Norm Charbonneau posted:
You need to plug one of the holes to get a proper 3-chime whistle. 
If the past is anything to indicate, the new unstreamlined J3A's will likely have the same whistle as the 2015 Empire State Express Hudsons. They are essentially the same locomotive, and I can see them having that whistle sound instead of the one they used on the Vision Line J1E.
Lionel could give you two whistle sounds like they used in the AC-12: whistle and (Aux1) Horn.
This was also in the Vision Line Niagara. Whistle and (Aux1) Horn
Try hitting (Aux1) and see if there is a different whistle.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
Mikado 4501 posted:If the past is anything to indicate, the new unstreamlined J3A's will likely have the same whistle as the 2015 Empire State Express Hudsons. They are essentially the same locomotive, and I can see them having that whistle sound instead of the one they used on the Vision Line J1E.
Yup. Lionel has gotten to the point reusing sounds that it's pretty easy to predict which whistle they will use. Ive heard plenty of the same type of whistle or horn that are technically the same but I can hear a difference. They could at least change the pitch a bit. Call it difference in pressure or wear or temperature or whatever. The J3a will definitely sound the same as the ESE and Niagara.
If only they would go back to the unique TMCC whistles.
I have two of the PRR J1As that I just received that are still in their boxes. They will make their debut on the layout after York. While I agree with my fellow members that it is disappointing that the whistle is not appropriate, I can live with that. My far bigger concern is that the engines be intact and operate perfectly. I have had pretty good luck in that regard with my Legacy engines, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that my luck continues.
Pat
Norm Charbonneau posted:I still can't believe you cannot customize anything about Legacy sounds and controls without having to resort to dealing with their service department. Think of all the money they could save in service calls if they even encoded a few whistle choices. At least with TMCC you could pop in a new sound ROM. I think Legacy is just about completely dead at this point. It has really nice motor control but it's not much better than aftermarket ERR stuff. It's just bizarre that you can't upload different sounds and control features to your new engine in this pretty much post-tech era. Their stuff is like a throwback compared to DCC. 3 rail used to have a bit of an edge with easy to set up and use command control stuff but now it's just corny.
Although 'customizing' the whistle might be the ultimate selection from a purchaser's perspective, another simpler alternative (for both potential purchasers who are not that technically oriented and Lionel) - at least for the high end locomotives - would be for Lionel to include a 'sound byte' (on their website) of the intended whistle in their description of the features so that people would be able to determine - in advance of any pre-ordering - whether or not they wanted to purchase that particular engine. I seem to recall that Lionel did this for some high end engines a few years ago (which I thought was a good idea) because like MIKADO 4501, the whistle sound is a make-or-break deal issue for me too.
Mikado 4501 posted:If the past is anything to indicate, the new unstreamlined J3A's will likely have the same whistle as the 2015 Empire State Express Hudsons. They are essentially the same locomotive, and I can see them having that whistle sound instead of the one they used on the Vision Line J1E.
True as far as it goes. And, the 2015 Empire State Express whistle sound file is very similar (identical?) to that of the Century Club II ESE. A different tender shell, ideally, should prompt some effort at tuning to obtain a desirable final result. The point I was making is that Lionel has several good sound files appropriate for models of the various NYC Hudsons. Picking one should not be too taxing. 
BTW, ending up with a sound package close to that of the Vision Line Hudson, if indeed that happens, would be a pretty happy result for us.
Bob
Has anyone actually contacted lionel for a fix. Sound boards can be swapped out by service center dealers to keep down cost. If a bunch of us get on it, we could make a difference.
Jim,
I have and I was told that I was the only one calling about it. They also advised me that they checked with the engineers and that the whistle they used is the "prototypical Pennsylvania banshee whistle."
AJ
A.J. posted:They also advised me that they checked with the engineers and that the whistle they used is the "prototypical Pennsylvania banshee whistle."
LOL. The problem is that the prototypical Pennsylvania banshee whistle is not prototypical for the J1a. The prototypical J1a used the prototypical Pennsylvania 3-chime passenger whistle as also used on the K4s and M1a.
