Was just surfin’ around Tony’s website and was blown away by the listing for the LOKSound sound decoders. Wow. Quite the selection. Has anyone tried 'em yet? Would love to know.
Not personally tried them on my own layout, cos I am in N scale.
But I was in Germany a few weeks back and got two Loksound units for a colleague in the UK. He reckons they are the best thing he has ever heard. I have only heard them once, and only briefly, but they were impressive to ay the least! He will be in Germany next week and is planning to pick up another four.
ESU have announced the Loksound-micro, which at 28x10x5mm might be okay for some of the larger N scale locos.
Have heard good things about the Lok Sound ESU decoders. Would love to hear a sound sample.
I do wonder if Digitrax and Lok Sound may wind up being the major players in the sound decoder arena, with Digitrax being “Standard” and Lok Sound ESU being “High End” sound (closer to Soundtraxx’s Tsunami’s status).
Of course we can’t discount QSI and Soundtraxx, but QSI will have a limited selection and Soundtraxx’s Tsunami is still…hmmmmmmmmm…not sure about that one.
I think lots of people are waiting to see the Digitrax system. If it has DSD quality, at the DSL (is that it?) price - then Digitrax will indeed become a major sound player.
What interests me the most is the depth of sounds that LOK has available. Could anyone have thought this 10 years ago?
I picked up one of the second generation EMD versions ans installed it in a Kato SD-45. I have some other SD-45’s with the Soundtrax version. I have to say the Lok Sound prime mover sound is far inferior to the Soundtrax. It just doesn’t have the correct sound to my ears. The Soundtrax does. I think those people who think just downloading some recorded sound into either a LOK Sound or a new Digitrax will be dissappointed at the quality. It take s a good bit of massaging sound to get it right. Time will tell. --------------Ken McCorry
Ken McCorry,
Most curious, can you please specify how it sounds inferior? I haven’t heard any Lok Sound units yet. One thing though, the Soundtraxx 2nd Generation EMD decoder sounds just like the turbo charged 16 cylinder unit. (GP40, SD40, SDP40f, F40PH, etc)
Years back I did have the opportunity to do a lot of railfanning around my town. Got to hear U-Boats, Geeps, Switchers, SDP40fs, and an SD45 up close. I managed to tape record a few locomotives with a boom box. There is a difference in sound between the EMD 16 cylinder 645 diesel and its big brother, the 20 cylinder 645 diesel; with the 20 cylinder sounding a bit throatier. The familiar turbo-charged whine is still present.
I don’t know, but could it be that you are hearing the difference between the V16 and V20?
Thanks[;)].
I have to agree with you that Soundtrax has excellent sound quality and sets the standard to be use for any comparison today.
I am still hoping that the new Soundtrax sound decoder will still be released soon and not be shelved.
Bangert,
I agree to a certain point. I’ve heard Soundtraxx decoders before, however, it seems that it has been QSI that has helped set the high quality sound standard to beat.
Just my opinion, but properly installed and baffled, an HO locomotive with a Soundtraxx DSX decoder sounds reasonably “close” to that of a QSI. On the other hand, the Soundtraxx “L” series decoders, with their smaller amplifiers, don’t hold a candle to QSI equipped BLI units.
I’m with you on the new Tsunami, but so far Soundtraxx is mum. We’ve heard that the steamer version is still in the BETA test stage and have heard ZERO on the diesel version, which is the one so many of us were drooling over. Digitrax and Lok Sound ESU seem to be grabbing the spotlight.
I’ve heard the LOK Sound demo sounds on their web site. The steam exhast is great but the bells and whistles are lame.
The Soundtraxx demo sounds are great except for the mushy steam exhaust.
Hopefully the Tsunami will improve on that.
I hope the Digitrax site will get some sort of demo sound soon as I know we’re all eager to hear what they have to offer.
If we could only get the quality of the old PFM sound system in DCC!
Roger
I heard Lok Sound’s version of a Big Boy at the iExpo show in L.A. a couple of weeks ago. The steam exhaust was OK, but the whistle was completly wrong, and the bell was off. Over all, I wasn’t impressed, and the prices are more than double what Digitrax’s MSRP is, plus if you want to reprogram the sound, you have to buy their programmer for about $150.
