LGB locos sound versions

[devils]

OK does anyone know why putting sound in can put up the cost over a standard version by £300? The sound units are only a third of this price if you put them in yourself. I appreciate that they might be custom recordings for a specific loco but they manage it for the Harz 2-10-2 at half this increase in price. I've fitted the separate sound box in my Harz 2-6-2 and it only took an hour including fitting the volume control so it can't be labour cost surely.
Now I'm looking at buying the RhB Heidi and looking at a either putting up with the Euro steam sound or waiting to see the cost of the Zimo sound decoder and downloading the appropriate sounds.

[Anonymous]

Yes the answer is simple you are paying too much. I reckomn for the population of your country you Poms get ripped off. I bought all my stuff in Germany or the USA.

Rgds Ian

[Anonymous]

I too would love to know that. Looking at the Bernina railcar the basic version is £450 or so, with the MTS one at £500. Fair enough on those two, the decoder costs about that much and I'm willing to pay an extra few £'s (we're talking about £10 tops here) to avoid having to take the unit apart. The sound variant is £700 - £200 extra for the fitment of an £80 piece of electronics!

[devils]

There certainly seems to be a price difference depending on the cost of the basic loco, cheap loco it's + £300 while my 2-10-2 only added half that for sound installed. Now if Buckso is out there can you illuminate us as to why?
As to Ian's point , yes we pay a lot but I like the locos, (it's an addiction I'm sure wonder if I can get trains on the National Health?), and I hate it when things go wrong and you have to deal with shops abroad. Just have to keep working the overtime!

[Bucksco]

Can't swear to it but I believe it has something to do with Austrian electronics. Could do them cheaper but is it worth chancing performance?

[devils]

Ah is it Massoth again for sound then? What I meant Jack was why does it cost 300 to add to Heidi but 150 to add to the Harz 2-10-2? Are they custom boards for each loco or a standard board with different chips? Do they consider we are paying enough already on the Harz one and give us a discount? ;)

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bucksco

Can't swear to it but I believe it has something to do with Austrian electronics. Could do them cheaper but is it worth chancing performance?

Hell yes! Y'all's trains are expensive enough!

[Bucksco]

Mr. Redneck,

Your opinion of our product has been duly noted.

[Anonymous]

Please call me Eric or, if you prefer, just redneck.

[Bucksco]

No problem Eric!

[Anonymous]

So what else y'all got goin on over there at LGB? Personally, I think that some more American models would increase the popularity of LGB's trains and help your sales. Not to be rude but frankly, I don't know very many people around here that have even thought of modeling a european line or even thought of buying european styled equipment. All my friends and I all like American equipment. Again, not derating LGB, just giving some insight into the mind of most southwestern garden railroaders.

[Bucksco]

Well lets see.
We've just done the Genesis and Amfleet cars. That gives everyone out there the most modern American passenger train on the market.
We've done:
40 foot boxcars
50 foot boxcars
50 foot flatcars with and without loads
Ore cars (jennies)
ACF modern tank cars
old style tank cars
2 bay coal hoppers
log cars
Log dissconnect cars
ACF modern Cylindrical hoppers
American streamline passenger cars
Early 19th centurt passenger equipment
F7s in many road names
Diesel switchers in various road names
Mallets
Mikados in various road names
Forneys in various paint shemes
Porter locos
2-4-0 prarie locos (starter set engine)
Moguls in lots of paint schemes
and many more. LGB has done more U.S. style equipment than most folks think and there are certainly some surprises in store!

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. I wish more members like you at my forum.

[devils]

Still think I'll be going with the option of fitting sound myself on 'Heidi' as a result of the extra cost, the only drawback being I now have to wait for the zimo decoder that's compatible with MTS as well as NMRA for sound and to get the right whistle.
It's all to do with percieved value I suppose, HJ will smile but I think the locos are priced ok it's just the other choices for sound seem better value now. Thanks for the comment guys.

[Anonymous]

I love my LGB sound which i have in all my trains however i am going to go to Phoenix for my next sound unit unless LGB have a prototypical loco out with sound like the sachsen. My reasonis that LGB sound units are all too similar ie my powered tender and the 600 series sound unts for Euro steam are pretty well the same and i don't need two locos that sound the same.

Look Phoenix up on Google and listen to their sounds wow.

