Legacy Conrail SD38- distorted sound/static? Fix suggestions?

Not right at all to me.  The horn and crewtalk are nice and clear, but I can barely make out prime mover sounds through all of the static.

NOTE: Thread title change to more accurately reflect intent of the post

@RickO thank you so much for the input, helped me get passed my optimistic bias. Have you ever dealt with something like this before?

I'm not an "expert " but it sure sounds as if somethings amiss with the audio board.

If your running this via Legacy.. There is a second volume level which raises and lowers the engine sounds.

Pushing AUX1, vol ^, AUX1 , vol^ and so on raises the level. AuX1 vol down....lowers it..

See if it gets better or worse when the volume is raised. To my ears the engine sounds are at a lower level than the rest.

If there's no improvement. I think I would see if an exchange is an option from your dealer. Otherwise I'd call Lionel on Monday and request a return authorization so it can be repaired under warranty.

Fwiw there have been random audio board issues over the last few years. One of them was also static in the soundset. Yours, however has far more static than others that have complained.

Lionels sounds used to be the best in the hobby. While still very good. It seems they've been tripping up with the quality lately

@RickO posted:

Lionels sounds used to be the best in the hobby. While still very good. It seems they've been tripping up with the quality lately

Rudy left, he was the sound guru.

Thanks for your help, guys. I really appreciate it. Hopefully I'll still be able to exchange it

You may want to check the speaker.  Inexpensive speaker, poor sound.  These speakers are prone to a problem with their location on the unit, which is usually the fuel tank.  These speakers, (with a strong magnet), can pick metal debris from the track/roadbed.  Metal debris on/in a speaker distorts the sound.  IMO.

If this was bought new, I’d ask dealer for an exchange.

I’m trying to think of what would cause this that wouldn’t affect all engines since it seems to be with the recording of the prime mover sounds.  Maybe a half-working audio amp?  Weird that the bell would sound clear though.

The reason for the distortion being more apparent with prime mover sounds is possibly due to this sound having much more signal content in the lower audio frequencies, as compared to dialog and bell sounds.

Electrically reproducing lower frequencies without distortion requires more power than with higher frequencies at the same apparent volume.  IMO, the problem is likely in the audio amplifier.  If returning the locomotive is an option, this is probably the best solution.