# DCC for Thomas??? Sound???



## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

I'm surprised that I'm unable to find any threads regarding Thomas the Tank Engine. But now that my granddaughter is showing interest in trains, and recognizes Thomas, I want to be ready for the day when Thomas "G" should make his appearance in my backyard. I got an excellent price on the set with Clarabel and Annie, a circle of track and tiny power pack. (Anybody want the track and power pack?)

The set is still in the box, but Thomas will be one of my winter projects. I want to get him set up for DCC. I have an NCE 408 decoder that I presume I'll install inside him, maybe change any lights he has (he does have lights, doesn't he?). I presume no one sells a sound board with "real Thomas sounds" (presuming there are such things), but I'd like to give him some appropriate sounds.

Questions:
1 - Am I being too presumptuous? Being a Bachman, he can be set up for NCE DCC, right?
2 - Is the NCE board the best way to go, or is there something else more appropriate? Different brand? Wait for a Titan board (presuming she's still interested in trains when she starts law school) ??
3 - Any suggestions what sound card and what sounds would be appropriate? She's only 18 months at this point. Bell and whistle are probably all I need.

Important - my layout is strictly diesel, so I don't know all the intricacies of steam engines. But then it's probably not critical whether the chuff is timed perfectly.

Tell me I'm not the first person to mix Thomas with the GP-40 and SD45.

JackM


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## ntpntpntp (Jan 14, 2008)

Pretty sure there's a guy on the UK-based www.gscalecentral.co.uk forum who's fitted Thomas with a decoder + sounds taken from the TV series. Think he used an ESU Loksound decoder?


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack, I fitted Thomas with the Aristo Craaft REVOLUTION which works very nicely. I choose to put everything (batteries, receiver, speaker and sound) in Annie and cable it to the locomotive.

I'm not familiar with the NEC decoder you want to use, does it have on board sound????


I see no reason you couldn't put the decoder in the locomotive and have full dcc control. 

And......... Thomas mixes with anything you are running.....









He's special....


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I used a digitrax DH465 decoder and SFX004"soundbug" that together cost about 80 bucks. The sound is ok. I posted a review 

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/17/aft/118244/afv/topic/Default.aspx 


It's loud enough, but the whistle is not enough like thomas' whistle to fool little kids. I'm looking for a low cost alternative. Supposedly you can program your own sounds into the soundbug, but I have had no luck at all trying to do it.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

The issue for me with Thomas is the cost--do I really want to put a $200 decoder in a toy that costs about half that much? 

I generally use QSI decoders for sound, and QSI lets you add a limited set of your own sounds. So it should be possible to use a standard chuff and then add Thomas' signature "peep." It's not hard and there's aeven a couple threads on it here. I was able to generate that sound with a synthesizer (I have some music production software) but could not get it loaded on the digitrax "soundbug"


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

there's aeven a couple threads on it here. 

Boy, I've tried "Thomas", "tank engine", etc. and found three postings, the only one about Thomas being an excellent photo contest entry from 2009. 

What am I, the only (youthful) grandfather here? 

JackM 

Guess I'll have to buy the DVD and copy the whistle. Shouldn't be toooooo hard. Famous last words.



Lownote - I just checked your posting. Expensive, considering the entire set cost me only $107, but if I gotta, I gotta. Thanks for sharing.


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## N1CW (Jan 3, 2008)

JackM[/b]
Did you see my reply from Sept 08?[/b]

Lionel Thomas sound box link[/b]

I used the older Lionel Sound 6 button box as the sound source.[/b]


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

T_O_R - You had me going for a second. Today's Sept. 04, how could I see your Sept 08 reply? Then I realized you meant.... 

That page has a bunch of information including yours. Time for me to do my homework; I guess I don't have to have it presentation-ready til the snow melts next year. 

Thanks all. 

JackM


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The new QSI software allows you to not only download custom sounds, but now you can record 3 separate sounds to be used as the beginning, middle (button held down) and end of a sound, which might do the trick for you. 

It takes standard *.wav files 

The QSI as an all in one DCC motor and sound decoder is hard to beat as a complete solution in DCC. 

Regards, Greg


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## Axel Tillmann (Jan 10, 2008)

Any sound can be loaded into a ZIMO decoder and any sound loaded into a function key can be marked with start, center, and end part of the sound (very often used in the projects for horns: lead up, flexible length, and finish the sound). As long as you find the proper recordings for Thomas speaking sounds, all things are possible.

