Another Sound Install: Atlas RS-11

[jdcolombo]

My latest sound effort is an Atlas RS-11.  ESU LokSound decoder; Knowles Fox speaker in enclosure made of .020 styrene.   Same basic layout as the GP7 that I did.  Love the start-up sequence, and I think ESU really nailed the ALCO 251 sound. 

Photos of install:




Video available here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PvTZPzdpOwo

John C.

[Cajonpassfan]

John, the ESU sound decoder it great, but I'm amazed at the quality of the Fox speaker sound! That thing is tiny!
Thank you for sharing ( just don't go all diesel on us, like the real Nickle Plate...
Best, Otto K.

[bdennis]

Very cool.. Looks like I need to save up and do some of my own..

[robert3985]

Wow!!  Excellent sound!  ESU really got the horn....I mean REALLY!  Looks like I know what my next several hundred dollars of purchases will be. 

[wmcbride]

John,

That is really impressive.

I often tell people that, in many ways, on-board sound is more "to scale" in N. Most people scoff. I noticed it with my BLI E8s when they get down the line from you and, at 10 feet, actually sound like they are fading or reappearing. the same can be done in HO but even with the sound volume down in N it just doesn't seem to have the same effect.

That ESU sound is amazing (and augmented by your speaker work). I have contemplated Surroundtraxx since it was first announced many moons ago but have never pulled the trigger on it.

I grew up 200 ft from the NKP mainline in East Cleveland so seeing familiar names on your layout like Rocky River and Lorain brought back some memories.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Bill McBride

[jdcolombo]

John, the ESU sound decoder it great, but I'm amazed at the quality of the Fox speaker sound! That thing is tiny!
Thank you for sharing ( just don't go all diesel on us, like the real Nickle Plate...
Best, Otto K.

Hi Otto.

I delayed even trying to put sound in a diesel until I could find a speaker that would fit the space in a sealed enclosure and provide some semblance of the "rumble" of a diesel prime mover.  It wasn't until I found the Knowles Fox a couple of months ago that I thought the project might be feasible.  Add to that the efforts of ESU's U.S. division to run around the country doing new recordings of actual locomotives, and you've got a dynamite combo.   I'm not too impressed with ESU's older files, but their new stuff is just terrific, IMHO.

Here's another example: I updated the sound file in my Atlas GP7's with their new EMD V-16 non-turbo file.  I think it sounds a whole lot better than the original file:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mE9y38mulDQ

And don't worry - this particular Nickel Plate Road will have steam until the end of time . . .

John

[cnw mike]

Not to mention ESU's superior motor control. That's what killed the tsunami for me, the motor control is just not there.

[jdcolombo]

Not to mention ESU's superior motor control. That's what killed the tsunami for me, the motor control is just not there.

Agreed.  I still think ESU's steam sound files are inferior to SoundTraxx.  So I've continued to use Soundtraxx Tsunami decoders in my steamers, but I use a second motor-only decoder (a Lenz) because I'm just not happy with the TSU's motor control.  But with the folks at ESU LLC running around the country recording everything they can get their hands on, it's just a matter of time before they upgrade their steam sound files.  In fact, I may leave a comment on their Facebook page that they should stop in Ft. Wayne Indiana and schedule a recording session with NKP 765, which would be a great basic file for two-cylinder "superpower" steam locos.  When you think about it, they can get current recordings from a lot of operating steam: UP's 4-8-4, Challenger (and one day in the future, Big Boy); the SP GS-4; the N&W J (again, sometime not too far in the future); Shays on various tourist railroads; etc.  When that happens, they will be very serious competition for SoundTraxx.

John C.

[packers#1]

Beautiful sound and great speed control; I love the look of RS11's

[jdcolombo]

John,

That is really impressive.

I often tell people that, in many ways, on-board sound is more "to scale" in N. Most people scoff. I noticed it with my BLI E8s when they get down the line from you and, at 10 feet, actually sound like they are fading or reappearing. the same can be done in HO but even with the sound volume down in N it just doesn't seem to have the same effect.

That ESU sound is amazing (and augmented by your speaker work). I have contemplated Surroundtraxx since it was first announced many moons ago but have never pulled the trigger on it.

I grew up 200 ft from the NKP mainline in East Cleveland so seeing familiar names on your layout like Rocky River and Lorain brought back some memories.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Bill McBride

Hi Bill.

Thanks for the encouragement.  I thought about SurroundTraxx, too, but the system is complicated, and needs transponders and block detectors to work properly.  And then there's the simple problem that my basement E-shaped layout would need at least a dozen speakers, probably more like 20, to make it work right.  So I've stuck with the in-unit sound installs.  I can do a lot of units for what a complete SurroundTraxx system and associated components would cost!

And I agree that the sound just seems to be properly "scaled" when done right.  I remember that before I did my first sound installation in one of my Berks, I was dubious.  I thought, rightly, that it would never have the impact of the real thing.  Well, that's correct, but I'm not standing next to a 200-ton fire-breathing real thing; I'm standing next to a 6"-long model.  In that context, the "scaled down" sound is appropriate.  I've gone to train shows where clubs set up with large audio speakers and subwoofers under the layout.  It's just not realistic to hear thundering bass while watching a 4"-long locomotive run a train around (plus, after about two minutes, it really gets on your nerves; I don't know how real engineers put up with it all day long, five or six days a week).  The sound from my diesel installs actually is too loud; I'll need to adjust it downward before my next operating session.  But it does seem to be perfectly "scaled" overall to the size of the model.

John C.

[keeper]

Excellent sound! I think I need one myself.
Would that sound file work for a RSD-12 too?

Thomas

[unittrain]

Awesome sound and the video is awesome too look forward to more of your work.

[jdcolombo]

Excellent sound! I think I need one myself.
Would that sound file work for a RSD-12 too?

Thomas

Yes - although technically the RS-11, RSD-12, RS-18 and RS-36 all used the V-12 version of the ALCO 251B prime mover (the Century 420 might have, too - not sure).  This sound file is from a V-16 version, which ALCO used on the later Century models.  But I've heard a V-12 251B, and it sounds about the same (that is, like it's going to come apart at the seams at any moment).  ESU has a new sound project in process that is a recording of a V-12 from an RS36, but it isn't available yet (when it becomes available, you can update the sound file in the decoder with the ESU programmer, although the programmer costs about $170).

John C.

[keeper]

Thanks for the info.
Forgot to ask, is the decoder a micro V3.5 or micro V4?

Thomas

[jdcolombo]

Thanks for the info.
Forgot to ask, is the decoder a micro V3.5 or micro V4?

Thomas

It's a Select Micro, which is a somewhat simplified version of a regular V4, used for the USA market only (and about $30 cheaper than a regular V4 micro).

John C.