Have you seen this ? ?

[carlso]

Up front, I am in no way associated with this company, just trying to pass on goodies.

Looks promising to me. Try the links, you will be impressed.

Carl

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[robert3985]

I think this is a great idea!  How they function and sound in actual operation would have to be determined.  At an MSRP of over 40 bucks per car, that could get expensive really quick with the suggested application being every 3rd car.  Hmmm...on my maximum train length of 30 cars...that's ten decoders...over 400 bucks...'spensive!  Maybe for N scale, the frequency would be every 6 cars...but that'd still be 200 bucks...per train.

Something to think about...

[up1950s]

Reminded me of dinosaurs , but in fairness the sound I hear has been stepped on at least twice by crappy audio systems . I wonder if they are going to do 50's sounds in 50's era cars , you know , more rock n roll on old tracks . This is Cousin Brucie sign' off .

[Leggy]

So does this fit into an open hopper? 

[C855B]

[sigh] Understand from the get-go I'm not a fan of model sound. I'm much more "railfan" than "modeler", and refuse to gloss over the myriad issues with model sound accuracy and reproduction fidelity. That disclaimer now in mind:

I watched and listened to the clips. Digital "tape loop"-type synthesis impresses me not. My ear always goes to "oh, I just heard that exact same sound not 30 seconds ago in completely different circumstances". Take the wheel squeal, for instance, that was in two or three of the clips on the first vid. Same squeal, same duration, same frequency, same rise/fall. I was tired of it by the third occurrence. Then there are the wheel drops... gee, trains going over a turnout or crossing frog have a very specific patter. I can count the number of cars on the 12:23am Amtrak by how the wheels hit the diamonds a mile away from the house. Random wheel drop sounds don't convey the presence or the location of car or cars versus what is going on with the rails. "Ambiance" has to make sense within the setting.

Entertaining for maybe 5 minutes or so, and then just annoying and fatiguing. What these folks don't understand in the comparison to a 1:1 trainwatching environment, there, the sounds come and go with each passing train. Then you get a break - like "rests" in performing a musical instrument, the silence is just as much part of the music as the notes are. In the context of the typical MRR, the sounds become a continuous cacophony swirling around the room - if you're running trains, you're getting sound. Whether it makes sense or not, and with little to no dimension of distance.

To each their own, I s'pose, but not my cup of tea. Or coffee.

[Leggy]

That's pretty much it tho Mike, sure the N scale stuff doesn't get the coupler crash but if you run metal wheels there's alot of wheel on rail sound that can be heard (despite no actual squeals). The only thing I see being of any possible use is the sounds of the reefer unit.

[robert3985]

Like I said before, it's a cool idea, but the execution may be not right.  One thing ya gotta understand is that the sound decoder manufacturers haven't got it figured out yet how to get good sound out of their installs.

I'll get one or two, try 'em out...play around with 'em and then make my final judgement.

But, I AM a sound guy.  I love it...in N-scale...and of course you're not going to like this if you don't like sound.  This product is not for you.

[DKS]

Digital "tape loop"-type synthesis impresses me not. My ear always goes to "oh, I just heard that exact same sound not 30 seconds ago in completely different circumstances".

This. Having worked as an audio engineer (back in the reel-to-reel days, no less), I'm autonomically doing this mental audio note-taking on a constant basis. Movies where the sound effects editor gets lazy and loops a sound sequence makes me want to do a primal scream.

Entertaining for maybe 5 minutes or so, and then just annoying and fatiguing.

This again. I could also imagine the migraine-inducing racket when some over-zealous train sound freak installs one of these things in every car they own (don't laugh--I know a guy who would do this). Oy.

What these folks don't understand in the comparison to a 1:1 trainwatching environment, there, the sounds come and go with each passing train. Then you get a break - like "rests" in performing a musical instrument, the silence is just as much part of the music as the notes are. In the context of the typical MRR, the sounds become a continuous cacophony swirling around the room - if you're running trains, you're getting sound. Whether it makes sense or not, and with little to no dimension of distance.

And again. It's Physics 101, boys and girls: just as water doesn't scale down and make model waterfalls, sound doesn't behave correctly at 1:160 (or whatever) either. There's no escape from model sound, when in fact there should be blissful silence when the train disappears 'round the bend...

IMO, model sound is nothing more than a gimmick (and the cynic in me says it's just a way for manufacturers to sell more product). Since sound doesn't scale down, and especially since the fidelity will always be compromised by size, it will for me be nothing more than an annoying distraction from any sense of realism, rather than a means of enhancing it. It makes models seem more like toys, quickly undoing what super-detailers and proto-modelers strive so hard to achieve.

/rant

[Rich_S]

IMO, model sound is nothing more than a gimmick (and the cynic in me says it's just a way for manufacturers to sell more product). Since sound doesn't scale down, and especially since the fidelity will always be compromised by size, it will for me be nothing more than an annoying distraction from any sense of realism, rather than a means of enhancing it. It makes models seem more like toys, quickly undoing what super-detailers and proto-modelers strive so hard to achieve.

The cynic in me believes this is just another gimmick to sell $20 boxcars for $50  Then you also have to ask the question, what about the Mack dump truck sitting at the crossing? After the train passed, it just sat there, did the driver fall asleep? What about the people standing on the sidewalk, why aren't they moving? Bottom line, how much noise do we really wish to introduce into our hobby? One of the reasons I like model trains is because they are quite  What's next, handing out ear protection at the door as people enter our train rooms 

[tom mann]

I made it to 39 seconds before the squealing hurt my ear.

I would like to see more of that layout, though.

[randgust]

No matter how hard you try, you'll still fall short of the perfect scale illusion.  My little 18x36 logging railroad has a cassette tape sound track of various steam and mill sounds, actually sounds quite good, and the layout is very tiny with embedded speakers in the buildings.   Any of you that have seen it at Bedford know it.  I get a real chuckle out of it when I'm asked what sound decoder I use and I respond "Radio Shack".

But at the end of the day, you'll still fall short.  One of my all-time favorite comments about the layout, and perhaps modeling in general.... came from a 12-year old or so at a public show.   He had quietly, and intently, studied the layout for quite some time.    He finally spoke up.

"Hey, mister... Your trains run really good.    Now lets see you run the sawmill and cut lumber...."     and to him, that made perfect sense.  He was dead serious.  After all, everything else was there and running, why wasn't that equally possible?

[C855B]

Ha! Same issue/philosophy when populating layouts with vehicles and figures. That they are not moving in locations or postures where they should be is incongruous. Why is it that only the trains move? That's why any cars or people on my layouts will be in positions that make sense that they are still - vehicles parked or stopped at stop signs, people sitting, leaning or laying down.

[Gozer the Gozerian]

some of the guys in our club have the HO cattle car that makes the noise of cattle being jostled around.  Annoying.

Joe

[C855B]

some of the guys in our club have the HO cattle car that makes the noise of cattle being jostled around.  Annoying.

Less annoying than, say, accurate aromas. And you know they've been trying to figure out how to do it. 

[wcfn100]

Then you also have to ask the question, what about the Mack dump truck sitting at the crossing? After the train passed, it just sat there, did the driver fall asleep?

He's not asleep, he's just counting how many times the same train comes by.


Jason