TTS Sound - are you likely to buy?

[Augustus Caesar]

I see a thread by a newbie, Nictor, is on the General side of the forum as king about the difference between this and the original Hornby sound chips. While I am not going to repeat that question I am simply going to ask who is likely, of us all in here,

 

to buy one of the loco's straight away in order for us all to share the wisdom of the purchaser and go ahead and buy one for ourselves?

 

I would like the BR 4-6-2 'Tornado' Peppercorn A1 Class although I prefer diesel type locos. Because Christmas has

 

taken up my allowances for this year I must wait a while... it's terrible isn't it?

 

Which loco would you purchase and would you share your thoughts on this new chip with us here? I look forward to some interesting reviews...

[Augustus Caesar]

? as king? I'll rephrase... asking... that's better! :-)

[RDS]

@AugustusCaesar

TTS sound looks very interesting, certainly at that price.

I hope that Hornby Magazine will do a review when it is available.

[Fishmanoz]

I would certainly be interested in the decoder to retrofit. Ability to reblow with Hornby or aftermarket sound files would be good too.

 

They can make a killing with this. 16 sounds may not be everything but it is a lot.

[Graskie]

I'm certainly interested to see how good it is. If it's OK, I fancy the DoG with it.

[PJ_model_trains]

Am I likely to buy TSS sound in loco's... YES!

 

They are already saying up to 16 sounds, the more sounds they include the more I am likely to purchase. Loco's with less sound features would mean I would be less likely to buy unless it was something

 

'I had to have'

[pidder]

Personally, I would be quite happy with fewer sounds, just the basic ones to sound realistic.The suggestion that Hornby could make re-blowable or, perhaps, general steam or diesel sounds available in a "fit it yourself" decoder is also very interesting,

 

providing prices didn't shoot up.

[Graskie]

Don't forget, though, pidder, that it's not only sound but lights and a few other non-sound functions that need to be catered for.

[Fishmanoz]

It certainly would be disappointing if it didn't include lights and a full range of adjustable CVs.

[PJ_model_trains]

pidder said:

Personally, I would be quite happy with fewer sounds, just the basic ones to sound realistic.The suggestion that Hornby could make re-blowable or, perhaps, general steam or diesel sounds available in a "fit it yourself" decoder

is also very interesting, providing prices didn't shoot up.

The biggest cost is the chip, once they have the sounds it doesn't take much longer to write a few functions. I think it is better to have as many as possible, the chip won't be cheaper

for having a few. If you have them and don't use them that is one thing, if you don't have them you can't use them. I have controls in my car I don't use but they put them there to help sell the car and although I may not use them others probably do.

Price

is a major issue if the hobby needs a kick start then DCC and sound chips (plus lights) are the way forward. The more affordable they are the more people will buy. I can't wait ;-)

[The_Seagull]

hi augustus, LNER Cock of the North with sound, and a hornby rrp of £155.....YES, I WILL be having one.........................

[Augustus Caesar]

Seems like this is a very positive move then from Hornby. I'd consider purchase if they are as they say, complete with 16 sounds. This looks about right from most of you who have posted above in that 16 is a decent figure. Let's face it... how many of

 

us are going to use ALL the sounds with the higher priced units? All I would like is the sounds for starting up, acceleration, a few horns and brakes. Hopefully this chip will be fitted to the Super Detail locos and not just Railroad stock.

 

Having lights

 

and fully adjustable CV's as Fish asks for would be fabulous option. After all, layouts now can be very realistic to look at so why not have the locos to fit those where they deserve to be and where they have the facilities to make the layout look and sound

 

magical.

 

This could be Hornby's way of introducing new modellers and satisfy those of us who haven't got wads of cash to keep splashing out and, yes, they could make the proverbial 'killing'.

 

Just how many models they cover too would be a possible

 

problem but at least, at this stage, it all sounds good... forgive the accidental pun! :-)

[idlemarvel]

I hope they will be available separately to retrofit to existing locos. If they are going to be around £25 a time that's 4 x cheaper than Loksound or similar so I'll be in the queue!

[Graskie]

I don't have wads of cash but I do, of course, have wads of gold ingots in my garage.

 

I wonder what the specialist sound chip fitters and suppliers will make of this development.

[papajulietdelta]

Sorry to be dim!!

 

What is the difference between TTS sound and the standard Loksound chip?

 

Presumably, you still need to fit a speaker which is the hardest part in a retro fit.

 

Cheers

[Graskie]

I suppose any locos Hornby fits with TTS must also have a speaker built in. Otherwise, yes, you would need a speaker together with Hornby's sound chip if you're fitting it yourself. We don't yet know, though, whether Hornby will be selling their new sound

 

chips, never mind speakers, separately. I would imagine they will, but we'll have to wait and see if they're compatible with other makes.

[Fishmanoz]

Limited to 16 sounds PJD. Take a look around the recent threads on this and there is full coverage, and at the description on the web site for the 2014 range which also says it all. Beyond what is on the web site, we are into speculation.

[Fishmanoz]

PJ_model_trains said:

The biggest cost is the chip, once they have the sounds it doesn't take much longer to write a few functions. I think it is better to have as many as possible, the chip won't be cheaper for having a few.

PJ,

it's slightly more complicated than you suggest here. As part of any decoder, there is a processor chip and it will depend on the functionality built into the chip what can actually be done. There will also need to be storage on the chip where function specs

are kept, along with CV values etc. take the 8249 basic decoder for a start. The fact that there is so little that can be changed tells you the processor capability is very basic and so it's cost to manufacture will be less then a more complex chip.



It will be the same for TTS. Less bells and whistles so a cheaper processor chip and so cheaper decoder.

