Best Of Bachmann n 44 ton sound installation project

[nstars]

I considered that option, but the cab is seriously tiny. I have a 15 x 9.5 micro oval speaker and there's not even room for that. The bottom is really the only option, and will sound the best. A larger speaker will always sound better. (Provided you have a good baffle for it, of course).

Zimo has two small box type speakers, one is 8 x 12 x 8 mm and the other is 10 x 15 x 11 mm. As far as I could see, a similar type of speaker was used in the cab by Atlas for the Alco S2 demonstration at the NSE convention. I'm not sure if it was the smaller or the larger version, but I can tell you the sound quality was very good and louder than the BLI Paragon decoders.

Marc

[VonRyan]

Zimo has two small box type speakers, one is 8 x 12 x 8 mm and the other is 10 x 15 x 11 mm. As far as I could see, a similar type of speaker was used in the cab by Atlas for the Alco S2 demonstration at the NSE convention. I'm not sure if it was the smaller or the larger version, but I can tell you the sound quality was very good and louder than the BLI Paragon decoders.

Marc

The louder the better cause my S2 will have to compete with noisy High-Rail clubs.


-Cody F.

[robwill84]

Found a really cool video of a 44 tonner in action on youtube, this is an S scale model with a TSU-750 sound decoder installed. This model represents the same phase of the engine I'm going to be building, with solid panels on top of the hoods instead of the vents on the Bachmann model.

[robwill84]

Update: The Loksound micro arrived, hooked it up to my speaker with a temporary baffle and it works great, nice and loud too. There's 15 different horn sounds, 4 different prime movers, 2 different brake squeals and lots of other stuff to play around with. It fits right in as planned, I am going to have to make new hood sides out of .005 brass as well, but I had anticipated that.





I also decided that the cab needed some attention. It's just too... wrong. I figured since I'm going to all this work, might as well fix it. To start, I cut the battery boxes and roof off, using the engraved lines as a guide. I figured I could get to the inside and thin the walls out this way, but it turned out to be easier to just cut the whole thing apart at the edges, sand those pieces thinner, and reassemble. Then I made a new roof out of brass, filed the side window openings wider, and used squadron putty and lots of filing and sanding to reshape the whole thing. Decided to leave the cab doors open, as is the case in many photographs. Doors will be made out of shim brass. You can see two small lead pieces in each corner; these are cut at an angle to simulate control stands.





So, thats where I'm at now. Oh, and I tested the speaker and it has no reaction to being close to the motor magnet. Sounds great. I'm excited to get everything installed, so I'll keep updating till its done!

[avel]

This is really cool! You could replace some of the wires with enamel coated wire that they use for electric motor winding. I think it's like 38AWG and some place sells them in three different colors.

[VonRyan]

Holy Moly!
This sound job of yours is on par with the guy that added sound to a Graham Farish Class 04 3-axle diesel shunter.
Read: very tiny engine.
Luckily he didn't have to modify the shell, so it seems you have a heck of a workload ahead of you.


-Cody F.

[robwill84]

This is really cool! You could replace some of the wires with enamel coated wire that they use for electric motor winding. I think it's like 38AWG and some place sells them in three different colors.

There will be room for regular wires for motor leads, power pickup and speaker wiring, as the frame has several grooves for routing wires. I will be using enamel coated wire for the headlight LEDs.

[robwill84]

Holy Moly!
This sound job of yours is on par with the guy that added sound to a Graham Farish Class 04 3-axle diesel shunter.
Read: very tiny engine.
Luckily he didn't have to modify the shell, so it seems you have a heck of a workload ahead of you.


-Cody F.

True, there is a ton of work to be done, but I enjoy the challenge and I try to learn something new with each project. For example, I've never worked much with brass and am enjoying learning how to shape and work with it. Maybe someday I'll look back and say why the heck didn't I just build the whole thing out of brass?

[mmagliaro]

I've been watching this project since you started it (and I'm a steam guy who never uses DCC or sound!)

The clever engineering to make the decoder fit and keep up the weight is great, and now the work
you are doing in brass for new cab pieces really got my attention.

This is really some nice, nice work.  Kudos!

[Cajonpassfan]

This is really some nice, nice work.  Kudos!

What he said, indeed!
Otto K.

[peteski]

I agree that this thread is a very interesting thread. Lots of good ideas, clever engineering and shoehorning going on!

I have couple of these models, and while I didn't contemplate installing sound DCC decoder, the cab has been really bugging me.

I'm not all that upset about the roof contour. What *REALLY* bugs me is the windows!  Not only they are way too small and shaped incorrectly, the thick cab walls make them look even worse.  My plan is to photo etch a new cab, but it'll be a while til I find a round-2-it to get to that project. 

[robwill84]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! A photo etched cab would be ideal, I still have to work out what I am going to do about the cab windows, as the originals won't work now, and I need some way of mounting the "glass" flush with the outside of the frame to really look right hmm...

Anyway, here is the update on the sound end:



I did a sound comparison between the three speakers shown. The large rectangle is a 4 ohm that came with the Loksound Select Micro. The oval is a Tony's Train Exchange micro oval in a custom built enclosure, and the round speaker came from Ebay, from a company called scalelike, Both of these speakers are 8 ohms.  All of them are rated right around 1 watt. The sound from the large rectangle was the best, but it certainly didn't blow the smaller speakers away. To my surprise, the 15mm round and the micro oval were identical in quality. Both had excellent volume, and the Wabco a2 airhorn that I am using for this project sounds great. Obviously they leave something to be desired as far as bass, but the sound of the engine is well defined. Turning it down so its not overwhelming is key.

So, based on the tests, I decided the micro oval would work best, and clamped the frame in a vice and cut the frame with a razor saw and cleaned it up with files



and the speaker enclosure fit right in





It only sits about a millimeter below the side sill, as I wanted to keep that as close to possible as stock. Now I need to do further testing to see if it sounds better pointed down OR



pointing up, into the body, and resonating inside the cab.

[central.vermont]

About the cab. You need to find someone here that could laser cut clear styrene of the cab that has a protective film on it. Remove the film from every where but the windows then assemble paint and the remove the film from the windows.

Jon

[Coxy]

Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing.
Coxy

[u18b]

Oh my gosh.

Reading this thread reminded me of something I did as a GAG several years ago.

When Hundman Publishing went out of business and sold the N-Scale to a new owner, subscribers complained that they missed an issue.

I wrote back and said, No an issue WAS published that month.  I have a copy!

(remember, this was several years ago).