So anyone tried these yet? From what I've seen in the ads they are motor and sound decoders that come with a speaker. Is this correct?
I've decided to try a different plan of attack for my first DCC/sound install so I don't booger up an expensive loco. I've got a Bachman F unit left from a trainset (I know I know) that I've confirmed can be set up for DCC and has plenty of room under the shell for a decoder and speaker. So I'm thinking of trying a low budget sound decoder and a cheap loco and finding out if I like sound on my layout. Worst case it all goes in the trash but as it stands I can't use it anyway. Best case I put it in permanent AA consist with another F unit and make it a sound dummy.
What ya think?
Modeling the Cleveland and Pittsburgh during the PennCentral era starting on the Cleveland lakefront and ending in Mingo junction
ruderunner...From what I've seen in the ads they are motor and sound decoders that come with a speaker...
As Robert points out, they are sound and function only decoders, with no motor controls. I've used one with a DH165IP decoder, which doesn't have a socket for a Soundbug. It works pretty well. I did put a 220 ohm resistor across the blue/white leads so I could do proper CV readback (because I used the DH165IP decoder for light control). For any other configuration I try to use a DH165 with a Soundbug socket and drop an SFX004 Soundbug in.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
I've got both the SFX0416 and SoundBug (SFX004) sound+function decoders. I greatly prefer the SoundBug. It's much louder. The SFX0416 (I have 2 of them) is just too quiet to be heard with other trains running anywhere else on the layout. The SoundBug, on the other hand, seems to work just as well as it's higher-priced cousins.
The SoundBug is equipped with a plug to connect it to the 165 series Digitrax motion decoders. You can simply clip the plug off and connect the wires directly to track power. These do need to be programmed separately from the engine's motor decoder though, unless you connect them to a 165-series decoder which is designed to allow parallel programming.
I think the "default diesel" sound in the Digitrax decoders is an SD40. If you want an EMD F-unit, you will need to download the appropriate "sound project" to the decoder. To do this, you will need access to a Digitrax PR2 or PR3 programmer unit. You can't do it just from your DCC system. Your LHS might have one of these.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Just want to mention something for what it might be worth. I started out by accumulating several Digitrax sound decoders, including a PR3 programmer so I could download various loco sounds. I think they are pretty good, but not great.
I'm now using some QSI Quantum Revolution decoders (about $100) and there is no comparision to Digitrax, either in sound or motor control. The Revolution is amazing, and with the Quantum Programmer (about $80) you have a decoder that should never become obsolete. You can move it from loco to loco (to either diesel or steam) and download whatever sound you need. Even if you ever need to sell it the resale value should be very good.
I now wish I had waited and used the Revolutions only, even if I could only buy a few at time and slowly build up my sound fleet. It would have been well worth the wait. Now I've got a bunch of Digtrax decoders that I really don't like any more. Yes, I wish I would have waited.
Jerry
Rio Grande vs. Santa Fe.....the battle is over but the glory remains!
2 issues with the Digitrax sound decoders. First is a lack of GOOD sounds for them. This is slowly changing - there is a Yahoo group just for Digitrax sound decoders and peopel like Fred Miller have written software that makes it easier for someone who might well be capable of obtaining and editing quality sounds but have little knowledge of how to program a sound decoder to actually load their quality recordings. See the post I made about this the other day.
Second is some inconsistency with what Digitrax supplies speaker-wise. I've read about complaints of not loud enough, but then I don;t need the whole house filled with the sounds of one loco. It totally ruins any illusion of distance you might create with spectactular scenery and view blocks. So I picke dup a SoundBug to see for myself - for the price you can;t beat it, I fully expect it to be much more reliable than an MRC decoder and nothing else comes close to the price point. Imagine my surprise when I fired it up and even withotu an enclosure, my gf was totally able to hear the sounds in the next room WITH THE TV ON. Main difference seems to be that my SOundBug came with an 8 ohm speaker, the other Digitrax sound decoders seem to use 32 ohm - if all else is equal, the 32 ohm speakers will be MUCH quieter. Normally you can't just use a lower ohm speaker without redesigning the amplifier circuit, so I don;t know what lurks under that shrink wrap.
The big thing missing in ALL HO sound is a large enough enclosure. Those little bottle caps barely bigger than the speaker I feel do as much harm as they do good. In some ways it's better than no enclosure, but on the other hand it destroys what little bass response there was. I tested mine out by using a large (too large to fit in HO) enclosure - if anyone has purchased Fast TRacks turnout jigs, you know they send along an Ho scale laser-cut billboard (simialr to the Bar Mills products) which comes in a plastic tube with caps on each end. I jury-rigged a plate for the speaker and held it over one end of this tube and wow was the bass response enhanced. Give it a try sometime.
