[davidone]

As I have bought more
locomotives that have sound I have decided to run them on the layout exclusively.
The sounds have gotten so much better thanks to our sound decoder makers the sounds of diesel and steam are incredible

Who else like the sounds of today's Ho.

Dave

 

[wvgca]

I do like the sound, but not too many ..
I have -i think- three out of six with sound [that i keep on the layout], at most times

 

[D&J Railroad]

Most of what I run now have sound. Just a few that are non-sound that are mixed in with loco consists.

 

[JerryH]

MIne are all sound equipped. I do turn them down so that they are heard when close but drown out the ones that are far away on a 8 x 16 HO layout.

 

[LateStarter]

I have many that came with sound, and a few with sound added.
I also have some without sound, specifically for consist duty with one that's sound equipped (e.g., Geeps & RS11's).

The main thing I find with factory sound is that many are annoyingly over-the-top with volume settings, so I'm forced to drop them some.

If I add sound, I generally go with ESU Loksound.
This is mostly because their rendition of the Cummins diesel is unrivaled, (which I added to my bashed 44 tonner). But I was so impressed overall, that I've stuck with the brand. Not sorry.
BTW, ESU's engineer/dispatcher chatter is a hoot!

 

[Old_Hobo]

None of my 30 locos have sound.....DC only.....and I like them!

 

[LateStarter]

None of my 30 locos have sound.....DC only.....and I like them!

Hobo:
Applause! :appl:

 

[prrfan]

I have two sound locos out of 30 or so. Not planning on adding any more with sound.

 

[Severn]

no but that's my ultimate goal.

 

[MichaelE]

Three out of my five have sound.

 

[Atlanta]

I am planning toequip all my over 30 locos with sound but I can switching off the sound when I want silence at home.

For guests or onto RR shows sound is a nice feature.

 

[MichaelE]

I like it because it helps to put me in the scene.

I really want sound in my ÖBB 1014 and my DB Db.111, but that won't be until next year.

 

[mesenteria]

We don’t currently have the ability to yield high fidelity sound from the HO scale rolling stock. I do think we’ll get there

All of mine are DCC/sound. All are turned down to near 50% immediately upon assigning an address. Then I adjust individual sounds.

On the layout, I rarely permit more than two or three to emit sounds unless they are active. Too much noisy competition in a confined space. And in that space, sound scales very poorly over distance.

 

[EdC]

One out of five of my switchers has sound and it is turned way down. They are all DCC.

Ed

 

[J.Albert1949]

The first new engine I bought for the layout had sound pre-installed (Walthers Proto SD9). It seemed novel at the time, but I soon found that "sound" was a "nonplus" for me (other than the natural noise the train makes rolling along the track, and the inherent "motor sounds" of the locomotives).

Since then, ALL of the locos I've bought are non-sound.
I put dcc (non-sound) decoders in them and run them that way.

I found that I prefer hearing the "actual" sounds of the motor and gears, which tells me how the engine is running.
(It was that way when running "the big ones", as well)

 

[Severn]

I'm the opposite. I would prefer that the engines (& cars) make no real mechanical sounds, only pure fake real engine/train sounds.

 

[Eilif]

I have one sound loco, and that was a whim that I'm not even sure I'll keep. I'm not interested in upgrading the locos I have, or the higher price of sound.

What I do plan to do is add some kind of general locomotive onise and sound effects to my layout, possibly DCC controlled but moreikely likely a simple sample-based background noise with a computer and speakers.

 

[Atlanta]

Soundfrom under the baseboard or background sojund is the old method what works best when the models don't even have enough space for decoders or loudspekers.

Me I equipped an old IHC and RivaRossi 4-4-0 with sound decoder from Digitraxx Tsunami Wave 1000 Series.
For that the old Tender big round motor had been removed than I put an 8 Ohm loudspeaker into it.
The Decoder above the loudspeaker but rhe decoder need to be protected afainst the magnetic field of the loudspeaker. Than I removed the shaft gear drive and added a small diameter can motor to drive the loco axle diirectly.
It works well enough for me.
The headlight got iluminated, too.

 

[CTValleyRR]

The first new engine I bought for the layout had sound pre-installed (Walthers Proto SD9). It seemed novel at the time, but I soon found that "sound" was a "nonplus" for me (other than the natural noise the train makes rolling along the track, and the inherent "motor sounds" of the locomotives).

Since then, ALL of the locos I've bought are non-sound.
I put dcc (non-sound) decoders in them and run them that way.

I found that I prefer hearing the "actual" sounds of the motor and gears, which tells me how the engine is running.
(It was that way when running "the big ones", as well)

I'm with you, although maybe for different reasons. Personally, I don't think sound scales well. Old Saybrook and Middletown are about 30 miles apart in reality, but only separated by 6' on my layout. If I'm in Middletown loading Portland Brownstone, I shouldn't be able to hear a crossing whistle from a train on the Shore Line.

So my locos are silent, except in my imagination.

 

[MichaelE]

Soundfrom under the baseboard or background sojund is the old method what works best when the models don't even have enough space for decoders or loudspekers.

Me I equipped an old IHC and RivaRossi 4-4-0 with sound decoder from Digitraxx Tsunami Wave 1000 Series.
For that the old Tender big round motor had been removed than I put an 8 Ohm loudspeaker into it.
The Decoder above the loudspeaker but rhe decoder need to be protected afainst the magnetic field of the loudspeaker. Than I removed the shaft gear drive and added a small diameter can motor to drive the loco axle diirectly.
It works well enough for me.
The headlight got iluminated, too.

Unless there is a relay or transformer on the decoder card a magnetic field is not going to bother a DCC decoder.