I have heard that the MRC sound decoders for Gensets don’t actually use real Genset engine sounds. After doing some You-Tubing I had found several videos of Gensets w/ MRC sound decoders (specifically, the 16 bit Universal Decoder) and they sounded like actual Gensets. Can anyone verify this?
Acela
That low cost generic one they sell isn;t based on anythign specific, maybe closest to an EMD 567. It certainly does not have the 3 individual diesel engines of the Genset - NO ONE has a decoder for that yet. It;s a tough nut to crack because of the way the Genset turns on and off the various prime movers as needed. It’s not just speed - load and time factors are present. I expect either Tsunami or QSI will have one with accurate load-based sounds sooner or later.
–Randy
If the generic is mostly EMD, what you are hearing is probably the transistions, sort of like a car shifting. I didn;t see a Youtube video that said it was usign the MRC generic decoder. One said it was using the Genset decoder and it sounded like an EMD to me, right down tot he single note honker horn.
Then there’s this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keZJwg92Ke4
Which also says it it the Genset decoder, adn sounds completely different thant the other one. It sounds like it might have the three engines, but it seems to be strictly speed related when they kick on. It still doesn’t sound quite right - there are numerous Youtube videos of a real Genset in action with good sounds to compare.
–Randy
Thanks rrinker! It just goes to show what a trained ear can do… I can probably wait until November-ish to get the decoder, hopefully someone comes out with something by then. Thanks for your time,
Acela
That is an EMD 645 sound set…and has NOTHING to do with any Genset sounds.
What gets me is that they pre-amble their video saying that they are “experts”…hardly.
In case of the OP…I would steer clear of MRC decoders. They are NOT worth the PC board they are printed on…no matter the price.
David B
That’s definitely not a 645, there are are the 3 startups that run, which aren’t transitions. That first startup, from a stop, that’s an EMD. It’s no Genset, either, each one fo those is far to hefty to be the smalelr diesels used in the Genset. There’s no way that’s recorded from the real thing. If it sounded anythign like the actual Genset in any number of other videos of the real thing, I could ALMOST excuse the speed based startup and shutdown, given that no one else has managed this yet either. The other video, which I didn;t bother to link, is straigh EMD. Of course MRC has a tendency to stick multiple prime movers on a single decoder and not actually tell you what each one is, they just tell you what CV to set to select PM1, PM2, etc. Would be helpful if they said what each one was supposed to be. Same with the horns.
–Randy
Some are happy with MRC. Many are not. A fellow in our club uses some MRC in his diesels because of lower cost. He has them running quite well and MRC replaced one defective decoder for free.
He only counts rivets when detailing locos and rolling stock.
Litchfield Station, a very good DCC supplier I buy from sells only two MRC items. Two speakers with MRC harness. Thats it. I searched Litchfield for MRC and came up with two items. Make your own assumptions.
Rich
I guess the appeal to me was 1) It sounded realistic (to me, I’ve never heard a real Genset) and 2) it was the only decoder I could find for a Genset.
Hopefully by the end of the year soemone comes out with a good sound decoder[:-^]
Acela
LItchfield Station could answer you also. They have for me.
You could alo try asking at the Yahoo SoundTraxx DCC site.
If you have never heard one before, not an issue.
Rich
I have read of discussion recently at the Yahoo SoundTraxx site concerning QSI and SoundTraxx working on the genset issue.
Rich
Randy,
Watching your youtube link…this sounds like the MRC 1632 which I use in my EMD SD70s.
Thom
WHat’s with the multiple startups then? If that’s supposed to be an SD70 - SD70’s don’t transition and shouldn’t have breaks in the sounds.
–Randy