I notice in the Walthers April 2011 Flyer edition they are bringing back out the EMD GP-60 ( P2K ) with or with out sound. Sound version will be $299.98. So either the oil to be bought for the plastic just got WAY more expensive or Walthers figured they can get more for the "Tsunami" they are shipping it with rather than with the QSI. I wonder if Walthers has shown QSI the door?
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-41805
Their Standard DC units cost $199.98...Geesh that's $100.00 for the "Tsunami" and these are made special for Walters just like Bachmann.
Yeah I know prices are going up, but this is ridiculous.
Well I'll pass this time.
Wadda ya mean I'm old ? Just because I remember gasoline at 9 cents a gallon and those big coal burning steamers.
Good point David as I just assumed that the Tsunami would be stripped down. I can't see Walthers giving you a break like that.
So until we find out which grade the Tsunami is I'll keep my mouth shut. Maybe someone here knows more about the P2K GP-60 Tsunami?
Have ot wait and see one. The Bowser B unit with Tsunami I got for a whole $119.. Might have been a mistake, it was labeled as a dummy but it was a powered unit. Powered Bowser/Stewrat chassis plus Tsunami and speaker, and it's a regualr full Tsunami, not a pared down version like the Bachmann ones.
Probably the only reason I have a Tsunami, but at least I was able to verify that most of these programmign problems are caused by somethign other than the use of the Tsunami. I'm probably in the majority but I think they made a mistake switching away from QSI, the motor control and the way the sounds worked was better in any QSI I've used. Actual sounds are a toss up, the QSI definitely had better horns, but I never had a QSI with EMD 567 to do an apples to apples comparison.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Apparently the OEM prices between QSI and Tsunami are about the same. Soundtraxx is just easier to work with. The Walthers products should have the normal Tsunami sound files, no special recordings like Athearn does.
Also, the drive is getting 14:1 gearing. I would think new sideframes would have the get tooled up as well, I don't think the old Athearn clone ones will fit the new Walthers trucks. Then further revisions to add the sound. The body was the best part on the GP60s, hopefully it stays pretty much the same. Looks like all the parts will be added by the factory (AC unit, antennas, etc.).
I'm not impressed with QSI sound or motor control. I have a P2K GP9, and it pretty much won't run with the rest of my TCS equipped fleet. A few club members have been installing a fair number of Tsunamis, and they run well with TCS after a bit of Tsunami tweaking. QSI horn is OK, but the rest of the sound I'm not a fan of. And the QSI board only allows 1 dimmable output.
We'll see how things turn out. Hopefully Walthers does well and keeps the good stuff coming.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
All of Soundtraxx's sounds are recordings of the real thing. They are not done for Athearn's line specifically. QSI is coming out with a new series of decoder called the "titan". In their press release they stated that the new series would be more costly. It was about this same time that Walthers announced the switch to Tsunami. Perhaps coincidence, perhaps not. As of now, the only OEM in QSI's bag is Atlas.
I'm not a particular fan of QSI either. I have read that QSI sound is synthiciized. Personally, I don;t know (or care). Tsunami's, to me are very user friendly and have enough bells and whistles. Any more options are too Geeky for me. Ask 10 people about their preferrence in decoders and you'll probably get 10 different answers, just like which DCC system is the best.
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Odd, the QSI Rev A I installed for someone in an Athearn RTR, out of the box, no tweaking, speed step 1 it crawled. The only better motor control I've personally used is Loksound's. ANd QSI supports CV2/6/5 for simple speed matching, Soundtraxx requires a speed table. This came in handy as the same customer also had a DH163 to go in another RTR and he wanted them to run together.
My Tsunami Stewart did run with my TCS A unit without much work, which is good since the FTs are drawbar connected, no couplers. You can't put couplers on them, not easily.
I think there's been way too much "tsnumi is awesome' hype that everyone now believes they are the best ever. The horns are weak, I don't know how anyone can listen to the two and say Tsunami horns are better. QSI probably did shoot themselves int eh foot with the earlier decoders as found in the first Broadway Limited locos, but they were under threat of a lawsuit to include the full BEMF - do not compare a non-upgraded QSI to Tsunami, compare the upgraded ones or the Revolution decoders. Plus there is switchable sound Not user created, so ignore that "it's too complicated" thing. Switchable sounds means there should NEVER be a stock problem, there's only oen decoder, they are ALL the same, they just get different sound sets loaded. Smart - no need to be a programmer or audio engineer to swap sounds. This whole synthesized thing - until I hear this from someone at QSI I'm goign to say it's some sour grapes from someone. No way would they go to the trouble to record the soudns from a locomotive and ONLY take the prime mover at idle. I think that's a bunch of hooey. Jon Grant's video of his Alco switcher with a Rev-A sure doesn;t sound faked, it sounds like an Alco. Certainly more so that his other one with an MRC decoder in it.
Good grief these are incredible times.....
$199 for a plastic HO EMD non-sound hood unit? Wow!
Guys, don't forget that the new LokSound V.40 and QSI Titan sound decoders will be hitting the market soon. I'm no tech expert but from what I've been gleaning on the Yahoo forums these decoders are going to give Soundtraxx a serious run for the money as far as sound fidelity, clarity, and more powerful amplifiers. Additionally motor control is to be much better than Tsunami's and throttle-vs-movement synchronization easily adjustable.
Might be worth waiting for.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"