Okay guys, Took that GIANT leap and bought my first sound decoder, putting this in a GP38. I already have the BLMA fans installed, is there anything extra I should know before install on making this sound as good as possible???? Thanks,
Well, I tried to install as the instructions said but the sound is pretty poor at best. There is not a lot of room back there, I'm pretty new at this sound stuff...Going to try and make my own baffle......Thanks for the advice....
I didn't want to say this at first, but consider a different decoder than Digitrax. Try ESU LokSound.
They do have some- check any GOOD DCC retailer. I think that we have several right here on this board.
Getting good sound in a narrow-hood diesel like a GP38 is not a drop-in installation. No matter what decoder you use, you really need a decent speaker in a sealed enclosure. For this loco, that probably means an 8x12mm rectangular speaker with a 4-6mm deep enclosure, and then having the speaker sealed to or in that enclosure. You can get 8x12mm speakers and enclosures from on-line dealers; Streamlined Backshop in Indiana is my favorite source. If you do a web search for "12mm sugar cube" you should come up with some options. Then once you have the speaker/enclosure, you will need to find/make room for it. That usually means milling down the frame some so there is enough height between the frame and the top of the shell to accommodate the speaker/enclosure. That milling can be done with a Dremel and a variety of cutting accessories (a milling machine makes neater and quicker work, but you can do it with a dremel, carbide cutters, a good file and patience). If you search this board for posts about ESU LokSound installations, you will see threads with photos showing how all this is done. It is not simple, but it is doable by anyone with decent modeling skills and the right tools. I almost wish Digitrax and now ESU (with its new line of "drop in" boards for certain diesel models) would quit advertising "drop in" sound decoders. There is no such thing - the decoder itself may be a "drop in," but actually getting decent sound from these products is anything but "drop in." John C.
Thanks John, I've certainly come to agree with your conclusion...This will give me a chance to learn and play a bit with this .....
Well to a point no, you can install the "plug and play" decoder as per the instructions and you do get sound....But not the high quality sound you get from factory installed locos...I guess the moral of the story is wait until they do your favorite loco, then switch shells and move on.....
I have a friend. Yes, I have a friend. Can't believe it. LOL He wears a hat that says, "Holy Cr@p it's all Fake News". Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Sound in HO and N Scale leaves much to be desired. Fun toys to play with but hardly realistic, in the real sense of standing track-side. Missing is the low rumble or bass. No sugar cube is going to replicate that sound. But look at the fun you can have.
Zinker55, because of budgetary constraints I thought I would try a Digitrax sound decoder. I chose a SDXN146K1E drop in with capacitor and oval speaker. It is a drop in as your is. I did not do the fans yet so the sound does not travel across the room. I found a combination of pleasing sounds from the installed files but they did not match the SD45. So I downloaded a loco specific file from the user supplied files on the Digitrax site. No improvement on quality but at least I have the proper sounds to work with. I have not dug into it to deeply yet, but am hoping there is a way to remove some of the lower tones those small speakers cannot handle. I don't want it so loud to hear it from across the room but currently the wheels and motor hum block out much of the sound. On the installation side I had to add a blob of solder to the bottom contact pads where the decoder contacts the frame in the front. Otherwise I had no contact regardless of wriggling the decoder around. The cap is so large that it blocks the headlight/number board light from illuminating. I can see the light turn on and off through the windshield so I know it works. The rear light is extended from the board and works great, but reduces speaker space. My plan is to wire in a couple LEDs directly to the light bar on each end, create a sound box/baffle for the speaker, and do the fans if needed. Fingers crossed we can make them acceptable as the price sure looked appealing.
I tinkered with my install a bit more. I had prewired 402 LEDs so removed the board lights and used canopy glue to adhere the LED to the board. I added some liquid electrical tape to isolate the light to the bar. I turned the speaker to fire downward and the results are fairly good. By the way the volume for the stock speaker should be set at 3 to 5 as it is an 8ohm unit. Now I just need the temps in the garage to drop about 30 degrees so I can fine tune on the modules. I can't seem to find much info on fine tuning these decoders. I hope to scale down the timing of the notch settings so the loco gets up to speed a bit quicker and the notch setting follows along. I want the auto function and not have to play with the notch as I run the unit and work switching maneuvers. Here is the photo from Digitrax. You can see how the rear light extends beyond the board reducing speaker space. You can also see how big the cap is in the photos and why the board mounted front light was deemed useless.
And that garage can be hot. But look at the fun we had. Remember it like yesterday. Of course at my age everything that's happened was yesterday.
Sound in HO and N Scale leaves much to be desired. Fun toys to play with but hardly realistic, in the real sense of standing track-side. Missing is the low rumble or bass. No sugar cube is going to replicate that sound. Rick, Do we really want to hear a full sized horn sound when we are running our trains. I think that we have to think in scale terms with sound. But has they say, That IMO>
I agree that the sound should be in scale and that is my goal. Only the horn should be heard from a few steps away in my opinion. When I followed the instructions the sound was so faint the loco rolling across the tracks cancelled out the sound from the speaker. Even without a speaker enclosure I now have acceptable sound levels but the one file at the Digitrax site for an SD45 seems to be corrupted. There are some electric squeals in the prime mover that are just annoying and far from correct. I currently have the SD38-2 sound file loaded, but that is a 16 cylinder rather than 20. Suggestions are welcome.
Hi John, There you go quoting me. No mistake, I agree with you 120 %. Yes I want to hear everything but muffled, as in quiet... to a realistic point. I've always said if you can hear it from the street as you get out of your car to visit a layout, It's To Loud. What I can't get is the bass sounds of a locomotive. The full range of noises you'd hear standing track side. It takes a high quality stereo amplifier and huge speakers before you can arrive at duplicating the real sounds of any locomotive or diesel motor. What I don't like is the tin-ie-ness of most on board speakers. It sounds like what you would hear coming from not one but two tin cans. Like the days when we used string between two Campbell Soup cans to talk to each other. I said not grinning. The sound is a great toy and you can have fun with two shorts on the horn or whistles, to indicate the train is leaving. Three shorts to indicate the train is reversing and others for multiple reasons. You can find the variety of signals on BarstowRick.com. See below. Lionel and other O scale producers even have the conductor hollering "All Aboard," or the crew in the cab talking to the dispatcher. Fun stuff but all TOY! Never mind the hours of fun I had operating an O scale layout, we built for my boss. And that's what this is all about...fun...the last time I checked. I've installed sound systems for a number of mortuaries and churches. In most cases what they were looking for is realistic a sound. As close as they could get. I hate to tell you this but most PA systems, mixers and sound systems don't measure up to live music. Even our natural voices get muffled and delayed in the process. Distortion is still an ever present problem. But I can make you sound like Ronald Duke. Read between the lines. Avoiding certain copyright issues here. Anyway, WE scratch builders, DIY'ers (tried it but gave up on it) tried to make home made sound systems. None were all that authentic. As close as we could get them and the youngsters of today get to enjoy the labor of love we oldsters gave the hobby. DCC to control your trains, Sound systems on board and/or installed trackside. Even background sounds for your layout have finally arrived all thanks to the assortment of providers. Oh we had sound on Cassette tapes and finally CD's and now today's DVD's which became MP3 and Blu-Ray. Aiiyiiyii !!!! We've never had it so good. You lucky Sons Of Former Model Railroaders. You thought I was going to say something else...didn't you. Have fun with it. Quietly and realistically! And let's see if we can work on getting the full range of sounds trains make.
