DCC Sound Videos

[Alan Kettlewell]

This is my effort posted here on YouTube:

 

 

 

Any guesses at the sound chip used?

 

Regards

Alan

[kevpeo]

My congrats - its hard to impress me, but after that I was.....

 

Many thanks for that David. After hearing some mundane and other frankly poor commercial offerings I decided some time ago to go my own way. I bought a Lokprogrammer and I've never looked back. It's good to have complete control over the sounds and loco performance. Recording your own sounds is just another way of going out and having fun on the railway. I've been pleasantly surprised with the co-operation I've received from everyone I've approached to do them. I borrowed my Dad's video camera and video'd the first tranche of projects which I'm posting bit by bit (see below). I'll borrow it again and post the rest of the stuff I promised asap. I was minded to offer a service for bespoke sound projects but I'm not sure whether there would be any interest. Anyway, here's some more stuff to whet the appetite...

 

 

 

A demonstration of the neutral section I've incorporated into all my AC electric projects (81, 86, 87, 90, etc)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC-eEPD4JXE&

 

 

 

Class 56 with custom bass reflex speaker and custom sound project. I'm interested to hear what people think of this in comparison to Hornby's offering

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47a_ECwLHwc&

 

 

 

Class 25 with custom bass reflex speaker and custom sound project

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LZIr7twprc&

 

There's always one smart***e! Seriously though that 25 sounds great and the Grid sounds like a better screamer than the Howes chip. I haven't heard the Hornby one in the flesh so can't comment on that one. I obviously need to work harder on mine! kev.

[ChrisB]

I agree. That 25 sounds really good. I like the stock behind it too!

[Marty Mc]

Hi legomanbiffo

 

What an outstanding set of sounds you have created there. How long have you being programming? I really like the voyager with 2 decoders and 4 speakers, very impressive. Are they slightly out of sinc? Brilliant job!

 

Mind you I only have footage to compare against as I have never seen or heard any of these in the flesh. I think the sound of the 25 has being well captured and you make an excellent point on your inertia setting. Agree it usually is totally ignored and this shows the effect of a well set up loco.

 

I am still in 2 camps about the bass reflex so I have decided to buy a couple and trial on diesels. I just cannot see how a small speaker with a hole in it can preform better than a sealed speaker. So far I have only conducted my tests on steam.

 

What can I say totally enjoyed listening to all your projects, you have a beautiful realistic layout, and I can see the effort that has gone in to your sound projects and again the layout.

 

Well done and looking forward to the next lot.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[legomanbiffo]

Many thanks for that Martin. I had to think about your question for a minute. I've been 'Lokprogramming' for about 4 years and doing my own recording for about 3 & a half.

 

Commercial projects from the major manufacturers often seem to have inappropriate inertia settings. The loco's typically weigh 60-100 tons; even light engine they don't accelerate as fast as some of the projects you see. My default acceleration CV setting is somewhere around 60 for big diesels or around 50 for modern units. Deceleration needs to be a bit lower to avoid overshoots and accidents, somewhere between 20 and 35. The settings are easily altered, even if you don't have a lokprogrammer.

 

Bass reflex speakers work very well. The hole isn't just a hole. Sitting behind it is a tuned pipe (like an organ pipe) that is designed to resonate at lower frequencies and enhance the bass response. When experimenting with my own reflex enclosures I found that the increase in bass response was modest but the increase in volume was huge. I need to work on the voyager project and / or speakers though, the engines sound much more harsh than the mellow sounding prototype.

[Neil_S_Wood]

This is my effort posted here on YouTube:

 

 

 

Any guesses at the sound chip used?

 

Regards

Alan

 

 

Hi Alan,

 

is that the Howes one?

 

I'm interested as I was going to order one.

 

cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[Alan Kettlewell]

Hi Alan,

 

is that the Howes one?

 

I'm interested as I was going to order one.

 

cheers

 

Neil

 

Hi Neil,

 

I'm afraid it isn't. It's actually a bit of a trick (sorry). There is no on-board sound chip at all. The sound is synchronised to the loco movements using the +4D Sound software from Railroad&Co's Train Controller suite of programmes. The sound you hear actually comes from a 5.1 sound system installed in the layout room. When the loco moves, the sounds fade from one speaker to the next and so 'follow' the loco as it moves around the layout.