I agree, but there have to be more folks out there that are just not concerned about this. Everyone needs to call them Monday to get this going. I cannot believe Lionel would overlook this since all of us that continually pre order Vision and Legacy engines will become skeptical concerning future orders. I'm sure Lionel will address this issue soon, since they have always serviced us properly in the past.
Jim,
Definitely let me know how your phone call goes because I would absolutely love to switch out the whistle for the whistle that was used on their most current run of M1A Mountains. I think that whistle is perfect. If they tell you no one else called thats a lie because I called! lol Good luck.
AJ
AJ, are we the only people that care about this?
jim911 posted:AJ, are we the only people that care about this?
Jim,
I'd like to think not.
When I was with Right of Way I spent a lot of time in the field recording sounds so that the model matched the real thing.
I sent Mike R audio from when we restored Reading 2100 so that the model reflected the real thing; Rudy did a great job editing them for the 2100 from a few years ago.
I think realistic audio has come to be expected.
Don't know why the sudden disinterest in getting it right.
Lou N
Lou N posted:Don't know why the sudden disinterest in getting it right.
Rudy's not at Lionel any more. Might explain some of it.
I would think Dave from Lionel would read this tread. He does pop up once and a while.
I think they may simply have more irons in the fire than they can handle. There's a lot of details on one of these products, and if you have a ton of them happening at the same time, things can get missed.
Jim,
I hope not. I hope more people call Monday and they can get it rectified. In my opinion they already have the perfect whistle on file with that M1A whistle. Shouldn't be too hard to just exchange it. Please let us know how your phone call goes.
AJ
Norm Charbonneau posted:So glad I didn't order that engine. Was tempted. Sad!
Same here. I got the tmcc version off a popular auction house that advertises on this forum.
can anyone run any videos of any of the engines on pages 14 thru 19 in the 2019 1st catalog. I'm interested in sound differences since they are all the same engines.
Several larger Lionel dealers have contacted Lionel, who tells everyone the same thing concerning the J1a whistle, "it's correct". And yet none of them are willing to check their inventory to find out how wrong this is. Bottom line, they just want to move out their inventory and let the consumer worry about it later!
Hi, new here, but I'm sending my J1a back to the dealer, he said he would take it. I called lionel and got the same run around as all of you did. I hate that thomas whistle. Also I can hear the 3 audio cuts when you quil the whistle, kinda a click. Just poor quality that leads me to believe more quality issues will pop up on this.
I'm getting a pilot challanger, yea I know about its sound issue, but unless they time the smoke to look articulated, I'm not going to change the sound.
Coalguy posted:Hi, new here, but I'm sending my J1a back to the dealer, he said he would take it. I called lionel and got the same run around as all of you did. I hate that thomas whistle. Also I can hear the 3 audio cuts when you quil the whistle, kinda a click. Just poor quality that leads me to believe more quality issues will pop up on this.
Welcome Coalguy,
Since you are new here you can find a conversation a few comments up between Gunrunnerjohn and myself. A fellow named Rudy, who was with Lionel many years and an absolute sound wizard, departed Lionel about a year ago. It is unfortunate for Lionel.
Also somewhere amongst these J1a threads you will find a real unaltered J1a whistle sound posted by me if you are inclined to listen to it.
Know that good audio software, when used with the appropriate plug-ins, would eliminate any transition click. Its called loop tuning. The audio transitions need to begin and end at a point in the audio file called the zero cross.
Probably more than you wanted to know.
You will find many answers and explanations here. The knowledge base here on any topic is vast.
Lou N
Thanks, I may not know about audio software, but as a former sonar tech on subs, I'm a geek when it comes to sound.
I think in today's world of trains, you need to pick and choose from each vendor. I found out MTH J1a has a drive wheel in the ash pan....
Im getting the pilot challanger to replace the J1a. I know it has the non articulated sound, but since it matches what the smoke units do, I'm ok with it, now if it had articulated chuff and I didnt see the correct pulses in the stack, it would really bug me.
