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Sound or No Sound… That is the question
Bryan asks:
“What do people think about DCC sound? The obvious price difference is not the only reason I ask. From what I’ve seen and heard, the car/wheel track noise seems to negate the engine sound effects. Winding up the volume is an option, but that exaggerates the sounds to a less realistic level. Am I overthinking this? Thoughts.”
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16 Responses to Sound or No Sound… That is the question
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That’s a decision you have to make alone. I do enjoy the sound. A bell and whistle are what makes it feel more real than silence. ? Actually, as you state, there is no silence. Is it worth the extra $100? That’s why it’s a personal decision. I can think of worse things to spend money on. FYI. I use a flip phone, costs $7/mo. I’ll bet you have a smart phone that costs a heck of a lot more. Just saying. No offense intended.
I am thinking of upgrading to sound, mainly for the bell and whistle. I don’t think I’d do it just for the locomotive sounds.
BTW, I used to have a phone that cost $6 a month, but it was 2G and stopped working in the new year 🙁
I have 11 engines steam and diesel with sound,coming out of my tunnel with the horn blowing running downhill with dynamic brakes howling ,yes its worth the money ,park 7 together idling great sound
It is your call but you should see/hear a well installed sound decoder in operation. It certainly brings a new dynamic to model railroading.Be prepared though once you put sound in 1 loco you will want it in all your locos. You can reduce the cost if you can do the installation into your existing locomotives yourself. Going forward it is generally less expensive to buy sound equipped locos than to add sound afterwards.
The track noise is a function of the layout installation. If you are laying track directly on plywood the speakers will have a lot of background noise to overcome. If you lay track on cork or foam you have a lot less background noise and you can adjust the volume to a level that is comfortable for you.
Like you I have mixed feelings about sound. I have in a couple of locos. Bell and whistle sound good start up ads to the realism. I’ve got others with no sound may figure out to put bell and whistle maybe a small sound chip to toggle on and off using an unused light output I feel a project coming on
I agree that sound adds that certain something to the hobby. However moderation should rule the volume. In the real world one does not hear a train from miles away except in special circumstances. One usually can’t hear a train in a tunnel unless standing at the mouth, a loco idling in a yard is usually only heard from close up. Our ears, like our eyes are usually 3 to 5 feet from the action. That equates to 100 metres (yards), so any sounds in the real world would be just audible. So also should they be in the layout room.
I think sound decoders are awesome! Yes they are a little pricey, but what a difference the sound makes coming from your locomotive both diesel and steam. I ran my layout without sound until I discovered dcc, and will never go back.
Well I have both steam and diesel on my rail road and I have sound in both and I have 9 sound units on my river so adding sound is a great thing in some cases but you have to figure out what the volume level you wanna run your locomotive at run I’m hold help or the volume turned all the way up it will drive you crazy after a while But the CV on most of the decoders that I’ve seen allow you to adjust the volume from 0 up to 255 if he using a tsunami and I like the tsunamis they’re great Dakotas I have a couple of the lock sound and they sound great I’m not too fond of MRC but I think that’s a personal choice You can get the tsunami economic for about $65 or you can get the full functions in ammy to with the 8 output light functions for about 110-120But that’s a decision you’re gonna have to make if you wanna run sound
For me, having sound in the locos is absolutely brilliant. Engine sounds varying with speed and load, brake squeals, whistles, horns, bells, all takes the fun to a higher level !
And most DCC locos can be set to run on DC with most of the sounds operating automatically.
As said before, layout track noise is a function of the layout design and construction quality, it can be damped with cork roadbed.
Go to a few model railroad shows and see examples of DCC sound in operation on good layouts.
And most DCC sound decoders (that you install yourself in a DC loco) can be set to run on DC with automatic sounds even before you upgrade to a DCC layout.
You can request the supplier to do this for you, or probably any DCC stand at a model railroad show would set it up for you. (Or someone at your local model railroad club.)
I’ve got more engines that are DC, so most of those will just get motor decoders or sold. The newer, can motored units will get sound. Except my GP30’s which will all get sound. You may have some tough decisions, good luck
I am a UK modeler working in N gauge with a Z21 DCC controller. I have several loco’s both diesel and steam. To convert an N gauge loco to sound costs about £100 per loco. I cannot justify to myself the cost of converting all my locos to sound. I have therefore come up with another solution, and while not perfect it does the job for me. I purchased via the internet 2 ‘Hornby’ DCC decoders with sound, 1 steam (Class A3) and 1 diesel (Class 23) from their OO gauge range. I also purchased 2 small 12v DC electric motors. I wired an electric motor directly to each decoder and directly to my track. I placed both decoders speakers hidden inside my engine shed (other building could be used). I then programmed each decoder to my controller, 1 named STEAM and the other DIESEL. I then set up each loco my controller to be a double header, so each loco would be the locos identification PLUS either DIESEL or STEAM as the second loco. It works great, though you are limited to only 2 locos running at the same time with sound. But its good for me at a fraction of the price. Any comments welcome.
I have many Dcc/sound locomotives, and some Dcc & DC only locos. My layout is designed to run both because I do many repairs on all types of locos, so I need to test them all on my layout. I have done over 50 Dcc/ sound installations, and also bought many with Sound installed already. Here is my take: Once you run with Dcc & Sound, you won’t go back. It will spoil you, because it adds so much to realism. I have learned over time, that not every loco needs the sound, especially in a lash-up. You can have one sound loco, and 2 other Dcc only locos, the one sound loco is enough. My favorite thing is to take vintage equipment, and upgrade it to Dcc & sound, it breathes life into it, and makes it more interesting. In my opinion, Decoders are getting more affordable all the time, and the ease of running Dcc (sound or no sound) is so much better than DC, why not use it?
I’ll bite the bullet and go with sound after hearing all the great advice from everyone. Thanks.
I’ve converted all my DC HO steam engines to DCC with Soundtraxx and I have the option to turn off the sound and sometimes I do but when I do I notice all I hear is the sound of small wheels and an electric motor that’s really not loud enough to give any issues to the soundtraxx sounds. The sound is accurate in that once the engine is up to set speed the sound actually decreases as a real engine would and you get a slight engine sound that’s very prototypical. It’s very impressive. I started in trains in 1961, and I will say the sound from the dcc decoder is a must have for realism.
I wished I’d started with sound, everything I buy now has sound and I’m in the process of converting my no sound trains, the sound of brakes being applied in a shunting yard to the engine warm up is truly amazing,
But it is a preference, you need to go to a good model shop which should be able to demonstrate and you can decide from there.