"ZIMO Advanced Standard" for Sound Projects

Since 2005, Sound Decoders are available from ZIMO, meanwhile there were some generational changes. The customer feedback and dialogue with the sound designers who work for ZIMO, meant that the scope of the decoder has been greatly expanded and will continue to expand going forward; currently (mid 2013) we stop at software version 33 While this current software is still available in a version for the sound decoder of the produced in the first hour (Large Scale decoder MX690). A ZIMO sound decoder has received thus in the last 8 years a significant added value for free.

ZIMO introduced with the first sound projects a standard configuration, which was primarily focused on steam and diesel locomotives. In the meantime, the decoder can do much more, the newer software versions take into account, inter alia, and electric locomotives, but the old standard could not use the new possibilities.

Therefore, there has been a rather loose organization of sound projects from the various sources: ZIMO internally, ZIMO on behalf of or in collaboration with vehicle manufacturers and ZIMO external sound designer. The following discussions between ZIMO employees, external sound designers and users were performed for current sound projects, how it would be possible to configure them in a meaningful and consistent manner. The two main trends are:

• do not set CVs within the project, which went beyond the pure sound configuration, and thus the sound project remains totally independent of equipment type and the vehicle, and this also removes sometimes confusion-creating assignments for coasting and switching projects.
• Properties of the function outputs as an integral and necessary part of the use of the sound project, even if the individual user can not always support all vehicles (Large Scale locomotives usually have more facilities than H0 locomotives).

Both views are probably justified. According to the general ZIMO philosophy, to provide the widest variety of solutions available (see, for example, the range of large scale decoders and loco adapter boards) in the future sound projects to one of the following three standards (or even after two of them):

1. "ZIMO Basic Standard", for most of the existing free ZIMO download projects,
2. "ZIMO Advanced Standard", which will apply mainly for the "coded" sound projects, sound designer (see below), and also existing projects should be changed in order to standardize,
3. "ZIMO US Standard" (see below).

The sound designers Matthias Henning and Heinz Däppen have designed the "ZIMO Advanced Standard". Projects according to this standard can have features such as lighting effects, smoke generator control, coupling waltz, steady speed or coasting, dynamic brake, switching between heavily loaded loco and unloaded loco.

The new "ZIMO Advanced Standard" (some details are still to be developed) will initially be used for all European sound projects of these two sound designers for normal delivery. These are projects for DR, HSB, SBB and RhB. It is hoped that further sound designers will adopt the standard

This unification is also helpful for the ZIMO service - and thus for all users seeking advice.

In the U.S, everything is a little different: while European modellers love to see the role of the Dispatcher, the American is more concerned with the train drivers cap and accompanying his train through the system. Hence the usual mapping across the Atlantic has developed differently. A well-known manufacturer of DCC equipment has several function keys labelled with sound effects, but which are used in Europe for lighting effects.

Therefore, there is a separate "ZIMO U.S. standard". The first of the sound projects by Heinz Däppen will be made and presented to the audience at the NMRA Train Show in Atlanta (by the way along with the new "American" ZIMO large scale sound decoder MX697).