DCC Steam sound - does it work?

[Noel]

And is it worth it? Does it work?

 

I'm astonished to see Hornby steam locos at insane prices over €300 for DCC sound equipped tender locos. It looks like adding sound to an existing steam loco could cost up to €130 (i.e. sound decoder + speaker + sound file). At these prices I can't see 'sound' becoming the norm despite the fact the the chips cost only a few euro more to manufacture than standard decoders. Sound is one of the key attractions of DCC, but at the moment it seems priced for the 'foolish' (myself included), until market volume kicks in and it becomes the mass market norm years down the road after competitive forces reign.

 

I read that over a year ago Bachmann announced 'economy' sound locos at very reasonable prices. Has anybody heard any of them?

 

http://www.gaugemaster.com/news/New-Economy-OO-DCC-Sound-Locomotives-Announced-By-Bachmann

 

Edited October 7, 2014 by Noel

[Irishrailwayman]

DCC sound is expensive. Steam sounds can be very convincing as the sounds are affected by the loco accelerating, coasting/decelerating etc. Distinctive diesels such as the GM Irish engines can also be impressively like the real thing. Some of the more generic sounds available can be a bit bland and harder to stomach the high prices.

[Dunluce Castle]

The bachmann range of economy sounds was canceled a while back I think, but there's always hornby and their £25 TTS sound option, or train tech and their £40 sound chip and speaker....

[richrua]

Hornby railroad are about to release ready chipped sound locos of both uk steam and diesel for under £100. Check them out. That might reduce prices elsewhere....

[DiveController]

If you cannot resist the urge then go ahead. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do but eventually prices are going to come down as you already said. It is just a matter of time. The problem is how much the wait is worth to you in terms of your hard-earned cash. It takes just one thing to trigger a revolution and sounds like Hornby's product may be just the catalyst we're waiting for...

[leslie10646]

I'm glad Noel isn't looking at my bank account, as my sound-fitted Class WT cost me £500 - mind you it IS semi-handmade, but the chipping etc was £150 of that.

 

Is it worth it? Personally I think it's great - I put sound in it to amuse my grandson, but honestly, it amuses me more!

 

My NIR 112 was a lot cheaper (somewhere round £200 from Gareth at the Model Shop in Belfast) and it's brilliant (for a diesel).

 

An insane, but useful side-benefit is that when you're wiring droppers for DCC (hundreds of 'em, in my case), if you have 112 sitting on the piece of track being electrified and you're connecting the droppers to the "bus", she leaps into life (ie, you can hear her) when you've got the connection right - I'm using those little gadgets nicknamed "suitcase connectors" to connect the droppers to the "bus" and it takes a lot of squeezing with pliers to get the connection just right!

[Noel]

Hi Guys, thanks for replies so far. I already have DCC sound on an MM 071, could not resist the cost to see what DCC sound was like, and yes it is impressive and adds to the operating ambience in a dramatic way but at a ridiculous cost IMHO given the actual cost of microelectronics these days. I would find it difficult to justify sound chipping many other locos at current prices. Am tempted even at current prices to put sound in one of my tender steam locos. Having one of each sound on the layout until the cost of DCC sound drops to sensible levels will add a provisional novelty to running.

 

I am interested in what experience folks on here have had with DCC sound on steam locos. Ironically retro-fitting DCC sound to large tender locos seems easier, but my preference would be sound on 0-6-0 tank locos which are not ideal candidates space wise. It may be more cost effective to buy a new DCC sound equipped 57xx loco from Bachmann or Hornby than risk butchering one of my existing tank locos. I won't hold my breath waiting for DCC sound decoders to drop to €50! Noel

 

PS: I found the volume way too high on my 071 but managed to reduced it to 35% using a CV. Now there is a nice balance between simulated loco engine noise and real rail noise.

