Thank you for all the input. I suppose the reason I purchased the mrc units to begin with is ;I have the prodigy adv. sq. unit which I have allways been happy with so I thought the decoders should be the same. Live and learn. I will check into the recomended decoders for my 2-10-4. It deserves something better. As for the mrc decoders I will experiment with hooking it up to a spare motor and a larger speaker inside the roundhouse, or machine shop, or maybe it can be added to my H.O. junk yard with a little ho scale sign that reads"sheer brillance, for sale cheap"
Thanks,
Philip
Just look at the slick full page color advertisements for MRC decoders on the back page of Model Railroader or other publications and see to whom they are aiming their terribly exaggerated claims of authentic sounds --
a youngster holding a seashell to his ear --
advertising aimed at unsuspecting people who have never been near an actual locomotive of any type and have no idea whether the sounds are authentic or even close to authentic.
BUT IT MAKES NOISE! (Big MAYBE - if it's not like the first and only one I have ever purchased, which was totally dead on arrival) -- and that is all they care about!
ANYTHING that moves and makes noise is attractive to a child.
And MRC's newest sound decoders cost MORE than a Tsunami.
Hi guys and gals!
Just an observation, but I can't recall very many positive recommendations for MRC decoders (actually I can't seem to recall any positive recommendations but please don't base your decision on my mental facilties). However I seem to recall several, actually more than several, actually a whole bunch of negative comments on MRC decoders.
As others have said, choose another brand.
It would seem that with sound decoders you get what you pay for. I have some Loksound and some older Soundtrax and they both provide good sound quality. I have not installed a Tsunami yet - I plan to so I can personally experiment with their supposed limitations, so I cannot comment on them yet. Heck, to be honest, I have never installed an MRC decoder either, and I never will! I do respect the opinions of my fellow model railroaders on these forums.
Hope I haven't confused the issue too much for you
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
chuggI purchased a couple mrc decoders some time ago.... This thing sounds as much like a locomotive as playing cards in my bicycle spokes sounded like a motorcycle. ... it would seem the general opinion of MRC decoders is not very high. At this point I can install the decoders and live with it, or cut my losses and purchase another brand. What do you think?
I do have two of the really old (non-sound) ones that have been in Christmas tree duty since, umm umm 1995 or so. It is a toy train type application and they have worked OK.
I had another one that I noticed the motor of the loco it was installed in humming. Upon investigation I found the power circuit was leaking 0.5V at all times through the motor. It was removed, not even good enough for Christmas tree duty.
I seldom have such strong advise but I would look elsewhere for decoders. In my opinion the people who do not have problems with them are the exection rather than the rule.
Tsunami for steam seems to be a completely differnet animal from Tsunami for diesel. There are a coupel of annoyign bits about the diesel ones that make me not want to buy any more of them. Number one is no prime mover loading before moving - regardless of momentum settings, the loco always moves like it is running light. I also find the lack of support for CV6 mid voltage, when pretty much EVERY decoder currently on the market supports this, to be aother huge omission. SPeed tables are fine but rarely necessary - except with Tsunami because it's the ONLY way to speed match. I put it all down to the Tsunami design actually being quite old relative to others - remember how long ago it was announced and how long it to to finally reach market. Some other brands went through two revisions in that time. Bak when Tsunami was announced, CV6 was rare, and Soundtraxx decoders at the time also did not have it. The old DSD decoders didn;t load up eitherWith others - just set CV3 to non-zero. Open the throttle slowly - the loco moves off withotu loading up the prime mover, like a light engine move. Open the throttle more rapidly, and the prime mover loads up and the loco still accelerates slowly. Automatic brake squeal is also easy, at least on QSI - just set deceleration momentu, CV4, to non-zero. Stop gradually, loco slows down, no brake squeal. Turn the throttle down rapidly, loco slows down gradually but with brake squeal.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
If one is serious about sound, especially steam sound, no one really touches Tsunami's level of realism. (Soundtraxx) Also, few sound decoders cost as much either. Tsunami doesn't really make boards, but full DCC decoders with sound. So no one adds Tsunami sound to a DCC engine, they tear out the old decoder and install the Tsunami Sound-Decoder system.
Note: Even a Tsunami can sound a bit off. I have heard them, so I know. What happens is so many take the defaults and never spend the hours it takes to become totally familiar with all the myriad of CV's that can really tune those things up to fabulous levels of sound an preformance.
If self-installed on an older non-DCC engine, the Tsunami deserves a lot of thought on obtaining the best speaker system for the sound that is to be produced and extreme care and forethought must go into the sound baffle that the speaker works against.
In general, Brass steam engines need to use one of Soundtraxx ultra bass speakers that are just released. Diesels can use a speaker that is less bassey.
All depends on what level of realism you seek and how much money and time you are willing to devote to getting it.
Richard
If I can't fix it, I can fix it so it can't be fixed
Yeah, they ARE that bad. I picked up an Alco one for the Athearn RS-3, less than half MSRP (makes you wonde right there) but I didn;t want to just take everyone's word for it ont he quality or lack thereof. Until I got my first loco with a Tsunami, everyone was syaing you can;t program them on ANY DCC system without a program track booster. Well, mine reads and writes on 2 out of 3 systems I've tried it on, and programs on all 3 (third system HAS no readback - so NO decoder reads back).
Well, the MRC IS that bad. If those are sounds recorded from an actual RS-3, it must have been a very sick one. Digitrax sound decoders sound better, and that's not saying much. Plus there are 32 horns, selectable bu changing a CV. It sounds more like 8 or 12 different ones with slight variations in them than 32 distictly different ones. When I wrote to MRC tech support to find out which horn was which, the reply I got was that they didn;t catalog that information. So they supposedly went through the trouble of recording real locomotives, but didn;t bother to write down what horn type each recording was? None of them sounds like an M3, which is what I need. The decoder's already been pulled and will live int e bottom of a drawer. I can't in good conscience pawn it off on some other unsuspecting modeler on eBay. Yes, it is THAT bad.
I'd try Tom's suggestion and see if you can't take them back as credit towards a real sound decoder. Me, I'm leanign toawrds standardizing on Loksounf V4 and Loksound Select, since they have a wide variety of fitments and easily interchanged sounds. Since each brand with changeable sounds uses a proprietary interface, rather than run multiple brands of decoders and needing multiple $100+ gadgets to edit sounds, I'd like to stick to one brand and thsu one set of equipment.
Where did you buy them? If you take them back to a shop, particularly unopened, they might give you your money back. They'd be even more cooperative if you asked to exchange them for Tsunamis.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
chugg cut my losses and purchase another brand Thanks, Philip
cut my losses and purchase another brand
That's what I would do (but then again I wouldn't buy one in the first place). Is the speaker in an enclosure? Also, sometimes putting the shell on improves the sound. But with MRC, there's no telling.....
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Hi guys
I purchased a couple mrc decoders some time ago and was finally getting around to installing them.I hooked up the sheer brillance steam decoder on my bench with clips to test it. This thing sounds as much like a locomotive as playing cards in my bicycle spokes sounded like a motorcycle. The other thing is , there doesn't seem to be a start up or shut down, the sound is just on all the time. Am I correct on this? I came to this forum for some answers and it would seem the general opinion of MRC decoders is not very high.At this point I can install the decoders and live with it, or cut my losses and purchase another brand. What do you think?