I hope I am not opening up a can of worms on this one…
I am wondering who has the best bang for the buck sound equipped desiel/DCC ready engines. (looking for opinions on this from all angles)
I realize that to a certain exent, lower budget, means lower quailty and detail. But, I am on a budget and it doesnt take much to make me or my 4 yr old step son smile[:D].
So looking for a brand that has a balance of budget, quality, and availbility.
Or even chime in with your good and bad expeirence with different types.
(At the moment, the Atlas Gold line kinda has my eye, any thoughts on those??)
The Proto 2000 is pretty much in line with the Broadway Limited. They both
have smooth running and detailed locomotives. And they use the same sound
system… QSI.
I have installed sound using Soundtraxx decoders, but when you figure in the
price of the loco, the price of the decoder and your time, I sometimes think it
might be better to spend a little more for factory installed sound.
I have on order from my LHS, a P2K E6A/B set with sound… $203. I think it’s a
pretty decent price, considering I saw a E6A for $199 on the web.
[#ditto] on P2K and BLi but one must not forget the Atlas Trainmaster.The Atlas Model does the prototype justice in my opinion.The sound provided by QSI also is done very well the model pulls great and the detail is exellent. I paid 189.00 for mine as soon as it hit the shelf probably a little cheaper now. Other than add on as was said above Mrc used to produce sound equipped f7’s they can be found pretty cheap but the sound is not that acurate for the motor the horn and the bell are ok.Good Luck Terry.
I got a chance to see BLI SD-40(5)?? run at my fav LHS. It wasincredible and the sound was amazing. Just abit out of my budget though. I will check into the P2K line… was wondering about them. Havent had a chance to check any of those out. Keep the comments coming… Thanks again
So far all of the RTR diesels I have seen use the QSI sound/decoder module. Atlas, BL!, & P2K all use electonics provided by QSI. Since QSI does not sell to individuals, the other option is Soundtraxx. Soundtraxx has a low cost(LC) series and a higher cost(DSD) series. They are in the process of bring to market a new sound system(Tsunami), but that has been delayed for over a year, and the best estimate is maybe March? In the meantime, a lot of the existing DSD line is unavailable. Bachmann did import some of their Spectum line steamers with the Soundtraxx LC series factory installed. I have a P2K GP9 with the factory installed QSI; while it is nice, I think the sound really is similar to a turbocharged unit, rather than having the ‘567 chant’ I remember. MRC has some ‘sound’ modules for both steam and diesel, but most reports are that they are marginal at best - You get what you pay for.
I think the jury is still out on sound, and I suspect that we will see a lot of advances in the future like ‘downloadable’ sound files so one can put he best sound, air horn, or bell on his engine. I am not planning on any more sound equiped diesels at this time. I have 5 sound equiped steamers and that is enough ‘noise’ around the layout!
John,
You can always find deals… it’s a matter of looking in the right place. Right now, Standard Hobbies
is having an inventory reduction sale. But they don’t have any late deisel. In fact, the only deisel that
they have is the E7. But these prices could make you change eras.[:P] Personaly, I’m modeling the
transition era, so I might be giving them a call… Good luck, Dave
Jim,
By chance, have you heard the P2K E6? As I posted above, I have an A/B set on order, but I have not
heard this loco. Just wondering if you knew if it has the “right” sound. Thanks, Dave
The BLI E7 and E6 have the same sound which as far as the diesels, they’re accurate. Just wi***hey would have used a diifferent horn. Still they sound nice! [;)]
The new E8 is also a winner as one can hear the difference in EMD’s upgrades to the E8 from the E7.[:D][tup]
Go to the BLI site, click on their Outlet Direct link at the left menu, scroll down until you find what you are looking for, note price, and look elsewhere. I think the Outlet Direct prices are pretty good. These items were returned for either repair, refurbishment, or the original purchasers refused the shipment for various reasons (damaged parcel, etc.)
I just received a NYC S1b Niagara from them, and there were a couple of niggling issues. The front truck was intalled upside down, and the speaker in the tender was raspy, like it was compromised. I disassembled it, found that I had dislodged one speaker wire in taking it apart, resoldered it, placed cotton balls around the interior of the tender shell, re-positioned the speaker, and reassembled it. Works much better, and now I have a wonderful Niagara, with sound, for US$230 plus customs, shipping.
The best bang for the buck is the street-priced BLI USRA light 2-8-2. You can pick up the engine for $139 in some places, and the engine runs and sounds great. It outpulls any of the P2K steam out of the box, and is even less expensive than sound-equipped Bachmann Spectrum.