With regard to my assertion of a cheap train sound alternative; do soundtraxx ic decoders have to be run on a dcc system? is there a generic version of sountraxx that will run in any current model KATO or ATLAS ho engine. I was told they sell for about 20 dollars US is this correct?
Only the new SoundTraxx Tsunami will run on both DC and DCC; all of the others are for DCC only. And they cost more than $20, so I don’t know where you heard that. The Tsunami is $80 at the least, without a speaker or enclosure, and most LC decoders are priced at around $40-$50 U.S.
The only Non DCC soundtraxx units I’m aware of predate the DCC generation somewhat… The do (or did) make a stand alone unit that is command control (but not digital) in which sounds are piped into the locomotive… The cool factor about it is you can also send sound to some Real speakers including subwoofers… The guy at Caboose hobbies demo’d one of these for me several years ago and it would probably shake your house off the foundation… The price then, was $350. I don’t know if they still make them or what the current cost is… You might also look for an old PFM sound system… They turn up on ebay all the time…
Good luck,
Jeff
way more than 20