I remember Earl Scheib. This is one of his commercials for those who didn't live in Earl Scheib country.
Got the Concor baggage and mail cars today. They come with Micro-Trains couplers. Also got word the EMD E7's are in the post office box, will get them tomorrow Now just waiting on the RailSmith cars to arrive. Also got a custom painter lined up to repaint as needed. And the most fun, well it has been a long time since I did analog circuit designs. but my power amp prototype to drive the speaker, needs modification. Being the anal retentive guy I am with respect to circuit design, I have to start over because the song sounds better in stereo. So into the redesign of the amplifier section of the plan, and the deployment of the speakers.
TI has a wide variety of speaker amp ICs available. Two-channel for stereo, class D for efficiency, analog signal inputs and speaker outputs - no design work necessary. https://www.ti.com/audio-ic/amplifiers/speaker-amplifiers/overview.html
Good advice for those who can't, or just don't want to (including me), design their own audio amplifier. Of all the fish to fry for my layout, I'd rather buy that one ready-to-eat. Different strokes for different folks. Note that TI offers development boards for many of their products, with any analog support components (bypass caps, input filters, connectors, etc. incorporated. And then there's the Arduino accessory suppliers with similar products in ready-to-eat form*. Hint: I've also purchased Arduino accessory/eval boards, e.g. DC (PWM) Motor Driver boards, and replaced the headers with screw terminal blocks for easier/more secure wiring on the layout. They will throw my Unitrack switches, under the control of a couple of RR-CirKits Tower LCC boards. *The through-hole components like headers/connectors, etc. are included, but not installed, to keep costs down.
The best I can come up with is a facsimile of the former beauty. It must be getting tough out there. TB won't let me embed a video I found. Here is a link: (I hope) https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-iba-3&ei=UTF-8&hsimp=yhs Well that doesn't work. In the meantime the best of luck my friend.
"Old school", for the 1980s, would be something such as an LM386. https://www.ti.com/product/LM386 Exactly what is your definition of "old school"?
Discrete transistors, resistors and capacitors. But after testing in a car yielded insufficient sound level, So the idea has been dropped in favor of a boom box following the train behind the layout following the train.
What type of speakers and how many did you use? It would seem as though you could pack a baggage car with multiple "sugar cube" type speakers to achieve a decent sound level.
You can't get a decent sound out of Sugar Cube speakers. You might be satisfied with what you get if you aren't to fussy. However, for us fussy types. Don't waste our time. If you know what I mean. Rule something or another. Only big speakers put out big sound. Backed up of course by a good amplifier. Try finding one these days. Alright, that's enough wet blanket from me. Get the sound you want at the price you want. Did I say that?
If you're going to criticize someone else's proposal, then you have to provide an improved solution. What better speaker(s) are you going to fit inside an N scale passenger car? Likewise, for a good amplifier?
Okay, I'll offer such a solution for Rick's suggestion: JMRI has a feature called Virtual Sound Decoder. It lets the computer running JMRI play sound files through a loudspeaker (connected to the JMRI computer), associated with a DCC locomotive running on the layout. You could consist the VSD with the locomotive pulling the car. There are likely other variations on that theme you could use as well. The point is, that loudspeaker could be one or more hi-fi speaker(s), driven by an audio amplifier, under/around/above the layout. Sometimes, you have to think outside the locomotive...
Thank-you Big Jake for pointing out a better option. Now back to Point 353's well put point. This wasn't meant to be a personal criticism. Just an observation. I haven't liked the itsy-bitsy speakers since their inception. Not the option I was looking for. I haven't been silent about it . Figured most knew where I stood on this hot button issue. There is no such thing as acceptable replacements for those midget/tiny squeeker types of speakers. To get the rumble a diesel engine makes you'd need some fairly good sized speakers. For example 8 inch or larger woofers/speakers. Which prompts the question, where are we going to put them? Under the layout? Obviously, you won't get that into any size or scale of model railroad equipment. There are those who use Surround Sound systems to add the needed train sounds to their layouts. Even those don't deliver all the sound I desire. Beside my neighbors would be up in arms at such sounds. If you get my drift. For those who want the toy sound of trains, then by all means stick with the sugar cube speakers. I won't be impressed but others might. My two cents.
The VSD gets the sound onto the train, same apparently as DCESharkman's plan to source the sound from a USB memory device. The issue remains as to what sort of speaker(s) can be fit into an N scale passenger car that will provide acceptable sound levels and fidelity. Is there any way for the sound from multiple external speakers to follow the location of the train around the layout. An NTrak layout, such as DCESharkman runs on, can be quite large. The focus of this thread is not the simulation of the rumble of a diesel engine. DCESharkman wants something to allow an N scale IC passenger train to play the song City of New Orleans as the train proceeds around an NTrak layout. My point of reference is the sound quality from the speaker(s) inside a recent version of an iPhone. Is it at the level of fidelity from a component audio system? Of course not. But, to me, it sounds rather good when playing music and might well be likely to fit inside an N scale passenger car.
I wish Sharkman the best. He knows the various sound delivery systems out there. I dare say better then most of us. He'll figure it out.
Yes, if you have location transponding that identifies the specific railcar's location (requiring a function-only decoder in said car, and multiple detection zones around the layout) VSD can play the sound from one of several speakers around/under the layout. But the point is that NO speakers need to be placed in a railcar for VSD, the speakers are around/under the layout!
The point of any thread is to discuss the options available and the benefits. If you know anything about sound you'll share the same assessment I have of the present-day delivery systems in the hobby. Fun to use but doesn't quite give us what a lot of us are looking for. Now back to work on my layout. Which will eventually sport a surround sound system to deliver the sounds I want. The full range of sounds and not just the noise from the tweeters. The full plan is to have surround sound as the main sound povider and a number of smaller stereo systems to deliver background sounds. MRC's sound pads that will also deliver sounds the grand-kids can play with. Should time prevail and I get'er done. Enjoy and have fun.
I used 4 sugar cubes, 2 left channel and 2 right channel and still sounded too tinny. To be honest I am not all that impressed with sound decoders. Having been around real locomotives commuting to the Bay Area and back, and the freight trains of UP. N Scale sound has no trace of the bass in the sound of the real locomotives. So ends my dalliance in N scale sound.
