A Railking fan disapointed with PS-3 sounds

What engine(s) are you referring to?  

--Greg

I have several PS3 locos and while the sound is not up to the very best Vision and Legacy standards, it is quite good and I'm very satisfied with them, particularly considering the prices.  Maybe you got a bad one?

quote:

Maybe you got a bad one?

quote:

I'm not talking about the quality of the sounds, I'm talking about the variety and the frequency

Read what the man said for goodness sake.

A Dash 8 and a SD-45

I did, for goodness sake. Why would you assume I didn't ? Did I say I was talking about sound quality?  No.  I said the sound "was quite good," and I think it was obvious that that was meant in the context of what Transman complianed of.  My PS3 make quite a wide variety of noises, in conventional and white not as good as Lionel, particularly in the brake squeal department, I am satisfied with the variety, mix and range of dynamic variation that I get.   Given that MTH generally costs noticeably less than Lionel, I think its more than adequate and good for what I paid..

What you clearly said nothing about was the "variety and frequency".

I will have to agree with Transman regarding the PS-3 sound files.

All my previous engines were PS-2, and although the same crew sounds on each engine got tiresome after awhile, I enjoyed MTH's variety of engine sounds to fit the model.

A few months ago, I purchased my first MTH PS-3, the Southern PS4 4-6-2.  I was delighted by the many improvements made on the engine and its sound files.  The whistle, the chug, the steam valves popping, LEDs, pulsing firebox, etc. It was very refreshing.  It is still one of my favorites (with the exception of the crew talk from the same guys, which is REALLY getting old, and the assinine train wreck sfx).  But that was minor, I just skip those recordings when I can.  It is a beautiful engine that I can run at 1 and 2 mph.

Because of these refreshing changes that I thought were PS-3 related, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Heritage Series Premier ES44AC diesel (Pennsylvania).  I saw it in person, and it was stunning - a beautiful shiny deep maroon that made the stripes and markings stand out smartly.  I could only imagine what it would sound like running on its own.

Well, I was kind of disappointed, but not by a whole lot.  Of course, the crew talk was (again) the same boring babble, and all other sounds were the same that have been used over and over, and are heard on most of my 15 MTH engines.

The other minor disappointment was the finish.  It was low gloss, and the typical PRR tuscan red (not sure that's the right name) was certainly nowhere close to the prototype's maroon shiny finish.

Please understand that I still like this engine very much, and it worked flawlessly right out of the box, as all of my MTH engines have.  I was hoping the model would be as dazzling as a model as when I saw it for real.  They did beef up the horn, which sounds great, but that's it as far as the sound file changes are concerned.  I don't know why they didn't take the opportunity when changing the electronic system to refresh the sound files and give us something new to listen to.

Overall, I love the MTH quality and I guess I have been lucky not to get a bad one.  Transman, I feel better that I'm not the only one that noticed the s.o.s. sounds.  Lionel has certainly become the leader in O gauge sound systems.  (I think that was Neil Young's influence.)

PS -

I edited this post, because originally I had pointed out that the engine startup was identical to my AC4400.  I just did a side by side comparison with the ES44ac, and they do have many similarities.  Do they, in fact, have the same power systems?  I wouldn't even know where to look for the answer, but I'm sure one of you guys or gals would be able to answer it right away.  Thanks.

Mike     

Must be a full moon out tonight.....

Might just be the diesels....I don't have that experience with the two steamers I have.

---Greg

I only have 3 MTH Diesels at this point, but they are all PS3 yet they each seem unique.  I've got a Rugged Rails, an Imperial and a Premier.  

All have very nice sound effects for the money.  The Rugged Rails engine is an F3 from the Santa Fe Passenger RTR passenger set ($300 shipped), the Imperial is a NS SD70ACe from the RTR Freight set ($340 shipped), and the Premier is a BNSF GP38-2 purchased individually ($340 shipped).

Each one sounds unique from what I can tell, but I don't know a lot about the prototypical sounds, and I don't have any PS-2 or original Protosound engines to compare.

The Rugged Rails F3 is one of my favorite with a very distinct older diesel sound and varying Station Stop Names, but the in between chatter is the same..."Watch Your Step...Can I help you with that...All Aboard", etc.  Apart from the engine number being incorrect on the sound track the engine idles sounds and steps sound really good.

I was most concerned about the GP28-2, which is my most recent acquisition, sounding too much like the SD70ACe, but reviews and videos stated MTH did a good job of capturing the GP38-2 running sounds and it's freight yard announcements are completely different from the SD70.  I also like the ability to further vary or emphasize each diesel's running sounds with 'laboring'.

I have wondered if I acquire more MTH PS3 diesels how soon I might encounter some redundancies in sound.  Fortunately I was able to find some videos (e.g. one particularly good review video of the PS3 GP38-2 diesel) so I haven't run into it yet.

