Bluetooth Sound

[TwinStar]

I had a thought at the gym today. I use a set of Bose QC35's at work coupled with the Avee headset system to communicate in the flight deck. I use the same QC35's at the gym and when listening to music in the hotel. We also recently received an update from Scale Sound Systems about the unavailability of their drivers and a delay in their new speaker system. And, even as good as SSS is, it's still woefully inadequate to produce the sound and feel of four EMD 567's pulling in harmony. My Bose sound is superior to anything that is available on the market and I was curious if one could replace a speaker in a locomotive with a Bluetooth device that would allow me to listen to my locomotives with my Bose instead of a tiny speaker feet away in a huge hall. There is nothing more annoying than a dozen sound equipped locomotives blaring away cheap sound on cheap speakers. This could drastically improve the sound quality and eliminate annoying thy neighbor.

Thoughts?

[CPRail]

What an intriguing thought! I've heard of someone experimenting with this for DCC in the past, but I have no idea how it was done. I'll see if I can get some more info.

[TwinStar]

What an intriguing thought! I've heard of someone experimenting with this for DCC in the past, but I have no idea how it was done. I'll see if I can get some more info.

And here I thought I had an original idea!

My initial thought is to ask the folks at Bluerail as they're the leading tech in MRR and Bluetooth. Such a device could be compatible with DCC, RailPro, WiFi, Bluerail, etc. Hook up the sound wires and power wires and connect your device.

[Alan]

Love it. And as everyone will attest, I am not a sound-in-trains guy. This might just be the solution for me too!

Is it possible to do this for only $1.00?  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-FM-Transmitter-Bluetooth-Music-3-5mm-AUX-Audio-Stereo-Adapter-Receiver/193106060267?hash=item2cf604a3eb:g:OocAAOSw1G1Zqsm8

Strip this unit of its plastic case, jacks, etc and hard wire in. It may actually fit inside a loco. Have to charge it up now and then.

Oooo, on the receiving end you could mix in just a little layout ambient sound to make the experience feel less like wearing headphones.

[TwinStar]

I think a commercially successful version would allow one to name each BT device (ex RI 648) so you knew which locomotive you were pairing too. And that’s another thing, how would you pair to something inside the hood?

[CPRail]

I got in touch with the fellow here who was trying it out. He was following the teachings of Lance Mindheim on his blog. Essentially you have a decoder under the layout that provides sounds to a set of wireless headphones. The decoder under the layout is consisted in with your power and yee-hah.

My buddies recommendation is to ensure your decoder's sound volumes are set almost to 0, otherwise you'll blow your eardrums out of your head!

Here's Lance's blog post on the idea:
https://lancemindheim.com/about-us/wireless-headphone-sound/

I leave it to the rest of the experts here on how to make it work with Bluetooth.

I'm eager to see how this idea works!!

[TwinStar]

I got in touch with the fellow here who was trying it out. He was following the teachings of Lance Mindheim on his blog. Essentially you have a decoder under the layout that provides sounds to a set of wireless headphones. The decoder under the layout is consisted in with your power and yee-hah.

My buddies recommendation is to ensure your decoder's sound volumes are set almost to 0, otherwise you'll blow your eardrums out of your head!

Here's Lance's blog post on the idea:
https://lancemindheim.com/about-us/wireless-headphone-sound/

I leave it to the rest of the experts here on how to make it work with Bluetooth.

I'm eager to see how this idea works!!

That’s certainly an ingenious solution. I’ll have to ponder this.

[Michael Larson]

Love it. And as everyone will attest, I am not a sound-in-trains guy. This might just be the solution for me too!

Is it possible to do this for only $1.00?  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-FM-Transmitter-Bluetooth-Music-3-5mm-AUX-Audio-Stereo-Adapter-Receiver/193106060267?hash=item2cf604a3eb:g:OocAAOSw1G1Zqsm8

Strip this unit of its plastic case, jacks, etc and hard wire in. It may actually fit inside a loco. Have to charge it up now and then.

