Best sound file for B&O EM-1 simplex articulated

[Bill H]

Group:
Any suggestions for the best sound file for a B&O EM-1, which I believe was a simplex not a compound articulated. I was leaning towards using a LokSound sound decoder but the only articulated sound file I saw was a duplex.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

[carlso]

Bill,

I am not smart enough to know the difference between simplex and compound articulated sounds so I can't really answer your question. However, I used the Micro Select , cabforward file, in my AC-9. If you have not heard enough of the file, here is a short You Tube video of my AC-9 in action.

Carl

[nstars]

I would go for either a Soundtraxx micro Tsunami (medium or heavy steam, depending on the whistle you like) or the TCS WOW decoder. The last one is quite big but the sounds are very good. The Tsunami  is smaller and therefore easier to install. Personally I'm not impressed by the look sound steam sounds. Their diesel sounds are among the best, but the steam sound are only average.

Marc

[jdcolombo]

Group:
Any suggestions for the best sound file for a B&O EM-1, which I believe was a simplex not a compound articulated. I was leaning towards using a LokSound sound decoder but the only articulated sound file I saw was a duplex.

Suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

I'd probably use the Big Boy file.  The Big Boy was also a simple articulated, rather than a compound Mallet-type.  I used this file for my Challenger install, and I think it sounds pretty good.

John C.

[Bill H]

Thanks to everyone for their input. The difference between a complex and simplex articulated is that the complex sends the left over steam from the first cylinder to the second cylinder, so from a sound perspective, the compound articulated will always have matching "chuffs". The simplex sends the steam to both cylinders, so it can get out of sync and have slightly offset "chuffs". Hence my question.

John, does the Big Boy file contain some occasional sounds where the two cylinders get out of synch?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

[wcfn100]

Thanks to everyone for their input. The difference between a complex and simplex articulated is that the complex sends the left over steam from the first cylinder to the second cylinder, so from a sound perspective, the compound articulated will always have matching "chuffs".

I don't think that's true.  What happens when one set of drivers slip?


Jason

[jdcolombo]

Thanks to everyone for their input. The difference between a complex and simplex articulated is that the complex sends the left over steam from the first cylinder to the second cylinder, so from a sound perspective, the compound articulated will always have matching "chuffs". The simplex sends the steam to both cylinders, so it can get out of sync and have slightly offset "chuffs". Hence my question.

John, does the Big Boy file contain some occasional sounds where the two cylinders get out of synch?

Thanks in advance,
Bill

Hi Bill.

Yes, is the answer.  The sounds of the two sets of cylinders will go in and out of sync every 30 seconds or so.  Here's the YouTube of my Challenger, where you can hear this effect pretty clearly (it starts very clearly out of sync, then "syncs up" around the 55 second mark, then goes out again):

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The only problem I had with this file is finding an appropriate whistle.  The one I chose was the most impressive, and since I have no idea what a Clinchfield's whistle sounded like, I'm fine with it.  But the EM-1 had a more "steamboat" kind of whistle, I think - there are some historic videos of EM-1's on YouTube that might help.

John C.

[jdcolombo]

I would go for either a Soundtraxx micro Tsunami (medium or heavy steam, depending on the whistle you like) or the TCS WOW decoder. The last one is quite big but the sounds are very good. The Tsunami  is smaller and therefore easier to install. Personally I'm not impressed by the look sound steam sounds. Their diesel sounds are among the best, but the steam sound are only average.

Marc

I think the ESU sound files for the Big Boy and Cab-forward are excellent, although I'd like to have more volume on the whistles.  The chuffs have nice "bark" to them (see my Challenger video, above) and I like the fact that the file includes the "open cocks" steam hiss on startup.  However, I agree that their files for regular two-cylinder steam locos are pretty weak.   I've been told ESU is working on a file specifically done for the Kato FEF; if it has a wider selection of whistles, that file would be useful for all kinds of modern two-cylinder heavy steam, including other 4-8-4's, 2-8-4's, 2-10-4's, etc.  All these engines had a similar "bark" to the chuffs and very similar-sounding auxiliary sounds, such as rod clank, steam hiss, boiler blow-off, air pumps, etc.   The major differences were the bells and whistles (literally!).

John C.

[peteski]

I'm not thoroughly confused.  The way I understood compound articulated steam locos was that since the exhausted steam from the high-pressure cylinders is piped directly into low-pressure cylinders (which then finally exhaust the steam through the smoke stack) the compound loco would sound like a standard locomotive. If the loco has 2 cylinders per engine it would have 4-chuffs per driver revolution (as opposed to 8-chuffs on a standard non-compound articulated loco).

