Tsunami 2 for N scale?

[Cajonpassfan]

The new issue of MR has a Soundtraxx ad for a Tsunami 2 “drop-in” decoder and installation kit designed for Kato F, E, and PA units.
While I prefer ESU for my diesels, the existing T2 is a very nice sound decoder and it’s encouraging to see Soundtraxx in N scale.
I don’t know whether these are out yet, but if so, I’d be interested in hearing about them, and whether milling is required to accommodate a speaker.
Otto K.

(Apparently they are available, at $150 a pop retail😬

[wcfn100]

https://soundtraxx.com/tsu-kn1/

Jason

[RBrodzinsky]

The speaker that is included is a 12x5mm speaker (you won't like it).  But that doesn't require any milling.  Any larger speaker will require milling, and I have basically found one maxes out the space with a 12x8mm speaker

[woodone]

On a F-3 or F-7 Kato’s I would use a 15MM (1/2 inch) speaker. Drill a blind hole in frame at the rear.
I have done that in the past using a regular decoder. Sound was great.

[peteski]

Otto,
I believe we already discussed this development back in November.
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=50898.0
There was not much excitement about it. Not very robust decoder (compared to ESU for example).  You can't even upload any sound projects, relatively few function outputs,  and the price is not really all that competitive. Meh.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, I guess I didn’t see that memo.
Never mind then...
Otto

[cgw]

These are the most easy sound decoder installs i have done to date. replace existing light board, solder leds, add the speaker and solder the speaker connection .     Total time is about 15 to 20 minutes.   Noooo frame milling required to fit every thing in the shell.     Programming to  fit the correct prime mover, horn selection  took about another 4 minutes and then off to the races.      i have installed about six of them in Kato E8/9 units.  Will probably do several more units as soon as funds become available.   

[Bart1701]

These are the most easy sound decoder installs i have done to date. replace existing light board, solder leds, add the speaker and solder the speaker connection .     Total time is about 15 to 20 minutes.   Noooo frame milling required to fit every thing in the shell.     Programming to  fit the correct prime mover, horn selection  took about another 4 minutes and then off to the races.      i have installed about six of them in Kato E8/9 units.  Will probably do several more units as soon as funds become available.   

Glad to see that someone has installed some of these. Wondering what you think of the sound quality that these decoders produce? Any chance of posting a video of your units in action?

Thanks,
Bart

[Cajonpassfan]

Glad to see that someone has installed some of these. Wondering what you think of the sound quality that these decoders produce? Any chance of posting a video of your units in action?

Thanks,
Bart

It’s not the decoders I’d worry about, it’s the minuscule minicube speakers they come with, if you want to go without milling the frame...
Otto K.

[k27463]

Took a look at one of these last week -- no, it's not quite as in depth as the ESU offerings, but compared to the Next18 board + Loksound Micro the street price ($120 on eBay) seems to be pretty similar.

I'm going to look at whether a cut down iPhone 4 speaker will fit in one of the E units like it will in a P42.

[greenwizard88]

I just installed one in a P42. Here's a few thoughts off of the top of my head.

The compressor "whoop" sounds like it made a "whoopsie". It's not very good. I jacked up the volume on it (CV 132) and now at least you can hear how bad it sounds. In reality it's probably realistic, but in 1:1 scale you have reverb and echo that doesn't happen in N scale, so what I'm expecting to hear isn't what I'm hearing.

Otherwise the install wasn't bad. I ran into a few problems that I created myself, but I'm happy with it. The speaker isn't bad. Dare I say it's good?. I can hear the diesel idling from my dining room, and my trains are in the basement.

Does anyone have advice on fixing the whoop, or at least get the compressor to come on automatically without manually turning on F12?

The crew chatter is a nice touch.

[k27463]

Does anyone have advice on fixing the whoop, or at least get the compressor to come on automatically without manually turning on F12?

Go into JMRI and futz with the Reverb settings -- you should be able to crank the compressor reverb sky high.

I'd recommend a bit of reverb on the horn too.

Not sure on the F12 question, but I'll figure it out.

[greenwizard88]

That makes sense, that I should try adjusting the reverb settings if it doesn't have enough reverb 

I spent the last night tweaking the settings and I'm happy with how it came out. I'll need to adjust the DDE a bit more, but it's not bad. I swapped the mute function with the 2nd audio mixer, so when I "mute" the train I can still have a horn and bell, and I kept the brake squeal too

I considered maybe the ESU decoder would have a better compressor, but listening to the LokSound 5 sound file on the ESU website the "whoop" sound is very similar to the Tsu2 one, and neither sound quite right compared to standing 5 feet from a P42 at the station.

[peteski]

I considered maybe the ESU decoder would have a better compressor, but listening to the LokSound 5 sound file on the ESU website the "whoop" sound is very similar to the Tsu2 one, and neither sound quite right compared to standing 5 feet from a P42 at the station.

Maybe a silly question, but are you standing 5 N scale feet (or ³/₈ "real" inches) from the N scale model when you are listening to its sound?  You are likely standing about one 1:1 scale foot or more (which would be 160 scale feet or farther).  Just sayin' . . . 

[jdcolombo]

5 real feet = 3/8" in N scale.

"Ay, there's the rub" - William Shakespeare, Hamlet

John C.