Has anyone used or heard the digitrax soundbug decoders. If so how are they. Do they sound good. It would be for diesel. EMD 567/Alco 244. Any comments before I decide to purchase would be great. Thanks .
Mario
Mario1 Has anyone used or heard the digitrax soundbug decoders. If so how are they. Do they sound good. It would be for diesel. EMD 567/Alco 244. Any comments before I decide to purchase would be great. Thanks . Mario
I have installed 11 of them in SD80MACs, SD60s, C44-9Ws and SD50s. The installation is straight forward as long as you use a DIgitrax DH165 series motor controller. They are easy to program, sound good and with a PR3, you can update the sound files. The sound quality isn't as good as a QSI or Tsunami but I find it adequate, considering the price difference and the ability to update sound files, if new ones become available.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
I'd have to agree about the "smile on your face" factor for a Tsunami decoder. They definitely sound better. A Tsunami is also a full, high-quality motor decoder. The Soundbug (SFX004) is a sound decoder only and it therefore requires a motor decoder if you're going to use it in a powered unit. Since you need to squeeze 2 decoders and a speaker into the locomotive shell, this can be a problem. Of course, a Tsunami is a large decoder in itself, and may actually take up more space than a Soundbug combined with another motor decoder.
Digitrax also makes a function-and-sound model called the SFX0416. This is the one which, for some reason, has very low maximum volume. I have one of these and I can barely hear it in a quiet room, let alone with trains running. The Soundbug, by comparison, has a reasonable volume level.
Digitrax has announced some new sound decoders in their ad in the latest Model Railroader. However, these don't appear on their web site yet, and it may be some time before you can buy them.
These decoders come with a 1-inch round speaker. While this may fit in some wide engines like F-units, it's not appropriate for narrower shells like Geeps. You'll probably need to buy a speaker anyway, and in any case you'll need to buy or fabricate a speaker enclosure.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanks fellas. That was excellent info. I'm leaning towards the tsunami. Thanks again for the info.
Here's a Digitrax Soundbug:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEGM1ifphZU
It has since been removed and replaced with a QSI decoder.
I don't have any video of a Tsunami (yet!) but here's a factory QSI:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhHpRGTLI0s
The Soundbug is laying on my workbench, turns out it wasn't a good investment.
The stock sounds and most of the ones they have available for download plainly stink. There are a few examples of soundbugs that have some real recorded sounds loaded into them and the programming tweaked by someone who took the time to figure out the extremely steep learning curve to PROPERLY program them if you further search YouTube. It doesn't even sound like it's the same decoder.
I said it before, unless someone gets some decent recordings that aren't copywrite and they are willing to share, and unless Digitrax gets someone to actually create GOOD sound projects with them (doing the extra stuff that people like Fred Miller figured out the decoders actually are capable of), then it will just be an also-ran. I wish they would make up their mind - either put a serious effort behind sound or just forget it and concentrate on continuing to make a top-notch DCC system (hint - retire the SUper Empire Builder, and make somethign for those really big layout where even 120 locos isn't enough to sell as the top of the line system).
QSI fixed the inrush issues and programming problems in the Revolution series decoders - now why hasn't Soundtraxx? Loksound, QSI, and Digitrax sound decoders don;t need program track boosters, why can;t Sountraxx implement the same design that the others have to elminate the need for some silly extra component to program them? Yes, you can program in Ops Mode but you shouldn;t HAVE to.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
And, as we've discussed before, QSI and Digitrax allow you to upload new sound files. Tsunamis do not. Soundbug and QSI Rev U decoders can be moved from locmotive to locomotive, whereas Tsunamis are made for particular locomotives and have the sounds loaded from the factory for them. Just some things to consider.
jbinkley60And, as we've discussed before, QSI and Digitrax allow you to upload new sound files.
I think LokSound decoders can also be downloaded.
However, each of these decoders requires its own proprietary programmer unit to do this. It's not something you can do on the programming track. Digitrax, for example, requires its PR3 unit with an $85 MSRP. It won't work on a QSI decoder, though, just as QSI's programmer won't help with a Digitrax decoder.
Here's one of those areas where a good LHS can help. My LHS can download sound files. That's not a service that most internet suppliers can provide.
steve58Here's a Digitrax Soundbug: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEGM1ifphZU It has since been removed and replaced with a QSI decoder. I don't have any video of a Tsunami (yet!) but here's a factory QSI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhHpRGTLI0s The Soundbug is laying on my workbench, turns out it wasn't a good investment.