Robert

MDMikey, has said it best

The variety and frequency of the sounds it extremely disappointing

Last night I put a PS2 and 3 next to each other,the frequency of sounds is about 4 times to 1. At idle you will hear crew chatter about 3 or 4 times for 1 PS3

Generally, I find that PS3 has the same sounds as PS2 in steam engines, although there are some differences in the freight yard sounds in later PS2 and PS3 engines. I do not run anything beyond 1st generation diesels and that is a rare occurrence, so I cannot comment about the growlers.

You're right Bobby

The Late  PS2s changed sound files that are similar to the PS3s,which are a step back not forward in my opinion

I'm wondering if I can somehow download early PS2 sounds to my PS3 engines, but that;s another thread.

Years ago I had a RK Big boy that shifted to a very deep "labored chuff" sound when under full throttle at low speed.  I loved the effect and that set the bar for my expectations for sound in locos.  In this respect, PS3 disappoints - none of my PS# steamers have it - but only in that way does it fall behind PS2 . . . 

I tested my PS3 locos this morning, all in conventional.  By far the best sound is from my French 241.A Chapelon.  Thevariety and diversity of sounds is quite nice, too.  It idles nicely with a good variety of sounds in there (auxiliary machinery it sounds like at times, varying what sounds it makes as I just leave it at idle.  As I move it off, it varies the pace and tone of the chuffing a good deal as I accelerate it, but I don't hear any labored chuff although it does seem to have higher volume when accelerating (I think).  I get also a set of slightly different sounds when its slowing down including very nice brake squeal, etc.  

I also ran Premier 999 4-4-0 which has the poorest sound of any PS3 I have heard.  It just huffs at idle and chuffs at speed with, it sounds like, make 8 to 10 rates that it cycles through as speed builds, but again it has nice brake squeel that cuts in as I reduce speed.  

I have the RK 0-6-0.  This starts up with a wonder accelerating auxillary turbine sound and other stuff and settles to a nicely complex idle sound that varies a good deal - occasionally I hear something start or stop of the sound vary, etc..  As I start it out the chuff rate and sound varies nicely through many rates - pretty good, that.  I get very nice brake squeal when I slow it.

This seems to be about what you get with PS3: as I said earlier if you aren't getting this maybe yours is a bad one.  And I'm satisfied with this: I'd prefer labored chuff and a few more sounds, but . . .   The Chapelon is, in detail, paint, and smooth running, the equal of anything except the highest end Vision locos, and yet it cost 15% or more less than any Legacy loco I have. The Premier 999 I good new with warranty for $500, and the RK 0-6-0 was, I think, around $370 or so - a bargain I recall, whatever the cost.  MTH seems to have cut the sound a bit but given they keep the price noticeably lower than others have let it escalate to, I think its a fair deal.

Hi Lee

I have all diesel's

I quess my beef is with the idle chatter variety

But I can see that you actually enjoy your pieces

Thanks for responding,and everyone else also

Off to a party,bye

That would be disappointing.  My idle sounds and in particular the chatter kick off infrequently with PS3 (long idle before a dialog might play), and I know some don't like the chatter but I would definitely prefer more.

Yes, You can load any PS-2 3V sound file into your PS-3 engine.  The PS-2 5V can not.  G

The nice thing about loading a 3 volt 2 file into a PS3 engine is that the speed control is not affected at all.

Unlike PS2 engines, PS3 engines have their speed control parameters in their chain file, rather than in their sound file.

Barry and GGG

How would I go about that?

Use the standard loader and just pick the appropriate 3V PS/2 sound file. 

I don't have DCS

Is a loader  a DCS item?

If you don't have DCS, you can't load sound files.  However, if you find someone with DCS, they can load the file for you, it'll stick with the locomotive once it's loaded.

Last year I ran into two guys that did not run MTH with DCS.  Very hard to find.  Like the guys stated, find a good PS-2 file and have someone load it.  I have many of my PS-3 engines with PS-2 files.

Thanks Guys

What do you mean by find a good PS2 file?

Where do you go about finding one?

You look at similar locomotives and try some.  You can also find many of the locomotives on YouTube and listen to see if you like the sounds.

I once posted an opinion about something that reflected a negative experience I'd had.  It was polite and simply asking for other opinions.  A few of the responses were a little harsh.  One in particular challenged every word I'd written.  This thread reminds me of that experience, which was a waste of time.

I think, the sound files are available on MTH's website...I believe not all products' sound files are available, so you'll have to do some searching.

Say for instance you find a sound file you like as John suggested (via Youtube, videos here, MTH's website, etc), then you research and look up the product number on the MTH website.

EDIT:  Whoops, I forgot where the sound files themselves are exactly on MTH's site, but I think it might be the file available when the PS2 or PS3 icon is highlighted on the product page.

If there is a compatible sound file available then you can download the sound file and install it with MTH's loader program...

http://www.mthtrains.com/news/013b

For instance this product (2008 Santa Fe F3 ABA 20-2923-1) has the 'speaker' icon highlighted/darkene, so you can sample the track right from MTH's site (double click on the speaker icon)....

http://mthtrains.com/content/20-2923-1

This is 'roughly' what I recall from reading Barry's book a couple weeks ago, so you may want to double check me, and hopefully if I'm steering you wrong someone will correct me.

Robert