I purchased some WOW's (rev 3) at the National with the intent of replacing Tsunamis in my articulated locos. I never liked the staccato sound of the Tsunamis in articulated mode above step 30 or so.
So far, I have re-fitted a Rivarrosi H8 and a Trix Big Boy. I like the wide choices of whistles and bells, which cover a lot of ground. There are a couple of things I noted, and wonder if others have also:
1. The chuff sample is switched at speed step 8 (128 mode), and in Heavy mode, and to a lesser degree in Light mode, the low speed and high speed files are not a very good match. This seems accentuated if the volume of the chuff is changed from default, especially set higher. This makes the Heavy mode almost unusable, because it is too low a level to start with, and raising its level makes the transition at step 8 sound progressively worse. The Medium mode seems to work best, and I feel sorta stuck with it.
2. With default settings, the chuff sample above somewhere around step 18 starts to switch at random 2 to 6 second intervals between two different files. As the throttle is advanced further, more files are added, up to about five, in random rotation. Because the switching is abrupt, no transition, the effect is strange and unrealistic. I was advised this could be stopped by setting the Proto Chuff threshold all the way up at 126, and that's where I'm leaving it. But it's not clear to me what else is left behind by doing this, if anything, since Proto Chuff is not explained well.
I do miss the equalization and reverb settings that only the Tsunami has, but at least for articulateds, like the TCS sound better. At least TCS is revising the files periodically. I also recommend highly the KA-2 keep-alive module, which can hold the sound for up to 6 or 7 seconds. The Tsunamis will sometimes change chuff setting with a power drop.
There is no complete tech documentation CV by CV for the TCS yet, only separate and somewhat incomplete sections of pages on this or that aspect. "Quillable whistle" turns out, apparently, to mean a recording, a little misleading. I'm still trying to figure some of it out. "Siri" wants to help, but I think more writing effort would be better.
What have you found to like/dislike?
Hal
I love mine in my N scale Life Like 2-8-4 Berkshire. The chuffs are right on, I love the KA feature, and the sound is just incredible. I gets extremely hot though.
I have heard the WOW Steam sound and am NOT that impressed with it!
Anyone can do Steam! Why did TCS do Steam First? Cause it was easier!
I am waiting for the Diesel Sound as it is a much more complicated sound to duplicate!
I have had a chance to have the Soundtrax and Titan (in Emulation Mode) in a side by side compairison with duplicate units (not the usual RS1 and a GE unit compairson some try and pull off) and there is no compariosn the Titan just is so much crisper sounding!
And I am a SoundTrax person - the Titan without the Emulation isn't worth a hoot!
So it will be intersting to hear the WOW Diesel -
BOB H - Clarion, PA
I have a WOW decoder in my Proto 2000 2-8-8-2 and love it. I have a Tsunami in my Rivarossi Big Boy and it isn't quite as good as the WOW. One thing I don't like about the WOW is the use of the F7 to slow or stop the engine as it is the only one of my locos having this feature and I forget it when trying to slow down using the throttle (had a few close calls). There also seems to be a few features that aren't completely clear in their execution/operation because of the documentation. Still a very good decoder.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
I currently have about 50 soundtraxx units in service most are diesel.I had a Tsu in a Sunset PRR I-1 that I could not get to run the way I wanted. Very poor low speed , hard to synch chuffs. I decided to try a WOW in the loco. What a difference. Great low speed. The chuffs are synched and the keep alive works great. I like it so much I have decided to install one in a BLI PRR M that had the original sound unit pass on awhile back. Out of the box the TSU's have the worst low speed motor control. It can be dealt with but it can be a lot of work/time to do so. ------------ Ken