I know the opinion I am about to express will not be very popular and even sound disrespectful to the real experts and to some manufacturers, so first let me say I admire all you people tremendously and I really like this forum. Still I am aware of being new not only to the forum but the world of G and as such I am expected to mess up occasionally which I naturally do. I don't like expensive sound systems on trains, I've really tried to like them, I've listened carefully to Phoenix and Dallee and the more I listen the more I feel like it sounds like a little toy with a recording of a big train inside. Like a Swatch sounding like Big Ben, I prefer the simple shuff of my $30 Bachmann locomotive, after listening and seeing videos of Shays with veery expensive sound setups I saw a video of a garden railroad in Poland , a 36 ton Shay and five or six passenger cars without inbuilt sound , you hear so clearly the sound the toy train makes as it passes by and it sounds so real because it is real, the clicking sound of the imitation engine is great. Like clockwork, and the shrill of the wheels against the track is superb. The synchronization is of course perfect and you hear when the cars shake from a bumpy track. I am very much into music, I'm sure you all know that distorting or rather enhancing a musician's studio performance is old hat, for years studios, even home studios have been able to with music software record an out of tune singer singing out of rithm with a lousy voice and transform this in minutes into a recording of a singer in perfect tune, perfect timing and a beautifull voice. This being possible I'm sure it is possible to amplify "live", the sounds a toy train makes transforming them instantly as they sound into sounds that resemble real train sounds, without exaggerating, retaining some of the toy sound. Like with music software control in the sound of the toy train the amount and type of reverb to emulate different environments and to balance in the mix the proportion of pure toy sound and distortion (or enhancement) . That I think I would pay for gladly, and am sure could be achieved at no more cost than the sound systems available. Or does this already exist?
My Phoenix and Sierra Sound Boards sound fantastic. Visitors to our flower gardens(flower people not train hobbiests) always think they are real til they go up to the layout and realize is is only Large scale. When I blow the whistle, my neighbors cattle come over to my fence from across a 260 acre field to see what is going on. 8)
The kids who visit my layout get a great laugh out of it ;D ;D ;D and also love blowing the whistle and ringing the bell.
No matter it is your railroad and it is best to do what you want to do and like.
I'm closing my eyes, I see the expression of astonishment on your neighbor's cows , and the meadows, and the sky, and the children and I hear that whistle blowing. I see the flowers, mostly the flowers. What a picture! Please don't change anything.