Horn sound too low (or engine sound too loud?) Help please

[Raymond10a]

Hello. This is the closest forum I saw for posting technical problems.

I have a sound problem with locomotive engines and the horn:

From external view, when I zoom closer to the locomotive (diesel), the engine sound becomes so loud that the horn can barely be heard as if you are inside the cab when you're not inside but outside.

But when I zoom out as far as you can the horn can now be heard quite plainly and much louder - the engine sound actually gets dimmer as you zoom out as expected.

And get this: as you zoom in level by level, the horn gets dimer and dimmer as the engine gets louder and louder. It's almost like the engine sound is the problem, not the horn: where perhaps the engine is too loud and drowns out the horn(?)

I've checked different locomotives and they do the same thing. I've created new routes with just a track and locomotives and it does the same thing. I've messed with whatever I can on the sound settings and it doesn't fix it.

And when I'm inside the cab the horn sounds almost as muffled as it does right outside the train - but the difference is the engine is much quieter inside the cab than out.

It really ruins the feel of the game. Any help appreciated! (PC Win7)

 

[Raymond10a]

Is this where devs offer support/help?

 

[Raymond10a]

Hello? Is this thing on? Devs?

 

[Raymond10a]

So 8 days later and no response from any of the devs? Is this the place to get technical help?

 

[CSX5220]

lets see here

Hello there Raymond10a,

I experience the same thing. I have been with TRS since 2002 and that seems to be a common problem. I would suggest on doing a forum search to find out specifically. There are a number of great engine sounds and horns on the DLS, as well as 3rd party sites. I suggest on trying that as well. Also when all else fails do what you did here, post your question. The biggest thing new members do is push and have no patients. Not implying that you don't, sometimes it could take days or even a couple of weeks before anyone can find an answer for you. Just a bit of patients and a bit of common courtesy can and will go a VERY long way on this forum. Also if no one has been able to suggest an answer for you, you could check on Google or Yahoo, you never know what could be there as well.

Best Regards
Mike S.

 

[Raymond10a]

Well it's been a few months - haven't played since I posted this because the sound issue kills the feel of the game.

No help from devs? =(

Thanks for the pointers, Mike. Hopefully waiting 2 months qualifies as patience. =)

 

[gremlin1812]

G'day Raymond10a,
I saw this thread and it made me curious (thank goodness I am not a cat) I looked in the engine sound files and horn sound files and found nothing relating to sound volume control.
I then looked in some engine spec files and although there were some volume entry’s none seemed to be directed specifically at horn or engine sound volume so maybe this is something fixed in the game engine it's self.
I am far from being an expert with the sim and it's idiosyncrasy’s so I most certainly will stand correction and am also interested to se any further explanation and/or fix for this.
Regards
Barrie

 

[slabay]

Not to be tooting anyone else's horn.....

Try different locomotives. I know. You said you did. But different locos from different people use different sound files for the engines and horns. Some just have better sound files than others. Jointed Rail makes EXCELLENT stuff, and some of it they just give away! Go to their freeware page and see if you can find one that works better for you.

If you find a loco that works well (but you don't like) look in its config for what sounds it uses then, use one of the locos you do like, clone it, and change the engine sound and horn sound to that of the one that sounds good.

As far as the different volumes go, just like watching a TV show then the commercial comes on and blows you out of the room, some horns/engine sounds have been recorded at different levels, and a bad match of the two could be your problem.

Then there is the Trainz oddball problems that crop up from time to time: I have a route that I am building now, and for some reason during testing when I am clear on the other side of the map, literally 25-30 MILES away, I can hear when an AI somewhere is hitting a whistle post.......

Good luck, and I hope this might help you.

 

[tomurban]

Well it's been a few months - haven't played since I posted this because the sound issue kills the feel of the game.

No help from devs? =(

Thanks for the pointers, Mike. Hopefully waiting 2 months qualifies as patience. =)

Get this free program. Google "audacity" It is designed to edit audio files including the .WAV files used in the sound kuids. I have used this program on both steam and diesel locomotives to either increase or decrease sound volumes as necessary. That is only the tip of the iceberg. The program is capable of doing much, more.

tomurban