I'm looking for advice as to which sound decoders to look at for my engines. I'll be installing the sound decoder in Proto 2000 GP30's and GP7's and eventually would like to decoder and possibly sound equip my older Athearn units as well. I'll be using a NCE Powercab for control. Thanks in advance for the help.
There are a number of options, but a bit more info about your "guidelines" and the engines would be helpful.
How old are the engines? Have you opened them up to see how much space is available? I put a sound system into an older Proto GP9. It took a lot of metalwork to get the speaker in, and I even had to cut a bit just to fit in the decoder. My F7 and my Peter Witt trolley, on the other hand, have pre-cut spaces for speakers already built in.
How's your fear factor? It's a job that usually calls for soldering, and a mistake could ruin your expensive new decoder. Also, are you ready to take the whole locomotive apart so you can machine down the metal weights? I'm not saying you can't do it, of course, but some modellers just aren't comfortable with this kind of work. If you're comfortable replacing an incandescent headlight with a LED, for example, then the soldering should present no new challenges.
How about cost? If you've already got a motor decoder in the engine, you could add a SoundBug, which comes with a speaker, for $50. On the other hand, you could pick up a LokSound for over a hundred.
I put a diesel Tsunami in my GP9. I've also recently installed a SoundBug in an F7. The Tsunami has a much more "satisfying" sound, so in this case I can see the wisdom of "you get what you pay for."
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I still have this idea of buying the newer sound-equipped GP7 or GP9 and swapping my GP7 shells on them... Trainworld did have them cheap for a while and I wouldn;t care what road name came on the sound unit since I was swapping shells. One of these days.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinkerI still have this idea of buying the newer sound-equipped GP7 or GP9 and swapping my GP7 shells on them... Trainworld did have them cheap for a while and I wouldn;t care what road name came on the sound unit since I was swapping shells. One of these days.
Tsunami, bar none- nothing sounds as good.... At least to me...