Configuration
First of all, for anyone moving to Loksound, I'd highly recommend spending the money for a LokProgrammer. Mine made this process SO much easier than it would have been if I'd been attempting to program individual CVs. Seriously, you'll be very glad you bought it.
As for LokProgrammer settings, the main things I changed are as follows (listed by LokProgrammer tab name):
Address
Locomotive address - Set to the western-most unit number in the consist (all units in each of my consists are set to the same number as all others in that consist).
Driving Characteristics
Time from stop to maximum speed [CV3] (Acceleration) - 100
Time from maximum speed to stop [CV4] (Deceleration) - 200 (road) or 150 (yard)
Reverse Mode - Reverse Direction checkbox - Checked for east-facing units
Function Mapping
As defined in my post at the top of Page 3.
Function Outputs
Front light[1], AUX1[1], and AUX2[1] had their brightness adjusted, as I typically found the LEDs I was installing to be so bright that I was getting headaches from looking at the locomotives. In fact, I often turned the ditch light LEDs down to a brightness of 0 on a scale of 0-31, and they were still plenty bright.
Front light[1], AUX1[1] and AUX2[1] - Output mode (effect) to Dimmable Headlight (fade in/out)
Motor Settings
Use speed curve (custom road and yard speed curves shown in my post on page 8 )
CV2 (Minimum speed) - 1
CV5 (Maximum speed) - 25 (Adjusted slighly higher or lower as necessary to speed match some models)
Sound settings
Sound selection - select sound configuration value - Set according to the Loksound values outlined for your project. This field controls a variety of sounds, including horn type, brake shoe type, etc. These settings vary from one sound project to the next, so the user must refer to the setting options at http://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/2 (LokSound Select) and/or http://projects.esu.eu/projectoverviews/4 (LokSound v4.0) for their particular project. For most of my locomotives, the only value needed for this field was the horn type.
Volume - Master volume [CV63] settings:
- 20 (15.63%) - For Alcos, set a bit higher than others in order to hear that great burble
- 15 (11.72%) - For all other powered units
- 10 (7.81%) - For sound dummies, since apparently that wide-open shell makes a great speaker box, causing them to be much louder than their powered counterparts. Also used this value for my Athearn Genesis SD70ACe, the loudest factory install I've ever heard.
Sound slot settings
Sound slot 1 (prime mover) - Matt Herman at ESU recommends that when you have more than one unit in a consist with the exact same prime mover type, decreasing the minimum and maximum sound speed values about 4 points on one unit, and increasing them by 4 points on the other unit, will cause the locomotives to sound like two distinct prime movers while still operating in sync with one another. For example, from the default values of 128, decrease the min and max values in locomotive #1 to 124, and increase those values in locomotive #2 to 132. This change also eliminates that odd UFO-like "phasing" sound you hear when two units with the exact same sound file pass you.
Sound slot 3 (horn volume) - 128
Sound slot 4 (bell volume) - 75
Sound slot 11 (independent brake volume) - 50
Sound slot 26 (automatic independent brake volume) - 0
Whew! I think that's everything. I'm no expert on Loksound, so if anyone sees anything amiss in my recommendations above, or if you just have settings I've missed that you'd like to recommend, I'd appreciate hearing from you.