I was less than impressed with the MRC decoder in my new Big Boy, not up to the rest of the model’s quality. The chuff didn’t start properly when moving out slowly, and the engine would not crawl worth a hoot. Didn’t like the sound much.
So I put in a Tsunami Heavy decoder. Removed the old MRC board, but used the speakers. Wired the decoder to the front horseshoe-shaped board. Used 680 ohm dropping resistors for the LED’s.
Results are very good. The motor control is excellent. The sound is better and has many more features, including extensive customization capability.
I hope Athearn will change companies for their DCC/sound before long; in my opinion, MRC was a bad choice.
The other day, my Mikado Loksound decoder developed an odd problem. No provoking circumstance that I know of. My layout and our club layout both have PSX power protector boards. The Mikado worked at home and at the club that night. When I brought it home, it wouldn’t respond unless another loco was in the same power block with it. It would work direct from the (NCE) booster also. Resetting didn’t help, so I sent it to Trix and they replaced it.
While waiting, I put a Tsunami Medium in the Trix (with an 8 ohm speaker). Again, I like it better than the original, so I’ll park the Loksound on the shelf for now. I don’t think it’s a sound-programmable v3.5, but I’ll try it on my programmer later to be sure.
The decision to use the MRC in the Genesis line has caused many of us to purchase the fine detailed models and rip out the electronics and file them in the county disposal. I have removed the electronics from mine also and consider the models much better runners now that they have the Tsunami installed. After getting three of the Genesis Big Boys initially, I switched to the PCM Big Boys to actually run on layouts since the Loksound was downloadable. We downloaded the correct whistle, bell and generator sound which makes the PSM Big Boy’s sound great.
Letters and email to Athearn does not seem to get their attention since they probably have some kind of contract with some period of time that they will use the MRC electronics. I continue to purchase the models since they are very well detailed and remove the offending electronics the way you did.
I think most of us agree with your assessment of the MRC sound, but the Genesis line is probably going to use it for some time to come.