I am confused. I have 2 Loksound Select decoders and they are awesome, but I am curious about the LoksoundV4? Is that much better than the Select? They both have 8 pin plugs, both have programmable sounds, back EMF, etc. What makes the V4 supposedly better then, other than price?
Modelling HO Scale with a focus on the West and Midwest USA
The Select allows you to replace the entire sound set only. The V4 is fully customizeable - you can change not only the individual sounds, but the 'script' that plays each sound for various events.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy nailed it. The V4 is totally customizable to the point you can write your own sound sets for them. You will need a programmer for doing things like this. If you do not have a programmer then the Select is CV changed on volume, horn/whistles, and bell ring rates within the four pre programed prime mover sounds. For example the Select does not have a Pennsy Banshee steam whistle but the version 4 has one that can be put on a version 4 decoder.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Hi, Alex
I had asked the very same question a few days ago. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/t/216139.aspx
Randy cleared things up and I installed two Selects in a pair of P2K Alco PAs. It seemed as though those engines were MADE for the Loksound Select! It was a very pleasurable experience to install, including a Hi-bass speaker and enclosure right over the rear truck and the decoder nested in a little recess right behind the cab area!
This is my fourth Select install and I am an ESU convert, although they are a bit fussy when it comes to current interruptions. I might have to go back and add some capacitors. The soundfiles are plenty customizable as far as horn type, bell rate, brake squeal, etc.
So far I don't have the need for customizable soundfile script as on the V4.
Hope this helps, Ed
Thanks guys, I have a LokProgrammer,and I did do a V3.5 install a couple years back. But I am not into super-customizing sounds, so I assume the Select will suit my purposes fine. I like the ease of programming the Select.
The Select will be suotable for most people, unless you're doing something really crazy, or perhaps the sound set doesn;t have the horn you need among the dozen or so that are included. Basic mix and match sound swapping is pretty easy with the V4 - what's complicated is trying to make up your own 'script' to alter the sequence that the sounds are played.
Since you already have a Lokprogrammer, you can get the Selects, or V4, or whatever, from anywhere, and then install whichever sound set you need. That's a huge advantage the loadable brands have over the others, there aren't, for example, a dozen different Loksounf Select Direct decoders, each with a different sound set. Each decoder is identical, and can be loaded with whichever sound set it needed for a particular install.
Alexander
The version 3.5 decoders used programmer software version 2.x.x. With the Select and version 4 decoders you will need to download the version 4 programmer software from the ESU web site. The version 4 software is totally different than the version 2.7.9 software. It takes some getting used to but if I can do it anyone can. Something you will realize is the ESU software can cause error messages to appear and sometimes the latest version is not compatible to what version of windows you are running. When I upgraded from version 4.4.1 to 4.4.2 I had all sorts of issues that froze my computer. I ended up uninstalling the ESU software and reinstalling the older version 4.4.0. If you have an older programmer in a blue case like mine then you may have to buy a Prolific USB cable to get your programmer to work. Most of the time the Prolific warning is informational and can be worked around and causes no issues. You may also need the updated device driver from the ESU web site also. One more great thing about ESU products is the free upgrades. Other companies charge for upgrades where ESU are free downloads. Programmer software can be found here. http://www.esu.eu/en/downloads/software/lokprogrammer/
locoi1sa Alexander The version 3.5 decoders used programmer software version 2.x.x. With the Select and version 4 decoders you will need to download the version 4 programmer software from the ESU web site. The version 4 software is totally different than the version 2.7.9 software. It takes some getting used to but if I can do it anyone can. Something you will realize is the ESU software can cause error messages to appear and sometimes the latest version is not compatible to what version of windows you are running. When I upgraded from version 4.4.1 to 4.4.2 I had all sorts of issues that froze my computer. I ended up uninstalling the ESU software and reinstalling the older version 4.4.0. If you have an older programmer in a blue case like mine then you may have to buy a Prolific USB cable to get your programmer to work. Most of the time the Prolific warning is informational and can be worked around and causes no issues. You may also need the updated device driver from the ESU web site also. One more great thing about ESU products is the free upgrades. Other companies charge for upgrades where ESU are free downloads. Programmer software can be found here. http://www.esu.eu/en/downloads/software/lokprogrammer/ Pete
The Prolific cable won;t work with Windows 7 and Lokprogrammer 4.x - despite the fact that there IS a Windows 7 driver for it. The Lokprogrammer software detects it and won't load. I solved this by switching it out for the cheapy Radio Shack USB to serial cable I was using on my Linux box for my old DeLoof Locobuffer and it worked just fine. And there is a Linux driver for the Prolific cable so that one is now on the railroad room computer running the Locobuffer.
Supposedly ESU is shipping a different USB to serial cable now, but my Lokprogrammer still came with the Prolific one.