 

Hence you can get the full benefit of the bass sounds which are otherwise difficult to achieve using small on board speakers

 

Clever stuff eh?

 

Regards .. Alan

[Neil_S_Wood]

Hi Neil,

 

I'm afraid it isn't. It's actually a bit of a trick (sorry). There is no on-board sound chip at all. The sound is synchronised to the loco movements using the +4D Sound software from Railroad&Co's Train Controller suite of programmes. The sound you hear actually comes from a 5.1 sound system installed in the layout room. When the loco moves, the sounds fade from one speaker to the next and so 'follow' the loco as it moves around the layout.

 

Hence you can get the full benefit of the bass sounds which are otherwise difficult to achieve using small on board speakers

 

Clever stuff eh?

 

Regards .. Alan

 

 

Hi Alan,

 

thanks for that info. That does sound like a really good idea. Especially for those deep sounds.

 

I'd like to try that myself one day when I get a surround sound system.

 

Cheers

 

Neil

[legomanbiffo]

Alan,

 

I like your 3D sound. How convincing is the effect in reality; is it sufficiently good to trick the mind into thinking the sound is really coming from the loco - I've always wondered? And how many speakers have you fitted? I guess one disadvantage is that the sound only works on your own layout. Thanks for showing us another way of achieving similar ends.

 

Bif

[tractor_37260]

Another Scots to the collection.

 

Here's my video with a 26 with 4MT tank with Olivia's sounds and a 25 with bog standard Bachmann sound.

 

 

Cheers

 

Andy

 

Andy

Your 26 sounds really good and throaty, now tempted to get a reblow from Olivia's for one of mine What functions are included on the chip ? Olivia's reblows do not appear very popular, but your 26 & 4MT both sound impressive, having both what appears to be good driveability/throttle responses etc. Their Deltic rework with the DPS horns etc is also well worth a listen. Convincing layout also, you've captured the era well.

Regards

Ken

[Alan Kettlewell]

Alan,

 

I like your 3D sound. How convincing is the effect in reality; is it sufficiently good to trick the mind into thinking the sound is really coming from the loco - I've always wondered? And how many speakers have you fitted? I guess one disadvantage is that the sound only works on your own layout. Thanks for showing us another way of achieving similar ends.

 

Bif

 

Hi Bif,

 

The sound can be very convincing and really seems to follow the loco around the layout. There are 5 speakers positioned around the layout (plus a sub-woofer) - you can have a 7.1 system if you wanted. The sound fades from one speaker to the next as the loco moves. The track diagramme is split into block sections - just like on the real railway, each block has 'train detection' - in my case reed switches triggered by a magnet under the loco - as the loco passes over the reed switch it's location is sent back to the computer and so the loco is tracked around the layout. The +4D Sound software very cleverly recognises where the loco is on the layout and plays the sound through the speaker system using 'spatial sound' so the sound appears to come from that location. If the loco is instructed to move then the software recognises where the next block is that the loco is travelling towards, then it calculates the scale speed and the distance, and adjusts the sound to play through the speaker system to 'follow' or synchronise with the loco's position.

 

Sorry if this is a rather complicated explanantion. The good thing is that you can still have sound chipped locos on the layout as well as the +4D Sound system. It's a good way of having sound while saving up for those expensive sound chips. However it's fair to say that a lot of work is needed to compose your own sound files, on the positive side though, a sound file can be used for as many locos as you want - assuming 'like types' of course. It's also easy to make small adaptations to a sound file for example if you had 2 same type locos, you can make a copy of a sound file then tweak it in some small way to make is slightly different and attach the tweaked file to the second loco - that way no two locos need to have identical sounds - like the real thing.

 

By the way, I should mention that this particular system can only be used if you are running RR&Co Train Controller. I believe though that there are other systems around that can do similar.

 

Regards ... Alan

[liam m]

hi guys first post

 

hear is a quick video of my Bachmann class 20 sound fitted

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRsxe4qxbWg

 

she runs great however out the box shes very loud! so be warned if your thinking of buying

[RedgateModels]

Finally I have a vid of my class 14 sound project

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Waggy for letting me video his class 14 at today's Mansfield Show

 

I can reblow your decoder for £10 plus £5 return p&p

[rorz101uk]

Hey lads, here is a video of city of truro, hope you like? Howes models Sound!

