I am installing a Loksound select decoder in a brass steam loco and was wondering on what experiences have you had with them? I have wired 5 Loksound 3.5 decoders in other locos but could never get the horn and whistles to sound any louder. Is the select a better decoder? The reason I went with this decoder is the adjustable BEMF. This loco has a can motor and no flywheel. The Tsunamis I have all take off like rockets. I can not get super slow out of them.
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!
The Loksound 3.5 in my PCM T-1 is plenty loud on the whistle. Since there's not a seperate volume for everything, what you need to do is adjust the master volume then lower the other sounds that you CAN adjust so they aren;t too loud. Crank the master up, then back off on the chuffs, bell, and aux sounds so they don;t overpower the room. Now the whistle will be louder relative to the chuffs and other sounds.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I bought a Loksound3.5 from Tony's and the only thing loud on it is the rail clack which I dont realy care for. I called them about it , rebaffled speaker, turned up all the volumes it is still weak in comparison to other decoders. Even MRC's are louder they just dont live long. I dont like the 100 ohm speaker either why cant they use 8 ohm like everyone else to give you more options. I will never buy another one.
Truck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbpOUEsOHZQ
Unfortunately since I was trying to film I couldn;t ALSO blow the whistle for the grade crossing. There's no rail clack in my T-1. This was in the Cow Palace at the Md Fairgrounds in Timonium - BIG open room with lots of people, and I didn;t up the volume from where I had it at home (I don;t want my sound locos to sound liek I'm playign the sound through big stereo speakers - if one side of the room is supposed to be miles away, then I shouldn;t hear the train on the other side). I'll have to do another video with the whistle blowing, the whistle is definitely louder than the chuffs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xGsnWHz6aE&feature=related
These aren't mine but they are both PCM with Loksound 3.5 decoders. Plenty of whistle volume.
Randy, now you've got me in the garage tinkering with it, I have about given up on this decoder. I just figured it is what it is but after listening to others I cant beleive I can not get he same sound out of mine. Here is a picture of how it is install , maybe you can point out something with speaker mounting. and if I hit F9 I get rail clacking that is way louder than any other sound coming from this decoder. It is in an IHC Mikado.
Maybe PCM/BLI did that with their sound sets, but I don;t have a Lokprogrammer so I never modified mine. I do need to find someone with out, because I'd liek to do what they did in the secod video, switch out the sounds with ones actually recorded from 2101.
I'm not sure exactly what values are in mine, but I adjusts CV63 until the chuffs were the right volume. Then 121 is the horn/whistle, 122 is the bell (which needed to be turned way down I think), and 123 is volume of the auxiluary functiosn like air letoff and air pumps. The highest value is 64 - I think I have CV63 down around 32 and the others adjusted accordingly. The only real difference is the PCM locos have 2 speakers in the tender floor with lots of holes to let the sound out, with your pointing into the coal load perhaps the load is muffling sound somewhat. Seems like kind of a small speaker, both the ones int he PCM are larger than that, and the tender shell is used as the baffle.
rrinker Maybe PCM/BLI did that with their sound sets, but I don;t have a Lokprogrammer so I never modified mine. I do need to find someone with out, because I'd liek to do what they did in the secod video, switch out the sounds with ones actually recorded from 2101. I'm not sure exactly what values are in mine, but I adjusts CV63 until the chuffs were the right volume. Then 121 is the horn/whistle, 122 is the bell (which needed to be turned way down I think), and 123 is volume of the auxiluary functiosn like air letoff and air pumps. The highest value is 64 - I think I have CV63 down around 32 and the others adjusted accordingly. The only real difference is the PCM locos have 2 speakers in the tender floor with lots of holes to let the sound out, with your pointing into the coal load perhaps the load is muffling sound somewhat. Seems like kind of a small speaker, both the ones int he PCM are larger than that, and the tender shell is used as the baffle. --Randy
That is the speaker that came with the decoder from Tony's trains. They loaded the sound file for the D&RGW Mikado. I drilled a bunch of holes through the caol load I went in a circular pattern, using a 1/16" bit. I have tried the CV changes also. Dave is problably right about the programer. The people at Tony's did say to send it back to them. But I couldn't see taking it out after the nice job I did installing it. But maybe one day I will come across a programer and see what happens. It is one of my first locos and decoder installs, Even though it is IHC it is special to me. It is the one in my avatar. But thanks for the info guys.
