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Im an audio guy - been doing live sound and recording for decades.

I've done plenty of rock and roll field recording - but thought it might be cool to start recording some train sounds.

I live in south central PA - near enough NS lines/Hagerstown/Harrisburg/Cumberland/CSX to have some opportunities to record.

I have a nice collection of condenser microphones - most of the common directional patterns - and a nice enough recorder that Im sure could record a jet engine with out distortion.

Anybody else out there pursuing train audio...?

I'd think there'd be some - just wondering if there are interesting setups folks have tried?

The whole on-board model train audio systems seem to be in their infancy (as good as they are) - and it seems like a new era of model train audio is on the horizon - and guys will be wanting sounds!

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With the digital era of recording, the setups are a lot easier in fact most cell phones that are new (within the last two years) have almost better audio recording capability than the professional audio recorders bought from retailers such as B&H etc. 

I've found my cell phone to be very effective at recording since it does not clip as easily as many microphones. I do plan on getting a more professional recorder with a wind muff and those can be bought for less than $100. 

I have several small audio recorders that stand-alone and will record for hours.  My plan is to hitch a ride on the local Lansdale railroad freight and just Velcro a couple of these in strategic places on a couple of cars and let them make a trip.  When I retrieve them, I should have a good sampling of track noise to use for a boxcar sound module.

Although I'm into sort-of "high end" surround sound, with a Millennium 2-4-6 DTS 5.1 Surround sound decoder, I never had a desire to record any of my own stuff related to steam locomotives. My long time friend, the late Brad S. Miller developed DTS 5.1, and also made many "on-site" digital recordings of every thing from a space shuttle launch to various steam locomotives, all with his 4-channel custom mic. I have virtually ever 331/3 LP and/or CD that Brad ever issued concerning steam locomotives sounds. You folks into high-end home sound systems, might want to check out Brad's series of Sonic Booms CDs.

My current recorder is a TASCAM DR-70D 4 channel recorder.

And my mic locker: (these are all pairs):

AUDIX M1280 (cardioid condenser)
Avantone CK-1 (these have interchangeable card, hyper, and omni capsules)
JVC MU-510 Shotguns (a variant of the old Nakamichi 300s)

For now - my efforts will by stationary at various locations...just to get a sense of the volume and get some ball park ideas on levels.

 

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