Not sure if this belongs here or in the DCC section- I am curious as to how the sound of the prime movers in a nw2, sw9 and a gp9 sound. All have 567's, though the nw2 is a Winton (?)- (I'm guessing that is a specific EMD plant?), and the nw2 and the sw9 are 12 cylinders and the gp9 is a 16 cylinder. Should they all sound more or less identical? How this applies to model railroading? Well, I have an Athearn Genesis gp9 that appears to sound accurate based on my limited memory of the prototypes when I younger but I also just got a walthers Proto sw9 and a BLI nw2 and all three sound different from one another. Should they sound different, or should they sound alike and it's a situation where all 3 decoders (Tsunami, QSI, Paragon2) represent the sound differently? And am I correct that the Tsunami is the closest? Thnx all.
I admit, I have not installed a sound decoder as of yet, but, while "tire kickin" at whats out there, I have found that the web sites for manufacturers that sell sound decoders, such as LokSound ESU, Tsnuami, Digitrax, etc.,etc., all have sound files you can listen to, and references as to what prime mover was in a specific loco.
Mike.
My You Tube
I usually first look for related info for motors and locos in the Wikipedia google result. The following may be of interest if you have not seen these:
- EMD locos list. From there, you can hop to a page for a given loco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GM-EMD_locomotives
- EMD 567 page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_567
Looking through the above, you can see that the NW2 had a 12 cyl 567 or 567A, the SW9 a 12 cyl 967B, and the GP9 a 16 cyl 567C. All were Roots blown (supercharged), whereas some EMDs had turbochargers.
I use ESU LokSound Select decoders primarily, and choose the closest file I can attain. They have lots of files for the Selects, but not every motor version imaginable. They add or update items from time to time, though some planned additions do take awhile to appear. When I get to converting my doodlebug, I will likely have to use a Select 4.0 decoder (different library of files) to get a galloping goose (gas) engine or use a euro diesel motorcar file as an approximation.
I looked at the Select sound files that you can listen to. Note that the best they do for these 3 locos is to cover the NW2 and SW9 together under one file, not differentiating between the 567, 567A nor 567B. You can see the description and listeen to it on page 1, "EMD 12 cyl 567". I don't see multiple prime mover CV choices for this file. Then "geeps" (I think they mean the earlier ones) are covered under "EMD 16 cyl Non-Turbo" on page 2 of the listings.
http://www.esu.eu/en/downloads/sounds/loksound-select/loksound-select-usa/?tx_esudecoderprojects_pi1%5Bpage%5D=1&cHash=69c4e67ed0ffaa7384915e91ae66e75e
So in most cases you can get sorta close, but maybe not exact (if you want to use one decoder type) in terms of a prototype recording in a sound file. And then you can have differences in the sould file quality between two recordings, plus the differences of the amp quality (within the decoder), ability to tweak the equalization curve (some decoders), and the speaker characteristics and where / how mounted.
In my case, I'm pretty stuck on LokSounds due to good motor control, typically good sounds, and a pretty broad file selection. I'll be keeping an eye on the new TCS WowSound also. I will have an interesting comparison to make on my next conversion, as I have a Paragon 2 SD40-2 and will be adding a Select to a Kato SD40-2 I acquired. Of course the differences will include significant speaker differences.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Here's the problem each 567 in the series sounded slightly different from each other a 567B didn't sound like a 567C or 567D.
A EMD switcher sounded different then a Geep or F unit.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Not only do you have the different 567 versions, the type of muffler or spark arrestor also makes a difference. While often visible on the switchers, in the cab units and road switchers they were usually out of sight within the carbody, and would vary by railroad.
So as this applies to modeling, for those of you who posess these models or have heard them, what are your opinions of the accuracy of the sound of these individual models? Thnx all.