Sound Decoder Recommendation

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
21

Well, it’s kind of a tough decision. On paper, they all seem to be exactly what I want, with the MRC being $50+ cheaper. But, I have heard about various quirks (like the ones mentioned in a previous reply) being a problem with the Prodigy. So perhaps the extra money would be worth not taking a chance on it.

Something I don’t like about the NCE is that it only has push button throttle control, and I kind of like that old wheel throttle. I wouldn’t mind push button too, but I would like both.

Maybe the Digitrax would be the best overall choice…

22

NYC1,

I had the same apprehensions at first about the Power Cab. I like the feel of a knob. The Power Cab actually comes with two sets of speed buttons (coarse and fine) and an encoder wheel for making speed adjustments. I also purchased an extra throttle (CAB-04p) with the big knob on the front.

Surprisingly, I quickly found that I preferred the speed buttons over the knob because I could make finer adjustments that way and I haven’t missed it since.

For what it’s worth…

Tom

23

Joe, I’m curious. How do you install a sound decoder in a dummy unit? I have 3 Athearn dummy units I bought (a long time ago) and just thought the best they were good for was to add to the realism of a consist with the working engines, but could do nothing else. But your remarks have got me thinking now of how I can make them more than just part of the consist. I thought you had to have a working engine in order to wire a decoder for sound. I have not installed any decoders yet and in fact have not even purchased a DCC system yet but soon will be. If you don’t mind, can you let me know what it entails to add a sound decoder to a dummy engine? Thanks. JRP

24

JRP,

One of the nice things about wiring a dummy unit for sound is that you “usually” have plenty of room for your sound decoder, baffle, and speaker(s). Since you have no motor to power, you can receive the power for your sound decoder from the pickups in the dummy unit.

Tom

25

JRP:

This is for dummy diesels … steam locos typically aren’t offered in dummy versions.

First, a standard dummy diesel loco with plastic wheels won’t work. You will need to replace the plastic wheelsets with metal ones (use Northwest Shortline metal replacement wheelsets, for example – ordering some replacement power trucks for your loco model from the manufacturer is another way), so you get metal wheels that will pickup power from the track.

Now run wires from the appropriate spots on the metal power trucks in the loco to get a feed from both rails to the red and black wires on the sound decoder. It’s usually best in a dummy to also put a 100 ohm resistor across the orange and gray motor leads to “trick” a sound decoder intended to go into a motored unit into thinking it has a motor attached. This will make it easier later to program the sound decoder on the programming track (this is not necessary for the Soundtraxx DSX decoder, which is a sound-only decoder).

Now hook up the speaker as normal and program the sound decoder as normal on the programming track or on the main.

One very nice thing about sound in a dummy unit is you have lots of room for to fit a larger speaker, which can improve sound quality. And by using a dummy unit like this, the enti

26

Just thought I’d chime in because I recently went through the same process, and I have a question related to some of the posts.

First, I went with the MRC PA. I got one used from ebay for $135. So far I have had no problems in about a year. My reasoning was:

1-I like a knob, the MRC feels good, is 360 deg continuous, and has detents, but they don’t always line up with speed steps. It also resumes from wherever the throttle setting is, unlike the Atlas/Lenz system I sold, where you had to guess what the position was when switching locos or throttles.

2A-I plan on having multiple throttles (now have 2), it is unclear how to accomplish this with the NCE power cab, 2B-definately walkaround, I didn’t want to start with a “power pack” like the Digitrax.

3- Four digit addressing, I think all but the Lenz and Bachmann have this now.

4- Cost. I didn’t want to spend $300+ to get the features I wanted, especially having a somewhat bad experience about 8 yers ago with the Atlas and 1st gen Soundtraxx.

As a bonus, I also got a built in fast clock, and an undocumented feature…the throttle bus uses ethernet, so I can build/buy all my extensions at wally’s or yellow tag for about 1 quarter the cost of the MFG parts. I will say one thing, though, mine came with the “network” set for 64 throttles. The instructions spell out how to change that so the system responds faster, definately read, comprehend, and do that.

