Per Katousa.com the GS4 engines are being re-released. available in SP Daylight scheme or in War-time Black. the AFT seems to not being re done. Kato also states that they will be selling passenger cars to match the SP theme.
Original Post
"HONGZ" stands for HO scale, N scale, G scale, and Z scale.
Post your non-O scale stuff here!
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How do you think these will sound in comparison to o sized lionel legacy and other versions? I started writing this one in the vein of humor.
Severn posted:How do you think these will sound in comparison to o sized lionel legacy and other versions? I started writing this one in the vein of humor.
Apples and oranges between N Scale and O Scale...
Rusty
In a way better, because it's DCC and there are options. New board, new sound file, possibly even line out to project it to the stereo for big sound. O sounds probably better out of the box due to the overall size of engines and associated speaker sizes -- and Lionel and MTHs there efforts as well.
Maybe I missed something, but I did not see anywhere where the GS-4 locomotive from Kato is going to be sound equipped. For that matter, the DCC option is only $22.00 more, but I do not believe that is a sound decoder.
I am amazed at how good the sound quality can be in N scale. Last year at the Prototype Modelers meet in Naperville IL, the Midwest Mod-U-Trak N scale group had their modular setup on display. One of the trains that was running was a straight out of the box Bachmann Pennsy K-4. I shot a short video of it on my i-Phone, here is the video, judge for yourself (and please give consideration for low quality device I recorded this on).
BLI is also introducing the Pennsy M1a and T-1 in N with sound.
http://www.broadway-limited.co...ragon2prrm1am1b.aspx
HO and N sound has come a long way. Over the weekend, I went to the Brass Expo, and there was a dealer there that does DCC sound installations as a business. He had an HO scale Great Northern O-8 mikado on a set of roller blocks equipped with an Eco-Nami and two sets of iPhone 4s speakers in the boiler. Perfectly synched, as the EcoNami evidently has the ability to count the commutator pulses on the motor, and uses that as the tachometer.
Regards,
Jerry
It does sound great. And so DCC gives you a lot of flexibility for sound ...
I've got quite a few N Scale trains that have sound in them. The Loksound select micro sounds great with the right speakers. The TCS WOW sound is incredibly loud but I couldn't quite get it in my FEF tender and get the shell on right. Now with their new keepalives I'll try that install again. I find Dcc to be superior to D.C.'s and legacy because of the complete level of control you're allowed all the way thru ever aspect of controlling the loco. You will be able to get the gs4 with the Loksound decoder installed at a later date. Chad, if I remember his name, actually does all the installs of sound decoders at Their facility in Illinois so he will need some models to upgrade before he can upgrade and sell them. I found these installs extremely easy if you modify the circuit board by cutting the traces to bypas the direct connections to the motor and run it thru the decoder. Lights are another thing on this install tho so it's not quite complete control because the head light and mars light will always be on.
I have a loksound decoder and it sounds fine. I had it programmed to some engine that's almost like the one I purchased somewhere far away on a whim. I'm thinking of changing it out. Maybe it will be a winter project. I could tinker with the speakers too. I think the decoder will run 4 up them if I want. If not, there are other DCC sound decoders that will. I noticed one that has line out -- phoenix sounds. I like this idea because of the cheap RF xmitters to stereo devices available. Maybe this would work great. Some folks are sampling speaker wires... but that's after going through the onboard "sound subsystem" -- line out or so I imagine is "raw" sound so to speak & therefore better -- all the sounds are there to hit the highs and lows. In my mind an improvement would be towards "open" sound file formats and programming of these DCC sound devices. That's probably not happening though ... Still that's back to my point, there's a lot to tinker with in the DCC world in this area.
I'm quite sure that the sound option is available on this N scale model, but perhaps only directly from Kato USA.
Regarding the teehee's and guffaws from O3R folks in comparing this model with, say, Lionel's or MTH's versions with multiple Fat Boy speakers, etc....I think you're missing the scale comparison...which includes sound. IMHO, sound has scale proportions, too.
