The MRC decoders were so terrible that Athearn finally stopped using them in their sound equipped Genesis loco's.
I remember reading an account by someone who apparently visited the assembly plant of the MRC decoders and it was not a nice description. The assembly process was described as very poor and as well as the QAQC, with a lot of bad soldering etc such that there was a high percentage of bad decoders.
Athearn Genesis now users the Tsunami sound decoders in their Genesis units for about the last 3 years and going forward. Hobby fans report them to be superior to both QSI and MRC. Eventually I hope to get a few myself.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Thom,
I've only heard one MRC decoder: It was in an Intermountain FT and it sounded terrible. The best description of the prime mover sound that I can come up with would be a UFO taking off...underwater. The distortion was absolutely awful and it wasn't because of volume level.
The QSI, Paragon2 and Loksound decoders I have range anywhere from good to great. The Soundtraxx decoders I've heard have been very good, as well.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
With all my times with MRC decoders I have never had a luck with one yet. I have all ways had them die or they never sound right,there are cheaply made and do not have great sounds.
I would go with a Soundtraxx or a QSI because they sound better and you can control more with them like the sounds and the motor.
I am a user of MRC decoders for the most part mainly because I started out with them and have found it much easier to speed match all my locos using decoders from the same manufacturer. I am not stuck on MRC and have used ESU Loksound, Digitrax, NCE, etc.
My question is whether or not the MRC 1821 for EMD F units sounds as good as the Tsunami or Loksound in representing the correct sound of the 567?
Thanks,
Thom