Hey DTG, search "train joint sound" on Youtube, you will be very surprised how they sounds IRL! Enough of this plastic toys sound in every addon! Where you recorded it - in kids railroad model?
Agree. The norm in TSW is a very muted version of the sound. Continuous welded track was a huge disappointement to me both in real life and in Train Sims.
The advantage IRL is that maintenance costs are reduced by quite a lot when there aren't joints (which were the principal points of failure on that type of rail)
I guess part of the problem is that the sound generated depends on the vehicle type. A loco or heavy multiple unit car will return more of a thud, a coach a lighter sound. Even bogie type can affect the resonance, a B1 bogie on Mark One stock had a distinct hollow ringing sound compared to a Commonwealth or B4 bogie and Mark 2 or Mark 3 stock sounded different again.
Surely this is no different to the horn sounding different or even the light switch in the cab... Sounds to me more like there's a disconnect in the implementation of the running sounds generally. There was some track noise on the recent Dad Rail stream when a 158 goes over some points, but nothing else generally that could be heard
You are quite right and there is really no excuse for DTG not getting this right. Of course I still remember the original default MSTS track sounds, horrible sounded like someone hitting an anvil in slow motion. We did get a couple of third party replacement sets but one was obviously sampled from the front of a DMU trailer car so out of place driving a heavy loco or a steamer.
Absolutely, but no "unachievable" by any means, even if synthetic (I'm sure it's quite difficult to get certain sounds recorded IRL but there are totally references out there for many loco / stock types)
The issue for me is, riding the rails behind a heavy F40PH or MP36PH fairly often, there isn't a lot of track noise on long stretches of CWR, but there is quite a lot going over frogs, switches and turnouts, especially in terminal throats. These sounds are largely missing or muted in TSW.
True. Even as a passenger, when you go over a track joint you hear it pretty loudly and you feel it through the entire train. although credit where credit is due, they did it very well on the 323.
Fun fact, all our track joint sounds are recorded from... you guessed it, real track joint sounds taken from recordings from mic's that are attached to bogies. Perhaps its something else being done to them that makes them sound less real, or something else, not sure - but they are definitely real sounds from real recordings of real trains, doing real things, really. Matt.
Fair enough. But then it must be something in the processing of track sounds that's amiss because I can hear very little through my $300 headphones. There are a lot of turnouts, switches and even a near diamond in NYT, but I don't really hear or feel them. I can sense them by the sideways movement but that's all.
As I said above it is probably quite a hard thing to get right for each and every item of traction and rolling stock. Even the much lauded Run 8 has very poor track sounds, nothing at all when coasting or even running down some of the small branch lines or spurs which are surely not CWR.
I have no intention of not believing you DTG Matt But like you said, something went wrong and in the game it sounds like plastic, not steel. Possibly poor separation of joint sound from background noise. I'm not a sound engineer, you know better. What I can say for sure is that the volume level of these sounds is insufficient, especially in the cab. ICE3 from Cologne-Aachen is exactly the train in which I enjoy passing the joints while in the cab. Sadly I can't remember any other.
I think with joint sounds people mean generally the "clack" when the wheelset is moving over the empty space of the switches & junctions. I never had any issue with the sound itself since they sound like they should (like matt said, recorded from a real vehicle). Most current routes dont have the "jointed rail tracks" in their original meaning anyway. TSW has also a good variety of flange sounds on all the vehicles, which is highly ruining the immersion when they get missed like in the class 385. The probably most difficult part are the running sounds. They should be convincing, not too loud, not too quiet, not too linear (looping) and every train has its own characteristics. Then there are the traction sounds, which are noticeable when a train isnt sounding like the real counterpart. TSW has the entire spectrum from very imersing stock, which gives the player literally the experience to actually be in that loco, and unfortunately also locos / trains ,lacking all the basic sounds. (1938 tube stock), which results in a highly boring trip.
It's not generally bad. Some locos have very believable track joint sounds, for example class 31 or class 20. In this sense, I think the sound in general in TSW has improved compared to past releases. Most of the time I find myself noticing poor running sounds on rails...even the most insulated modern loco cabs have some sort of rumbling noise going on while moving. And some older stock in TSW severly lacks this.
The 45 also seems to capture the 4 axles on the bogie hitting the joint very well. Though it’s quite interesting, if you watch some of the cab rides on YT, Don Coffey etc., the sound going over points and crossings is not always that audible particularly on modern stock.
Notably the old BR Diesel on TVL and NTP have what I´d call a superb track sounds. I enjoy these routes and locos not to the least because of that. Plus the DB BR155 on RSN punches you right in the stomach with her joint sounds. Heavy and dry metal on metal plus vibration sounds from the loco bodywork and fairings. Quite good I´d say.
When it comes to modern insulated cabs where you wouldnt get a pronounced sound going over joints etc, personally Id still like this modelled in game even though not 100% realistic.
The 395 in particular has barely audible track sounds over points, but I know these trains are very quiet so maybe that is how it is. The track joint sounds on NTP are very good whatever vehicle you are in, including riding on the mark 2's. The class 172's I ride on the most are pretty quiet over points although you can still hear them.
Dovetail I can’t find the Acela pantograph selection position button how do you do it don’t say you don’t know cause you do I’ve seen in your scenario pictures ty
