Has anyone had any personal experience with this decoder or any others in its series (0001619/1620/1621/1622/1623)? I know that MRC has a had bad rep but I have had two others of theirs (steam sound decoders - different series) and never seemed to give me a problem. For $45 I figured it was worth a shot. I know Tsunami is a gold standard but at double the price I can't afford them right now. I need some mobile decoders for 3 athearn genisis f units and I figure for $45 instead of $25 I can get some basic sound.
I'm really not looking for "I had one of these 10 years ago and..." more like "I currently use one of these and..."
Thanks Guys,
Scott
Well, you were looking for the "I currently use one of these and..." comments, and based on the number of responses, I think you have your answer !
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Ha! Ok ok I get it.... Tsunami it is.
scottso699
You might consider the Loksound Select decoders as well. For the most part they are now the same price as the Tsunamis (the Tsunamis used to be quite a bit more expensive) and the Loksound decoder has both excellent motor control and great sound.
My experience with Tsunami diesel decoders is that they are a pain to set up for good low speed motor control. That is not to say that they can't be made to run very nicely, but unless things have changed recently their low speed is not low at all right out of the box. Somebody please correct me if I am out of date on that.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Loksound around here runs about $10 less than Tsunami and are a much better decoder right out of the box.
Sorry, I know that's not the choice answer you were looking for ....
I've had to remove several MRC sound decoders from brand new Athearn locomotives that a club member purchased several years ago because of their very poor motor control, and replace them with a LokSound Select.
In a couple of instances, we were able to piggy-back an NCE decoder onto the MRC one for motor and light control functions and retain the MRC only for sound.
In my own case, I've had only one MRC sound decoder, a type 1662 Sounder. At first, it would produce only a clicking noise every 15 or 20 seconds. It was sent to MRC for repair under their warranty, and came back in much worse shape. I'll never install it because it gets so hot within about 10 seconds that I can't touch it -- so I'll never purchase another MRC decoder no matter how 'improved' they may be.
I bought one for my early Atlas RS3. Compared to the earlier decoders: much better sound volume but still limited, better lighting configurations, if you mute the sound using F12 I think, the loco still runs w/o sound on, better motor controll. I'll use it for now but prefer Soundtraxx . Joe
Yeah I am going to cough up the extra money and just order some sound traxx decoders...
Loksounds are about $10 less than Tsunami, have better motor control, and IMO better sounds, especially the horns. Don't know about that particular EMD one, but I have one of their FT ones and an Alco 244 for an RS-3. Tsunami may be better for North American steam, but if I were doing a steam loco I'd get a TCS WOWSound. That "Gold standard" thing is going to be one of those hard to kill model rr myths, I can see. They were pretty awesome when they came out, better than any others then on the market, but the market didn;t sit still. Everyone else improved in order to compete. The Tsunami remains pretty much unchanged since introduction. A couple of additional formats, and a few new sounds added, but that's about it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I never really looked at Loksound. Does Loksound have an EMD decoder? Or are their decoders like digitrax where you need their programmer and a computer to put the 567 prime mover sound on the decoder. i also like how soundTaxx has replacement boards too and not just a little decoder with wires coming out if it.
rrinker Loksounds are about $10 less than Tsunami, have better motor control, and IMO better sounds, especially the horns. Don't know about that particular EMD one, but I have one of their FT ones and an Alco 244 for an RS-3. Tsunami may be better for North American steam, but if I were doing a steam loco I'd get a TCS WOWSound. That "Gold standard" thing is going to be one of those hard to kill model rr myths, I can see. They were pretty awesome when they came out, better than any others then on the market, but the market didn;t sit still. Everyone else improved in order to compete. The Tsunami remains pretty much unchanged since introduction. A couple of additional formats, and a few new sounds added, but that's about it. --Randy This past weekend I heard a QSI Titan with Emulation Tech installed finally! We had a LOC sound - new decodered engine there too LOC was OK - to my ears not much better than a Soundtrax But the difference between them and the QSI Titan w/Emulation - to me is something to behold The nice thing they were both the same engine brand and both Decoders had the same EMD engien type installed So finally it was a side beside compairson - not some ONE Brand and engine type and the other some thing off the shelf Both were the latest down loads (as we do the Installs ourselves) and this were test units. We also had a Soundtrax decoder in the same engine type. All had the same speakers too! It is funny how some try to make one type of Sound Decoder sound better on the U-tube videos so they can spout the virtues of their brand. I don't believe any of them unless I am there to see the units myself! As for WOW - They had better be on the ball with a diesel as I could almost make the type of noise (as we had one in for evaluation purposes) that my old Lionel with a white noise generator made as good of noise as the WOW did - and that was using 1960s technology. BOB H - Clarion, PA
rrinker Loksounds are about $10 less than Tsunami, have better motor control, and IMO better sounds, especially the horns. Don't know about that particular EMD one, but I have one of their FT ones and an Alco 244 for an RS-3. Tsunami may be better for North American steam, but if I were doing a steam loco I'd get a TCS WOWSound. That "Gold standard" thing is going to be one of those hard to kill model rr myths, I can see. They were pretty awesome when they came out, better than any others then on the market, but the market didn;t sit still. Everyone else improved in order to compete. The Tsunami remains pretty much unchanged since introduction. A couple of additional formats, and a few new sounds added, but that's about it. --Randy
This past weekend I heard a QSI Titan with Emulation Tech installed finally!
