# G scale sound sysrems



## jumatfsnah (Feb 1, 2013)

Well I got the hook up figured out,aristo has them. I have tried to find a sound system , but only found , Dallee,lgb, and phoenix. Seems the rest have stopped making them, did like the sound of soundtraxx. From what I could find Dallee was fair but it could be the youtube, it was not very good. Phoenix was good but fairly high. Lgb was not very good. This would be for a SD-45 aristo, diesel. Any suggestions ,would be appreciated. If I could hear a good sound recording of Dallee and was good ,it would fit my budget on sound,but if not it would be worthless. Thanks


----------



## grsman (Apr 24, 2012)

Aristocraft is expected to get some more in this month.
I like them. The sound is not the quality of QSI, but they are a good value for the money.
There are videos of the sound on the net.
Tom


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

If you look at DCC decoders, there are a lot more options available for sound, but at higher prices than the Dallee, but less than the Phoenix. 

Phoenix does have a DCC interface, but only controls sound. Other manufacturers have sound, motor, and light controls on the DCC decoders. 

Look at the DCC section on this forum for more information.


----------



## jumatfsnah (Feb 1, 2013)

I did not know aristo produced a sound unit, I am running DC , the only thing I have seen was for DCC. thanks


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Aristo's sound units are their Revolution throttle/sound receivers. They won't work in a "traditional" analog DC environment. 

Some of the DCC sound systems will work in analog environments, though you may or may not have control over the bells, whistles, etc. You may be at the mercy of their "pre-programmed" behavior. I've not (yet) done research on which ones do and don't allow this, so I can't help you much there. I know the new QSI Titan has the capacity for magnetic sound triggers. 

Dallee's sounds are pretty good in person. The "catch" with the Dallee sounds is that they're monophonic--i.e., they only play one sound at a time; chuff, whistle, or bell. On the diesels, they "get around" this issue by recording the bell and whistle in conjunction with the motor sound, so when you ring the bell, you get the bell with the motor combined. Same for the horn. To my understanding, you cannot blow the horn and ring the bell at the same time. But for half the price of Phoenix or QSI, it'll do good service. Check evilbay, too. Sometimes the old Sierra diesel sounds come up, and can be had for around $100 give or take. There's also MyLocoSound, which is an analog sound board. I don't know that the sound would be appropriate for a large diesel like an SD-45, but if you were just looking for a generic motor sound, it's an option. 

Later, 

K


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

The Zimo is polyphonic and has 3 programmable reed sensor inputs typically used for bell, whistle and chuff for a steam, brake squeal for trolley/electric, or diesel motor revs. 
Sound is programmable also, and you can control smoke motors and heater elements with this decoder. 
Lights are programmable also, all this in one package!!. 

Again information like this is available in the DCC section for this and many other decoders!!


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I don't know of ANY DCC sound decoder that does not work on DC. 

Every DCC sound decoder I have heard is polyphonic. 

I use Zimo myself, but it's not unique in the respects presented. 

And I have to disagree with Kevin, I don't think the Dallee sounds "pretty good", but the best advice is listen to one yourself... There are other inexpensive sound systems that sound better, and definitely the Aristo sounds better than the Dallee, in my opinion. 

If you want to save money, maybe teaming an HO SoundTraxx Tsunami with your control system will be the way to go, I think they are $70. 

Greg


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Greg, I won't argue sound quality since it's subjective, but given the environment (analog DC), the Aristo isn't a contender anyway, so the Dallee is pretty much "it" in terms of non-DCC, analog DC-compatible, low-cost digital sound systems. 

As for the DCC ones, do they function as standalone sound systems, or do you have to physically install them as you would in a DCC environment? If it's installed independently of the motor control, what's the typical minimum voltage needed even to wake the DCC boards up, and would you (could you) install a "back-up battery" to provide power to the board at low track voltages as you have with Dallee, Sierra, and Phoenix systems? I would think that if you're using an HO Tsunami, that you're using it as a standalone sound system independent of motor control, so you'd need some means of keeping the sounds going at low voltages so that the loco doesn't start moving before the sound board sees enough voltage to even turn on. 

Later, 

K


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Umm... there are lots of other low cost DC sound systems... and there's a recent thread on it... check out mylocosound... but maybe you could find the thread, I think it was started by Ray Dunakin... 