Oooo, on the receiving end you could mix in just a little layout ambient sound to make the experience feel less like wearing headphones.

Forgive me for coming to the conversation a bit late, but I have some thoughts on this and because of work constraints, this is my first opportunity to respond.

Alan,

Sadly, no, this is not the right device.  I know it says transmitter but it is only a receiver so far as I have been able to determine.  I have two of these, one of which I use to connect my Echo Dot to the surround sound system so I can listen to my Pandora stations in full fidelity.  The other I use at work to connect my phone to a set of stand-alone computer speakers, so I can listen to those same Pandora stations.

Christmas before last, my kids got me an actual bluetooth transmitter, which I connect to my TV and pair to my headphones so I can watch a bit of late night tube without the sound bothering my wife (the light is another matter, but one solution at a time).  It is about the same size as the receiver and works tremendously well, and I can see using it in the situation that Jacob originally described.  When I get a chance, and an available decoder or LM, I will be testing it out.

Jacob,

I really liked your comment about hearing "the sound and feel of four EMD 567's pulling in harmony."  However, there are some road blocks.  You could put a BT transmitter in each unit, but alas, you can only pair one of them at a time to your headphones.  We need a way to connect all four speaker outputs to a single transmitter input.  This can be done easily using an op amp in a summing configuration (think audio mixer).  You can use the summing amp to also attenuate the speaker signal to better match it to the transmitter's input level so as not to blast anyone's ears.  In this situation, you'll need to run at least three of the unit's speaker outputs to the unit with the transmitter in it.  But wow, the potential sound you'll get!  The entire consist roaring away!

Michael

[TwinStar]

Love it. And as everyone will attest, I am not a sound-in-trains guy. This might just be the solution for me too!

Is it possible to do this for only $1.00?  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wireless-FM-Transmitter-Bluetooth-Music-3-5mm-AUX-Audio-Stereo-Adapter-Receiver/193106060267?hash=item2cf604a3eb:g:OocAAOSw1G1Zqsm8

Strip this unit of its plastic case, jacks, etc and hard wire in. It may actually fit inside a loco. Have to charge it up now and then.

Oooo, on the receiving end you could mix in just a little layout ambient sound to make the experience feel less like wearing headphones.

Forgive me for coming to the conversation a bit late, but I have some thoughts on this and because of work constraints, this is my first opportunity to respond.

Alan,

Sadly, no, this is not the right device.  I know it says transmitter but it is only a receiver so far as I have been able to determine.  I have two of these, one of which I use to connect my Echo Dot to the surround sound system so I can listen to my Pandora stations in full fidelity.  The other I use at work to connect my phone to a set of stand-alone computer speakers, so I can listen to those same Pandora stations.

Christmas before last, my kids got me an actual bluetooth transmitter, which I connect to my TV and pair to my headphones so I can watch a bit of late night tube without the sound bothering my wife (the light is another matter, but one solution at a time).  It is about the same size as the receiver and works tremendously well, and I can see using it in the situation that Jacob originally described.  When I get a chance, and an available decoder or LM, I will be testing it out.

Jacob,

I really liked your comment about hearing "the sound and feel of four EMD 567's pulling in harmony."  However, there are some road blocks.  You could put a BT transmitter in each unit, but alas, you can only pair one of them at a time to your headphones.  We need a way to connect all four speaker outputs to a single transmitter input.  This can be done easily using an op amp in a summing configuration (think audio mixer).  You can use the summing amp to also attenuate the speaker signal to better match it to the transmitter's input level so as not to blast anyone's ears.  In this situation, you'll need to run at least three of the unit's speaker outputs to the unit with the transmitter in it.  But wow, the potential sound you'll get!  The entire consist roaring away!

Michael

Michael:

You build it and I'll buy it!!

Jacob