I have an Athearn Loco that is DCC Ready. Can these loco’s have one motor function only decoder with a JST plug plugged into the circuit board and a SEPERATE sound decoder plugged into the circuit board with a 8 pin-plug?
Probably not. And the obvious question - why? The top 3 sound decoders: QSI Revolution, Soundtraxx Tsunami, and Loksound - all have top-notch motor control to go with the sounds. And with only 1 decoder there will be more room for a larger speaker. You want to fit the largest speaker and enclosure you can for the best sound.
–Randy
After my experience with Blue Line dual-decoder installs and all of the problems it created, I wouldn’t even consider doing anyting like this. A QSI Revolution decoder for an Athearn Genesis model is an exact replacement for the Athearn light board.and gives you both excellent sound and motor control all in one.