sound decoder recomdations

[delamaize]

so I have been thinging about doing sound in my Lt Mountain I just bought, not 100% sure what decoders are good/bad or indiffrent. so I ask: witch sound decoder is the "best." My wife had axed my trains budget for now, so I am pretty much just in the research stage.

Also, if you have some tips, trick, or recomendations I would appreciate it.

[bsoplinger]

There is the loksound mini at $139 and the micro tsunami at $139. Both are small and will fit in a smaller tender. Figure about 6 wires running from tender to engine, 2 power, 2 motor, 2 front headlight, 1 optional chuff cam if you want to go to that extreme. Soundtraxx makes a cheaper LC series of decoder that will only fit into very large tenders for about $70 and the regular Tsunami for $110 which is slightly smaller than the LC. I prefer the Tsunami items myself.

[Day One]

I've used the Loksound micro's and the Micro Tsunami's. For steam, I think the Micro Tsunami's are the way to go. I like the sounds that they produce and the programming options you have for them. You can really adjust the way they respond to loading, loaded, and non loaded operation. It's very cool to hear the chuff sounds adjust to the what the train is doing. For instance when a train encounters a grade you can hear the chuff sound change as if the train is working harder and descending grades they will give a coasting sound.

However, the Tsunami's don't have a lot of options for specific steam sounds. They are offered primarily as light, medium, and heavy steam. The Loksounds do allow you to load any sounds you want so you could (if you have the sound files) match the prototype exactly. This does require the Lokprogrammer tho. Another expensive add on. The Tsunami's do have programming issues too in my experience. Using a digitrax chief system I was not able to change the address. I ended up getting a SPROG II to program the tsunamis on a seperate programming track using JMRI/Decoder Pro. A setup I highly recommend to anyone with more than a few DCC engines.

[ednadolski]

How do those work with diesels?   FWIW, I've heard less-than-stellar about the MRCs...

[Walkercolt]

The brand new Digitrax will fit easily into the Bachmann tender, and while it doesn't sound as good as the $140 Tsunami, they retail for $59.95. Bachmann installs are not the easiest (with just the two contacts to the motor and headlight), but they aren't beyond most people's abilities who've have some decoder installation experience. I'm not a fan of MRC sound decoders, personally, and I feel the Loxsounds are more exspensive than what you should get for the money, but I don't like cucumbers either.

[SkipGear]

The Loksound is nice because of the uploadable sound files, 4 function outputs, and comes with a nice sized speaker for steam tender installs. That is where my love for them ends. The programer you need to upload the sounds is another $150. They don't transition well from yard speed to mainline speed. At least for the steam decoders that I have installed, there is a distinct change in the sound of the chuff right around speed step 10. Last but not least, the price on them has jumped to $169 retail now. $139 retail was a stretch, $169 puts them out of the market.

I have a Micro Tsunami that may get installed in my GS-4 tonight, we will see how that goes.

For diesels, so far, only MRC. The motor control could be better. The sound is OK but can be improved. The speaker they ship with is 30 ohm but the decoder will handle an 8 ohm speaker. Replacing the speaker with an 8 ohm speaker and installing it in an enclosure makes a world of difference in both volume and sound quality.

Here is an Athearn SD70 modified for the Kato SD70 board with a SoundTraxx 8 ohm speaker and home made enclosure.



It will keep pace in both sound and clarity with an Athearn Challenger. I am still considering installing photo etch fans to help let a bit more sound out.

I am waiting to see what Digitrax comes up with. They are taking a different route than the other manufactures and I already have a PR3 which will allow me to upload custom sound files.

[John]

How do those work with diesels?   FWIW, I've heard less-than-stellar about the MRCs...

BTW .. Litchfield is blowing out all MRC sound decoders .. 50% off