chuff sound. This next sentance will be just a little bit. Just as point in case for the continual advances in sound technology listen to what Rapido has for its turbo train we realy need one of these in O scale with comprable sounds

http://www.rapidotrains.com

[Lionelking313]

I am sorry, but Lionel Railsounds are the best! Nothing compares!

[3railguy]

We need an O gauge turbo train that goes a zillion MPH, climbs walls, and does loop de loops like Tyco made in the late 80's. Oh yes, and digital turbo noise along with a high velocity smoke unit.

[ChiefEagles]

I am sorry, but Lionel Railsounds are the best! Nothing compares!

That is the truth.  I've got both and PS2 is bland while Railsounds are right on.  PS2 diesel horns call out all the Vets in the area.  Why?  It sounds like a dying cow.   If you go with a certain long blast on PS2, you get all those unwwanted repeats and they will vary due to lenght of holding the button.  With Railsounds, diesel horns sound right on and you can "play a tune" with the button.

[Buckeye Riveter]

I am sorry, but Lionel Railsounds are the best! Nothing compares!

That is the truth.  I've got both and PS2 is bland while Railsounds are right on.  PS2 diesel horns call out all the Vets in the area.  Why?  It sounds like a dying cow.   If you go with a certain long blast on PS2, you get all those unwwanted repeats and they will vary due to lenght of holding the button.  With Railsounds, diesel horns sound right on and you can "play a tune" with the button.

Chief, do you mean you have both MTH and Lionel Diesel Locomotives with PS2 and Railsounds respectively such that you actually can compare them side by side in the same room using the same track and power?  Wonders never cease!

What about the Steamers?

[CSXect]

I have one TMCC loco a flyer mikado but have not a command system to play all the sounds but what sounds I get in conventional are great and I have one MTH PS2 loco and its sounds are great as well even with out DCS.