Rgds Ian

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bucksco

Well lets see.
We've just done the Genesis and Amfleet cars. That gives everyone out there the most modern American passenger train on the market.
We've done:
40 foot boxcars
50 foot boxcars
50 foot flatcars with and without loads
Ore cars (jennies)
ACF modern tank cars
old style tank cars
2 bay coal hoppers
log cars
Log dissconnect cars
ACF modern Cylindrical hoppers
American streamline passenger cars
Early 19th centurt passenger equipment
F7s in many road names
Diesel switchers in various road names
Mallets
Mikados in various road names
Forneys in various paint shemes
Porter locos
2-4-0 prarie locos (starter set engine)
Moguls in lots of paint schemes
and many more. LGB has done more U.S. style equipment than most folks think and there are certainly some surprises in store!

Hope this helps.

What I am waitin on is for y'all to release a Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger and (or) a Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy. Factory equipped with knuckles of course.

[Bucksco]

Wouldn't hold my breath Eric. At least 2 other manufacturers are doing big boys and challengers at this point. That makes a small market even smaller!
I know you probably don't want to hear it but think "smaller steam".

[Anonymous]

Nah, bigger is better.

[devils]

Yep like the phoenix sound and the variety it makes possible but it's the cost, it costs as much as the expensive LGB version! I'm hoping we might get programmable sound decoders from Zimo as they are NMRA and MTS compatible by altering a few CV's. The cost is coming down in the HO market so I'm going to wait and hope it does for G as well. I would convert to NMRA DCC but don't want to rip out all the MTS decoders I've paid for and I need a separate, higher amp, system for the G scale anyway.
So Jack how about making the LGB sound boxes so they plug into the Locos installed MTS decoder with a simple plug?

[Bucksco]

65000 series sound units

[Anonymous]

I have one such unit installed in my ICE train and it is terrific.

But what if i put sound in another LGB Euro electric loco,it would sound exactly the same and thia is no good to me!

Rgds Ian

[devils]

Jack,
Got one of those, had to hook it up to the auxillary plug as the pc programmer didn't show the sound options wired straight off the decoder so I have to program it separately to match the loco decoder I installed. Is there a special wire harness then that means the LGB PC unit will read the loco and sound decoders together or do I need updated software?
Cheers Paul

[Bucksco]

You need to call the service center in San Diego to ask this. I really don't know. Ask for Barry.

[folkestonekeith]

I've got a number of LGB locos with sound with which I'm happy but was a little disappointed when I got the Wurtttemberg Mallet a week or so ago. Fantastic looking model, fantastic runner but the sound system seems to be the same as that fitted to the Sachsen Meyer.

I'm sure that a Meyer sounds different to a Mallet and, for a model of the quality of the Mallet, I would have thought that LGB/Aster would have installed the sounds of a real Mallet.

May I make a couple of suggestions that LGB may like to consider for the future:

1) Make it very clear in the catalogue if a "generic" or "actual" sound is being used

Look at the description of 23842 on page 165 of the 2006 Catalogue - it says "the digital sound of a real steam loco". Next the description of 25832 - it says "equipped with the latest digital sound" and lastly 24812 on page 163 - it says "a highlight is the original digital sound of the Harz steam locos" - but does not say it is the sound of the 2-10-2T.

2) Make available for sale "actual" sound modules (in addition to the generic sound modules) so that owners can retrofit actual sound to their non-sound locos.

In the meantime am looking forward to my trip to Nuremburg in July for the Birthday Celebrations. Hope to catch up with Jack at that time - Jack, maybe you can prepare your answer to one of the questions I'll be asking - when will you be doing a sound version of the Genesis Diesel in the "modern" New Haven livery? - know it's unprototypical but I've got loads of New England freight cars for it to haul!!! What the hell, it's my railway - and I like the look of the Genesis diesel - but need to hear it as well!!

[Bucksco]

Keith,
The Genesis was released without sound and decoder in response to customer requests . The survey we took last summer indicated that the consumer wants a choice as to what sound and control system they want to put into thier engine. It was also an attempt to keep the price compatible with our competition. That's not to say that we won't eventually do a version with LGB sound and MTS.
The person you need to look for in Nurnberg would be Jonathan Meador our product development manager.

[Anonymous]

You might the most popular one in this particular forum.