Just saw in the Yahoo SoundTraxx Group. SoundTraxx is shipping the SurroundTraxx system. One fellow saw it at his LHS.
Just a reminder. ONLY if you have a Digitrax system with "Loconet’ will this work for you. The surround sound works off of the transponding of Digitrax ‘Loconet’.
From the Soundtraxx site: “SurroundTraxx is designed for use with Digitrax® command control systems and accessories; other command stations will be supported in the future.”
Rich
So…am I understanding this right when I’ve heard that you don’t need a sound decoder in the engine with SurroundTraxx then? Just the standard decoder, as long as you use a DigiTrax DCC system with LocoNet? Will this make use of block detection, or what?
I ask because I am still in the planning stages of my layout in N scale, and it sounds like it would work out better to go this route with all my trains than to equip each of them with a sound decoder (if available).
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is expensive about $700 and limited to a small number of locos. You also must use Digitrax decoders supporting “Transponding”
I wonder if I will work, if one uses a different DCC system along with a standalone Digitrax Loco Net.
Yes, you’re understanding it right.
It has to be a Digitrax decoder that supports Transponding. AFAIK, any fairly recent and all current Digitrax decoders. And yes, you’ll need LocoNet (see next answer).
It makes use of Transponding, which uses Digitrax’s block detection hardware (BDL16x’s) and RX4 Transponding Receivers.
That’s one of those “what’s right for me may not be right for you” questions. Only you can decide the “right” answer.
Guys, it is very expensive and VERY difficult to implement.
Personally, I am going to wire my layout for transponding and go from there. If my transponding works as it should, then I will consider the Surroundtraxx.
David B
Here’s a link. I saw it this weekend at an LHS as well but didnt’ hear it. I’ll personally stick with sound loco’s
I want to be able to hear it first before I lay out any money for it. I can just imagine the wifes face when I lug 4 or 6 Cerwin Vega loud speakers down into the train room, lol.
This is what I just found on this issue. NOT MY OPINION.
The target market.
The folks who cannot install a Tsunami
and a reasonable size speaker want sound, too. Those in Z or Nn3, or
even some N folks, cannot get reasonable sound out of their models. So,
installing a Transponding ™ decoder in the loco and the Digitrax
supporting products and a SurroundTraxx unit on the layout is their refuge.
Why Digitrax? They have the only functional, albeit funky, product that
can easily locate a train on the layout and feedback the data.
Steve designed the SurroundTraxx box with the LocoNet interface on a
small board that cam be replaced with another interface board when (if?)
another system comes along.
No, you don’t have to have a Digitrax system - the SurroundTrax box can
be the LocoNet master. You do need some way to talk to the LocoNet,
though. A Digitrax throttle or, perhaps, a JMRI interface.
Yup, it will take something north of $750 to have the system up and
transponding. Let’s see, Micro Tsunamis retail at $140 plus a speaker,
so let’s use $150 per loco. So you can have sound for all your locos
(yes, only a few at a time) for the cost of the parts for 5 installs!
Why don’t Tsunamis transpond? Well, Digitrax wants a royalty on ever
decoder sold with transponding. Do you want to pay for a
feature on every Tsunami that you apparently don’t want? Didn’t think so!
A Tsunami (and transponde
i too think it is expensive. if you work in HO it is similar in cost to fitting sound decoders in the loco’s. it may be better suited to small N and Z models, but at a premium.
The only advantage I see is the ability to use a much higher quality sound system.
Those people to whom that is important will probably be willing to spend that much.
I agree. A big sub woofer beneath the layout would probably sound pretty cool as it vibrates the room, lol.
I saw a video on this system just yesterday from the national train show. The price is a factor, but if you model N scale and want quality sound, it’s worth considering. One other thing I didn’t care for was that unlike omnidirectional lower range sound waves, mids and up need to be “in your face” for you to hear them well which means that the midrange speakers really need to be located on the layout. And IMHO, covering tweeters with, say, some sort of solid scenery in an attempt to hide them is going to hamper the sound quality.
-Ed
Low frequency sounds are, by nature, non-directional, which is why for your home theater you can put the subwoofer anywhere.
Thing is, I don’t want room-filling sound. You can’t usually hear a real train 50 miles away, so if the opposite side of the basement is supposed to be a distant city, you shouldn;t hear the trains over there, just the ones in front of you.
As for following the train - they could have done this withotu transponding. RR&Co does a great job of trcking trains just using block detection. Then you wouldn’t be limited to only those decoders that support transponding, which isn’t a very big list. Meaning, those decoders that can be on the rails with transponding decoders and not mess them up. The problem is that SurroundTraxx has been under development so long - when they first started it, Digitrax hadn’t even yet offered for sale any Transponding hardware, and RR&Co didn;t have Train Tracking. Since then, DIgitrax has even changed the hardware more than once (BDL16 to BDL162 to BDL168. ANd realized that for stuff liek this to have a chance at being reliable, you need a buffered interface like a Locobuffer and not the old MS100.
–Randy