I think DCC Sound is awful - am I alone in this?

[samfieldhouse]

I was reading the DCC Sound Supplement in this month's Hornby Magazine which I get via Readly - which I highly recomend.
But honestly I think DCC sound is just awful, I have never heard any sound fitted loco that sounds remotely realistic, it's just dreadful tinny background noise to me.
I have a 5 loop 'roundyround' setup with various branch lines -  having 6 locos in action all making their noises would be just horrific.
Am I alone in this? And for the Sound users - what do you enjoy and does the expenditure increase your enjoyment of your locos?
I must confess I do enjoy running an old B12 with the sandpaper fitted tender... for about 5 minutes, then I swap to a non sandpaper tender! 

[Bulleidboy]

I've just fitted a the Hornby Class 66 with TTS sound decoder, but I replaced the speaker for a better one. Having Clas 66's going past the bottom of the road regularly, I can honestly say the TTS fitted loco sounds very realistic. As this loco does not suit my era it is now back in its box! Likewise my Class 205 "Thumper" diesel sounds very realistic - but then it wasn't cheap - you get what you pay for.

I have some factory sound fitted steam loco's, which I turn the sound on when the grandclildren are visiting, but most other times it is turned off. At slow speeds the sound isn't to bad, but unless you spend some time tinkering with chuffs and wheel revolutions, it does appear out of sync.

I certainly would not have five or six loco's sitting with sound on at the same time.

[Chrissaf]

Listen to some of these examples, you might be converted.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/legomanbiffo/videos?shelf_id=1&sort=dd&view=0

 

Legomanbiffo sounds are in my opinion the 'Rolls Royce' sounds to aspire to.

 

I do agree however, that most users have their sounds set at too high a volume, such that having more than one running at a time is just an awful mis-match of conflicting dins.

 

I set mine quite low, so that when they are at the back of the layout they are hardly noticeable. Then as each loco passes in front of the layout where I am sitting, then each one individually becomes audible. I find this far more realistic.

[Rog RJ]

I'm not a great fan of sound fitted locos.  I bought 2, one of them steam, the other is a diesel.  I won't be buying any more in the foreseeable future.

 

I went to a small club exhibition some 2 or 3 years ago wher someone hand a sound fitted diesel set up to demonstrate the sounds.  It was in the refreshments area of the building and it was so loud I couldn't stay in the room and it could be heard throughout the whole of the building.  There was no one there with it, they'd just left it there screeching.

[Mac-_-]

No i'm not a big fan of sound either, i like to hear the clickity clank, far more relaxing. From what i have heared at show's and stuff i'll skip on the sound in my locos. Each too their own as the saying goes.

[WilliamDavid]

A good proportion of my locos have TTS sound, and sometimes I have the sound on, other times not.

I would prefer it if I could set the volume lower than the lowest available, as I find it works better when each loco becomes audible when it gets close.

[96RAF]

Not TTS and not Suethe smoke either, but nothing much wrong with this...

https://fb.watch/2a4wx7dSfz/

[ColinB]

I have lots of locos with sound I think they are great. Without the sound to me it loses the realism. You do have to very careful what speaker you use though, it makes all the difference. The TTS decoders are really good for the money. I have several Bachmann class 66s fitted with TTS sound and about 3 fitted with Loksound (2 of the Hattons I had to as that was the only way to get the correct lighting functions). The Loksound are a bit better as they mix the sounds but other than that they are all sound roughly like a class 66. There again we all have our different tastes.

[samfieldhouse]

It's really interesting to read peoples thoughts. I think perhaps what I have seen at shows/on youtibe is the FULL VOLUME LOOK IT MAKES A SOUND type affair, in which the subtlety is totally lost. The idea of them being quieter and becoming more audible as they reach you is a much nicer prospect.

[creilly81]

As others have said, the current TTS decoders people have found to be pefectly adequate for what they require, however those wishing to invest a little into a speaker upgrade will get improved results.

Just to go to the top end of that scale, i have a Hornby Class 66 fitted with TTS sound and i've upgraded the speaker set-up from the standard 40x20mm oblong type to an 4ohm EM2 Megabass speaker wired in series to a 27mm round 4ohm bass enhanced speaker to equal 8ohm. It now sounds incredible....

It depends what youwant to achieve i guess.

[Yelrow]

You can never please everybody.   I am very happy with both Hornby TTS, and Locksound noises. For the price they are fine. There are better, of course, but you pay the price. If you want to listen to what i consider the best, , look at a video of MTH, with cab chatter. I have 2 of these. Drivers talking to signal box, each other, and  station controller. But , you are into £300, plus.

