Both for me too. If I'm actively operating, then 99% of the time, I have the sounds on. If I'm just letting a train run while I work, then it sort of depends. I can listen to a steam engine chuff away for quite some time, but the drone of a diesel starts to get annoying after a short while.
Mike
Both.Some days I use one of my DCC/Sound engine and other days by the press of a button on my MRC T-6 I use a silent DC engine.
Either way I'm as happy as a two headed woodpecker in a bucket of worms.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Silence for me pls. It's sometimes nice for me to get about an hour at night in the cave to work on the train. By not having a sound decoder, I can hear the clank of cars along the rails.
Perhaps I'll venture out into a sound decoder when I have more money. Maybe I should start a gofundme site. Not that anyone would contribute...
This has been discussed innumberable times since I joined the forums in early 2005. As with any part of the hobby, we must suspend disbelief, including the tinny sounds the HO-sized speakers are capable of producing inside small plastic containers.
Even so, I do prefer the sounds, if only rude approximations, of working steam locomotives. The silent clackety clack is like a knitting machine, which I do not use. Nothing like the sounds of the prototype at all.
What saves me, personally, is lowering the master volume to about the 40% level. From there I lower the really repetitive and irritating sounds like pop-off and blow down, or even the injector sound. My bell volume is low, just enough to hear it when its close.
Also, it is important to only have one or two locomotives making sounds at the same time. Otherwise, it's just a raucous cacophany of tinny noise.
It's a mood thing for me. Generally prefer quiet or music of choice and only train sounds now and then.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
I'll go with "both", also. F8 is a swell button.
Regarding sound, there are a few diesels that sound GREAT with the sound on (Atlas S-2, Rivarossi U25C.....) and some that get irritating REAL fast (UP turbines, Bowser Red Barns, and some other EMD turbos).
In steam, I find it very irritating when the chuffs sound like the valve timing is off. I prefer my steamers to sound like they've been properly maintained, not sounding "cute".
Ed
Ha, I like it both ways........... While the sounds of the BLIs are amazing to my ears, so is the quiet noises of the trains running across joints, etc.
The wonderful news is that the sound can be adjusted, from off to full spectrum.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I prefer quiet, the only sound being the sound of the wheels on the rails, no music or any other noise.
Early this morning, down in the railroad room, around 3:30 A.M., I was just sitting there in a relaxed mood while a train was making its way around the rails, making all of the sounds that engines can do when I decided to take the sound engine off the tracks and replace it two older Stewart units in the Southern green and white scheme and placed them in front of the consist of stream lined passenger coaches, no sound unit.
I gave it some power and the train began to leave the station. With my cup of coffee in hand I leaned back in the chair and listened. All I could hear was the clickity clack of the wheels passing over the rail joints, no engine sound. I sipped my coffee and just listened. The Stewarts are so quiet, not even a hum. As the train made its way through the scenery I realized, "this is nice".
So, tomorrow morning I might just do the same thing, watch a beautiful train making its way from town to town in peace and serenity. I need that sometimes, with a good cup of coffee, just sitting back in peace and quiet. That's the beauty of this hobby, you can have noise or just quiet, it's a beautiful thing.
Thanks for letting share.
Robert Sylvester
Newberry-columbia Line
South Carolina.