Sorry, I’m not interested
Bob Hayes
I’ve heard both 16 cyl and 20 cyl. EMD’s in the real world many times and there you can tell the difference. In HO scale with a 1 1/2’’ speaker max I don’t believe the bass will transmit so the difference will be noticible. My opinion on the LOK sound second gen EMD is that it sounds less like a sd-40/45 to my ears than the Soundtrax unit. Also the run up dleya that EMD’s have and the spool down delay is better replicated to my ears in the Soundtrax unit. Sound will be like color for the next big dissagreemnet in model railroading. What sound is correct or more correct versus what shade of Tuscan Red or Brunswick Green to PRR modelers. There will be no correct or wrong answer it will be what your ears here and what your brain interpets. Sound is enjoyable and adds lots of enjoyment to the hobby for me. -------------Ken McCorry
Ken,
I’m with you there! Nice to see a fellow modeler that can identify sound characteristics in diesels.
Well, the Tsunami steamer is hitting the market soon. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another year for the Tsunami diesel version. I do hope that Soundtraxx’s advertising is accurate as they now have Digitrax to compete with as well.
I’ve got to respectfully part company with Antonio’s assessment of QSI as a standard setting leader. From what I’ve heard of their products, they are absolutely awful. On the Alco side, I’ve got friends who took delivery of the QSI-equipped RS10 and RS18 models. They were extremely dissapointed. I heard both models, and frankly they sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Absolutely horrible, with ZERO resemblance to an Alco 244 or 251 prime mover. The Soundtraxx first generation Alco (244 prime mover) chip is superb. The recording is apparently from an RS2. I’ve got a sound-equipped RS10 set up for manual notching. The sound is genuine Alco and the manual notching effect is just awesome for switching. I’ve got an MPEG movie clip of it if anyone is interested in seeing/hearing it.
As far as Lok Sound is concerned, the jury is out. At this time, sound samples are not available ont heir site unless you download software and even then, you cannot review a continous loop sample of domestic diesels. it’s just not available yet.
MC
The problem with comparing the demo sounds off a web site is that it is dependent on the computers sound card, speakers, and drivers. They could have very different characteristics when played through the locomotive decoder and speaker. The sound “byte”[:)] might have certain frequencies that the computer can but the decoder can’t reproduce. The only real way to tell would be to have identical loco installs. Even this is impossible since Soundtraxx has stuck to a standard 8 ohm speaker where LOK Sound has gone with the high impedance ones.
Being an audiophile and an owner of 3 PFM systems, I’ll second that. In another 5 years maybe we will be there. Need a lot of work in the conroller area (see related thread http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=49834).
The Loksound decoders are a mixed bag in my mind. From a ready to run standpoint, I’m not sure how well these decoders fit into the current market. While the steam sounds seem more believable than the diesel sounds to me, most people probably won’t like any of the current US prototypes available, and without the programmer you get what you get… [;)]
I can tell you that I have recently converted all of my On30 fleet (several shays, a climax, a couple of moguls and a porter) over to the v3.5 decoders and have had great results. Keep in mind I have the programmer, so making small changes to the files has been easy and fun, and the more I tweak the individual files, the more the Loksound deocoders grow on me. For example I have a shay ran by an engineer who likes to bring his dog along, so every now and again you hear a random dog bark. The particular shay also has a funny clanking noise eminating from it’s mechanicals while it lumbers down the tracks. I have another shay engineer who likes to play the harmonica, and he belts out short tunes now and again when he is bored. His shay sounds like it’s in top notch condition, but the bell is stiff and doesn’t ring the same as the other one. These subtle things must be heard to be appreciated, but they add a whole new dimension of enjoyment to my model railroading experience and cannot be duplicated with the Soundtraxx products. Again, I’m not sure how much all this tweaking appeals to most folks, and the ready to run group will probably be dissapointed with the out of the box sound files, but the programmer and a good sound editing program is really a lot of fun.
The sound is not the only strong point of the Loksound decoders however. The BEMF is second to none, and can be adjusted and tweaked to really conform to the performance of the locomotive it’s installed in. Also, the 32 Khz. motor drive is so quiet, it makes other brands of decoders seem very noisy in comparison. The lighting component is also not bad, and folks with 1.5 volt bulbs wi