Sound: DC vs DCC

[0n30nutz]

All,

  Been around this hobby for too long now, and have seen incredible moves forward over the years, particularly with motors, control (both DC and DCC..I have just completed a review of the new Dynamis system for a model railroad publication)), models and detailing in general, and within a few short years, sound for our locos. And I am looking forward to more improvements sooner rather than later, as history shows.
  Amost all of my locos are sound equipped, with decoders from Sountraxx, Digitrax, ESU and QSI. Most have two speakers in enclosures, some one speaker, and my Connie actually sounds better using the body of the tender as the enclosure. Yes, some decoders are better than others, but I am pleased with all.
  I guess my reason for writing is my observations at shows, open houses and even at an installation demonstration. Most disappointment is expressed in regards to distortion lack of clarity and ,as mentioned above vibrations from the speakers. I have found that voume levels are the culprit 99 & 44/100ths of the time. We tend to set our voume levels extremely high because we want to feel the 'power of the loco'. If we took our scale sized locos and translated the sound levels we set them to to the real world, I think it would kinda like having a Big Boy in our living rooms, with a Challenger thrown in for good measure. Once the levels are brought down to a reasonable level, distortion, vibration and other gremlins go away, leaving sounds that are realistic and bearable.

  Just a rambling thought....

Regards to all...

Howard

[Jim Banner]

Thus the advantage of offboard sound - no limit on speaker size, no distortion even at high volumes.

[0n30nutz]

Yep...

H