On the DCC side, yes most can function without controlling the motor... but why not connect to the motor? 

Minimum voltage is normally 6-7 volts, but so what... and yes most will allow a "keep alive" battery input. 

Actually what you do is use the motor outputs, and then just slow down until it stops, the sounds will keep going. Simple. 

You can find lots of pro's and cons, most obvious one is that doubleheading 2 locos one with sound and one without, they will run at different speeds, but many locos do that anyway, and if you want to consist locos, I submit you should have started with a control system that embraces special features from the get go. 

So, there's a number of solutions.. 

I know that this more in-depth discussion may just be confusing the OP, so will try to reduce down: 

You can find simple sound systems that sound "Reasonable" for under $100. They can work with triggers. 

Maybe the OP can help clarify: His first post seems to assume that he will be using Aristo R/C .... well if that is true, you already have sound... 

So, as much as it does not seem to give you an answer, you need to pick the control system you want. 

There's just so many ways to go, you can't really pick the sound system first, you need the foundation of the control system determined... trust me, you will get to your answer sooner. 

Greg


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg, I have some MRC G scale decoders that while the motors work on DC, not all features could be enabled on DC. I could not program CV 13 and 14 for DC operation. 
These are probably the exception in large scale decoders.


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Sorry, I sort of thought it was obvious that since DC has no signal/control/command structure, of course many features can only be controlled by DCC. 

Also, MRC decoders are pretty nuts, I bought a bunch of the AD220 or 240 on sale, I think they were $11 each... sound was poor and they locked up often and would often burn up... I bought them as stopgap decoders until I could buy the good stuff (I use QSI, Zimo, Soundtraxx, NCE).... well the old adage you get what you pay for is still true. 

Greg 

p.s. there are some notable exceptions, you can access 30 functions on the QSI stuff, they use a trick of sending sequences of quick track power polarity reversals to control functions.


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Greg, low cost _digital_ boards. MyLocoSound aren't digital. I mentioned the MyLocoSound board in my initial post, but also mentioned that because it's an analog synthesis of a generic motor sound, it'd probably be unsuitable for something like an SD-45. There's also sounds from RAMTrack and ITT, but they're specific sounds on specific boards. You'd have to purchase multiple boards to get all the sounds you'd want, which would not only take up inordinate amounts of space, but would also quickly add up to the cost of a Dallee, used Sierra, or even Phoenix board if you went "all out." 

"Why not connect the motor?" If you're using a DCC board rated for large scale, I agree--there's little reason not to, unless maybe it's a bugger locomotive or something like that, and it's otherwise dirt simple just to hook the track power to the sound board. However, if you're using an HO decoder for its sounds (cost savings, already have some from your small-scale endeavors, what-have-you) it's the only way you can install them lest you burn them out. 

Good to know that "keep alive" features are widely available for those instances. 

Later, 

K


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Current HO decoders by Zimo are rated for G scale use. Some are up to 50 volts!! I use these in the small motor locos like Gustav and Chloe, and rail truck locos. I even placed one in a stainz loco. 
And these are about the same cost as the Dallee and give you a reed input sensor, motor control, light controls, programmable sound and work on dc as well as dcc layouts.


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I'll bet there are enough people out there that remember the PFM systems which were not digital that sounded pretty good. 

I use Zimo HO decoders for all my smaller locos that have size constraints and have under an amp draw. They do not have problems like other HO decoders that don't live up to their published specifications, of either voltage or current. Tsunami comes to mind. 

Lots of options, you just have to know about them before generalizing... but that's why we have a forum right? To share knowledge.


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Remember them well. The chuff, hiss, and whistle were analog syntheses. The bell and some other sounds were real sounds recorded onto endless cassette loops. (We only had the one-cassette version for the bell, other systems had three cassette decks. Oh, and don't hit the reverb unit...) 

My dad based the design of his on-board sound systems off of PFM's designs. Like PFM, the bell, hiss, and chuff were very easy to do via analog synthesis. Since our stuff was designed to be onboard, we went to an analog synth for the bell sound, too. I spent a lot of time playing with potentiometers trying to "tune" a good bell sound when we had these things on breadboards. It just never sounded "right" for all we tried. (In fairness, some of Denver's light ral cars also use an analog synth bell which sounds equally dubious. "Life imitating art?") 

Later, 

K


----------

