Santa Fe all the way!OK, I finally get it, MRC IS Messed up! I just called their contact number for DCC and WOW, these people are really wingnuts. This guy I get sounds irritated/bothered/arrogant /*** that he has to answer a couple of questions from a customer. He told me that my older Ath Genesis F units factory sound was a real recorded 567 and so is the new 16 bit decoder ,so it probably wouldnt be much of an improvement to install the new ones. What? Why in the heck did they come out with a new line if there no improvement!? This guy is their link to their customers...OH BOY. Im officially a member of the MRC dislikers club! (MRCDC) That company is doomed.
Okay, I'm confused. Aside from your perception of the guy's attitude, what you asked for was "first hand observations/ sound sample or link to sound sample for the NEW 16bit decoders." So you call them and the guy you talk to, who could have told you that the new decoder was great and attempted to sell you a new one, offers the opinion that there isn't much difference between the old and the new and basically implies that you shouldn't waste your money. I would presume that he would have "first hand" knowledge of the decoder, which was what you asked for.
And you fly off the handle and join the MRC dislikers club because he gave you what appears to be an honest answer which you didn't want to hear?
Would it have made a difference if someone not related to MRC had given you the same answer? Or would that someone be considered part of the "MRC is the devil" group?
Just asking.
Like I said in a previous reply. Several club members had paid a professional to instal decoders in their locomotives. When they quit running and the sounds had failed they asked me to look at them. So far I have removed 6 MRC sound decoders and 3 non sound decoders and installed either Soundtraxx, Loksound, and TCS decoders for replacements for them. One guy bought a Prodigy system (not sure which one) hooked it up and it quit in the first day. He exchanged it at the LHS he bought it from and it worked several months before the back light and screen went blank. He sent it to MRC with a copy of the receipt and they fixed it. The first day back from MRC the screen went blank again. He called MRC and they said it was something he must have done to short out the screen. He sent it back with the repair order and another copy of the receipt. They called him back about 2 weeks later and said they would need his credit card number to bill him for the repair. (Hows that for customer service?) He told them to forget the repair and send it back to him. They made him pay for the return shipping!!! Him and I took the hand set apart to see what had failed and found that a piece of flash from the plastic housing was pressing on the corner of the LCD screen and cracked the rear glass. (Something my friend did?) Why wasn't it fixed the first time? He has called and E-mailed asking for a replacement LCD and was told there were no user serviceable parts inside. He would have to buy a new hand set. If this is indicative of the quality and customer service from MRC then I will shy away from their products. Like I said before. They have not made a quality product since the steel case DC power packs of years past. I can see why they have to have the big rear cover ads so they can hook someone to try their products. Like my dad said, Pay no attention to big ads. Look at the little ones because they let the product speak for itself instead of the paper telling you how good it is.
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 first hand knowledge of them. Look at my post at the top of page 2. I love MRC decoders.
Santa Fe all the way!Im done. The next time I feel the need to post a thread on this forum, Im making myself a sandwich and work on the layout instead. Bye.
Taking an unpopular position on this forum does not work out well if you are thin-skinned. And supporters of each position talking past each other doesn't make for a pleasant experience, either. But more importantly, the forum sure beats learning everything the hard way on my own. For that reason, I remain a participant depsite the occasional barbs thrown my way. And I'm guilty of having thrown a few barbs of my own.
I do tend to limit my reading and posts to those topics and threads I am most passionate about.
I would suggest not quitting the forum. Instead, be prepared to understand those who challenge your opinion or conclusions. Is their challenge merely an opinion, or a logical conclusion stemming from facts or experiences?
If you hadn't posted, would you have bought one of the newest MRC decoders to try on your own? And then realized after investing the time and money, it wasn't what you expected?
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W