 

thanks

Rory

[frame69]

Heres a couple of my first ones...

 

The first one scared my daughter from the train room for a long time as she saw people moving inside the cab.

The second one was dark to show the american breakdown truck I built but it was too dark

Frame.

[Andrew F]

Ken

 

Sorry for the late reply with regards the Olivias 26; busy weekend! There's 15 functions including notching on F14 and F15 I think but my controller only supports 9 so I've not tried those functions yet. The flange squeal is very nice as is the brake squeal; not piercing at all. I think all the Olivia's diesel projects have been standardised with the functions on the same F numbers. I don't have the Howes 26 decoder yet so I can't compare them but I can't imagine any disappointments with the Olivia's 26. I've heard Olivia's 24 too and that sounds good but the 25 sounds were poor I thought.

Glad you liked the vid and layout. Nice praise from a Scot's modeller of your standard

 

Cheers

 

Andy

[rorz101uk]

hey lads, here is a 3MT that is sound chip, it has a Black 5 sound(howes) to it, at some point it will get change.

 

3MT 82016

 

also fitted an M7 with a pannier sound chip

 

 

what you think?

[Waverley West]

Hi folks,

 

An SWD 47...

 

 

Cheers,

Dave

Waverley West

[neal]

I have a few diesels, but thought I would have a play with an MRC 1665 in a Hornby 8F.

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMde-s99_D0

 

 

Not perfect by any means, but having tried all the chuffs and whistles, I don't think this is bad for £32. Apologies for washing machine hum in background!

 

Chuff sync works at quarter (4 beat) and half speed (2 beat). I may remap the speed profile to match the sound decoder when I get the chance, although this could be a painful task.

 

Neal

[kevpeo]

Hello folks. I've added some more Olivia's videos to my Loch Dour site - http://lochdour.webs.com/videos.htm They may just confuse everybody though as the 26 is not the same as the one posted by Andrew F. But the one purchased as a 27 many moons ago does appear to be? (and the start up is almost identical to the Howes 25!) HTH, kev.

[cassey jones]

Yes, the 24 and 26 should sound similiar and the 25 and 27 should sound similiar.

[clickertyclack]

Well I imagine a class 25 and 27 would indeed sound similar, but not exactly the same!

The 27 in the Vid would appear to use the same audio files as that of Howes 25, namely 25313 recorded by Martin Corbett whilst in the care of the Llangollen Diesel Group. The give away yet again is the secondary contactor 'clack'. I was informed by Martin that this was due to 25313 having flat batteries at the time. So how did these audio files become freely available if as often stated you can not remove audio files from esu projects?

Well they were freely available from the LDG website in MP3 format some years ago.

An authentic DCC Sound 27?................maybe not

[kevpeo]

Well I imagine a class 25 and 27 would indeed sound similar, but not exactly the same!

The 27 in the Vid would appear to use the same audio files as that of Howes 25, namely 25313 recorded by Martin Corbett whilst in the care of the Llangollen Diesel Group. The give away yet again is the secondary contactor 'clack'. I was informed by Martin that this was due to 25313 having flat batteries at the time. So how did these audio files become freely available if as often stated you can not remove audio files from esu projects?

Well they were freely available from the LDG website in MP3 format some years ago.

An authentic DCC Sound 27?................maybe not

 

Yep, that was my suspicion that it was a 25 recording. The confusing bit is why did Andrew F get it as a 26? When I ordered the one in 26 028 I was told that they did not do a separate 26 and 27, Its the one program for both! Kev.

[cassey jones]

Are all Olivias sound chip dodgy then?

I purchased a class 33, it was dreadful, I had to have it re programmed with the Howes version.. much better.

It seems Olivias sound files are supplied by different people? Perhaps this is why there are always problems with the DS chips they sell!

The 26 in that video differently sounds like the Howes 25?

[Guest 838rapid]

I used to use Olivias sounds but have found the Howes sounds to best.

 

I found some of the souds before to be a bit different,a class 60 i had done was described as a single cylinder cement mixer.