this seems interesting , but it looks like the price will get out of hand pretty quickly
i looked at tonystrains.com for pricing and to see what's required
you need a BDL168 @ $119.95 . that gives you 16 detected blocks . unfortunately it doesn't give you any transponding which is required for surroundtrax so you need to add an RX4 @ $39.95 for 4 transponding sections , with a maximum of 2 RX4's for each BDL168 . let's say you want 8 transponding blocks so that's going to cost you $199.85 . that's assuming you're using digitrax (or apparently soundtraxx) decoders that have built in transponders (it's possible other brands do too , i don't know)
then you have to buy the surroundtraxx system . it's $556.95 and will provide sound for up to 6 locos . unfortunately it only works with 6 transponding blocks . i know digitrax and soundtraxx worked together designing this equipment , couldn't they have made the surroundtraxx work with 8 blocks ???
the best case scenario would be where the number of transponding blocks and the number of surroundtraxx-able blocks are equal , in this case it's 24
you'd need 3 BDL168s = $359.85
6 RX$'s = $239.70
and 4 surroundtraxx = $2227.8
total is $2827.35 or $117.80 per block
and i'm pretty sure this doesn't include speakers . not sure if it includes amplification or not
at this time it's the only way to get decent sound in Z or N , and improved sound in HO . but it seems very expensive to me , even for a small layout
ernie
i claim no special knowledge of surroundtraxx block detection or transponding , if i've made a mistake in figuring out how this works , please correct me , i'd actuall like to be wrong about this because i think it's a fantastic idea
after hearing of it and watching a video clip of a digitrax presentation i became interested as it meant that 'good' sound could be had in small N scale loco's. BUT
1, the cost of just the soundtrax part of the system ( without the digitrax transponding kit to go with it ) works out around $100 per running loco as the system only works upto 6 loco's sounds at a time. expensive compared to some sound decoders?
2, it is only of use to fixed layouts as it ought/has to be wired in to a system with block detection and transponding for it to work properly/ limited use?
3, any decent sized club layout would require a huge investment in block detection and surround sound units as more than 6 trains are likely to be running at once. and can the system allow the movement of trains from one sound section to another?
i guess that i think it is a much more costly way of getting sound ( i'm sure it is quite an improvement ) but how much??!! and you can't take your sound with you to another layout!! i think that quite a few folks like to take sound equipped loco's to clubs or fellow modellers layouts for a run and having the sound 'off loco' puts an end to that. i'm sure a few folks with $$'s to spare with mid sized layouts will benefit from the system, but for the average joe or club setup, it is probably going to be cost prohibitive to setup properly.