Better sounds for the GE C44-9W

Bernard Barthalay has kindly contributed the following work. web•TrainSim will package Bernard's SMS files and document in a day or two for download.

As many of us in the train-simming community, we try to improve the default trains, consists (thank you Carlos Gomes!), before adding anything to the game. Routes and activities are coming later, in most cases.

Sounds like Ken Swenson's ones for GE locos (gesnd10.zip, 460kb, 20-Feb-03 from Train-sim.com) are a boon for people enraging about the lack of realism of some features of Kuju/Microsoft first edition (the expectations are high about the next one!). In the real world, the main engine sounds are related to effects of the driver's handling of the throttle and to the speed, not the train's one, but the one of rotation of motors: of the diesel engine, its turbo (if it is turbo-charged) and the traction motors in case of a diesel loco, of the motor and the vents, in case of an electric loco.

Some, such as Hans-Peter Scholz, Joseph Realmuto, Belphegor and Chuck Schneider (NALW), seem to be among the first to have realized that Kuju's dependence on notches and their sound processing in successive stages were unbearable for discriminating ears.

The first copyrighted Apsel algorithm, Belphegor with the NBSM one, and Realmuto provided improved sounds for the Acela and the HHP based on APSEL and NALW making the most of Schulz's and Realmuto's work provided some among the best sounds available at Train-sim.com, notably for GE diesel locos.

But for diesel locos, the breakthrough came from Ken Svenson who didn't make do with the frequency shifting of two engine waves recorded at different speeds of rotation, but took all this a step further and decomposed the engine sound into a number of its constituent parts: a basic engine sound, a turbo sound and a traction motor (the electric motor of a diesel-electric loco) sound.

Note: you can download the archive containing this explanatory document and various SMS files which Bernard has provided. For some changes you may need to make to folder paths in the SMS files for the P42DC loco, see below.

Peripheral sounds

Developers are specializing : some are physics men (Boudouin, Borchardt), some are lightings men (Easterday, Alexander), some sounds men (Realmuto, Belphegor), some are cabs men (Cox, Kimura, Barallon). Names are only here as examples and imply no value judgement.

Among sounds men, most specialists are focused on engine sounds, which were a real challenge, and neglect peripheral ones, except horns. Sometimes, you might even have a lot of SMS files, each with one different horn, in the same sound folder, because the same loco has different horns (all available at Train-sim.com ) on railroads run by different companies. But nothing about compressors or brakes, which may vary a lot from GE to EMD, from Alstom to Bombardier or Siemens.

I guess that, one day, some will record all these sounds and pack them into the MSTS WAV format. For now, we are left with Dash, GP and HHP sounds. There is no specialist of peripheral sounds.

A new challenge

Yet the situation is no more challenging than the one prevailing for main sounds. Notably, because it is jeopardized from the start by a famous MSTS bug.

I got aware of this when I had just installed, or rather re-installed, Ken Swenson's zip to improve my Dash-9s after my great last winter (northern hemisphere) crash. I realized that those smooth sounds induce a feeling of... quietness, not really in tune with air noises emanating from a diesel, either idle, or at max revs, or when it comes to a standstill, or just after, when recharging.

In MSTS, you hear almost everything: engine brakes, independent brakes, dynamic brakes and even the compressor, if you happen to be in the cab when running the train. Due to a bug, which many were aware of, among them Realmuto himself, the compressor isn't heard from the outside.

In MSTS, trains are even pulling to a stop so silently that you may ask whether they are Maglevs or whether they are already equipped with electromagnetic breaking systems of the next generation.

Though, all pieces of the puzzle are there, ready to be put together.

How to do it?

If you were already daring enough to open files, following web•TrainSim's wise advice, to alias cabs and sounds, or even correct some errors of the default MSTS, you'll find this short tutorial simple enough to get a less quiet Dash-9 and then to muscle up the sounds of your whole diesel roundhouse (and, with some adjustments, the electric ones).

• When brakes are applied, you hear air sounds first, which are provided by MSTS. Look at the stream Tbrake, for "train" brake. Usually, the WAV file includes something like airb for airbrake. Tbrake and Ibrake ("independAnt" in MSTS spelling) are combined in the same stream.
• You should hear a low-pitched friction noise, simultaneously: a brake rumble. Thanks to Realmuto, train-simmers discovered the Acela sound folder concealed one, not used, acela_brake.wav.
• When you get near to the complete stop (typically, under 11mph), this noise should be supplemented, or at least replaced, by a sharper high-pitched noise, known as the brake squeal, not necessarily related to discs; even classical brake blocks when applied on the rim produce such a squeal. Contrary to a generally accepted idea, TGVs or Acela Expresses use a classical braking system, not discs, at shunting speeds.
• Download Joe Realmuto's elecsnds.zip (360kb, 07-Apr-02) from Train-sim.com. You'll find the squeal.wav, Acelacab.sms, Acelaeng.sms, HHLcab.sms and HHLeng.sms files, including the streams brake rumble and brake squeal ready to be extended to your roundhouse (beginning with the Acela and the HHP as these files are specific). Bonus: a wind.wav to be triggered from a "wind stream". Credit to Joe Realmuto.
• According to Joe, and taking into account how the compressor should be played, these wind, brake and squeal streams are to be included just after the stream and before the T&IBrakes stream in the scalabilty (in the MSTS spelling) group (5, but after the T&IBrake stream in the scalabilty group (3.
• Then comes the bug. I discovered how to circumvent it when I installed NALW's GEMegaV2.zip (52Mb, 19-Sep-02, from Train-sim.com). Looking for the compressor in the XXXeng.sms file, I didn't find out the usual compressor stream, and I discovered a something_compressor.wav in the T&IBrakes stream. Listening to the installed GE locos, I distinctly heard the compressor played by them recharging, even before the trains stops. Exactly, what I was looking for. Till then in vain. Thank you NALW!
• To hear the compressor from the outside, you should have such a combined T&IBrakes and Compressor stream in your XXXeng.sms (you don't have to change anything in your XXXcab.sms file). Something reading like this:

