Dallee sound systems

[IRB Souther Engineer]

What do you guys think of them? I sort of know what you will say: "go with Phoenix sound systems instead." I would... if I could afford it.

Next, which of the Dallee's are polyphonic(I think I spelled that right). I'm not going to waste my time and money on non-polyphonic systems.

Lastly,(or at least for now) do any of you know were I can actually hear the sounds. Dallee's (in my opinion) not so great website isn't much of a help deciding what sound to choose.

[two tone]

Hi     I understand what you are saying about costs,    But if you go for the cheaper one in five years are you going to be happy with it.  Ive got the pheonix and ive had them for five years plus and would no use any other ones   Never had any problems with them

[Mt Beenak]

I bought a steam sound unit by Dallee off evilbay for $95.00. It has a two cylinder air pump, which sounds like a bongo drum. (Not exactly what I wanted). It also has a bell which comes on when it stops or first starts. It becomes a little annoying when shunting (switching). I like the whistle function and the steam chuff. I am going to try another one with the single stage air pump and see if it is any better. (You only hear the air pump intermittently while the engine is stationary.) I think they are worth the money, but I haven't tried any of the really expensive ones. For what it is worth. Mick

[Camaro1967]

 I bought one  with the U25B diesel sound for a battery car. It sucked. So I spent another $50 for an amplifier, and it sucked louder.  All it did was kind of screech, it hardly sounded like any kind of a motor. It was polyphonic, meaning that when the horn honked the motor sound did not work.  So I took it out and sold the whole system I spent $150 on, for $50 on ebay  just to get rid of it. I will never buy another one. Save your money and buy a Phoenix.  You will never be sorry.

Paul

[IRB Souther Engineer]

Okay, another question: does the sound board come with all the plugs to hook it up?

[Chopperthedog]

IRB Souther Engineer

Okay, another question: does the sound board come with all the plugs to hook it up?

 

Yes it does. It's a fine looking board, well built, instructions are good. I installed one in my dash-9 about 2 years ago. Trigger functions for horn and bell work fine with DCC. Over the last 2 years I probably have logged about 500 hours of running on the locomotive and the sound unit has been on for, hmmmmm? maybe 5 minutes. It is an absolute piece of junk that is completely unpleasant to listen to. I have been to lazy to take apart my dash and remove it. I was able to reach in with pliers and pull the power plug from the sound unit. Save yourself some time and money and move on. If you can't afford phoenix (which I can't), Just enjoy the silence and birds chirping.

 

good day.

[IRB Souther Engineer]

I listened to some Dallee products here: http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips10/dallee_tips.html

some OK... others... terrible

[Camaro1967]

 Amen chopper!

 

[mgilger]

I have 5 of these units built into 5 following battery/control cars. I can only speak for the Diesel sounds, as I do not have any steam on my layout.

I'm very pleased with their performance and have never had any problems with them. I have one with their optional amplifier that drives two speakers in a set of SD-45's. The rest drive a single speaker direct from the sound card.

As I recall, I don't think I paid more than $80 for any of them, from miscellaneous vendors at the York show over a 2 year period. Remember the sound quality will be dependent on the quality of the speaker used. 

Regards,

Mark

 

[Greg Elmassian]

 The difference in sound between a Dallee and a QSI or Phoenix is huge to my ears.

 I can buy a QSI for $145 and be happy with polyphonic sound, triggered chuff, the ability to select and upload different sounds, change the bell, horn, prime mover, the sounds and volumes.

The sounds vary in intensity with the actual load on the loco, not just the speed.

For the small additional cost and all the extra features and the much better sound quality, I have passed on the Dallees.

If budget is an issue, I might be able to see the reasoning, but I expect to keep my locos for about 10 years each. Amortizing a few bucks more over 10 years, and having the higher quality all that time seems a fair deal.

Regards, Greg

[IRB Souther Engineer]

QSI isn't compatible with the Aristocraft Revolution...

[IRB Souther Engineer]

Okay, another question: what does the "Force N8" function mean/do?

[Greg Elmassian]

 Sorry, you did not mention the Revolution in your first post.

 And it can be made to do some tricks with the revolution too, but that's another topic.

Regards, Greg

[kstrong]

Depends on what you want out of your sound system. If you want top-end quality, you're going to have to spend the money on a top-end system. The Dallee sound system--or any of the "economy" sound systems--are not in that league. On the other hand, if your typical mode of operation is to let the train run around the garden while you sit on the patio 30' away or so, it's going to do everything you need it to do. Up close, yeah--you can hear the difference between the Phoenixes and Dallees of the sound world. Outside in the garden, unless you've got the volume cranked to drown out the teenager's stereo next door, it becomes much more difficult, in some cases impossible to distinguish. The Dallee holds its own very well there.

On my railroad, I have the volume set fairly low. If the train is on the other end of the yard from me, I don't want to hear it as if it's standing right next to me (and neither do my neighbors). I like to sit trackside and hear the sound of the train get louder, fuller, and richer as it gets closer to me, just like the prototype. If it's on the other end of the yard, I want to just barely make out the whistle in the distance. To me, that goes as far to make a sound system sound "realistic" as the quality of the recording does.

It's natural to compare the high-end systems with the economy stuff, but it's akin to comparing a BMW to a Chevy. They're two different classes of products. If you're the kind of operator who demands everything be as prototype as possible, then you're going to be disappointed in anything less than the top-end systems. If you're the kind of operator who wants plausible sound to come from your locomotive as it trundles around the back yard, then the cheaper systems will work very well for you.

I've got a MyLocoSound diesel sound system (a $70 analog sound board) in a Bachmann Davenport. It's not going to fool anyone sitting right next to it. But it sounds just great running around the garden while I'm weeding, watering, or playing with the kids. It's background noise. (Assuming I can hear it over the kids.) It'd be an absolute waste of money to put a $200 Phoenix board in the Davenport for how I use it. I'll save those systems for my steam locos which I operate standing right next to doing prototypical switching. Dallee makes a line of Doodlebug and other small "critter" sound systems that would be ideally suited for something like Bachmann's rail truck or a galloping goose, or something where it just makes no sense to put a full-blown sound system in.

Later,

K

[IRB Souther Engineer]

Kevin, could you maybe post a video of the Davenport running with the MyLoco Sound system? I'd like to hear it.

[kstrong]

If you search YouTube for MyLocoSound, you can hear some examples. Bear in mind that it's YouTube video, so it's going to be a bit thinner/hollower than what you'd hear in person, but it gives you an idea. I can say that both the Dallee and MyLocoSound systems sound better in person than they do on the YouTube videos I've heard of them. (For that matter, so do Phoenix, QSI, Sierra, and the real thing.)

Later,

K