[BosKonay]

Here is a video of my 4MT

[BosKonay]

Or a 9F

[video=youtube;3lo-VZ-qZl0]

[BosKonay]

Or my personal Favourite

[Noel]

Or my personal Favourite

 

BK, they look and sound fantastic. Agree the A4 is the biz.

 

A few questions if you don't mind. I'm 15 years out of date with the technical specs of newer Hornby and Bachmann loco chassis.

 

1. Did you fit the DCC sound + speakers or did the locos come RTR with sound?
   
2. If the former, where did you put the speaker, and if in the tender did you use a plug-able harness between loco and tender?
   
3. Did you retro-fit the smoke system?
   
4. How long does the smoke last before 'topping up' is needed?
   
5. Do any of these newer model locos have wheel pickups from tender as well as loco chassis?
   

 

The old Hornby A1/A4s I have are tender drive with pickups on one side of the loco or tender which effectively means two wheels only each side.

 

Thanks in advance, this clips above were exactly what I was looking for.

[Noel]

Just been reading up on new Hornby Locos with TTS sound decoders - stunningly good prices for onboard DCC sound. On youtube they seem to sound as good as ESU LokSound. The key functional difference is the decoder has only two concurrent sound channels, so you can play one other sound at the same time as the main loco steam drive or diesel engine noise (e.g. steam/engine plus whistle). The LokSound allow up to 8 concurrent sounds to be played. For the price difference I think I could live with 2 simultanious sound channels with that (i.e. £25 v £120). The Hornby TTS decoders still have up to 16 different sound functions. The Locos seem somewhat less detailed than their premium sound locos, but seem a similar standard to the Hornby steam locos I bought 15-20 years ago.

 

Has anybody else on here any direct experience of Hornby TTS locos?

 

If Hornby and Bachmann both go down the low cost DCC sound route it may give 'sound' the shot in the arm it needs and cause price drops in the coming years.

[DiveController]

Here is a video of my 4MT

 

Beautiful Boss, do you know how much money you're about to cost everyone with that beauty?

Poetry

[BosKonay]

Did you fit the DCC sound + speakers or did the locos come RTR with sound?

 

They are custom builds in each case (and a few more). Built by the master Martin down in Oz (tho he no longer builds commissions I'm afraid).

In the case of the 4MT for example, its got 2 x 23mm speakers in the tender, fully sealed with composites, and runs from a Loksound 3.5 decoder with 12 functions. The loco and tender are reinforced to reduce vibration and full prototypical lights and firebox flicker added. (syncronized with the coal shoveling sounds)

 

If the former, where did you put the speaker, and if in the tender did you use a plug-able harness between loco and tender?

 

Speakers are in the tenders, and a two pin plug links tender with loco, some models have speakers in both the tenders and the loco itself, where space allowed

 

Did you retro-fit the smoke system?

 

Smoke is a Seuthe #22 generator, managed by a micro relay controller by one function on the decoder (reduces any risk of the smoke gen overheating / running dry and overloading the decoder

 

How long does the smoke last before 'topping up' is needed?

 

In operations, the smoke gen needs a top up roughly every 10 minutes.

 

Do any of these newer model locos have wheel pickups from tender as well as loco chassis?

 

In each case, the 'donor' was the current gen Bachmann or Hornby super detailed model. In the A4, there is a speaker both in the tender (a 40x20mm) and the loco directly over the cylinders (23mm). In all the locos lead has also been added to push the weight up by at least 100g.

[Noel]

Thanks BK, very useful. They are superb. Any recommendations for folk who are skilled and experienced enough to take similar 'commission' work?

 

PS: The last question was about wheel pickups in tender as well as loco chassis, but I suspect they are having read Hornby and Bachmann service sheets this evening.

[BosKonay]

Yep, they have all wheel pickups

[DiveController]

I was looking for someone to build a Southern 800 kit for me and it's not cheap and he's booked out. I'll do one eventually a long time from now (time is really my biggest issue).

BK, what did one of these cost all in....ballpark, if that's not too impertinent (don't kill me if it's classified, you could PM if desired)?