Loksound V4

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

I have just downloaded the latest version of Lokprogrammer namely 4.2.0. You can also dowload a Template programme and there are some sound projects available as well.

 

I have yet to puzzle out how it all works and I lack a V4 decoder to load to but it is there. I have reason to believe that one can now construct sound libraries and indeed projects and I understand that it is relatively simple to modify existing projects.

 

At this stage, manual diesel notching would appear to be absent.

 

The manual isn't.

[big jim]

bryan has been having a play with the new project writing software too,, says its got massive potential, however he had no manual yet so is just experimenting

 

i think he said he is having a go at doing a west country, mentioned something about getting proper 6 chuffs per revolution for 3 cyl locos (ill leave it to him to elaborate on that one as i dont really understand steam locos!!)

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

The US Loksound Yahoo Group is having some correspondence on the new software and I have only had a play with it so far. Modifying existing projects seems impossible in terms of deleting bells and other extraneous sounds because it just won't save them but I agree that the potential is good.

 

Still no word on the notching though.

 

I think it very likely that UK stuff with a fitted sound decoder will have a sound project on the ESU website available to download direct to the decoder.

 

Steep learning curve ahead!

[legomanbiffo]

My head was hurting for the first few days but I've finally got the beast to fly. And all I can say is: wow. This combination of hardware & software is going to elevate things into a different league.

 

Expect major improvements in responsiveness. Expect several different 'take off' sounds from stationary depending upon how wide you open the throttle. Expect similar responses at higher notches too. Expect more than one loco sound on a chip. Expect a single-chip 73 with a full range of diesel and electric sounds that you can switch between on the fly.

 

This is now a seriously capable chip. I've incorporated some of the above into my recent Peak project and I've been smiling all day playing with it.

[lmnp]

This is now a seriously capable chip. I've incorporated some of the above into my recent Peak project and I've been smiling all day playing with it.

 

Any chance of putting up some YouTube videos of your project so we can experience what you are talking about?

 

Cheers

[legomanbiffo]

The improvement in responsiveness / driveability is difficult to convey in a video, you've really got to experience it. I will try and do some videos as soon as I can but I have to borrow my Dad's HD camera when he's not using it. I've also got a lot of experimentation to do. Oh, and go to work occasionally :-)

[gridwatcher]

bryan has been having a play with the new project writing software too,, says its got massive potential, however he had no manual yet so is just experimenting

 

i think he said he is having a go at doing a west country, mentioned something about getting proper 6 chuffs per revolution for 3 cyl locos (ill leave it to him to elaborate on that one as i dont really understand steam locos!!)

Jim. Our pal Bryan should concentrate on less Teapotty things don't you think? The MPV looks a dead cert....... Glad to hear it's coming together at last. He sounded exasperated a few weeks ago.

[big jim]

message from bryan...

 

Re teapotty things, A V2 or a Merchant Navy that are not in top form are hard loco sounds to portray correctly when you only have a 123123 repeat sound, even in top form they still had 6 definite chuff sounds, being able to get a different sounding clank on coasting with a Loksound decoder was impossible until now, even a subtle clank pitch change on chuff 1 and 4 could not be done. I have been campaigning ESU for 4 years for 6 sound slots, now, finally we have it so I intend to make full use of it.

 

I have done a WC over the weekend based on my original version, It has been a steep learning surve as there is no manual yet, not even a German one, The project it is almost there, still a few things to do to get it right. If it works out the way I want it to then the A1,2,3, 4, V2, K3, BoB, MN, Royal Scot, Jubilee, Patriot. and a few other 3 cyl locos I may have missed are up for the same treatment, some will be generic or semi generic but tailored to sound as close to the prototype as make no odds on a small speaker, and of course they will all have the appropriate whistle sound, the single most important feature on any Steam loco.

 

Another new feature on the Lok 4 is that it allows you to keep the chuffs in sync right up through the speed range, but in reality the sound does become a bit of a mush as so many files have to be played in a short space of time, the faster the loco goes the less of each sound file is played so it loses its content, inevitably there has to be a compromise.

