Hi,
I’ve currently got motor decoders installed in my N Scale steam locos and was thinking about adding sound to them. The cheapest way would be to use the “sound only” decoders above. What do people think of them? Is it false economy in the longer run?
Cheers, Ted
Actually, the DSX decoder from Soundtraxx is the sound-only version. the DSD-101LC has motor and lighting (2 function) section. The lower PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) frequency of the decoder is noisy with some motors however.
Many users are happy with either decoder. They are reliable and have good sound. If they produce all of the sounds you want, then go for it.
The DSD decoder was a large decoder. You would need a large tender for them. Save yourself some heartache and get the TS micro for your N scale.
Pete
I have used the SoundTraxx DSX sound-only decoder in G scale installations and can tell you that it is probably way too big to fit into N scale. Neither will the DSD-101LC fit. Remember, neither one includes a speaker, and they both require a capacitor in one of the speaker leads – there’s no way you could cram all three components into an N scale tender and have anything larger than a 1/2 inch speaker with no baffle, which will yield horrible results.
Hi and thanks for the replies,
Yes, I actually meant the DSX series of sound decoders. I read on Tony’s Trains that they are 1.25” x .625” x .25” in size which is small enough to fit in an N Scale tender, but yes, it will be tight with a speaker as well but no need for motor decoder space as they’re already in the locos. The Tsunami Micro is 1.25” x .5 x .25 so it’s 0.125” less in height.
For a saving of about $40 to $50 for a sacrifice in sound quality/flexibility it could be worth it (for me). That’s nearly two for the price of one! I’ll probably do a mock up of the decoder and speaker out of plywood and see if they fit in the tender as a first stage.
The DSX sound-only decoder was phased out nearly two years ago, and the DSD-100LC will probably follow shortly. Tsunami has replaced them all and is far superior to them.
SoundTraxx is a rather small, family owned business with limited production capacity so they will probably do away with the LC series in favor of Tsunami. Some U.S. suppliers have already stopped selling LC decoders.
You are overlooking the need for a cap…caps take up lots of space. Also, your N scale steamer relys on the power pickups of the tender for reliable operation. Removing tender weight and replacing it with decoder weight does NOT help the situation at all.
I suggest to you to have a decoder in your loco and have a sound only decoder underneath your layout for sounds (connected to it’s own speaker). Give them the same address and then lock the decoders.
David B
BTW, Ted, which steam locos and tenders are you considering for this conversion?
If you have some Spectrum engines, I would see if the coal load is removeable like the HO ones. I have an HO 2-6-6-2, with a regular decoder, lightboard and separate sound-only decoder the tender was a pretty tight fit, but by popping off the coal load casting I was able to drill a small hole to run the wires through and put a 1" speaker in the coal bunker with the coal load casting covering it. Without that, I’m not sure it all would have fit in the tender.
Carl,
I am intending to add sound to a 2-8-0 Consolidation and 4-8-2 Light Mountain which are both Bachmann Spectrum, plus a Kato 2-8-2 Mikado. I’ve read a blog on a Mikado conversion and the other two tenders look pretty much the same size as the Mikado.
Ted
A micro Tsunami will fit into those tenders, but you are giving up lots of reliability. It can be done, but the results are not worth the expence and time.
David B
Hi David
I’ve already got a Con-Cor 2-10-2 Tender loco with both a sound chip and motor decoder (Elektronic CT GE70 and Zimo MX620) working in the tender. I still had a bit of room to add a further bit of lead weight and it runs very nicely. It was this that sparked my interest in doing the other locos. Have you had a bad experience with any particular loco/decoder combination?
Ted
Bad experience? Absolutely. As a professional installer, I had a customer trying to do exactly what you are doing. He insisted that it would work, but I tried telling him that he would be giving up reliability with the installs…he didn’t.care…he wanted sound in his steamers. I sourced out micro speakers for the installs. He was not happy that his loco and track required constant cleaning to support the mods needed in his locos. Of course, it was my fault (even though I warned him) and I had to eat some of the costs. I then refused to install sound into N scale anymore…just not worth my time.
So, I am offering this as a warning. Go ahead and try, but I have been there many, many times.
There are, however, only 4 N scale steam locos worth while installing sound into.
Bachmann Spectrum J-Class. The tender floor is die-cast so you dont loose any weight with the install.
Kato GS-4. It was made with sound in mind.
Athearn Challenger. A great candidate for ripping out the crappy MRC decoder and replacing with a Tsunami.
Athearn BigBoy…same as above.
Aside from that, every other install requires a compromise in reliability.
David B