ESU LokSound Tutorial - How to move horns between sound files 

Yes, the only way to add your own .wav files to a sound file is via the LokProgrammer hardware and software. You'll need to cut your custom horn into 3 pieces, a beginning, a middle that can loop, and an exit. It's best to look at how ESU sets up their horns in their sound files and copy it.

Modifying the prime mover sound schedule in what way? I have found that the default settings are just fine for the prime mover. What is it you don't like and/or wish to modify? I am genuinely asking as I am curious as to what it is you're interested in doing. I may or may not be able to help initially, but I can certainly try and get an answer.

@@RioGrandeFan i would like to get a faster response out of manual notching. Full disclosure, I want to use a loksound 5 on a 1/8 scale locomotive and I am building my own controller. Usubg an arduino, It will take an analog input and track the throttle lever position from stop, idle and notches 1 though 8. Prototypically, if you are moving cars you are going to be feathering the throttle, like idle to 1 to 2 to 1 to 2 to idle... if you. The loksound currently only has idle, and notches 1 through 8... so if I just kiss notch 2,and then jump back to 1, it wants to run its full 1 to 2 to 1 sound sequence... I want to cut that into 1, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and then 2... so it more closely resembles full scale. When you look internally at any notch sound there are 4 parts to them that run in a loop.. but you can only get out at the end... I want to be able jump out at the end of each quarter for lack of a better term... Does that make any sense?

@@kleetus92 Yes this does make sense and I think I was able to get it to work at least in the auto-notching. Now you might not really be able to have all of the small increments that you want like 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 as I see it. I was able though to create a dump out that comes before the notching up gets too far down the process so if you "kiss" notch 2 from notch 1 like you say, it "dumps" out to the notch down sound before it lingers in the notch up transitional sound before settling into notch two. I think the effect is actually quite good even though you only get essentially one dump and you have to be fairly quick with touching notch 2 and then back to 1. Right when you hear it notching up you back off and it works. The problem as I see it with manual notching is how ESU does manual notching. You have to set one function as the "notch up" key and another as the "notch down" key. The notch up key must be OFF before the notch down key will work. Leaving the notch up key turned on will just make the prime mover continue to run up until it hits 8. It will stay there until the notch up key is turned off and then the notch down key is turned on to bring it back down. This requires three key presses in about a 2 second time frame. Then the notch down function has to be turned off before the notch up function will work again. I think what you're trying to accomplish would be easier by using an Iowa Scaled Engineering ProtoThrottle and the auto-notching. You can change the auto-notching notch points in both the ProtoThrottle AND in the decoder so you can fully customize how that interaction works. If your custom throttle works the same way then you should be able to use the auto-notching and get the results that you want. In auto-notching the decoder notches up or down based on a speed step. Internally it uses speed steps from 0-255. At internal step 1 it goes from "idle" to what ESU calls "Notch 1". There is no real sound difference here. Notch 1 to Notch 2 happens at internal speed step 22. I don't think that for what you are doing this will really matter all that much though if you're trying to tie your physical speed to the sound speed, you might have to adjust this. ESU lays out each of the notch points in the sound schedule. The notch up happens at the step above what is listed. The notch down happens at the speed step listed, which is 21 for notch 2 down to notch 1. The same "dump" that I created in the auto-notching can be created in the manual notching if you still feel like that would be better, but like I mentioned I think getting the notch up function turned on, then off, and the notch down function turned on quickly enough will be your biggest challenge.

@@RioGrandeFan do you have an email address? I'm at kleetus92 at gee mail dot com. The button presses aren't an issue since it would all be sent digitally to the system again based on where the throttle handle is at. I was able to change the internal steps from 22 for example to literally 2 , but just messing with the programmer it had some weird behavior, which I think your 3 button explanation kinda explains. I think it's an internal register that we can't play with. I am curious how you did the dump out.

They use .wav files. Most are short pieces. The horn for instance is made of three short pieces. Theres the initial start, then the middle, and the end. If you press the horn button quickly you just get the start and end, if you press and hold you get the middle looping until you let go. Yes you can put your own sounds on the decoder but you have to edit them well and into the necessary pieces to make them play correctly. You also need a LokProgrammer to then actually write them to the decoder.

