don7 I tried a couple of steamers with sound and found it to be interesting for a short time. I found that sound after a while is distracting and I would rather do without it. My layout is just in the process of switching over to DCC.
I tried a couple of steamers with sound and found it to be interesting for a short time. I found that sound after a while is distracting and I would rather do without it. My layout is just in the process of switching over to DCC.
I'm with you, Don, except I've yet to hear locomotive sounds in general to be satisfying or realistic. And people always play the motor/steam sounds much too loud. I don't want to hear them father than a yard away. Whistle/horn and bell sounds, however, are useful for signaling/warning. I'm not far from the BNSF mainline, and all I ever hear is the horn blowing. I can hear horn noises from two or three miles away. Horns/whistles and bells, yes, that's good enough for me.
Mark
don7I tried a couple of steamers with sound and found it to be interesting for a short time. I found that sound after a while is distracting and I would rather do without it. My layout is just in the process of switching over to DCC.
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I've heard both steam and diesel sound equipped engines at shows and at a friends place who models the B&O.
I have to admit to being blown over by the novelty of this effect, but after a while the novelty lessened and what was an initial reaction of, "I must have some of this" turned into,"I still need to spend my modeling money on basic stuff to keep me in the game"
I can't have everything and sound, while an enhancement that can be seen as additional realisim, is not something I want to include in my loco fleet. To me it's more of a gimmick and if I wanted sound, I think I would crank up one of my sound effect CD's to give me an approximation of onboard sound - not as good, but acceptable on my retirement budget anyway.
Besides, my model train area is where I like to work on my models, in peace and quiet with out too many distractions - audio or otherwise.
Bruce
twhiteMy BLI's are mainly in boxes and I'm still running the brass, LOL.
I take the sound cards and DCC out of those BLI locos, they run really good on "regular" DC after that!
Actually, I don't use regular DC either, but I do use NMRA reocmmended 12 volts, not 16 or 16 volts.
My Aristo Craft Tran Enginner radio throttles and dual mode decoders don't really get along well. some are better than others, but they are all better with the decoders/sound cards gone.
Sheldon
I'm running about 50% sound/non sound.
The only time I seem to be running the sound equipped lokes is to scare the bejeeebers out of 'Spring'---who is at that time trying to take up a camp site on the Hallas yard----
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
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Oh, I'll admit that I got bit by the sound bug, but after realizing that my sound-equipped locomotives could NOT be run with my non-sound locos (I'm DC and it's a matter of voltage), I went ho-hum, pretty quickly. And of course, all of the ready-sound-equipped locomotives are not prototype to the railroads that I model, anyway, so when I DO run them, they're run as 'loaners.' Which is less and less frequently, these days. You talk about 'brass in boxes' and never run, well, I'm the opposite. My BLI's are mainly in boxes and I'm still running the brass, LOL.
I did, however, install an under the table Soundtraxx "Heritage Steam" system with some decent speakers, so if I want to use sound with my 'non-sound' locos, it's an option. It's there if I want to use it, and it has enough combinations built in to satisfy me when I really need it. But for the most part, the sound on my railroad is in my imagination.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
It is well known to many on here, and on the Bachmann forum, that I am not a fan of onboard sound in small scales. I will say that if I modeled in a larger scale, I would want sound.
With HiFi speaker building and listening as my other hobby, the sound quality of these systems is well below my minimum threshold of listenablity.
I am interested in the possiblity of layout based sound, but it is a low priority for my modeling.
I often talk about scale perception when it comes to the topics of detail, sound, weathering, curves and a host of other issues in our hobby.
It is hard to scale down sound, so in the less intimate relationship of the smaller scales, I am happy to do without it.
I know several other well known/published modelers who feel the same way. And a number of modelers in our local gorup could be called "indifferent" on the subject.
Still DC and quiet in 1954 on the ATLANTIC CENTRAL (and on the portions of the C&O, WM and B&O we connect with).
I have sound in most of my engines,either Tsunami or QSI.Being I usually run only one or two at a time I don't find it distracting.All other engines are put into mute or the track section they are on is not powered.To my way of thinking it's like watching color TV as opposed to watching black & white.I enjoy the sound equiped steam and diesels.
I'm fond of sound, too. I've got most of my engines equipped now. I run quiet now and then, if the girls are sleeping, but it's missing something without sound.
Of course, when I was younger, my HO trains were noisy because the engines were just naturally loud, very gear-sounding. And before that, I had Lionels with whistles. So, maybe I just never got used to todays whisper-quiet trains.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I enjoy it, since for me diesel sound brings back some wonderful memories of railfanning the prototypes "back in the day"..
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Don
I got hit the sound bug and love it. With DCC it is easy to adjust the volume of the decoders. At home they are loud and I turn down the volume but at shows I crank up the volume.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Who else has tried sound and found it not totally to their liking? Perhaps as the quality of sound improves I may give it another try sometime in the future.