I AM NEW TO THE MODELRAILROADING HOBBY,I want to model N scale,but I really would like to havr sound in the locomotives. Is this possible to do on N scale engines?Also if so,how would the soud quality be?
Yes, this is possible. Sometimes you will find locomotives with a factory-installed DCC-decoder with sound - this is the easiest way to get sound. Sometimes you will have to install a sound decoder by yourself - rather easy with so called plug-in-decoders, otherwise more or less work is necessary. The sound volume is as loud as it can be expected from such small speakers.
I just bought my first loco with dcc and sound. Got it Friday evening. I haven't yet figured out yet how to adjust anything on it. Out of the box it runs well and sounds cool. Lookin forward to learning how to use it.
Yes, it's possible to have sound, good sound but you have to experiment. I have 10 modern diesels in N scale running sound. I have a combination of different decoders MRC, digitrax and ESU. They all have + and -, price, quality and reliability. If you want a " bigger sound" you could use a sound car. I have used box cars and auto racks. The bigger the engine the easier it is to put a sound decoder in. I have found that I have repurchased equipment because I tried to buy stuff on the cheep, with DCC your better off spending the money up front on good equipment.
I just got a new engine with factory sound. Sound is paragon2. Excellent quality, very close to HO. I'm extremely happy and will get more when finances permit.
Steam or diesel? If you search You Tube, you will find a variety of clips of N-scale engines with sound. Steam locos generally sound louder, because the tender is a big space to put in a decoder and larger speaker. Diesels are harder, but not impossible; modern wide-cabs are easier than something like a GP7. The overall volume will be lower, but after the novelty wears off, you won't want things too loud anyway. John C.
You can also use HO stationary decoders (MRC make these, and other companies may as well) and position these around the layout. While the sound doesn't travel with the engine, you do get good effects. I have three of these type of decoders, plus MRC decoders in various diesels. And John C is right, once the novelty wears off, you tend to turn the sound down.
Let's see....it's been over two years now. I guess the novelty hasn't worn off yet! Cheers! Bob Gilmore
Jelvis I suggest you ask about a loco and sound decoder before you buy it. MRC, for instance, has some quirks. Sound is great, but they seem to ignore lighting effects. Make sure sound can be turned of easily. And WELCOME to the hobby
Would LOVE to know about that chuff cam..... have a GS4 based loco coming along that will need proper sound installed! Any pics or details are highly anticipated & appreciated!
You don't really need a chuff cam. Here's a video of my GS4 with a Tsunami in the tender and motor control provided by a Lenz silver mini in the boiler. If you watch just the first minute or so, you'll see that you can achieve nearly perfect driver/chuff match by just adjusting the chuff rate on the Tsunami and the motor speed (voltage) using CV's 2, 5 and 6 in the Lenz. http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUryHlnCSg_HXMoRcEupZWZw&feature=player_detailpage&v=CdN8G2cnjJk And here's the thread where I describe the install w/photos: GS-4 DCC/Sound Conversion (Tsunami and Lenz) John C.
There are a number of N scale locomotives that are available with factory-installed DCC sound - Con-Cor PA/PB Broadway Limited Imports PA/PB, E6, E7 and E8 Athearn 4-6-6-4, 4-8-8-4, F59PHI, F45 and FP45 Life-Like 2-8-8-2 Kato sells many of their locomotives with custom-installed DCC sound through their "KOBO" division (see the Kato website). And of course, there are numerous options for installing sound decoders in locomotives that didn't come from the factory that way (and with the installations ranging from simple plug'and'play to "get out your soldering iron and grinding wheel"). Cheers, -Mark
Factory Athearn Big Boys and Challenger with POS MRC sound is what sold me on DCC. Yes, three years ago, I finally bowed down to the DCC gods just so I could shoe-horn speakers into everything I had. As pukey as the MRC sound was in my Big Boys and Challengers, it was still good enough to make me want to do that in every engine I could (which, with my own mill and lathe is about 90% of my motive power). I didn't even know the half of it until I had completely re-wired my modular layout, which took me about 9 months of steady work. All of a sudden it is natural go use the horn just like the prototype did for the appropriate signals for starting up, grade crossings, backing...you name it. I decided I should buy a Tsunami drop in for my Athearn engines to replace the MRC's since when they go, they often melt the tender in both Big Boys and Challengers, so I did that. The Tsunami opened up a whole new world of sound quality that the POS MRC's could not even come close to and the running quality was exponentially better. By replacing the bad sound decoders with much more expensive, top-o-the-line sound decoders...there is a big smile plastered on my face most of the time when I am running my railroad. I simply cannot get enough of the Tsunami and Loksound decoders' performance and sound quality. Next, I am going to give less expensive Digitrax sound decoders a go for my E's, and if I'm not happy with the sound, I'll be developing my own sound files to program into them. It's definitely a hobby within a hobby within a hobby (trains, DCC and Sound). Cheers! Bob Gilmore
I have seen the boxcar kit on eBay. How does it work? Do you program the sound decoder to the same address as the decoder in the loco?
That's what I did it's worked for me so far. You have to change the wheel sets on your trucks to get power to your decoder in your " sound car". The plus with the sound car you can put bigger speakers and sound chambers in a boxcar than you can fit in a diesel. You can use the sound car with different engines as long 1 you change the prime mover sound to match your engine or 2 it doesn't matter to you if the prime mover sound doesn't exactly match your specific engine. It saves on putting sound in all your engines. If you send me a message I'll sen you a link to the place I mail order from if you want. Remember cheaper is "usually" not better with DCC sound. I rode my Harley to two LH shops today ( about 150 miles) to get some N scale stuff. DCC stuff and detail parts. No luck so I mail order 90% of my stuff.
For my ears, a speaker measured in millimetres just can't reproduce the sound of a large locomotive. So I have a G-scale decoder (Phoenix Sound BigSound P5) mounted underneath the layout and consisted with whichever locomotive I'm running. With the volume up full, conversation is difficult, encouraging operators to use hand signals [video=youtube;NbeeOvq0ZdQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbeeOvq0ZdQ[/video]
Something I've been wondering for a while... Concerning putting sound in N scale hood units, since none come factory-installed. I've seen the dimensions of the smallest (?) sound decoders, and they could fit in a hood unit. But where does the speaker usually go?