Since only the the exhaust from the low-pressure cylinders is audible on a compound loco, whether the low and high pressure engines are out of sync, it should make no audible difference.

[nstars]

I'm not thoroughly confused.  The way I understood compound articulated steam locos was that since the exhausted steam from the high-pressure cylinders is piped directly into low-pressure cylinders (which then finally exhaust the steam through the smoke stack) the compound loco would sound like a standard locomotive. If the loco has 2 cylinders per engine it would have 4-chuffs per driver revolution (as opposed to 8-chuffs on a standard non-compound articulated loco).

Since only the the exhaust from the low-pressure cylinders is audible on a compound loco, whether the low and high pressure engines are out of sync, it should make no audible difference.

You're correct. A compound articulated steam engine will sound exactly as a 2 cilinder steam engine with only 4 chuffs per revolution and no going in and out of sync.

I think the ESU sound files for the Big Boy and Cab-forward are excellent, although I'd like to have more volume on the whistles.  The chuffs have nice "bark" to them (see my Challenger video, above) and I like the fact that the file includes the "open cocks" steam hiss on startup.  However, I agree that their files for regular two-cylinder steam locos are pretty weak.   I've been told ESU is working on a file specifically done for the Kato FEF; if it has a wider selection of whistles, that file would be useful for all kinds of modern two-cylinder heavy steam, including other 4-8-4's, 2-8-4's, 2-10-4's, etc.  All these engines had a similar "bark" to the chuffs and very similar-sounding auxiliary sounds, such as rod clank, steam hiss, boiler blow-off, air pumps, etc.   The major differences were the bells and whistles (literally!).

John C.

What I miss with the Loksound files I tried myself is something very characteristic for a steam engine: the dynamic features of a steam locomotive. What I mean is the bark when accelerating, the regular chuff when running at a constant speed and the almost complete lack of chuff when slowing down. I like what the people of Loksound have achieved with diesel, but they didn't get this part right with their steam sounds. You can check this effect on the video below at around 0'55.

Marc

[peteski]

How about Zimo sound decoders?  I have one factory-installed in a Fleischmann loco and it to me sounds really good.  The chuffs sound good, it does automatic cylinder purge when the loco starts up and the whistle sounds very realistic. But it is a European model. I have not looked at the Zimo sound files to see how many U.S. prototype sound files they have available.

[nstars]

How about Zimo sound decoders?  I have one factory-installed in a Fleischmann loco and it to me sounds really good.  The chuffs sound good, it does automatic cylinder purge when the loco starts up and the whistle sounds very realistic. But it is a European model. I have not looked at the Zimo sound files to see how many U.S. prototype sound files they have available.

I have no experience myself with the Zimo sound decoders. I check their website (www.zimo.at) and there are some sound files for US locomotives. The first one I tried didn't have the dynamic steam sound I described before, but the second one (the Big Boy) did have. This means, that the quality of the sound files is dependent on the designer of the file. It's not like ESU or Soundtraxx were the sound files are designed by the company itself. The same is true for the sound decoders from CT Elektronik. There are other manufactures of sound decoders in Europe like f.i. Uhlenbrock, but I haven't tried them. PS the Uhlenbrock sound decoders require a regular decoder with SUSI interface.

Marc

[Bill H]

You're correct. A compound articulated steam engine will sound exactly as a 2 cilinder steam engine with only 4 chuffs per revolution and no going in and out of sync.

Peteski;
Marc is correct, hence my question. The EM-1 was not a compound, it was a simplified articulated. So there is potential for the cylinders to get out of sync - which is why I am trying to see if there is a sound file to simulate that...

Best,
bill

[peteski]

Peteski;
Marc is correct, hence my question. The EM-1 was not a compound, it was a simplified articulated. So there is potential for the cylinders to get out of sync - which is why I am trying to see if there is a sound file to simulate that...

Best,
bill

Thanks for the clarification - I guess I just didn't read your question carefully enough and got more confused as the thread progressed. 

[Bill H]

John, Marc;
Which decoder LokSound with the BigBoy sound file or Tsunami with the EM-1 private project sound file offers the better steam sounds emulation? I might end up using a second decoder for motor control, so let us leave motor control out of this decision matrix.

Thanks,
Bill