Not much of a competition there. The QSI is so much better sounding, of course that the installation can influence the result, but not to this extent I think.
Swedish Custom painter and model maker. My Website:
My Railroad
My Youtube:
Graff´s channel
jbinkley60 And, as we've discussed before, QSI and Digitrax allow you to upload new sound files. Tsunamis do not. Soundbug and QSI Rev U decoders can be moved from locmotive to locomotive, whereas Tsunamis are made for particular locomotives and have the sounds loaded from the factory for them. Just some things to consider.
And since Tsunamis have some of the best sound out there why would someone need to upload new sound files? And how many times are people moving sound decoders from locomotive to locomotive?
FOr exactly the reason I mentioned in that thread - each and every one of those Tsunamis is a seperate SKU, so if your dealer wants to have at least one of each they have to stock a couple dozen items. ANd if you want an Alco 251 and they are out of stock on that one, you're out of luck. With the others, they can stock some quantity of just one item, and load whichever sounds you want at time of purchase. Look at the major resellers - Tony's, Litchfield, etc. You order a Revolution A or Revolution U, and pick which sound set you want. The decoder is the same, just the data loaded is different. Not so with Tsunami. At least their diesel sound seems to include all possible horns, but the steam sound Tsunamis have only certain whistles on each one - great until the loco I need to put one in falls in the medium steam category but the whistle I need is only on the large steam decoder.
Do not underestimate the value of reducing inventory with fewer SKUs. You're right, I would probably never change the soudns one the decoder is installed (although when someone was able to come up with actual Reading T1 sounds to update the Loksound decoder in the PCM model, it was a nice feature to have), and I lack the skill and patience to go record my own sounds and edit them down, so it's not likely I'd be creating my own sound sets anytome soon. I'll leave that to the peopel with audio editing experience. I'd then load the sounds exactly once in the decoder and be done.
I've played with the "Sound Project" files for the Digitrax SFX/SoundBug decoders a little bit. (Yes, Fred Miller was a big help to me on this.) I was able to create a couple of customized sound projects and successfully download them. Digitrax's "Soundloader" software helps in this, but it is somewhat limited.
Are the QSI and LokSound sound files user-modifiable in any way? Or, are they only available from the manufacturer, so that end-user customization isn't possible?
Every now and then, someone here asks about sound for RDC cars, as an example. Those are available as downloadable files from Digitrax, but does anyone else really allow users to "roll their own" for less popular models?
Well I would have to agree....why would you want to switch your decoders from engine to engine. your buying a decoder with that specific sound for that particular engine so why not buy a good sounding decoder....... (great info from all the members) Thanks
Of nearly 50 sound decoders I've installed over the years, only one has ever been taken out and put into a different locomotive.
cacole Of nearly 50 sound decoders I've installed over the years, only one has ever been taken out and put into a different locomotive.
I can think of a couple potential reasons. First, a locomotive may get damaged to where you no longer want to run it. Second, you may put a decoder in an older locomotive where the decoder is worth more than the locomotive (i.e. older RTR Athearns) and then decide that you are thinning your roster and want to recover the sound decoder, since they are close to $100 ea. For sound files, a better quality recording may come out or you want to upgrade the firmware on your decoder to fix a bug or for new features. QSI allows for all of these scenarios.
I was playing with their QSI programmer tonight and an Athearn SD50 I am installing a Rev-U decoder. One thing I discovered is that their programmer will allow you to fully test the locomotive on the bench (sound, motion, lights etc...). It supplies enough power to run the locomotive with their software throttle, test all functions, program/read CVs and more. I was pleasantly surprised.
Loksound allows customizable sounds - you can record your own and put them in. THis is what Nick Kulp did with the PCM T1, he had recordings of an actual T1 (when it pulled the American Freedom Train) so he replaced some of the generic sounds int he Loksound decoder with actual T1 sounds.
Two people clearly missed my point about programmable sounds being a HUGE benefit for the vendor. I even agreed that it would be unlikely for me to ever change the sounds after a decoder is installed - unless someone came up with a better than the original replacement. Actually, it's not just easier for the vendor, it's easier for the manufacturer - no need to keep track of dozens of 'different' units which are truly all the same except for the software loaded in them.