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DCC has made many advances of late in the UK market. DCC sound has arrived and to date has mainly focussed on diesel sounds with a couple of exceptions. The UK Pacific's, which are some of the most popular locos, oddly seemed to have been overlooked; however that has now changed. A4 sound decoders have been release by two suppliers in the last month and now DCC Concepts of Perth, Australia has brought us the first commercially available A3 sound decoder, and it's good.
A month ago I requested that Richard Johnson put together an A3 sound decoder for me. He has done a lot of work tweaking and perfecting the sound and has come up with an excellent end product.
The sound decoder is an ESU Loksound 3.5 which I'm not going to go into detail on as it will be familiar to anyone who currently uses DCC sound. For those who aren't, click on the link and read on. The A3 decoder includes three different types of loco whistles and a station announcement appropriate for the loco amongst other sounds. The chuff is well matched to the cylinder movement at all speeds, which is great as this is an area that many sound decoders have struggled with. I have found that many sound decoders will focus mainly on either slow or high speed, depending on what the prototype was used for, and when the loco is at a speed which was not the speed primarily associated with that loco it can sound a bit synthetic. Synthetic sound can be disappointing.
Richard Johnson of DCC Concepts has managed to get this A3 sound decoder to sound good at all speeds and I have produced some example footage to demonstrate this so you can hear for yourself.
Here are the functions on the decoder.
F0 Lights on /off
F1 Sound on/off
F2 Short whistle
F3Twin whistle
F4 Crow whistle (three short whistle toots)
F5 Guards whistle
F6 Station announcement
F7 Coal shovelling
F8 Water pump
F9 Injectors
The first clip contains the start up sequence and the first eight functions.

The second clip demonstrates the ninth function and slow speed.

The third clip demonstrates the sound at middle to high speed (30 -120 speed steps).

The fourth clip demonstrates the sound at very low speed.

The fifth clip highlights the fire box lighting also installed and attached to function 7 Coal shovelling.

The sixth clip shows slow speed movement from a different angle.

The seventh clip demonstrates high speed from a different angle. It also shows time to stop from being braked at 120 speed steps. The stop was triggered when the loco emerged from the partition.

My loco has also had front and rear lights and firebox lighting added which, in conjunction with the sound decoder, makes the model just so much better. The variety of whistles are good. Station announcement is good although I'm sure we would all like to insert our local stations names in there. The screech of wheels comes on when it should and stops when the loco does. This may not sound anything special however anyone using the first generation QSI sound decoders will know what I'm talking about here. Guards whistle is a good addition. Overall I think DCC Concepts have done an excellent job with the sound from this decoder. I am pleased with the sounds at all speeds and it does sound authentic.
The decoder is available from DCC Concepts price Aus $199.00 plus delivery (est $5 AU, $10 rest of world.)
Richard will also be happy to discuss any EU, UK, Australian or US loco sound project that you wish. He prefers that a customer specifies a loco and a time so that the sound file can be matched to that specific period. He would also like to know the way the install will be done so he can supply additional speakers if they will help the sound quality.
If owners wish, they can send him the loco from anywhere in the world and he'll tune it perfectly as well as creating a bespoke sound file. He will do an install with added lights as per owners specification for $ A80 to $A140 for a steam loco, between $A70 and $A160 for diesel depending on complexity of sound install and complication of lighting (a simple diesel with ex factory lighting is a quick install, but extreme diesel lighting takes a lot of time and an added accessory decoder adding to price). Return Post is additional. If you wish to purchase the A3 Sound Decoder or initiate another project then feel free to contact Richard Johnson on the phone numbers and email address below.
http://www.dccconcepts.com/
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
For International callers: +61 8 9437 2470
For Australian callers: (08) 9437 2470
Email
Sales/orders: [email protected]
General: [email protected]
Other: [email protected]
A month ago I requested that Richard Johnson put together an A3 sound decoder for me. He has done a lot of work tweaking and perfecting the sound and has come up with an excellent end product.
The sound decoder is an ESU Loksound 3.5 which I'm not going to go into detail on as it will be familiar to anyone who currently uses DCC sound. For those who aren't, click on the link and read on. The A3 decoder includes three different types of loco whistles and a station announcement appropriate for the loco amongst other sounds. The chuff is well matched to the cylinder movement at all speeds, which is great as this is an area that many sound decoders have struggled with. I have found that many sound decoders will focus mainly on either slow or high speed, depending on what the prototype was used for, and when the loco is at a speed which was not the speed primarily associated with that loco it can sound a bit synthetic. Synthetic sound can be disappointing.
Richard Johnson of DCC Concepts has managed to get this A3 sound decoder to sound good at all speeds and I have produced some example footage to demonstrate this so you can hear for yourself.
Here are the functions on the decoder.
F0 Lights on /off
F1 Sound on/off
F2 Short whistle
F3Twin whistle
F4 Crow whistle (three short whistle toots)
F5 Guards whistle
F6 Station announcement
F7 Coal shovelling
F8 Water pump
F9 Injectors
The first clip contains the start up sequence and the first eight functions.

The second clip demonstrates the ninth function and slow speed.

The third clip demonstrates the sound at middle to high speed (30 -120 speed steps).

The fourth clip demonstrates the sound at very low speed.

The fifth clip highlights the fire box lighting also installed and attached to function 7 Coal shovelling.

The sixth clip shows slow speed movement from a different angle.

The seventh clip demonstrates high speed from a different angle. It also shows time to stop from being braked at 120 speed steps. The stop was triggered when the loco emerged from the partition.

My loco has also had front and rear lights and firebox lighting added which, in conjunction with the sound decoder, makes the model just so much better. The variety of whistles are good. Station announcement is good although I'm sure we would all like to insert our local stations names in there. The screech of wheels comes on when it should and stops when the loco does. This may not sound anything special however anyone using the first generation QSI sound decoders will know what I'm talking about here. Guards whistle is a good addition. Overall I think DCC Concepts have done an excellent job with the sound from this decoder. I am pleased with the sounds at all speeds and it does sound authentic.
The decoder is available from DCC Concepts price Aus $199.00 plus delivery (est $5 AU, $10 rest of world.)
Richard will also be happy to discuss any EU, UK, Australian or US loco sound project that you wish. He prefers that a customer specifies a loco and a time so that the sound file can be matched to that specific period. He would also like to know the way the install will be done so he can supply additional speakers if they will help the sound quality.
If owners wish, they can send him the loco from anywhere in the world and he'll tune it perfectly as well as creating a bespoke sound file. He will do an install with added lights as per owners specification for $ A80 to $A140 for a steam loco, between $A70 and $A160 for diesel depending on complexity of sound install and complication of lighting (a simple diesel with ex factory lighting is a quick install, but extreme diesel lighting takes a lot of time and an added accessory decoder adding to price). Return Post is additional. If you wish to purchase the A3 Sound Decoder or initiate another project then feel free to contact Richard Johnson on the phone numbers and email address below.
http://www.dccconcepts.com/
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
For International callers: +61 8 9437 2470
For Australian callers: (08) 9437 2470
Sales/orders: [email protected]
General: [email protected]
Other: [email protected]