[samfieldhouse]

Drivers talking to signal box, each other, and  station controller. 

But at the scale distance you are form the loco, surely in real life you'd never hear that.

[Yelrow]

We are talking about model trains, aimed in many ways at younger market. Grandads, fathers.. .buildingl... .    playing with their children.. The village children here, are over the moon to hear such conversations. It conveys to them, how a real railway works, EG, by  contact with signal boxes.  They get to learn how locos in real life, are held at signals, to allow express trains through, and how freight is made to wait.. I think its a tremendous learning curve.   It is a great pity in my view, that other manufactures, have been slow, in taking this on board.

[Mac-_-]

Your right Yelrow, when children hear the sound on some of the loco's especially steam, their eye's near pop ot of their sockets, some you have to push their jaws up, incase the dribble hits the electric  😳. This hobby does need some young blood, but that's another story.

 

As i said earlier i'm not alover of sound, but can see why it appeal's to other's. I alway's believed in it's your layout, it has to make you happy. 

[Yelrow]

It really, of course, is personal choice, but, TTS, is a very cheaply built sound decoder. Given the price we pay for the locos, if we want better sounds, they are out there, and can be easily obtained and fitted, as Chris, has shown. My layout, has the best of both worlds, and the difference, is very marked.

[96RAF]

Rolls-Royce of sound a couple of years ago was WOW.

Nowadays most sound packages are pretty good, but if you want synchronised smoke as well have a look at this...

https://www.facebook.com/1472475269698160/posts/2816257318653275/

... much better than the Woodbine in the funnel Seuthe kit.

[Johnde]

Listen to some of these examples, you might be converted.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/legomanbiffo/videos?shelf_id=1&sort=dd&view=0

 

Legomanbiffo sounds are in my opinion the 'Rolls Royce' sounds to aspire to.

 

I do agree however, that most users have their sounds set at too high a volume, such that having more than one running at a time is just an awful mis-match of conflicting dins.

 

I set mine quite low, so that when they are at the back of the layout they are hardly noticeable. Then as each loco passes in front of the layout where I am sitting, then each one individually becomes audible. I find this far more realistic.

Yes but they are all Diseasels or Spark Boxes  !    What about Kettles !

[DBfan]

You cannot scale down sound, it never sounds realistic and at exhibitions be an annoyance after a while . As for other " realistic." sounds I do`nt know why they bother 

[Kevin Hodges]

 I fitted one, (shoehorned) it into my Mallard steam loco.

 

I know it was loud and the 'chuffs' were out of sync.

 

I've gone back to DC so I don't use it any longer.

[2e0dtoeric]

Any hifi buff will tell you that to get big bass sounds, you need a big speaker and a powerful amp to drive it.

You cannot fit a 30" bass driver, which also needs an acoustic chamber, and a 100 watt rms amp - into a tiny model, no matter what it is a model of.

So - you have to use your imagination, and pretend you can hear the low sounds, just like all your little plastic people that never move - have to be pretending to do things.

[96RAF]

Am I being asked to use my imagination Eric - how droll.

You will be asking me to believe that the two coach train towed by a Pug leaving Platform 1 is actually the 10:00 Flying Scotsman service from Kings X to Edinburgh when my layout is only 3 feet long and neither station looks anything like the prototype.

[The son of Triangman]

 

I'm not a fan of dcc sound as a rule, it's very tinny and toy like as a rule.  Been to several exhibitions over the years, and the racket of several sound fitted locos was terrible.  Over the years very few locos with sound have impressed me.  One example stands out to me, an old Hornby 37 fitted with twin speakers and a top end decoder, the sound reproduction was fanatastic.     To get the best from DCC sound you need a twin speaker stereo system with a top end decoder that doesn't just channel sound, big bucks to buy, but worth it.

 

For the budget end of the market Hornby created TTS which is ok, but is a budget system, you get what you pay for in DCC sound.  To their credit Hornby cracked the market wide open for a budget sound decoder, before TTS you didn't get much for under £100, of course others have since jumped on the bandwagon and followed suit.  It's a pity Hornby didn't follow up on TTS decoders quickly after launching the system.

 

 

 

[2e0dtoeric]

I'm not sure if RAF96's comment is a joke or an insult, so I'll not react to it.

[96RAF]

Banter Eric, no offense intended. I will remove it if you prefer.

[MartKS1707822133]

I have to agree with the sound of the TTS, so i have been upgrading my collection with a deeper base speakers and i got to say 90% improvement. if i need new speakers i just ask Road And Rails DCC Sound Specialists based in Leeds..