You can write the same sound file to two locomotives, but you have to do it one at a time on the LokProgrammer or have two LokProgrammers connected to separate decoder testers or tracks. One locomotive at a time per LokProgrammer. I do this all the time. Yes, you can add more horns to a locomotive that already has a sound file written to it, but you need to have the sound file that was written to it as the starting point. Most manufacturers either provide their sound file on their website or will send you their sound file if you ask. Then just follow the steps as outlined in my video. Note though that the decoder has limited memory, so you'll only be able to put so many horns on a sound file before the memory runs out. You can delete other horns or other sounds to free up more memory. You cannot extract horns from a locomotive, but there's really no need to. Most horns are available in other sound files which can be used and transferred across to any other sound file as per my video. The only ones that you can't access are Rapido's files simply because they record their own sounds and own the rights to those sounds. You can though use a standard "Retail" file from the ESU website with the same prime mover and overwrite Rapido's file if you so choose. Then you can customize the horns all you want. What specific horns are you looking for? Which manufacturer's file(s) are you wanting to modify? I can help better if you can give me more specifics as to what exactly it is you want to do.

@@RioGrandeFan Thank you very much for solving my doubts, the horn that I would like to extract is a Nathan K5hl that is in the file that Scaletrains uses in its ET44ac, but it is the file that has the error where the bell is activated again when the horn sounds and sounds double if you already had it activated with F1, and the S0735 file does not have that horn, and this is the file I want to use to update my ET44 And for adding more horns to a locomotive, so that the file I am going to use to add the horns has the same configurations that the locomotive have to put the option to read data from the decoder?. Greetings and apologize so many discomfort

​@FerroFilme MTY I can help with this if you can tell me the road name and maybe even the Scale Trains stock number of the locomotive you have. S0735 does have a Nathan K5HL but it could be an updated version of an older one in an earlier Scale Trains file. Horns are getting remastered and improved all the time so a newer one might be more accurate. If you give me the information of your locomotive I can listen to it. Then I can possibly match it. The new bell format can also be done to eliminate the double ding. We need to find a way to chat off RU-vid. l r _ t r a i n s at y a h o o dot com. It would be easier to help you.

@@RioGrandeFan The locomotive that has the horn I'm looking for is an ET44AC KCS road number 5004 SXT33195 And yes, a chat on RU-vid would be better, I don't know why they eliminated that function

@@FerroFilmeMTY I hid my email in my last response at the bottom. You have to put it together but it's there. Anyway, I can look that up and see what the horn sounds like. Have you listened to the horn in S0735? You can download that file and listen to the horn through your computer. You should be able to open the file in the LokProgrammer software (you don't need the LokProgrammer hardware) and then go to Sound slot settings. Click SoundCV9: Horn. Change the slider to 6. Then in the box below click Sound slot 3: 3rd Generation Horn Pack 1 (AutoBell Trigger) and then click the preview button. The horn should play through your computer speakers or headphones until you press stop. Just be sure to turn the volume down if you use headphones as the horn will be loud. Another method is to click the sound icon, then double click Sound slot 3: Sound slot 3: 3rd Generation Horn Pack 1 (AutoBell Trigger). When that window opens, look at the top row of the window and you'll see the word "Simulator". Click that. The bar on the far left should turn green. At the bottom of the page, you'll see three tabs labeled "Registers", "SVs", and "Load/Brake". Click the one that says "SV's". For SV9 change that 0 to 6. Then at the very bottom you'll see a button that says "Function". Click that button and the K-5H-L will play through your computer speakers or headphones. If you use headphones just be sure to turn the volume down as the horn will be loud. The horn will play until you press the "Function" button again to stop it. If that is the correct horn that you want, you should just write sound file S0735 to the decoder and configure the lights, which granted, will not be easy without knowing the outputs. Some trial and error will be needed. You could also ask Scale Trains for the sound file since it isn't posted on their website. Then you can function map S0735 to match.

The direct answer is via a LokProgrammer. This is a piece of hardware that you can buy. It connects between your Windows based computer and a piece of track. It operates separately from your DCC system. I have mine connected to the ESU decoder tester and I set up my decoders prior to installing them in locomotives. The LokProgrammer is a great investment as it can write sound files, update decoder firmware, and makes standard CV programming a lot easier. It works for all versions of ESU decoders.