We had a LOC sound - new decodered engine there too
LOC was OK - to my ears not much better than a Soundtrax
But the difference between them and the QSI Titan w/Emulation - to me is something to behold
The nice thing they were both the same engine brand and both Decoders had the same EMD engien type installed
So finally it was a side beside compairson - not some ONE Brand and engine type and the other some thing off the shelf
Both were the latest down loads (as we do the Installs ourselves) and this were test units.
We also had a Soundtrax decoder in the same engine type.
All had the same speakers too!
It is funny how some try to make one type of Sound Decoder sound better on the U-tube videos so they can spout the virtues of their brand.
I don't believe any of them unless I am there to see the units myself!
As for WOW - They had better be on the ball with a diesel as I could almost make the type of noise (as we had one in for evaluation purposes) that my old Lionel with a white noise generator made as good of noise as the WOW did - and that was using 1960s technology.
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Hmm, I can't imagine the Wow is that bad, not unless there is an issue with the speaker, or the config. ALl those videos are not just from TCS. They have the actual sounds recorded off R&N 425 for one of the optiopns, and the chuffs are properly dependent on BEMF so going downhill you get rod clank, going uphill it labors. You can hear it on the videos of that one guy from Australia, and he installs all brands, he has videos of Wow, Tsunami, QSI - all of them. Don't think he has any reason to bias the sounds on his videos.
I had the same two locos, EMD FT, one with Tsunami, one with Loksound. No comparison. Tsunami was traded away for the Loksound. Same loco, looked to be the same speaker in both. And both full decoders, no stripped down models like Athearna nd Bachmann use, Bowser uses the full decoder. My Bowser DS4-4-1000 sounds nice, but recently ESU's US branch was able to get new recordings off the Baldwins still running at SMS, and they have done an even better job of transferring the recordings to the decoder's format. Couple of minutes and I have the new sounds in my loco. This is where Tsunamis are left in the dust.
The Titans do sound good but i wonder if it's too little, too late. They seem to be pricing themselves out of the market, especially now that they lost their last OEM holdout with Atlas switching to Loksound. Whatever happened with the distribution under the control of Tony's, I have no idea, but perhaps now that it's been sold and controlled by others they might be able to rebound.
Randy
First off - The WOW wasn't that bad!
It was that my White Noise Generator was that good! ;-)
Steam Sound is the easiest to reproduce - It is just White Noise!
Any Steam Sound Decoder I have heard does this Noies very well and all they have to do is vary how fast the Noise is turned on and off!
It is all of the other sounds Whistle Bell Generators Rod Clank - that makes the Sound Decoder!
But - they all sound the same - Steam Hiss is always a hiss.
Now a Diesel Engine had EMD engines Alco & GE as wellas others and each of them has its own unique sound to them - then there are 12, 16 & 20 cyl engines!
With Steam - Yes there is a 3 cyl engine & the Shays but the norm is the regular 2 cyl unit.
Not much difference between a 2-8-4 and a 2-8-2 or a 2-8-0 is there!
As for availability of the QSI
Rumors are that Tony divided up the business (and retiring) and the sons took it over (each taking a different part of the business) and the one tried to run the whole QSI thing himself - didn't work!
I guess things are getting back in order and we expect the QSI decoders to be rolling into the Shop any day now.
As for QSI themselves - I believe they bit off more than they could chew and that trying to provied OEM and bring the Emulation Tech to production - taxed the little company!
I have a number of old QSI decoders that will get replaced with Titans hopefully before Winter.
You might be able to hear them during our Club's Christmans Show at the Mall!
I haven't heard all of the Titan sound files, but the ones I have heard STILL sound like a spaceship. There's just something about them that has always had that sound, like they are over-edited electronically.
scottso699:
You can order Loksound decoders with your chosen sound file installed. I get mine from Tony's Train Exchange but other suppliers will load sounds for you too. If you buy the decoder with the sound installed you don't need the Programmer. Tony's does not charge for installing your chosen sound file.
Here are the available Loksound files:
http://www.esu.eu/en/downloads/sounds/loksound-select/loksound-select-usa/
Loksound also offers direct replacement decoders for many popular brands:
http://www.esu.eu/en/products/loksound/loksound-select-direct/
I have about a dozen Loksound decoders, mostly their Select model. I also have Tsunamis, QSI Titans and a couple of older Soundtrax decoders. The Loksound decoders run nicely right out of the box. Fine tuning for low speed control etc. is not necessary, but if you want to, adjusting the CV's is easy. The Tsunamis and QSI decoders required a fair bit of adjustment before the engines would run properly at low speed, i.e. barely creeping on speed step 1 of 128. In fact, the Tsunamis adjustment involves playing with a number of CVs. The Loksounds creep even slower than the others without adjustment. At least, that has been my experience.
Remember though that if your locomotive doesn't run smoothly on DC a decoder won't correct that.
I've been using current Gen MRC decoders due to cost considerations. I am generally happy. Not as good as the other options, but I've not had any specific quality issues that would lead to them being money down the drain. Just less good sound, less features, but bang for the buck is there right now in 2014 as far as I'm concerned. If they'd come out with an FDL sound set, I'd be happy.