Paul-H Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Hi Guys Anyone used one of these for their DCC Sound http://www.modelrec.com/search/product-view.asp?ID=8244 They are available from an eBay seller for only ??29 Anyone tried one, good or bad I know it's not going to be as good as a ??100 Loksound etc but for under ??30 I thought it might be worth a try. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Gilbert Posted October 11, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 11, 2009 Just don't! You really do get what you pay for. MRC are reknown for their issues. I found the Genesis DCC sound stuff fitted with MRC to be a nightmare and I'm very glad they've changed supplier now. Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I have the diesel version of this, feeding into a set of underboard powered computer speakers( 2+subwoofer from Asda) - Works fine for me on DC and to my ears gives far better quality sound and volume than is available from a tiny speaker in a train - but then I am running a small layout! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 12, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 12, 2009 Just don't! You really do get what you pay for. MRC are reknown for their issues. I found the Genesis DCC sound stuff fitted with MRC to be a nightmare and I'm very glad they've changed supplier now. Chris I have to agree. I have factory installed MRC sound in an Athearn 4-6-6-4, and while it is full of extra twiddly bits, the basic chuff and clank sounds when moving are just not good. Worst of all, the MRC decoders - at least in their early days - did not readily respond to programming, and failed to read-back, which can leave you up the creek sans paddle. Their diesel decoders in Athearn Genesis units also have bags of "features" but lack the quality of much older and more modest products - particularly SoundTraxx's LC series, where the 567 engine sounds really good to my ears. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-H Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Thanks for the replies guys Mind you in the end I got one just out of curiosity I got one. well it was only ??29 and everyone is out of stock of the Loksound decoders, (Howes, SWD & DCC Concepts0. so just for fun I stuck it in the tender of my Black 5 and you know what it ain't that bad and will do until the others get more supplies of the proper ones in stock ??29 only 2 wires to connect and fully compatible with my Gaugemaster Controller and it sounds quite good as well, as long as I don't select any of the Merican sounds, Bell etc. But for chuff chuff and 3 tone whistle it ain't bad. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Hello Paul any chance of a camera / vid clip - you have been braver than I was in actually getting one to try and Im like you in that if it sounds close enough Id be a happy bunny. Many thanks Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essex2Visuvesi Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 I just picked up a digitrax soundbug for the same price $39.99 I havent as yet tried it but ill post back when I get chance to open it up and do some testing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-H Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 Hello Paul any chance of a camera / vid clip - you have been braver than I was in actually getting one to try and Im like you in that if it sounds close enough Id be a happy bunny. Many thanks Chris I will try and sort a vid out when I have fully finnished the instalation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 many thanks - would be interesting to see as sometimes I get the feeling we are being driven towards slavishly demanding 100% accuracy at the expense of actually just enjoying ourselves. ie if it chuffs, clags or clatters and sounds about right then who is to argue on your layout ? Thanks again Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 many thanks - would be interesting to see as sometimes I get the feeling we are being driven towards slavishly demanding 100% accuracy at the expense of actually just enjoying ourselves. ie if it chuffs, clags or clatters and sounds about right then who is to argue on your layout ? Thanks again Chris Hear, hear In the absence of a sound chip for a class 73, it did occur to me that I could just put something else in there that I liked the sound of......like a 37! which would be highly inaccurate but........fun. Which is supposed to be what it's all about isn't it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 thank god im not alone !!!! i had visions of being drummed out of town with aubergine shoved up my jacksy for daring to make such a statement isnt it about time Hornby or Bachmann did a generic uk sound chip ? and tap into the market for those who can live with having a non prototypical injector sound....oooer before anyone gets upset - if 100% accuracy is your thing then cool - good for you - each to their own - but this thread was titled low cost sound and its an un-exploited market in uk model railways at the moment in my opinion. Im fascinated to see what the upcoming vid clips will be like. best