Can overall volume be increased?

[7013]

I have an Olivia's trains sound chip in my Garratt, I am very pleased with the range of sounds both random and playable. However I have one minor quibble which is the overall volume of all the sounds. The defaults appear to be set at their loudest which is at best quiet. My question is, can the overall volume be increased somehow to make the sounds louder? Can it be done by further adjustment of the CVs or does it have to be re blown somehow to change the settings? Or do I have to accept a quietism volume?

[pheaton]

There are 2 ways of increasing the overall volume,

 

1,) on a loksound V4 cv 63 set to levels 0-163 0 being mute 163 being as loud as possible....

 

BEWARE.....setting the sound louder may distort the sounds depending on the quality of your speaker setup....in addition the higher volume level will place greater stress on the amplifier on the sound chip making it run wamer and also demand more power from the track, which is only a problem if your track is dirty so the higher the volume the more your running quality may suffer, so its best to experiment.

 

2,) Have a good look at the speaker setup there are many posts in the sound section of RMweb describing best practice for speakers does your setup adhere to this as it can make a great deal of difference to the output.

[HLT 0109]

Can't comment on the Garratt specifically, but I have several of Olivia's steam sound locos and do not find any of them to be quiet.  I have, however, had two occasions from other suppliers where the sound has been quiet and found it to be caused by poor location of the speaker. The speaker cone must be in an enclosure that prevents the sound from the front of the speaker being cancelled by the sound waves from the back - and there must be an outlet for the sound from the front of the speaker.  I had an A4 where the speaker was just sitting vertically under the chimney; I stuck it with blutak horizontally to the body immediately under the chimney (ensuring it was sealed all round) thereby using the body as the sound box and the volume increase was huge.

 

Sorry if you already know this but I thought it was worth saying.  As to whether the volume can be increased in the manner you suggest, I am afraid I do not know.

 

Harold.

[7013]

Thanks gentlemen, Harold the Garratt speaker is located under the chimney, I have sealed the back of the speaker with the black goo that comes with the lok sound. Thanks for the tip phaeton I think it is a case of small adjustments to just make it a little bit louder. I will have a play and post my findings.

[charliepetty]

You need air circulation behind the speaker, in some type of 'Airtight' surround.  The bigger the chamber, the better the sound, NO chamber, POOR sound!  Honest!

[HLT 0109]

I did wonder what 7013 meant by ". . . have sealed the back of the speaker ...".  If the enclosure is too small, the air/cone won't be able to move and the sound will be stifled.  I agree with Charliepetty.