Playing Train Sounds - Loud Speakers

[PatBarr]

I want to record and playback various train sounds: whistles, crossings, conductor, etc.  On my control board I want to have different buttons to activate these sounds so if the train is in the station the conductor would talk.  Train at a crossing then you would hear bells.

I thought I found a good solution using a battery sound recorder device then mounting these near the point I want the playback.  Problem was that these devices are not loud enough and get drowned out by train.

Does anyone have advice?  I don't think a CD or USB player would work because I want short clips controlled by buttons and mounted in different places.

Thanks

[richg]

Buy or build a small audio amplifier. Use you own speakers. The LM386 eight pin IC is a very good amplifier for this kind of project. I have made a few amps in the past with this IC.
Look for amplified stereo speakers used with home computers. Those things are everywhere. Probably the easiest solution. Two for the price of one.

Rich

[Doneldon]

Pat-

My first suggestion is that you think of this project strictly as a sound project. Try to ignore the model railroading aspect because that might have the potential of distracting you from some possible solutions. Once you have solved the problem of how to obtain, replay and control the sound you can deal with the issue of integrating it into your model railroad.

Your idea of using micro-recorders is a good one. They use tiny cassettes which you can record yourself or lie record sounds from original sources. For example, you could record yourself announcing arrivals and departures at a station on your layout, in order, for a whole operating session. Or you could record trackside sounds of real trains or perhaps the sounds of an engine servicing facility, switching yard or industrial site. It would be easy to connect an on/off switch at the battery compartment so you'd have remote control of the recorders. This control could be centralized on your control panel or operated at the various locations with sound around your layout. They would, of course, need to be rewound. I don't think the low volume problem is a real one because such sound should only be heard by someone near the location. Sounds loud enough to be heard throughout your layout space would quickly become an annoying cacophony. It would be like having multiple locomotives operating simultaneously, each loud enough to be heard all over the layout resulting in a confusing and unpleasant aural environment.

Both MRC Symphony 77 and SoundTrax have systems with the ambient sounds of various environments from city to country, industry or right-of-way. It would be easy to include them although it could get rather expensive as you'd need a set up for each environment if you would want to have more than one operating at a time. Also, it would be challenging to set up controls to trigger different sounds from various locations using a central speaker for all of them.

So ... I suggest that you decide exactly what you want your sounds to be, plan to keep local volumes low, and do the sound planning as a stand alone problem before trying to integrate it into your overall model railroad experience.

Good luck, and please keep us informed of your progress. I believe it will be interesting to see how you encounter and resolve the various obstacles presented by this challenge.
                                                                                                                                                                                   -- D
   

[PatBarr]

I would like the sound to come from different areas of the track: depot, construction, power generator, etc.  These sounds would be activated by a push buttion switch on my console so they would not all be on at the same time.  They have to be loud enough to be heard over the train and I would like the sound to come from that area of the layout: depot, switching yard, etc.

Will let you know what I come up with.

[richg]

Pick up an old transistor radio. Tune it to a local radio station. Plug in a phone connector to the headphone jack. Solder a 1.5 volt. 1.2mm light bulb to the leads. Miniatronics sells some. With the volume at minimum, slowly increase the volume. You might have to experiment a little. You will have a nice simulation of an arc welder for a factory, under a loco, you name it. A talk show is usually better than a music station. You could send the signal to another bulb at a different spot on the layout. Solder the bulbs in parallel.

If you have a dam on a river, set a FM radio under the layout. Tune the radio between stations for some white noise to simulate water flowing over a dam. It does not have to be very loud.

Rich

[richg]

Some are using cell phone speakers if you need a small speaker. DCC users are doing that now.
With just a speaker, a small baffle will help a lot.

Rich

[Doneldon]

Pat-

You might want to rethink your plan to hear your sounds throughout your layout. This tends not to work nearly as well as different sounds played at low volumes so they are only heard near the "source" of the sound. If one visitor is looking at an industrial plant with appropriate mechanical sounds which change to cows mooing in a pasture it will be a little jarring. This problem is like having locomotives turned way up; in reality we only hear single locomotives (or a train with multiple locos) at a time but several loud locos heard all over the layout room are distracting and unpleasant.

You can still have central control of your sounds but you may find that "local" control with a switch at each sound location works better because observers can turn the sound on when they are looking at a layout area.
                                                                                                                                                              -- D

[richg]

Pat-

You might want to rethink your plan to hear your sounds throughout your layout. This tends not to work nearly as well as different sounds played at low volumes so they are only heard near the "source" of the sound. If one visitor is looking at an industrial plant with appropriate mechanical sounds which change to cows mooing in a pasture it will be a little jarring. This problem is like having locomotives turned way up; in reality we only hear single locomotives (or a train with multiple locos) at a time but several loud locos heard all over the layout room are distracting and unpleasant.

You can still have central control of your sounds but you may find that "local" control with a switch at each sound location works better because observers can turn the sound on when they are looking at a layout area.
                                                                                                                                                              -- D

As an example, we had to be about 18 inches from the dam scene before we could hear the water going over the dam. The sounds have to be very subtle. This might be more difficult to do with a home layout.
Too many sounds will become confusing.

Rich

[Joe323]

This is an intersting topic bcause it reminds me one thing I noticed in almost all MR layous is the lack of background ambient noise especially in urban environments.  Rarely is there ever total silence.  I simulate this ambient noise by putting the speakers from my MRC Symphony 77 under the layout and quietly leaving a diesel engine noise on in the background.  I aso have an app on my cell phone called City Sounds that I use for an ocassional car horn or siren.