I've bought 10 or so of the MRC N scale sound decoders over the last 12 months and they've been great. They are from 3 different batches and all work fine. I also have a few of the Challengers and Big-Boys with the MRC sound and again no problems. Nothing like 5 SD70's of 60's up front of a large container train or tanker set - all sounding away.
Yes, N Scale sound is not as "Big" as in HO etc, but it does work and I reckon it's fine.
I received my Athearn N Scale FP45 today. I tried it out, and it sounds really good. It has a Tsunami decoder installed. However, I have been having problems with it wanting to reset all the time. I use Atlas Code 55 track, and the locomotive seems to stall out on turnouts and sometimes curves. It stalls in places where my Atlas and Kato units perform fine. When it does stall, it only does it for a brief second but it immediately resets the sound, which starts all over again but has a shrill pitch to it. I have to either turn the sound off or bring it to a stop and start the locomotive moving again. Right now, I'm breaking the locomotive in by running it at a moderate non-stop speed for 30 minutes hoping it might adjust some to my track. It seems to me that these Tsunami decoders are a little too sensitive, has anyone else had any experience with these decoders?
The only E units out there right now with factory sound are the Precision Craft Models E7's and they have LokSound decoders. Broadway Limited Imports, which is the parent company of Precision Craft Models, apparently will not be releasing anymore N-scale products under the Precision Craft Models name; however, they are still doing N-scale. They are supposed to do a second run of the E7's as well as E8/9's scheduled for delivery this month. They are also have Alco PA/PB's scheduled for June delivery and possibly a PRR M1a/M1b. The second run of E7's and all of their newer models are supposed to have there own Paragon2 sound decoder.
Con-Cor also offered an unpowered PB with a Soundtraxx decoder installed.
There's absolutely no technical issue preventing any manufacturer from making an N scale sound decoder. The chips are plenty small to build a board that will fit and have al the features of a larger one.
The PROBLEM is the laws of physics. No matter how good you make the decoder, an on-board speaker in N scale is just goign to be too small to reproduce proper sounds at a reasonable volume. You can make a decoder that reproduces sound so well when connected to audiophile quality speakers that people can tell not only what make of loco but exactly which one you are playing, yet when coupled to a speaker small enough to fit in N scale, it will sound tinny and generic. There's just no way around that, and this is why I think there is little focus on N scale sound. The Surroundtraxx concept is probably the only way it's goign to work, and is an improvement over HO onboard sound as well. With O you're finally getting locos large enough to contain a decent size speaker and enclosure.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.