The perspective of N scale is viewing the train/engine from a greater distance than as modeled in a larger scale...such as O. To expect the ground to shake from the bass response of sound in an N scale engine....steam or diesel...is ludicrous. To expect to literally feel the pressure on your chest from the sound of a laboring steam or diesel engine model in O3R in comparison to standing railside as the 1:1 goes by is equally ludicrous. If I consider the size of a train model in comparison to how far away from the 1:1 prototype I would have to be to have the same size perspective....and THEN listen to the sound of that engine under operation, I think all of the current sound-equipped models....N, HO, S, O, G, etc....are doing a quite reasonable job in giving an accurate scale response.
My feelings on this were refined not long ago when I had finished installing a 4" speaker inside a 1:48 church model representing a stone cathedral. I connected the speaker to a simple, inexpensive CD player to add appropriate organ, choir, and congregational singing to the model. At first I was disappointed at the volume level. It was rather low for my expectations. After all, when playing the same CD into my home or automobile stereo systems, I could raise the volume to rather uncomfortable levels.
But then it dawned on me that the sound was, indeed, quite reasonable...and scaled well for the model. If I considered the church model as a building about a block away, and the sounds from within having to come through stained glass windows, open or closed, and stone walls about a foot or more thick,........it sounded quite perfect, in fact! Were I standing on the street, viewing and listening to the distant church, I would, indeed, have to 'strain' to hear the music, text of the songs, etc.
So, going back to the Kato N-scale GS4.... Seeing that engine going down the track pulling a 10-car passenger train through the valley in the scenery, I consider the 'hill' I'm standing on and how far away I would be from the train in the 1:1 realm. And I think the sound is just right!
Oh, BTW......I model in O3R. I admire and get ideas from all scales in this great hobby.
FWIW, of course...
KD
The sound locos are available from all the distributors however they are done by one person at Kato in Illinois and they are done after the models arrive stateside. You're looking at about a 6 month lag from the time the models arrive in the US at Kato until they are actually available for purchase. I do a ton of work in N scale and the sound available is great. ESU Loksound makes a great decoder and coupled with the proper speakers the sound is incredible. All decoders can handle multiple speakers you need to ensure when adding more than one speaker how they are wired and you need to ensure the impedance of the multiple speakers lands within the specs on the decoder for ESU Loksound Select this is 4 ohms. You will also want to ensure you're using a speaker appropriately sized for the decoders installing a 5 watt 4 inch speaker on an N scale decoder is not going to work
dkdkrd posted:I'm quite sure that the sound option is available on this N scale model, but perhaps only directly from Kato USA.
Regarding the teehee's and guffaws from O3R folks in comparing this model with, say, Lionel's or MTH's versions with multiple Fat Boy speakers, etc....I think you're missing the scale comparison...which includes sound. IMHO, sound has scale proportions, too.
Oh, BTW......I model in O3R. I admire and get ideas from all scales in this great hobby.
FWIW, of course...
KD
I totally concur. Even on my smallish 10x8 O layout, I turn the sound down below nuclear holocaust levels so that there is as much variation as I can get. The train gets louder as it gets to my position, just as in real life.
Sure, now and then it's found to crank up the fatboy speakers and let it rip, but the cacophony gets irritating, and I'm not a 3Rs person.
One of the coolest modern layouts I have seen recently was a large HO scale, all DCC. The sound was amazing, and made you feel as if you were in their world.
That Bachmann K4 sure doesn't help keep me from going back to N......I love the size.....but not the pickiness!!!
Is anyone taking orders for this engine?
Thank you
I have their Up FEF 844 and am very happy with it. I had the first release before they were available with sound so, a company named Top Hobby in NewYork added DCC + sound and even added a back up light to the tender of which was not available from Kato even when they release the engine with sound.
Edit: here it is from TopHobby trains complete with DCC and sound. Estimated delivery is March 2017.
https://0343157.netsolstores.com/cart.aspx
My trick for sound. I have my N layout built to fit atop a 8' extension of my O scale layout.. Run both together so my O guage layout provides all the sound I need........Walah! I have to admit though with N scale I kind enjoy it's quietness.
