Legomanbiffo's sound Blog

Well done... a 55! I presume your work is focussing on the Heljan one as stated... have you any thought about obtaining a reasonable sense of deep bass in OO ?

Jon

Very, very difficult, near impossible in fact in 4mm. Tiny speakers cannot reproduce deep bass and you cannot change that fundamental law of physics. It's a fear of mine that people will be disappointed with my Deltic sound in 4mm, unless I can work some real magic (which is highly unlikely). Even in 7mm my early experiments have shown it to be difficult, at least with the Heljan loco. One idea people might try is to completely gut a 4mm loco to make a 'mobile speaker enclosure', and push it around with a motorised coach behind. I'm thinking of trying an isobaric speaker enclosure as well. If I make any progress I will post here.

Well, if the sound can be reproduced in 4mm, it'd be amazing, but I (basically) understand the limitations; but I thought I'd ask all the same. The sound chamber non-motorised one sounds like a nice idea though. Combine that with some resin representation of two D18-25Bs to be viewed through the windows, and we're laughing! Good luck with the more sensible projects for now though ;-)

Jon

Good luck leggomanbiff.

 

A few years back Peter Whassisname from the sound group said it couldn't be done because of ranges of kilohertz. Lets hope you can prove him wrong. Not that I like deltics at all, but if you can crack that, you can do anything !!!

So far I've laid down some basic engine sounds (start, idle, stop) and all the 'auxiliary' sounds (two different sets of horns, door slams, compressor etc) and these are all working very well. Progress on the engine transition sounds has been more laboured than I expected as the techniques I normally use to make them smooth and seamless aren't working nearly as well in this case. Looking ahead, I've got to find out all the intricacies of the two engine set-up and model it accurately in sound terms. This one is going to take lot longer than normal...

 

I do agree with Peter though, I don't believe a 4mm Deltic can ever be made to sound like a real one. This 7mm one will though, but a lot of work is still to be done.

 

Bif

Hi Bif... I think you're on the right path... and the problems encountered are understandable... maybe we need a speaker made from unobtainium to provide the right sound.

 

Now... the engine response... hmmm! I'm sure someone suggested whether the functions could be set up to control these seperately... after all, why would both engines be started off if only moving around a depot? However, for normal operation, I would expect both to be started up, one after the other... not in quick sucession mind you.... and then the second engine will cut in when load demands. I'm sure I recall reading Martin Walker commenting on this on the Yahoo group pages about when this will kick in... and where the ETS supply is taken from - I think it's the leading engine so demand is always met. Altogether, a real challenge for the likes of yourselves. I've the SWD chip at the moemnt, and this is "ok".... but I prefer the control i get with your 47 program where I can move the 47 away without the engine needing to throttle up first.. why would it if the loco just rolled away after brakes' release?!

I think that in 4mm, we'll never really get the full throatyness of the engine on idle (just go and stand next to KOYLI's engine intake at idle - pure heaven - far deeper than RHF, RSG, Gordon or Aly's)... I was sat on a train at Ramsbottom during this year's deltic Gala with Brian Hanson... when KOYLI rolled to a halt alongside... I walked back to the mid carriage door, alongside the mid section of KOYLI where a young lad was stood listening/experiencing the rumble from KOYLI... the silly appreciative look on his face was such a picture; it's a sound that up close still makes the chest vibrate.... my lords! Somethign for the bigger scales perhaps.... BUT, please keep up the good work and let us know how you're getting on!

Jon