regards Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 A couple of months go, after making various enquiries to one of our major sound providers, I ordered a chip from the States and duly sent it off to said purveyor of UK sounds to have it reblown. I received a phone call a few days later to tell me that their sound man said they could not load UK sounds on this chip. Rather galling when you specifically asked them before ordering it. Yes it's an MRC chip and it works fine. It's supposed to be a GM sound and has a zillion options for bells and whistles. Coincidentally, it appears to sound a lot like a class 67........unfortunately not a loco I have nor am likely to have anytime soon. Offers anyone.....? Yes, so far it seems there are no real options for Cheap, onboard, British sounds but I live in hope. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul-H Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 Mind you taht may have been because the sound man at "said purveyor of UK sounds" only had a ESU LoKprogrammer as all he does is LOKsound chips for "said purveyor of UK sounds" and the MRC Chip an't a Loksound. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 I just picked up a digitrax soundbug for the same price $39.99 I havent as yet tried it but ill post back when I get chance to open it up and do some testing Bit of a pain for speakers as it wants 32Ohm ideally. Very easy to swap the sounds on if you have the programmer. I stuck some generic UK hydraulic sounds and a 26 sound set on the digitraxsound group a while and there are free download sounds for 37 (so-so), 02 (limited value to most of us) and some UK steam which to my ears sounded rather nice - but I'm not expert on steam. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Im glad you say they sounded pretty good to your ears - In the past the reaction to digitrax etc in the forums has tended to be that they arent very good and steer clear of them - yet we never had any clips or such like to make our own minds up . I have tried without success to find anyone in the south east uk that sells them and will demonstrate. Id love to see what you have managed to do Etched Pixels - any chance you could demo your steam ones here on this thread ? I like loksound but Im not enough of a buff to differentiate between too many loco classes so a good generic sound ( ie no USA Bell ) would be well received If I recall correctly - the UK downloads for digitrax were a standard 5, Prarie Tank, class37, BR yorkie and one other which escapes me - however as I said I have never been able to hear any of them. many thanks Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 13, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2009 Id love to see what you have managed to do Etched Pixels - any chance you could demo your steam ones here on this thread ? I like loksound but Im not enough of a buff to differentiate between too many loco classes so a good generic sound ( ie no USA Bell ) would be well received Assuming you use DCC, the existence of a bell on the US decoder need never be a problem to a UK modeller. F1 starts the bell, so don't press F1. Alternatively, set the volume CV for bell - it varies among US manufacturers, as it's not part of the NMRA spec - to 0. Bafflingly, Loksound European market products, even those with US soundsets, use F1 to turn on sound. Unhelpful. The whole issue of sound authenticity has an element of the Emperor's New Clothes about it, since most steam loco classes were extinct before anyone got near them with a decent recorder. Of course current diesels can be reproduced with accuracy - and should be ! - but for US modellers, and many in the UK, there are already plenty of classes of diesels that have come back as baked-bean cans! MRC's outlook seems to be that for most of the market, an approximate sound will do, and I'm sure for exhibition layouts etc that is pretty well true - oohs and aahs are caused by even half-good sounds. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmg123 Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 What would be great would be a low cost module that had no onboard memory, but did have a transflash card slot on it, (the ones that are the size of a small finger nail). Then the user could put files named F0.wav -> F28.wav on the memory card via their computer, slot it in the sound board, and away you go with whatever sounds you like. Easily updateable, should be possible to make for les than ??30. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 What would be great would be a low cost module that had no onboard memory, but did have a transflash card slot on it, (the ones that are the size of a small finger nail). Then the user could put files named F0.wav -> F28.wav on the memory card via their computer, slot it in the sound board, and away you go with whatever sounds you like. Easily updateable, should be possible to make for les than ??30. Do you mean like the memory cards in cameras ? that would be neat - if you could drag and dump sound files from your pc on to a memory card and then put them in a receiving slot in the loco that was already fitted with a standard decoder and speaker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc smith Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 I have the diesel version of this, feeding into a set of underboard powered computer speakers( 2+subwoofer from Asda) - Works fine for me on DC and to my ears gives far better quality sound and volume than is available from a tiny speaker in a train - but then I am running a small layout! Hi, Thanks for pointing this unit out! I have an industrial diesel shunter, and I'm not sure if anyone would really notice if it didn't have the prototype sound - so I may give one a try! Also, I'm looking to install sound into a skytrex ex-LNER sentinel (one of the "Y" classes - Y1?) and was just wondering how suitable the steam sound would be - so go for it....post that vid! Cheers Marc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmg123 Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Do you mean like the memory cards in cameras ? that would be neat - if you could drag and dump sound files from your pc on to a memory card and then put them in a receiving slot in the loco that was already fitted with a standard decoder and speaker. Yes, transflash are also called micro sd, usually they are used in mobiles and cheap mp3 players as they are only 11mm x 15mm x 1mm, Talking of cheap mp3 players, this one has only two buttons and is tiny , I might get one (as they are only ??6.32 ), and see if it can be taken apart and wired into two of the function outputs on a decoder. With a bit of hardware interfacing with a microcontroller maybe, and a cheap speaker, it could be a good budget way of adding basic sounds to a train, for probably ~??15 total. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Id love to see what you have managed to do Etched Pixels - any chance you could demo your steam ones here on this thread ? I like loksound but Im not enough of a buff to differentiate between too many loco classes so a good generic sound ( ie no USA Bell ) would be well received I'm currently just wandering into here in breaks revising for exams but I'll see what I can do after than (remind me if not). The diesel ones are very so-so the steam acceptable to me at least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Hi, Thanks for pointing this unit out! I have an industrial diesel shunter, and I'm not sure if anyone would really notice if it didn't have the prototype sound - so I may give one a try! Also, I'm looking to install sound into a skytrex ex-LNER sentinel (one of the "Y" classes - Y1?) and was just wondering how suitable the steam sound would be - so go for it....post that vid! Cheers Marc Just noticed that, if you are thinking of going down this route, LIDL are doing a Logitec LS21 2.1 Stereo Speaker system on 22 october for ??24.99 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisr40 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 thanks for the offer etched pixels - good luck with your exams Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted October 14, 2009 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 14, 2009 Yes, transflash are also called micro sd, usually they are used in mobiles and cheap mp3 players as they are only 11mm x 15mm x 1mm, Talking of cheap mp3 players, this one has only two buttons and is tiny , I might get one (as they are only ??6.32 ), and see if it can be taken apart and wired into two of the function outputs on a decoder. With a bit of hardware interfacing with a microcontroller maybe, and a cheap speaker, it could be a good budget way of adding basic sounds to a train, for probably ~??15 total. I haven't tried it, but having read a lot of stuff over the years about DIY recording, I think there may be a bit more to it than that, sadly. Your idea will work well for a "single event" sound, perhaps, but the basic noises of a loco, be it steam or diesel, are the repeated chuff or prime mover throb noise. You therefore need to be able to isolate one such "event" and make it repeat endlessly, changing pitch in the case of the diesel as speed increases, decreases. I suggest you ask around - there are people on here who have done it - let them guide you before you splash any cash! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmg123 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 I haven't tried it, but having read a lot of stuff over the years about DIY recording, I think there may be a bit more to it than that, sadly. Your idea will work well for a "single event" sound, perhaps, Yes you are right, it would be very basic, the dcc functions just triggering skip track and play/pause on the mp3 player, Just noticed that, if you are thinking of going down this route, LIDL are doing a Logitec LS21 2.1 Stereo Speaker system on 22 october for ??24.99 Bluetooth could be easier though, no need to interface it to the dcc at all, maybe a hacked apart A2DP bluetooth handsfree headest wired into a speaker instead of a headphone. Then mp3 sounds could be selected via a mobile, or computer. Admitedly still very basic, and light years behind the loksound functionality, but it should be enough to bring a smile to the faces of the general public (and myself ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.