And not to forget about the the OP's original question ,the motor functions and BEMF work excellent . Set at 128 speed step, Starting at step 1 at a creep it transitions and runs very smoothly through all the speed steps.
These decoders specify using 100 ohm speakers. If your locos have 2 speakers , what ohms are they, and are they connected in series or paralell?
I believe they are 50 ohms, in series. I'd have to take one apart to verify. All stock factory stuff from PCM, I've made no modifications other than soem CV settings to either one of my locos. There was a loose wire on one of the internal plugs in the tender so it wasn;t getting power from one side of the tender wheels that I fixed, and the one had the motor mounted slightly out of line (there's a u joint, by why pre-stress it?) which I corrected and made the slow speed even more smooth - the BEMF on the Loksound decoders is excellent and either loco will creep around my layout on speed step 1 all day long.
Thanks guys. My question was specifically pointed at the Select series of decoders. There are only 2 sound sets available for the steam locos. According to ESU there are 4 prime mover sounds and seven whistle choices for each steam sound set pre programed. What experience do you have with these decoders?The Select decoders use a 4 to 8 ohm speaker instead of the 100 ohm of the version 3.5. The adjust ability of the BEMF is what sold me on these. I also ordered a 20 x 40 mm speaker with enclosure for this loco. There may be room for 2 of these. I will have to do some experimenting. Changing sound sets are not an option on Select series.
My first choice for this loco was going to be a QSI rev U but they are no longer available and the QSI Titan has not been released yet. QSI has been quiet about the delay in releasing them.
I would buý a Loksound V4 instead!
Swedish Custom painter and model maker. My Website:
My Railroad
My Youtube:
Graff´s channel
Graffen.
I got the Select to utilize the JST plug for separating the loco and tender when needed. The V4 would need another plug installed for this application.
Thanks.
If you have a Loksound programmer, you can download any file set from the ESU site and upload it into your select decoder - it's not a one-shot deal.
The programmer makes programming their sound decoders much easier than trying to decypher the pages of CV settings. Everything is check boxes and slider controls. There is a mind-numbing amount of adjustments that can be made to the Loksound decoders, if you plan on using a number of these decoders, I highly recommend investing in the programmer.
As for the other comments about the 3.5's and they're requirement of using 100 ohm speakers .... the 3.5 has now been replaced by the 4.0 which utilizes 4, 8, or 16 ohm speakers. It also has a much more powerful audio amp for sound that will annoy the neighbors !
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Truck,I have the same problem with my Select decoders in my HO gp60's.4 ohm or 100ohm speakers don't sound loud well with this decoder.I would go with a 8ohm railmaster 1.5 watt bass reflex speaker(one small enough to fit in the car body.
Make sure you use a 8ohm speaker and not the 4 ohm(very weak in volume),if you can get a Railmaster Bass reflex speaker,go with that.The best speaker on the market IMHO.
HO_Modeler Make sure you use a 8ohm speaker and not the 4 ohm(very weak in volume),if you can get a Railmaster Bass reflex speaker,go with that.The best speaker on the market IMHO.
Is that your experience ? Using identical sized speakers, a 4 ohm speaker will be louder than an 8 ohm because there's less load on the audio amp. Loksound Select series and 4.0 decoders can use 4, 8 or 16 ohm speakers.
For most people, the Select series of decoders is the most cost effective way to go with Loksound. If you don't have a programmer, getting the 4.0 is just a waste of money. The whole concept behind the 4.0 series is that they are fully customizable enabling you to upload all kinds of different sounds from the sound library, or even create your own. All these features require you to have a programmer.
Without the programmer, you can do no more with the 4.0 than you can do with the Selects .... and in most cases, less ! The selects come pre-loaded with 16 different horns, where-as the 4.0 files usually have one - but that's easily changed using the programmer to upload a new horn from a rather extensive library.
I started this thread a long time ago. I thought I did an update thread but maybe I did not. I did get the Select and 8ohm medium oval since the tender is a coast to coast with lots of room. It was loaded with the diverse steam selection and is by far the best sound decoder I have ever installed. The Loksound motor control is the best by far than any other BEMF decoders. The sound set is good and easily customized with just CVs. I am waiting for the PRR steam sound set to come out before I buy a few more. The Select does not have the banshee whistle at the moment. The PRR sound sets should have the banshee and the 3 chime passenger whistles loaded. For the price the Select decoder is well worth the money.