If you accidentally acquire any other sound locomotives, please feel free to send them to me. I have three that are factory installs and like them all. One thing I've noticed is that many seem to be shipped at or near full volume and people leave them that way. I like it better with the volume reduced somewhat to fit more "in scale" with the surroundings. I would love to find someone that makes an RS2 or 3 with factory sound.
Tim Fahey
Musconetcong Branch of the Lehigh Valley RR
None of my locos have sound and I intend to keep it that way. I've had a sound loco and realized quite quickly that it was VERY annoying. I couldn't give the thing away fast enough! One of my friends has it now and is quite happy with it. That's the last BLI unit I've had (had one back in '02).
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
PA&ERRFor myself, I (so far) don't use sound equipped locomotives. For one, the sound equipped locomotives that I have heard thus far don't really sound that good. I'm sure this has to do with the small size of the speaker.
Balance, my friend.....balance. Are you talking HO or N? HO sounds incredible from the right manufacturer.
Personally I have 3 factory sound units that are awesome sounding and 2 that were upgrades. I prefer the factory sound units and will never upgrade again if I don't have to.
The rest of my engines...10 or so do not have sound. Would I like them all to be sound equipped? Heck no.
Like you said, sometimes it can get annoying with too much sound. But its nice to have SOME available when you want it.
The next engines I buy will most likely not have sound...I like to hear the clikety clack
In another post the question of sound equipped locomotives was brought up - specifically whether or not to upgrade a non-sound loco or buy new. I just thought I would start a thread where people could state their preference on whether or not they preferred sound at all without "hijacking" the previously mentioned thread.
For myself, I (so far) don't use sound equipped locomotives. For one, the sound equipped locomotives that I have heard thus far don't really sound that good. I'm sure this has to do with the small size of the speaker.
Second, as was mentioned in the other thread, after a while, I think it would get somewhat annoying. I can only imagine a busy yard in a home or club layout with half a dozen sound equipped locos happily chuffing (or growling or both) away - not to mention the whistles/horns going off for every crossing! I think the novelty would wear off rather quickly under such circumstances.
Finally, in a practical sense, sound equipment is just something else to go wrong! It is also something that, if it does go wrong, most modelers can't fix themselves. I can't see a locomotive that may have cost nearly $500 (you could buy my whole locomotive roster for less than that!) sidelined due to a screwy sound decoder!
-Kosmo
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."