I’m thinking of buying one the sd40. What sound system do they have?
Soundtraxx
Good sound…not as good motor control. (The latter is more important to me than the former.) If your heart is set on the Athearn version, get a non-sound SD-40 and add a Loksound or TCS Wow decoder to it. The other option would be to look at another brand’s SD-40 with a built-in Loksound decoder.
Tom
Hello DH,
As far as I know, the sound version of the Athearn SD40 (2015 production) comes with the Soundtraxx Tsunami (not the upcoming Tsunami-2)
You’ll find a variety of opinions here but I’m with Tom in that I want good, smooth motor control in my units. I bought the Athearn RTR SD45’s in the photo below, non-sound. I’m looking forward to equipping them with Loksound V4.0 decoders in them with Hi Bass speakers.
As most folks here are aware, I run DC rather than DCC. However, I often hear guys at my LHS speaking of Loksound and pronouncing it Lokesound (loke as in poke or, I’m guessing, as in locomotive). Is this the correct pronunciation by consensus or are they just guessing based on the “locomotive” pronunciation connection?
Grammatically, it seems counterintuitive, and should be, I think, “lock-sound”, as there’s no “e” to change the sound of the “o”. I’m curious if this is a local thing (Canadian, eh?) or if Loke is the accepted pronunciation. [%-)]
Wayne
Yes, Loke as in bloke or smoke.
You only have to watch from 0:20 to 0:30 seconds…
Now, how about Kato?
Regards, Ed
Maybe their mispronunciation is just a joke! [:D]
Rich
Ed and Rich, thanks. [:)]
As for Kato, it’s pronounced caw-toe (no emphasis on either syllable), as given to me by my Japanese/Canadian sister-in-law. [swg]
Wayne
Be aware that Athearn didn’t always have Soundtraxx decoders. Originally, Athearn SD40’s had MRC sound, which is horrible. MRC decoders had a 50% failure rate at our club. The OP didn’t say if he was buying new or used, so I thought I’d throw this in as a warning.
BTW, Soundtraxx motor control isn’t that bad. The way some people go on about it, you’d think they’d only have 14 speed steps or something.
If you saw it on the Internet it must be true. The official ESU youtube videos also call it Loke sound. ESU is a German company so English pronunciation rules do not apply.
Henry, did you miss my funny? [swg]
Rich
Yes, I was just throwing that out there for the Yanks that like to say Kay-toe.
I generally pronounce it Kaah-toe and slightly bow my head. As a manufacturer they have earned my admiration and respect [bow]
Ed
Hi Wayne:
I believe the correct pronunciation is “lokesound” based on the way the German language works.
I have always said “Locksound” and “Kay-toe” and I have to remember the correct ways of saying things lest I offend Ulrich and Tommikawa (sp?).
Dave
People will forever be correcting me on KATO since I’ve been pronouncing it wrong for the past 30 years; as the Chicago song goes, it’s a hard habit to break so I may be naughty - sorry it’s just too deeply engrained. [oX)]
Yes, and thankfully I didn’t have the funds to afford the sound versions of Athearn or Genesis engines and didn’t buy any with sound until well after the MRC no longer being used. Thankfully Athearn did respond to customer sentiment and dumped MRC; personally I’d like to see Athearn go to Loksound since the Tsunami they use, while better than the MRC, seem to be far behind the Loksound being provided with Bowser, Intermountain etc. Athearn always seems to be behind the leaders in sound for some reason.
My issues with sound equipped Athearn diesels involved units that had the MRC decoder like the first run Genesis SD45-2’s. After the issues with those and some F units, too, I refused to buy any other sound-equipped diesels.
It is wonderful that Athearn finally fixed sound by switching to better decoders. However, they need to improve the QA/QC of recently imported diesels as many of the particular ones I’ve looked at closely (actually made in the last 2 years or so) had too many issues for me to purchase.
Sure, I can find earlier Genesis units at shows, many of which look fantastic…but imo the recent QA/QC has been lacking more so than before. Either that or the particular runs/roadnames I was looking at were just dismal. I was very excited when I saw some of the Genesis SP geeps which were indeed practically flawless, but then the ones in other roadnames which I was interested in were just not.
John
Finally learning that the company is German, it’s now easy to understand the otherwise unusual pronunciation. [:$][:P]
Wayne
i heard its based off of the econami as the parts for the soundtraxx 1 are literally unavailable. The econami is a paired down version of the tsunami 2.
I have asked some MR friends who are much more knowledgable than I and they recommended getting Athearn without the decoder because of the Tsunami motor control is not so hot. That way you can install a better decoder, sound or non-sound. Non sound with good motor control tend to be suggested for TCS brand.