And it's not just this. The cost in a chip is determined by initial design cost first. That has to be amortised over the production run you are

expecting and will be very significant for short runs. This is why sound decoders have been expensive to date I believe. Hornby have almost certainly reduced design cost by going for a less fancy chip, then have anticipated a large production run to amortise

this cost over more chips. That's why I'm anticipating much wider availability then just in the 2014 loco range.

Just on speakers and their mounting, given that Hornby release the chip separately as a retrofit kit, I would expect to see not just a

speaker with the decoder, but also a mounting bracket for the speaker which is generic, and necessary wiring running from tender to loco depending on where they assume the decoder will be mounted. Those things may up the price but will make it attractive for

many more people to do the simple installation resulting.

[Augustus Caesar]

Graskie... you DID have gold ingots in your garage... :-)

[PJ_model_trains]

Fishmanoz said:

PJ_model_trains said:

The biggest cost is the chip, once they have the sounds it doesn't take much longer to write a few functions. I think it is better to have as many as possible, the chip won't be cheaper for having

a few.
PJ, it's slightly more complicated than you suggest here. As part of any decoder, there is a processor chip and it will depend on the functionality built into the chip what can actually be done. There will also need to be storage on the chip where

function specs are kept, along with CV values etc. take the 8249 basic decoder for a start. The fact that there is so little that can be changed tells you the processor capability is very basic and so it's cost to manufacture will be less then a more complex

chip.

It will be the same for TTS. Less bells and whistles so a cheaper processor chip and so cheaper decoder.

And it's not just this. The cost in a chip is determined by initial design cost first. That has to be amortised over the production

run you are expecting and will be very significant for short runs. This is why sound decoders have been expensive to date I believe. Hornby have almost certainly reduced design cost by going for a less fancy chip, then have anticipated a large production run

to amortise this cost over more chips. That's why I'm anticipating much wider availability then just in the 2014 loco range.

Just on speakers and their mounting, given that Hornby release the chip separately as a retrofit kit, I would expect to see

not just a speaker with the decoder, but also a mounting bracket for the speaker which is generic, and necessary wiring running from tender to loco depending on where they assume the decoder will be mounted. Those things may up the price but will make it attractive

for many more people to do the simple installation resulting.

Hi Fishy, thorough as always but, I would add the following to your comments.

The first is exactly what I have been talking about in previous threads, it is no good, and not

right, for suppliers to say DCC Sound installed, we must know what features are available in the chip and/or its maximum capabilities should it be re-blown. To say DCC Sound installed is not sufficient.

I say this for a couple of reasons, we have to

know what is installed as it can vary from chip to chip and secondly it could vary subject to version of chip should it be changed. Suppliers therefore have a duty to make this information available.

The next subject is economy of scale. I am sure Hornby

have considered this carefully. Lets say they sell 1 million sound chips in 'X' period of time, if they have one chip that does more it will cost less but by having a high end and a low end chip they have already reduced the manufacturing output per chip to

lets say 0.5 million of each. As a result both these chips cost more individually than they would have if there was just one chip. My guess is they have considered this and gone for the two chips so they are competitive at both levels in the market. Probably

a wise decision as you can bet your bottom dollar (or last pound) competitors will follow suit.

[Fishmanoz]

PJ, why would they want to double and more their upfront costs when the extra is competing in the established sound market while with TTS they are in front of the game?

[PJ_model_trains]

Fishmanoz said:

PJ, why would they want to double and more their upfront costs when the extra is competing in the established sound market while with TTS they are in front of the game?

Hi Fishy, as I said... My guess is they

have considered this and gone for the two chips so they are competitive at both levels in the market. Probably a wise decision as you can bet your bottom dollar (or last pound) competitors will follow suit.

It is good they are ahead of the game and

the new chip will increase sales for them.

Sound and lighting add that extra bit of atmosphere and realism to our loco's and layouts. Fantastic!

[Fishmanoz]

Time will tell. The first thing is that they will sell the chip in locos because there is much more profit per unit this way. Not until they have exploited this to the limits will we see the chip on its own I would expect.

 

Then they can't wait

 

too long or someone like Loksound will have their own out. They and others are likely to have done an amount of the development work anyway but why would they undercut themselves by releasing a cheap chip while the expensive one is still selling anyway. But

 

now they've lost at least a lot of the Hornby market, they will need to move. In fact, we can probably expect the existing chips to come down in price in very short order.

 

The technology in the chip manufacture game moves like wildfire. Then most of

 

it over the last few months has been making the electronics for all of the tablets, phones etc that are going to end up in Christmas stockings next week.

[PJ_model_trains]

Fishmanoz said:

Time will tell. The first thing is that they will sell the chip in locos because there is much more profit per unit this way. Not until they have exploited this to the limits will we see the chip on its own I would expect.



Then they can't wait too long or someone like Loksound will have their own out. They and others are likely to have done an amount of the development work anyway but why would they undercut themselves by releasing a cheap chip while the expensive one

is still selling anyway. But now they've lost at least a lot of the Hornby market, they will need to move. In fact, we can probably expect the existing chips to come down in price in very short order.

The technology in the chip manufacture game moves

like wildfire. Then most of it over the last few months has been making the electronics for all of the tablets, phones etc that are going to end up in Christmas stockings next week.

Hornby are in a good position, they must however maintain stock

and keep up with demand. Every day lost is aday nearer competition coming in and if they do, sorry when they do, they could sell the soundchip on it's own to get the edge on Hornby. They need this and should do well,

[PJ_model_trains]

Tablets arrrrr. That message was still being prepared when it was sent. What I was saying was, Hornby need this and should do well.