MRC Sound Decoders

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

I have several smaller steam locos’ that require decoders, fortunately for me they are all pretty much plug & play.

(2) Spectrum K4's a Proto H2K 0-6-0 a ProtoH2K 0-8-0 and a Spectrum 2-10 Decopod for starters. So far from doing a little bit of research I can get a pretty good price on MRC sound decoders. My question is do all their decoders sound the same? Obviously in the real world an 0-6-0 doesn't sound the same as a K4 Pacific that being said, is it worth it or practical if thats the right word to put the same sound decoder in all of those locomotives? I've noticed on some of the "higher end" sound decoders they are engine specific so to speak but I haven’t seen anything indicating such with MRC. Your thoughts and opinions as always are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[richg1998]

  I have had one MRC decoder with a Roundhouse 4-4-0 and replaced it with a Micro-Tsunami. It gave me trouble.

There are a lot of negatives concerning MRC decoders. Rather than comment anymore, here are some messages from these forums. Apparently you do not read the DCC forums. I hope you have a flame proof suit.

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/search/SearchResults.aspx?q=mrc+decoders+AND+sectionid%3a744&o=Relevance

Rich

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

I understnd perfectly that there are some issues with MRC decoders as well as their other equipment but I put that on the same level as the Chevy vs Ford argument in my car club. I understand your not going to get the same quality for $49.99 as you are for $189.00 lets say a rough comparrison MRC vs QSI. That all being said and understood my question remains. Lets say I equip 10-15-20 loco's with mrc Shear Brilliance sound decoders are they ALL going to sound the same?

[Paul3]

It goes way beyond "Chevy vs. Ford".  In that instance, it's about two competing companies that put out a good product that only varies slightly.  The arguing between the two camps is mostly about details and non-qualitive emotional statements about how it looks or sounds.  IOW, no matter if you buy a Ford or a Chevy, you're going to have wokring transportation.  You get the odd lemon or two, but that's about it.

In MRC vs. everyone else, that's just not the case.  MRC decoders have a 50% failure rate at my large HO club (10,000 sq. ft.).  www.ssmrc.org  We currently have 70 members with over 850 locomotives on our roster, and have been DCC since 1999.  I am the "DCC guru" of the club, and I have installed or seen installed literally hundreds of DCC decoders.  I have programmed most brands of decoders, and I can tell you without hesitation that MRC sound decoders are the worst.  Why?  Because they won't program consistantly.  They also lose their address regularly, and you can't read them at all.

That's not to say that other brands don't fail.  They do.  But the rate of failure of any other brand is probably 1% to 5%.  MRC decoders fail about half the time by comparison.  That is unacceptable.

Paul A. Cutler III
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Weather Or No Go New Haven
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[CSX Robert]

Allegheny2-6-6-6

Lets say I equip 10-15-20 loco's with mrc Shear Brilliance sound decoders are they ALL going to sound the same?

MRC's Sheer brilliance steam sound decoder's have 8 selectable chuff sounds(4 regular/4 articulated), 11 whistles, and 4 bells, so no, they will not all sound the same, but there will be plenty of overlap. Here is a link to a scanned copy of the datasheet on Micro-Mark's:MRC Sheer Brilliance(this decoder has been discontinued and I could not find it on MRC's website)

[AntonioFP45]

Athearn received a VERY STRONG message a few years ago from my LHS with the arrival of the MRC sound equipped Genesis F3 and later the SD45-2.  With very few exceptions, most customers were dissappointed in the MRC sound system and the motor control.  As a result the store's owner cancelled a $3,000 order of MRC equipped Genesis units! His new policy was that he would only order non-sound Genesis diesels, unless a customer wanted to order a sound unit. From what he told me, his Athearn rep was not a happy camper on the phone.