I’ve decided to “drink the Kool-aid” at last and install sound decoders in all my remaining ‘silent’ locos. Some of those are tough, either to find the right decoder or to install… So I’m hoping there’s some collective wisdom out there on this…
The locos I can’t figure out are (HO all):
Spectrum 3-truck Shay. I’ve seen the install on Tonystrains.com, but also sort of recall a purpose-built plug and play sound decoder for the Shay. Also, the install at Tony’s consists of two pictures that aren’t 100% clear about how to do it. Any further info on this, other installs or other decoders is welcome.
Rivarossi 2-truck Heisler. Same issues as above, but even less room to work, I think.
Mantua 2-6-6-2T logger (no tender). It claims to be DCC ready, but I’m not even sure where you’d fit a decoder in here, much less a sound system…
ConCor Pioneer Zephyr - Not a problem installation, but wondering about the ‘best’ decoder for this - closest match to engine sound, whistle, etc.
The other ones I’m pretty confident of, but I’ll throw 'em out there for the general consumption as well:
the other spectrums and the 2-8-8-2 i’d go with the tsunami , probably all pretty easy installs . you could possibly put the tsunami in the shay as well but it would be a tough installation
Sounds like older spectrums, have you considered selling the old or doing a trade with someone on reg. dc for the newer dcc ready ones, also consider that spectrums are going to be coming out with tsunami’s. In particular I would consider this for the k4.
I dummied the FB2 and had a DSD 100LC from Soundtraxx installed. The A unit still does a decent job of pulling, and the entire shell of the B unit is an excellent enclosure for the speaker. Also, that particular decoder does a wonderful job of the sound and motion control. I won’t say that it is right for that prototype, but I like the effect very much.
Not sure if it’s still available, but Soundtraxx made a “plug and play” sound decoder specifically for Spectrum’s 2-10-0 and lt. 4-8-2 engines. the decoder is a flat board with a speaker attached, all you had to do was plug the whole thing in and put the tender body back in place. If it’s not still made, I bet you could find one at Tony’s or Loy’s or on ebay??
I would go with a Loksound V3.5 decoder. They are the best diesel decoders out right now and of course they have a huge library of sounds to choose from. I’m not sure if they actually have the zephyr sounds available, but you could probably find something reasonably close. If you order from Tony’s they will load it with whatever sounds you select prior to shipping so you dont need to buy the expensive programmer.
Note: Loksound decoders use 100ohm speakers while most other decoders use 8ohm speakers. You should only buy Loksound speakers to use with thier decoders, they have a good selection and they arent terribly expensive, so it isnt really an issue, its just something to keep in mind when selecting a speaker.
If you have the money and want the best quality also use Loksound in the F unit, you probably only need sound in one of them. These are more common locomotives though so a more generic soundtraxx DSD-100LC or DSX would work well too.
Mantua 2-6-6-2
I did one of these for a friend of mine a while back. He had me put a tender on it and I installed a Tsunami. It sounds and runs great although it does look a little strange. I ended up adding track pickups to the tender as well, the locomotive didnt pick up power very well especially on dirty track and the sound hesitating can get annoying. Pickups on the tender wheels solved the problem.
Thanks, Joe. I’m leaning toward the Loksound on a few of mine, but at the $$$ can’t do too many of 'em that way. The Zephyr is probably a good candidate because them may come out with it down the road even if not now… I’d probably spring for the programmer if I went that way.
Interesting note about the 2-6-6-2… It does have lousy pickup. The only one of all my locos to have issues with insulfrog turnouts. I wish, in retrospect, I’d simply bought the tender version to start with.