    ..............
Stream (
   Skip ( **** This stream allows the Train Brake
     and Independant Brakes and
     the Compressor to be played at the same time **** )
      Priority ( 5 )
      Triggers ( 6
      Skip ( **** NOTE: Need to check if correct waves used
             for apply/release  **** )
      Skip ( **** Assumes 3 = Release, 1 & 2 = Apply  **** )
      Skip ( **** Tbrake   **** )
      Skip ( **** Release  **** )
         Discrete_Trigger ( 14 PlayOneShot ( 1 File
            ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_auto3.wav" -1 )
               SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
         Discrete_Trigger ( 14 PlayOneShot ( 1 File
            ( "..\\..\\Common.Snd\\GE_FDL\\X_GEcompressor.wav" -1 )
               SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
      Skip ( **** Apply {normal & emergency}	**** )
         Discrete_Trigger ( 53 PlayOneShot ( 2
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_auto1.wav" -1 )
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_auto2.wav" -1 )
               SelectionMethod ( RandomSelection ) ) )
         Discrete_Trigger ( 54 PlayOneShot ( 2
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_auto1.wav" -1 )
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_auto2.wav" -1 )
               SelectionMethod ( RandomSelection ) ) )
      Skip ( **** Ibrake 	**** )
      Skip ( **** Release 	**** )
         Discrete_Trigger ( 21 PlayOneShot ( 1
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_ind3.wav" -1 )
               SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) )
      Skip ( **** Apply	**** )
         Discrete_Trigger ( 22 PlayOneShot ( 2
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_ind1.wav" -1 )
            File ( "..\\..\\Dash9\\sound\\x_d9_airb_ind2.wav" -1 )
               SelectionMethod ( RandomSelection ) ) )
         )
  )	
    ..............

• On some DMU or EMU, you have no Ibrake. You can delete two triggers. In this case, remember you have to change the number of triggers from 6 to 4 on the line Triggers ( 6.
• What about dynamic brakes? You hear them on diesels. On electric locos, they are blended with the throttle, and their supposed working doesn't add anything to the engine sounds. On diesels, they usually come just after the T&IBrakes stream, in both groups. And, contrary to Joe Realmuto, NALW set successively wind, rumble, squeal, T&IBrakes/Compressor, dynamic brakes in the same order in both first and second groups, Scalabilty (5 and Scalabilty (3.
• Don't forget to delete the stream compressor. Beware of brackets! I happened to delete two of them at the end of a line. The whole following sequence of sounds was mute. And I asked myself why a whole day long! Each and every time you add or delete a stream, check their number at the beginning of the scalabilty group, on the line, Streams ( x.

Then, you'll find it difficult to distinguish the virtual from the real! Your diesels will hiss, splutter, rumble, squeal, purr and throb as in life. With the right woofer, your neighbours will think you've brought the station back home from your last journey.

Amtrak Genesis P42DC SMS files

web•TrainSim created a Sound sub-folder under at_p42iv#802 into which he placed GE_P42Dccab.sms and GE_P42Dceng.sms. Then he edited the ENGine file, AT_P42IV#802.eng, to replace the aliasing to the Maple Leaf Track sounds with Bernard Barthalay's SMS files:

Sound ( "GE_P42Dceng.sms" )

Sound ( "GE_P42Dccab.sms" )

web•TrainSim found he had to make a couple of small changes to folder names in GE_P42Dccab.sms and GE_P42Dceng.sms. Nothing major and it only took a couple of minutes in good ol' WordPad. You may need to check folders, too, as we all have a tendency to use folder names that are meaningful to our own naming system. These are the edits web•TrainSim had to make:

• \\NALWHorns\\ replaced by \\Horns\\ for K5LA_horn1.wav
• \\GE_P42dc\\ replaced by \\gesnd10\\ for Ken Swenson's insde_engine.wav
• ...\\Common.Snd\\ACElec\\ replaced by ..\\Acela\\Sound\\ for acela_brake.wav

You have to repeat the above for different Scalability Groups in each SMS file.

As you scroll through each of the SMS files, you'll see you need NALW's GE Megapack V2 for the compressor sounds. If you can't download this archive, you'll have to substitute, say, the GP38 compressor sound. Or, you may have downloaded the GE Megapack but don't want to install it just for the compressor sound. Well, install the pack to a temporary folder, move the GE_FDL sound folder to your Common.Snd folder and delete the other GE Megapack files until you're ready to install the complete package at a later date.