This post is getting long, so I’ll write another one with decoder opinions, and the question.

Kerry B

Modeling 1948 PRR in southern Ohio

27

Whew…As if anyone cares, heres my opinion on my limited experience with decoders:

My first decoder was a Soundtraxx DSD100LC steam. I hooked up one of the largest speakers, a 1x1.75 1w oval, put it in an MDC 2-8-0 with a can motor and ran it on an Atlas Commander made by Lenz. It was horrible. The sound was loud and tinny, and the loco wouldn’t run more than 8 inches without exhibiting “dirty track” symptoms, even though it ran fine on DC. At that point I took a break and went back to DC. During that period I accumulated a few Broadway Limited locos, and the desire to have more control came up. I also moved, and started a new, larger layout, so the possiblity of not having 30 block toggles was appealing.

After purchasing the MRC PA, and getting much better results from the BLI/QSI decoders, I was hooked and started planning sound and DCC for everything else.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

Bachmann 44916- I was actually surprised at how well this units worked. I got 3 for $40 at a show. No silent running, though. I now use these for test applications.

MRC AD350- These were suprisingly not as good as the Bachmann. The low end speed went from barely moving to “medium” with one notch, no matter how I tinkered with voltage and accelleration. I have cut the plugs off these for other decoders, and tossed them.

MRC Sheer Brilliance- These sucked, too. The sound was way, WAY too loud, and only had 4 levels of adjustment, with no apparent change in volume. I also had to program all 11 sound volumes individually. 4 times 11, and again after a reset to factory, not happy. It even sounded like the amp was overdriving the speaker that came soldered to it. Speed control was only marginally better than the AD350. Even at $75, I returned this one under warranty. As a humorus note the product name was misspelled on the package…“Sheer Brillance” hmmmmm, says a lot about QC!

Soundtraxx DSD100LC generic steam- This is my old 1997 decode

28

I have had neither of those problems. But, I do things that aren’t necessarily normal in my installations too. I really like Soundtraxx.

I didn’t say that. I eliminated the ESU option because of your price specification. The bad thing about the ESU is that they designed their units to use a high enductance (ohm rating) speaker. Most normal speakers are rated at 4-8 ohms. ESU requires much higher ratings like 16-32 or even 85-100. This virtually limits the speaker selection to those provided by ESU.

29

I have just installed a DSD-AT100LC Alco in an Athearn RS3 RTR. Bottom line is it is a very tight fit and I’m not really happy with how the shell fits back on (it doesn’t seat well). I removed the Athearn board, trimmed off four support studs to lower the board (which I wrapped in tape) and relocated one frame wire.

A small speaker will fit facing downward in the shell below the fan, if you remove the plastic wire pan. It could also be located under the short hood. No need to cut or drill threw the shell or gas pan, plenty of sound is emitted.

The Athearn ships with 1.5 volt bulbs while the DSD 100LC puts out 12 volts for lighting. If you wire speaker pairs in parallel with one 330 ohm resistor, the lights will work fine.

Another issue is with the Athearn drive itself…it is just plain noisy. I found if i lubed the gears and ran it for 15 - 30 minutes, it would quiet down some, but it is still much noiser than my Atlas RS3s. This is not a result of the DSD 100 LC since I have a second Athearn RS3 with another manufacturers decoder (no sound) and it has similar issues.

Has anyone tried swapping the Athearn body onto an Atlas RS3 chassis? I may give this a try (since I shifted from the BM Blue Dip to Maroon & Gold).

Steve

30

Well, I haven’t gotten to installing sound or anything on my Athearn RS3, but running wise, (just on DC so far) it doesn’t seem too bad. When going forward, the engine is fairly quiet unless your running at a very high speed. Running in reverse, the engine is louder, but not overly so. I wish the engine was a bit more quiet overall, but I think it will be alright.