We converted even the old Thomas engines from Lionel, so nothing prevents a good conversion of the Bachmann engine, and you need to use a good speaker. This fact is often overlooked and people go with 50 cents speakers and expect good sound. That really doesn't work. Also a baffle is important, that placement of the speaker is always an experimental task.

Sometimes you have to be creative,ven a smaller high end speaker put at the end of a pill bottle, properly sealed can make for a great sound impression. There is much to learn from Bose's implementation.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 04 Sep 2011 04:55 PM 
The new QSI software allows you to not only download custom sounds, but now you can record 3 separate sounds to be used as the beginning, middle (button held down) and end of a sound, which might do the trick for you. 

It takes standard *.wav files 

The QSI as an all in one DCC motor and sound decoder is hard to beat as a complete solution in DCC. 

Regards, Greg 


Theoretically, anyway, since it seems not to exist yet! At least not in large scale. I wonder if a QSI Titan HO decoder could drive Bachmann's thomas?


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Looks like this is going to be a major part of my winter activities. Speaker will take some work, but worth doing right. I'll probably go with a QSI board since I'm familiar with them and the Quantum should be sufficient for the Thomas. Sound editing is the easy part. I've been doing that professionally since the 60s - reel-to-reel back then - so I can work some magic where necessary. 

I guess my next step is to find out what Thomas is all about. My son was a kid during the age of the Care Bears, so I've got some catching up to do. 

JackM


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I made a tongue in cheek blog post about Thomas relating it to my day job as a history professor

Thomas and the Aristocracy of Labor 

The series is very cute, especially the early ones, but there's something very british about the groveling servility of the steam engines


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The new Q2update program is available for free on the QSI web site right now... Try it... 

Greg


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Way ahead of you. I've had the Q2 update icon on my desktop for months now. What I don't have is a Quantum board to work on. I have a Quantum currently in my GP-40, but I go with "if it works, don't fix it". 

The folks at QSI owe me a replacement for the defective Quantum I bought for my RDC last winter, and I'm waiting for the non-PNP Titan to come out for my painfully quiet S4, plus I have an undec SD45 (to be added to the roster next spring) waiting for the PNP version. 

Add the Thomas and that's FOUR Titans I'm waiting for! Why, oh why, did I decide it'd be easiest if I stuck with one brand of sound? 

JackM


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm waiting for four titans as well. 

Maybe by Christmas


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I only need about 10, but the point I was making is to lownote, the current software version appears to work on the current QSI and you can do the start, middle, end recordings. 

Greg


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Greg I don't see that. I've downloaded the latest versons of Q2 Upgrade and I don't see where these features are implemented. In fact, I'm surprised that it looks so much like the old Q2 upgrade. I though the stereo functions of the titan were going to be configurable; and that the there would be EQ. Really, from seeing Lee Wheelbarger's posts on the QSI yahoo list I thought the thing was going to be radically new. Am I missing something?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

You have Q2upgrade version 2.0.0.0 ?? 

Go to the user sound section.. (in the cut and past sounds section, as before), see the 3 entries for wav files? 

Go to the "change CV values" section (in the same place as before)... select "Snd Ctl" tab... scroll down, you will see settings for balance between speaker 1 and 2, system pitch shift, sounds that go automatically from neutral to FWD/REV, and vice versa. 

I have not found an equalizer, but it may come in a future release... 

(It's a good thing that the software is not radically changed, why make things harder?) 

The HARDWARE is new, mostly more processor, and some new features, like stereo sound, etc.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I am using Q2 v. 2.0.0, but "replace user sound" is grayed out, and there is only ne space for entries. I don't have a decoder hooked up that may be why.

QSI has never been good at making things clear


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

You have to have a file to "replace into".... load a recent q2 file and then the user recorded sound won't be grayed out... 

You don't need a decoder, you need a source file to work with. 

Greg


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## Brakedrum (Mar 1, 2009)

I had Train-Li install a zimo decoder in my grand daughters Thomas and that was the start of a great relationship wwhit her and I at the train layout etc.. Axel not only installed the decoder but he added the lights as the Lionel did not have lights. The modeling work and sound are great. If you watch Thomas on TV and listen to the sound on our Thomas they are very close.


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

All, 

I currently have several of the old Lionel Thomas and James. I am looking at adding decoders so my grand kids (which by the way is one of the most rewarding experiences with trains!) can run them independently! It is funny to put in sound and motor decoders that cost way more than the complete set!  
I just received the MRC sound unit so I will let you know how it works.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Since the new Thomas line has Percy and James, include these in your search. Tony down under did document the James recently.


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