 

The Lok 4 promises to be a very worthy successor to the proven V3.5 and will certainly keep ESU at the top of the list. Legomanbiffo has already set out the stall for whats to come in the future, interesting times ahead. Once I have the WC working I will give it to Big Jim/250 Bob to do a vid. With all that talk of teapots I'm off to have a cuppa now!!. As for Diesel do nicely......

 

fear not the MPV is in hand, plus others.........who said Clayton.

Cheers.

Bryan

[legomanbiffo]

I haven't looked at the steam parts of the software (I don't do steam, yet) but from what I've seen of everything else, Brian's the man to make it sing.

 

After several days of studying, programming, uploading, swearing and pulling out of the remining hair I've got I've managed to get a couple of things working that were impossible to do before now. I've proven the concept of both and I'm now consulting with those in the know to get the effect just right. Both are on the class 70 but I can think of plenty of other uses for the techniques. The basics are as follows;

 

If you leave the loco at idle for more than a certain amount of time (which is entirely configurable), it will automatically drop into skipfire mode and stay there until you touch the throttle or shutdown the loco. If you touch the throttle it will go back to a normal idle and then respond to the throttle as normal and away you go. I'm aware that there are various engine speeds in skipfire mode and it is possible to expand this functionality but one step at a time...

 

The second feature is automatic dynamic brake fan operation. On my v3.5 project all attempts to get the fan to operate automatically upon heavy braking met with one issue or another that I wasn't happy with so I ended up putting them on a function key. No such difficulty with v4. Again I need to learn more about the prototype to get the effect right but the fans on the model now come on automatically upon heavy braking (as long as you're going fast enough) and continue until the speed falls to that selected. They then run on for a few seconds and turn off. I've got recordings of several different fan speeds so another avenue to explore is different fans sounds in different circumstances.

 

All good fun but very time consuming and frustrating at the moment. It doesn't help when half the software is still in German.

 

I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who knows about such things on a real 70 and wants to give me a steer. I'd also be interested to hear ideas for other features you'd like to see on sound chips that haven't been possible to date.

 

Bif

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

I have been following threads about the V4 on other forums.

 

As far as I can gather there seems to be a problem with modifying or adding home grown files to existing projects. The informant is suggesting that the bit rate used in the V4 is 12 which is not supported by most sound management programmes.

 

This doesn't apply to new projects as the conversion to the correct format is automatic.

 

Anybody else run into this yet?

[kevpeo]

Yes me! The v4 software doesn't recognize any of my wav files on my PC running windows XP, or the laptop running Windows 7! The only wav files it recognizes are those given to me by someone else, and if I try and drag these across into a program I get an error message! Yet funnily enough if I run a conversion of a 3.5 program onto the v4 software the sounds contained within all transfer across and are then usable! go figure. kev.

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

Yes me! The v4 software doesn't recognize any of my wav files on my PC running windows XP, or the laptop running Windows 7! The only wav files it recognizes are those given to me by someone else, and if I try and drag these across into a program I get an error message! Yet funnily enough if I run a conversion of a 3.5 program onto the v4 software the sounds contained within all transfer across and are then usable! go figure. kev.

 

The other forum poster is now saying that files will load from Windows XP but not using drag and drop. W7 is giving a '64 bit not supported' error message. i have posted back suggesting that W7 has a special programme folder for 32 bit programmes. Mine are all in X86.

 

There have been problems with loading Lokprogrammer in a 64 bit environment.

 

I do recall that this laptop asked me whether I wanted to run Windows in 64 or 32 bit when I first fired it.

[RedgateModels]

Silly question but how do you tell what sound is loaded into each state in the diagram, there does not seem to be any way of testing the sound from the state or even telling which sound (if any) is assigned.

 

I'm missing something here ........

[legomanbiffo]

Highlight the state (ie sound clip) in the main flowchart pane on the right. The filename is shown in the pane on the left under 'state properties'. Open the drop-down to change it to a different clip.

 

You can now drag and drop files straight from your PC (pane on the bottom left) onto the main flowchart pane and they automatically get imported into the project and named.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Bif