I’ve heard that the sound units in Athearn Genesis locomotives are by MRC. Since even The Brilliance sound decoder has been given disappointing reviews, how do you folks who have purchased F units like the sound? Should potential buyers wait for Broadway’s F7’s, instead?
I heard one is a store and the sound was only fair
Certainly not worth the extra money. It was tinny and generic sounding
I listened to one at the LHS and until you work with the CV’s, I would not make a final judgement on the overall sound. It is very loud for sure, but hopefully that can be lowered to a realistic level.
If you like Soundtraxx, you will probably will not be excited about MRC. The BLI soundbyte on the web is available so you can hear it.
You should always compare all of the items for quality and sound to get the best for you.
That’s what I was afraid of…
I plan on listening to both before I decide on any new purchases. My F unit collection is so extensive that they are the last thing I really need, but I am always interested in good models.
I also believe that many of these units will be available for some time and discounts will be larger in the future to get rid of excess stock.
I witnessed a demonstration put on at my LHS.
Sound was very loud. I didn’t like the sounds themselves as they sounded synthesized. The bell was clear, the horn sounded disjointed as it trailed off.
Overall, not bad, but for “most” persons that have heard prototype units before… IMHO… will like Soundtraxx and BLI/QSI sound systems better.
I have a pair of B&M F2’s with the new Athearn sound.
The decoder is made by MRC for Athearn but lacks features of the MRC Brilliance.
In my opinion the sound is poor (not prototypical) and the low speed motor control is the worst of my 60+ DCC engines. Cannot mu it with any other engines.
Install current Soundtrax decoders or wait for Tsunami if you want correct proto sounds.