Hi,
I've currently got motor decoders installed in my N Scale steam locos and was thinking about adding sound to them. The cheapest way would be to use the "sound only" decoders above. What do people think of them? Is it false economy in the longer run?
Cheers, Ted
Actually, the DSX decoder from Soundtraxx is the sound-only version. the DSD-101LC has motor and lighting (2 function) section. The lower PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) frequency of the decoder is noisy with some motors however.
Many users are happy with either decoder. They are reliable and have good sound. If they produce all of the sounds you want, then go for it.
Carl in Florida - - - - - - - - - - We need an HO Amtrak SDP40F and GE U36B oh wait- We GOT THEM!
The DSD decoder was a large decoder. You would need a large tender for them. Save yourself some heartache and get the TS micro for your N scale.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
I have used the SoundTraxx DSX sound-only decoder in G scale installations and can tell you that it is probably way too big to fit into N scale. Neither will the DSD-101LC fit. Remember, neither one includes a speaker, and they both require a capacitor in one of the speaker leads -- there's no way you could cram all three components into an N scale tender and have anything larger than a 1/2 inch speaker with no baffle, which will yield horrible results.
Normal 0 Hi and thanks for the replies,
Yes, I actually meant the DSX series of sound decoders. I read on Tony’s Trains that they are 1.25” x .625” x .25” in size which is small enough to fit in an N Scale tender, but yes, it will be tight with a speaker as well but no need for motor decoder space as they’re already in the locos. The Tsunami Micro is 1.25” x .5 x .25 so it’s 0.125” less in height.
For a saving of about $40 to $50 for a sacrifice in sound quality/flexibility it could be worth it (for me). That’s nearly two for the price of one! I’ll probably do a mock up of the decoder and speaker out of plywood and see if they fit in the tender as a first stage.
Out of interest, I can’t see any available here in the UK so I’m going to have to import one. I reckon they might be phasing them out.
chinapigI reckon they might be phasing them out. Cheers, Ted
The DSX sound-only decoder was phased out nearly two years ago, and the DSD-100LC will probably follow shortly. Tsunami has replaced them all and is far superior to them.
SoundTraxx is a rather small, family owned business with limited production capacity so they will probably do away with the LC series in favor of Tsunami. Some U.S. suppliers have already stopped selling LC decoders.
chinapig Hi, I've currently got motor decoders installed in my N Scale steam locos and was thinking about adding sound to them. The cheapest way would be to use the "sound only" decoders above. What do people think of them? Is it false economy in the longer run? Cheers, Ted
BTW, Ted, which steam locos and tenders are you considering for this conversion?
If you have some Spectrum engines, I would see if the coal load is removeable like the HO ones. I have an HO 2-6-6-2, with a regular decoder, lightboard and separate sound-only decoder the tender was a pretty tight fit, but by popping off the coal load casting I was able to drill a small hole to run the wires through and put a 1" speaker in the coal bunker with the coal load casting covering it. Without that, I'm not sure it all would have fit in the tender.
Carl,
I am intending to add sound to a 2-8-0 Consolidation and 4-8-2 Light Mountain which are both Bachmann Spectrum, plus a Kato 2-8-2 Mikado. I've read a blog on a Mikado conversion and the other two tenders look pretty much the same size as the Mikado.
Ted
Hi David
I've already got a Con-Cor 2-10-2 Tender loco with both a sound chip and motor decoder (Elektronic CT GE70 and Zimo MX620) working in the tender. I still had a bit of room to add a further bit of lead weight and it runs very nicely. It was this that sparked my interest in doing the other locos. Have you had a bad experience with any particular loco/decoder combination?