Digitrax Sound Decoders

[Hatchet]

Thinking about getting the Digitrax Sound Decoder for my Kato SD 70 Aces’. Any Pro’s or cons from anyone who has used this? The instructions make it appear the frame doesn’t need milling to fit the speaker and capacitor in place.
Thanks for any suggestions or advice

Mark

[peteski]

Sure, the install will be easy, but the tiny speaker with no enclosure will sound like crap.  Decent sound does not come easy - the speaker design is what makes or breaks the sound quality. Those decoders are also really basic. You can't even remap sounds to other functions.

For example, we wanted to add a rotary beacon on a locomotive but there was no way to move the sound off the function key we wanted use.  So while we can get the beacon to work, every time it is activated, we hear coupler clang (since that was the function we assigned the beacon to).  But the installation was a breeze.

Personally I would stay away from Digitrax sound decoders.

[reinhardtjh]

Personally, I'd go with at ESU 73100 but the newer Digitrax sound decoders can be an okay economy choice.  Stay away from any of the SDC144 series.  They have power problems which are a bear to work around.  They aren't produced anymore but are probably available as old stock at various hobby shops.  You want the SDXN146 series.  According to the Digitrax selector it's the SDXN146K1E for the SD70ACe.

If you do go with the Digitrax, then join John McMaster's AnPRR group. He's the wizard when it comes to making Digitrax sound decoders perform.  The group has files for many different locomotives

The group home is here: https://groups.io/g/AnPRR

[Hatchet]

Thanks, everyone. I’ll check out the group as you suggested.

Mark

[tehachapifan]

I have one Digitrax sound decoder (SDXN146K1E) and it's loaded in a Kato SD70M. I substituted the stock speaker with another and added my own custom enclosure and it sounds OK. Not up there with an ESU sound decoder, but fairly decent. One thing I'm not crazy about is, at least with my DCC system, there's no shut down sequence. Only way for me to stop the sound is by powering down the layout. I believe that with certain DCC systems, maybe just Digitrax, the loco will perform a shut-down sequence after the loco is deselected on the throttle...but I'm not positive.

[propmeup1]

I've tried them twice and do not like them. I couldn't get the sound loud enough and it was just miserable to deal with vs. my Soundtraxx units which i find work great for me but that's me.

[conrad]

I greatly and I mean really greatly improved the sound volume and timbre of my Atlas SD7 by sealing the foam side of the oval speaker with a thin piece of plastic.  Decoder is a Digitrax SDN144A0.

Conrad

[samusi01]

I have a couple, a SDXN146K1E installed in an SD70ACe and something in a SD90MAC. I purchased them as an experiment, after installing a few ESU sound decoders in various units. The install was easy, and since then I've installed more ESU decoders... going in, I knew that the control I'd have over CVs would be limited (as others have noted) and I found myself quite disappointed with sound quality. I have no intention of purchasing any further N scale Digitrax sound decoders.

[nightmare0331]

While I would personally advocate spending a bit more time and money and fitting an ESU LokSound 73199 in the model, the biggest improvement you can quickly make with the Digitrax decoder is to replace the speaker.

People seem to be intimidated by milling for the ESU decoder and speaker...it's actually not that hard.  I've seen more than a few people Dremel warrior it if they didn't have access to a mill although that's not my preferred method.  If that is intimidating, I do offer SD70ACe frame machining, although that's not the purpose of my post.

Unfortunately, there is no clear 'just drop in' and sounds good solution.

If you want to look into the LokSound route, there is a wealth of information in this thread:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44230.0

Anywhoo...hope this helps!

Kelley.
www.dufordmodelworks.com

[jdcolombo]

If all you want is some vague engine-like noise from your Kato engines, then you can get that with the stock Digitrax decoders. 

If you want SOUND, as in something resembling a real diesel, at the very least you will need to install a separate speaker in a separate enclosure and wire it to the decoder.  Given the size of the SD70, that shouldn't be very difficult and probably does not require any frame modification at all.  Just some minor soldering.

If you want GOOD SOUND, as well as excellent motor control, then you really should consider the ESU LokSound route.  Here is a link to a thread that used an ESU board-style decoder in a Kato SD70 ACE:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44230.0

Although I haven't done such an installation myself, the person who did it in the link noted that very minimal frame work was needed to do it.

John C.

[robert3985]

I've installed four Digitrax sound decoders in four Kato E's.

Installation of the decoder was very easy.

Milling the frames for both speaker & cap was a project.  The zinc alloy that Kato uses for its frames doesn't like to be cut. However, I would have been milling the frames for cap & speaker no matter what sound decoder I decided to use.

Running qualities of the decoders were just right for my application and easy to speed match.

As for sound, it's better than no sound.  Especially noticeable is the horn, which pulses every time the file starts over.

For volume, an airtight speaker enclosure is needed.  I milled mine into the zinc at the back of the engine.  With the machined lids installed on the tops of the enclosures, or even just the bodies pressed on, the sound is easily three times louder...maybe more.

If I hadn't been in a big hurry to get these ready for a show, I would have much preferred ESU decoders, easily the very best for diesel sound.

When I get my layout up and running again, I'll be replacing these with ESU decoders.

Photo (1) - Digitrax Sound Decoder Install in Kato E:


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[John]

I have a digitrax sound decoder in a couple of locomotives --- and for me -- it's good enough .. my problem with the other decoders -- If I can't program them on my JMRI setup, or load sound files without special hardware, I really don't want to deal with it ..

[Hatchet]

Thanks all. I’ll definitely check out the ESU Loksound route as well. Great info as always from the group.

Mark