traxxas latest gimmick

[DMAT]

And today's latest gimmick from traxxas is on board audio. from what i can see, its a little module that plugs into the 3ch on a reciever. no actual speaker just that little box. from the few unedited seconds on the videos, it seems like its barely louder than the motor.

http://traxxas.com/products/models/electric/58034-2slash

[justinspeed79]

I don't care for this either, but it seems a little unfair to say it's traxxas' latest gimmick, when other companies, like Tamiya, have been doing this for, what, at least a decade now?

[DMAT]

ive never actually seen another hobby grade car that made sounds.

[GoMachV]

Tamiya's msrp is $702 too
http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/item.php?product-id=53957
It better sound REAL good!

[kaiser]

the difference is the tamiya unit is intended for scale/detail hobbists.

the traxxas unit is intended to attract kids.

at least thats how i see it.

[dldiaz]

Kinda cool.

- the second video seems like it's pretty loud (may be enhanced audio though?)

[Lowgear]

[DMAT]

Kinda cool.

- the second video seems like it's pretty loud (may be enhanced audio though?)

outside of 2-3 seconds, almost 100% of the traxxas video was enhanced sound.

[Kyoshojoe]

the difference is the tamiya unit is intended for scale/detail hobbists.

the traxxas unit is intended to attract kids.

at least thats how i see it.

I think its awesome, at least traxxas has a realist approach to the hobby and attracting kids is what keeps it alive. they make a great product and have done a great deal to promote the hobby and innovate it. RC is a very expansive hobby and a huge variety of enthusiasts enjoy it for different reasons.

might be kinda cool if you could download different engine sounds. a wrx rally car would be pretty cool with turbo spool up and blow off sound as you throttled, maybe a diesel chugging sound for the monster trucks.

some peeps may see it as silly and pointless to add audio, but the same could be said for playing with remote control cars.

[Seabass]

I think it is kind of neat...would I buy one, no, but I know a ton of kids who would.

What I would like to know is how they got those awful tires to hook up in the first video. Must have been 10lbs of sugar laid in the corner where the two trucks were filmed in slow-mo .

Jake

[DMAT]

my whole gripe with it is that the sound they advertise and whats actually there are gonna be far from each other. based on the size of that module, at best its cellphone speaker quality.

I just see the way those videos promote the sound leaving anybody who really invests in it disappointed. Thats the reason I called it a gimmick.

[Kyoshojoe]

Honestly to reproduce those tones and frequencies you really don't need a big speaker, obviously you wont feel the ground shake like an 800 hp v8, but most of the sound is in the 500 to 6000hz range which a 1 inch speaker can easily handle, plus its hard to judge the audio quality of anything based on a you tube video, the sound will come out different on every different device. I think that I personally will wait and listen to one at the hobbyshop or track.

If it truly does mimmick rev sounds accurately and is proportional to motor speed then I can only think of it as a boon and driving aid. I think it would also add more realism and cool factor if 6 or 7 vehicles had individualized sound modules running in a race. You would be able to hone in on a particular car just by sound and even get a perception of the way its being wheeled around the track. It would also help in guidance when the car is in a blind zone and you cant see your car.

If volume is what you want then just jack the amp and speaker out of a cheap mp3 player external speaker and wire it up to the module and while your at it solder a patch cord in to play music from an mp3 player.

[janaya]

I don't like or hate this idea but they need to stop recycling all their cars and trucks. There's multiple versions of almost all their RC's and have not really come out with anything new. How about seeing and release a true scale/crawler, race cars or trucks that can be competitive at the local tracks without major upgrades that other companies design. I guess I would hope they would bring back the true racing kits they had back in the day. Not a re-release per say but something competitive.

Ok of my soap box if you will.

[EvolutionRevolution]

If volume is what you want then just jack the amp and speaker out of a cheap mp3 player external speaker and wire it up to the module and while your at it solder a patch cord in to play music from an mp3 player.

Considering how most cheap MP3 players sound (about 1980s bad videogame quality - metallic and, well, just horrible) I don't think it would make much difference.


As an aside: one of my pet peeves: people claiming <insert fancy mobile device here> has great, studio-quality sound, and then you hear the sound and it's just like a cover of 1980s hair metal performed with a chainsaw...the average mid-1990s low budget sound card had better sound than that. But then, with the advent of on-board sound in PCs, people seem to have forgotten what good quality sound is like. That reminds me, I need to hunt down a decent soundcard for my newer PC, as it sounds like shite compared to my old one (which has a good Wavetable soundcard)...

[GoMachV]

I don't like or hate this idea but they need to stop recycling all their cars and trucks. There's multiple versions of almost all their RC's and have not really come out with anything new. How about seeing and release a true scale/crawler, race cars or trucks that can be competitive at the local tracks without major upgrades that other companies design. I guess I would hope they would bring back the true racing kits they had back in the day. Not a re-release per say but something competitive.

Ok of my soap box if you will.

We were just taking about how a rustler was $80 kit and $159 RTR when they first came out, and now the brushed one is
$225ish 15-20 years later and is basically the same rig. Someone's making some money