Furthermore, I refuse to purchase any more QSI decoders until they acknowledge that the inrush problem is their design and quit witht he "well there's no NMRA spec" cop out. Same with the issues of programmign them on some systems - I do have to say I've not had any problems programmign QSI decoders with my Zephyr, but that's not true of all DCC systems. Soundtraxx has done something with the Tsunami as they now saw no program track booster is needed. None is needed with the Digitrax sound decoders either, nor is there any sort of current inrush after a short - again I will say I've had 8 sound locos on the track with my Zephyr, 4 QSI, 2 Loksound, 2 soundtraxx (LC series) and deliberately shorted the track and did not have a startup problem - proof in my book that you CAN do sound that doesn;t restart after every little spec of dirt on the track yet can program on an ordinary program track with no extra accessories and can also recover from a short without causing the booster or circuit breaker to keep thinkign there's still a short - and doesn;t require a specialized 'intelligent' breaker to handle this recovery, either.
My only wish, more good quality sound projects. If I had access to quality recordings I'd give it a shot myself. It's coming, just slowly.
Oh and you can use Digitrax sound decoders without Digitrax motor decoders - I have no intention of buying anymore Digitrax motor decoders as I find TCS has better motor control for lower price.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy,
I've installed over a dozen Soundbugs and the only quality issues have been due to my own doing. I've never had one fail after install. I agree that some sound files are much better than others, from the Digitrax download site.
rrinker 2 issues with the Digitrax sound decoders. First is a lack of GOOD sounds for them. This is slowly changing
rrinker Second is some inconsistency with what Digitrax supplies speaker-wise. I've read about complaints of not loud enough
rrinkerSo I picke dup a SoundBug to see for myself - for the price you can;t beat it, I fully expect it to be much more reliable than an MRC decoder and nothing else comes close to the price point.
rrinkerFurthermore, I refuse to purchase any more QSI decoders until they acknowledge that the inrush problem is their design and quit witht he "well there's no NMRA spec" cop out.
rrinkerOh and you can use Digitrax sound decoders without Digitrax motor decoders - I have no intention of buying anymore Digitrax motor decoders as I find TCS has better motor control for lower price.
No motor control hmm.. back to the drawing board. I'd like to keep this all contained in one loco for now so I don't have to butcher another just to try it i.e. one functioning loco with sound knowing that it won't have great pull or very smooth operation. If I find I like it I'll MU it with another better running loco and use it that way. Options options...
So I did some online shopping and found my self a DH123 decoder and a Sounder for my experiment figureing that if nothing else I could salvage the DH123 for another loco. This actually ended up cheaper than any sound/motor decoder in one unit. So what were my results from this experiment?
1 I definitly want sound in my locos now though I don't necessarily need all the extra sounds like coupler crash air brakes etc. Prime mover horn and bell is plenty to keep me happy.
2 I was a bit surprised at the sound quality of the Sounder even with its tiny enclosure and speaker. The horn and bell sounded just fine. Prime mover was way loud and I got no results from volume adjustments, even off. Probably won't go Sounder again unless someone has an idea if I did something wrong with programing or? OTOH the sound did stay consistant, no drop outs or resets so it appears the capacitor and power pickup ar ok.
3 The loco itself was a poor performer which was expected. What wasn't expected was that it seemed to run worse on DCC than DC. Perhaps the pancake motors don't work well with pulse width control versus smooth DC. Diddling with CV2, 5 and 65 got it fair but not great and the noisy drive just shut the whole idea down.
4 Hardwire installs from scratch aren't that hard but, I reinforced that my soldering skills are lackiing. I had a hard time getting some of the wires tinned, suspect that maybe the iron was too hot. Also need to plan and shorten wires for a neater install, things got pretty tangled by the time I put the shell on.
So the end result of all this is I now have 2 locos apart on the workbench to set them up in AA consist. The Bachmann has had the power truck gutted and the DH123 removed so it will be a sound only unit. The other (RSO) unit will get the DH123 and I'll tie the power pickups from both together. A little weight, a drawbar and Kadee #5's should get me a functional unit. Then a quick spray with flat black and some decals will be the finishing touch.
Question: where can one find a Soundbug? The various onlne retailers I've checked don't seem to list it but I suppose knowing the part number would help find it.
ruderunner Question: where can one find a Soundbug? The various onlne retailers I've checked don't seem to list it but I suppose knowing the part number would help find it.
They are pretty common. Look for an SFX004. LitchField Station and Tony's lists them. I've previously bought them from both.
Got my Soundbug from Ulrich, about $38. After picking up a copy of the August RMC I need to get a PR3 so I can load Fred Miller's Peter Witt streetcar project in it just to hear allt he nifty sounds. Not that I'm into traction at all, but after reading his article and how me mentions he included all sorts of things like the cashbox, door opening, and route board sign changes..I just gotta hear how this all works.