I noticed this “new” my loco sound unit and wonder if anyone has experience with it. What is neat is for an extra $10 a remote can be had to program this unit and activate sounds at close range.
Correct me if I’m wrong but for $79 you get the sound unit then need to buy the extras like speaker, on/off switch etc…
So for $79 what do you think?
I would suggest you go to youtube and listen to it.
To me the sound is not very realistic, but my priorities are sound quality over price.
Regards, Greg
Yes it is just a sound card, you supply the rest.
It’s a Chevy stock radio with a dash speaker, you get what you pay for, a speaker enclosure will help.
Feed back was the owner is working on improving sound quality.
John
i have one of these new ones, and it works well.
You can find my thoughts here. http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/22388/30-off-my-loco-sound-soundcards-f/view/post_id/261087
the only thing I need to do is upload a video, to show the quality.
I have some of them and they suit my needs. Simple to install and set up. My wife likes the steam sound in my Pacific. Use as good a speaker as you can.
When he started I wasn’t impressed, but then he tuned the whistle and I was kindof impressed. I really like how, even at speed, each chuff is distinct, not all muddied together.
Those youtube clips are not the best but not horrible.
What I’d like to do is put a Phoenix system into all my engines but who has the money for that right? so instead I need to compromise a bit. I have 3 USAT diesels that I would like to outfit one at a time before moving to the steamers.
If I can get a decent sounding unit for around $100 that would be great. Would Dallee be a better choice than a mylocosound? Any suggestions? Thanks.
Kevin Strong did a review of Sound Systems, oh, probably a couple of years ago in GR. The problem with Dallee is when the whistle is blown, the engine sounds cuts off. He had a name for that, but it escapes me. As far as sound quality, I don’t think I’ve ever heard one, except maybe at a train show.
I would rate the MyLocosound steam sound better than Dallee and the Dallee diesel better than MyLocosound.
That was until the new MyLocosound diesel which has just come out.
Peter has made a vast improvement to the diesel sound. Good roar, good horns (selectable for type) but still an “electronic” bell, although I understand the bell will shortly be a recording.
The new hardware is programmable with an infra-red TV remote. New versions are upgradeable using a computer.
Ken, perhaps monophonic was the comment, only one sound at a time.
Polyphonic is multiple sounds and this can be 2 or more.
LGB can play chuff, bell and whistle at the same time as well as Phoenix and Zimo and many others also. Read the specs closely.
Some sound units have 8 bit sound and others have 16 bit sound and these can be mixed with 2 8 bit and 2 16 bit sound generators in a sound unit. Usually the more you spend, the higher the sound quality and more features one can get.
I always thought Dallee had a neat scheme to compensate for the monophonic sound. On their diesel engines, they recorded the diesel sound and the horn sound for each of the notches, and when you blew the horn they played that recording which gave you both sounds. As a result, as opposed to the steam sound where the chuff was silent while the whistle blew, on the diesels I couldn’t tell any difference from polyphonic sound.
I always thought that was a pretty clever solution.
Todd- I’ve got a Dallee system in an F unit. It sounds pretty good to me. As Ed pointed out, Dallee disguised their lack of polyphony by recording an engine sound along with the bell sound (not the horn). It works, although I believe to was only recorded at 1 notch sound. So, if you are running faster or slower than that notch and ring the bell, you can hear a difference in the engine sound. It’s not a big deal, but you can tell if you listen closely.
The engine sound does cut out during the horn, but the horn is so loud that you will probably not notice. I use triggers for my sounds and Dallee has programmed a random horn blast each time the horn is sounded. It keeps it from being monotonous. If you use triggers, the bell requires 2 magnets- 1 to start it and 1 to stop it. So you can have it ring as long as you need it to.
I paid about a hundred bucks for the Dallee system, which made sense to me because I only paid a hundred bucks for the engine I put it in. Your mileage may vary. Also, I placed the speaker in an enclosure that I made from a piece of PVC pipe. It made a big difference in the overall sound, especially the engine sound.
I’ve heard the Dallee steam sounds, first hand. To me, they were not very good. I spent the money and put a Phoenix system in my Mikado. I’m glad I did. I will be using Phoenix for my other steamers as well.
Hopes this helps.
-Kevin.
Dan Pierce said:
Ken, perhaps monophonic was the comment, only one sound at a time.
Polyphonic is multiple sounds and this can be 2 or more.
That sounds about right. It was mono-something. And it was probably the steam engine sound he was talking about. It was a few years ago and all the details escape me…
All these points and information is very helpful thanks guys.
I lucked into a Sierra board and set it up in a tender which is shared amongst my geared locos and it is amazing in that it really brings the engine to life. I like how even when it sits idle some sound effect chimes in. It is like the loco is actually alive.
I think cheaper steam sound boards are OK in small locos but something grander like a Mikado or Heisler needs something special.
My thoughts on installing sound in my diesels is that they get the most use and I have had them apart before and putting in system would be easier and good practise before doing a steamer.
I’m not a rivet counter when it comes to this hobby as long as the sound is better than static.
Todd Haskins said:
I lucked into a Sierra board
Yeah you did.
As far as I’m concerned, there has not been anything released for analog that compares with the Sierra SoundTraxx and Phoenix Big Sound and this market is wide open.
When you consider that you also get a myriad of lighting effects and things like coupler clank (you can hear in the video), all standard, it’s just gravy on the cake.
See the Mars light and strobe on the Geep in the video??? They are produced by the Sierra sound card and continue to work after the track power is removed.
You can hear the Sierra GP-7/9 diesel and even the K-27 steam engine/whistle in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jQ6rcU1Vbwo
That is a nice layout video Todd. In watching I recognised many things discussed in this forum and GR mag.
I like the dinosaur excavation, the bubbling spas, the natural arch and the tunnel under the falls. Neat stuff. Nice equipment too.
For me being track powered I think there are many extras on the higher end sound boards that I wouldn’t be able to access without DCC. If I had just a couple engines I would be tempted to throw the kitchen sink at them but since I have too many for my own good and they do get regular exercise depending on my mood I need to look at cheaper options for a bit of sound.
Just continue to write about your projects and let Marc pay you for them.
Todd Brody said:
Just continue to write about your projects and let Marc pay you for them.
That might work but first I need to come up with some new ideas.
Todd Haskins said:
That is a nice layout video Todd. In watching I recognised many things discussed in this forum and GR mag.
I like the dinosaur excavation, the bubbling spas, the natural arch and the tunnel under the falls. Neat stuff. Nice equipment too.
For me being track powered I think there are many extras on the higher end sound boards that I wouldn’t be able to access without DCC. If I had just a couple engines I would be tempted to throw the kitchen sink at them but since I have too many for my own good and they do get regular exercise depending on my mood I need to look at cheaper options for a bit of sound.
Todd, I am in the same situation. The Sierra was affordable, sounded good, and had some nice added features to it. Now its either spend a lot of money (Phoenix), or settle for something that isn’t quite as feature packed.
The electronic synthesized bell doesn’t bother some folks, but it bothers me. That’s why my LGB Mogul with the analog sound board doesn’t get run much. I don’t need the actual recorded sounds of a particular Shay or Alco, just something that sounds believable from the engine the sound card is in.
I also want the proper whistle signals from my locomotive when it starts moving, forward or reverse and stop. A grade crossing signal, that I can trigger would be nice too. In other words, I would like a Sierra knock off.