I think that, unfortunately, the problems with the early MRC decoders caused people to shun them. It's a little short-sighted in my mind, it would be like someone now refusing to buy a Soundtraxx Tsunami 2 because the Soundtraxx LC decoder they bought in 2008 wasn't all that great.
Since I have a fair number of first generation EMD and Alco engines, I find MRC decoders from recent years work well. The sound is good, their single-chime "blat" airhorn choices are just what I need.
Programming is easy - for example, I like to have my diesel's headlights set so the light in the direction of travel is bright, the opposite headlight is on but dim. On some decoders, that required changing three CVs. With MRC, it's only one. CV5 works a little differently than other decoders, so you have to read the instructions.
BTW it's true you can't read back CVs, but mine work fine on DecoderPro. If you're having trouble, and you have a programming booster, try disconnecting the booster. My MRC decoders read and program fine without it.
No, NCE does not make a sound decoder.
I have a question, dose NCE make a sound decoder? I have an ABA set of C&O F7s,two that have NCE D13SRJ decoders in them,the B unit has an MRC decoder first gene decoder early Genisi sound, I want to replace the MRC decoder. What is a good NCE decoder with sound?
I have two Tiger Valley Model C420, they do run (DC) only. They both have brass wheel sets. Dose anyone know if you can swap them for NWSL nickel silver wheel sets?
While I'm not a fan of Digitrax's DCC system, I do like their most recent 8 bit decoders (SDH166D). I've had a lot of luck with them, and they sound great in my Bachmann GP30s. John McMasters from the Yahoo group made a terrific sound set for them. I wasn't about to drop $100+ on a decoder for a locomotive I paid $30 for. These were $44 each.
MRC, on the other hand...ehhh. I can't say I'm all that pleased. I have the drop-in decoder for the Proto 2000 E8/9, and it's an odd product. It has separate common connections that do...I'm not sure what. They don't make lighting work. Maybe it's for 5v bulbs that are too bright? The instructions say any wheel pickup tab can be used as a common. It has acc1 and acc2 functions, and front and rear lights, but it's again unclear what these functions are. I haven't been able to get the reverse light to work for anything.
I now have 6 locos with sound: 3 GP30s with an SDH166D, an Athearn blue box F7 with an SDH166D, the E9 with the MRC 1922 decoder, and a Bachman DDA40X with the Bachmann Tsunami decoder. Of all of them, I think the GP30s sound the best, probably due to the sound set used.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
As I see it, you match the decoder with the engine. If you're talking about a $200 diesel, you spend $$$ on the decoder. If you want to upgrade a LikeLike trainset, an MRC decoder is a good choice - it's cheap and you wont notice the better speed control that a more expensive decoder offers.
Personally, I use Digitrax for all my conversions and where possible, just buy engines with DCC already installed.
gatrhumpy I have three MRC sound decoders and am very happy with them. I love them. They worked perfect right out of the package, and two have been going for more than five years now. I should note I model in N scale, and the diesels I have cannot accept Tsunami or other decoders.
I have three MRC sound decoders and am very happy with them. I love them. They worked perfect right out of the package, and two have been going for more than five years now. I should note I model in N scale, and the diesels I have cannot accept Tsunami or other decoders.
Thanks for that posting Thom, I had forgotten all about this rather interesting and opinionated discussion.Brian
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
After using MRC for 5 years (2006 - 2011) I have finally switched most locos to Tsunami DCC and/or DCC Sound. Best MARS light effect inthe business.
Regarding MRC sound it is not that bad and the 1632 board compliments the SD70 air/electric start, air let off, etc quite well. I've also found programming to be very easy.
Regarding low speed "crawl"...just setting CV2 seems to do the job for me in all Genesis, Athearn and Kato locos. In fact one of my Katos crawls as slow as a Paragon 2 loco and that is "crawl."
I have recycled the MRC decoders into lesser run locos or sold them as used on EBAY. I have only had to return 2 deocders out of 50 (4%) to MRC and they were promptly replaced.
It is all personal preference, budget, etc.
Thom
im going to have to go down this road also i have 2 athearn big boys with MRC , havent run them a whole lot but , im not crazy about the sound & i will have to put soundtraxx with speakers into my proto 2-8-8-2 , but that will be
the end of my sound cause i dont put sound decoders in diesels , just steam
No, I was commenting about Digitrax. MRC decoders have no programming, other than selecting a prime mover option for some (which they DO document) and selecting a whistle (which they do not). ANd some have a selection of bells (also not documented).
Digitrax sound decoders are fully programmable - not only can you change sounds but you cna change the 'script' that plays which sound when, and under what conditions. But unlike Loksound, which can do the same (V4, not Select), it is ridiculously complicated to do - basically you need to program near low lever on the actual processor. Fred Miller has a program that simplifies this greatly, but it's still more complex than Loksound - which is probably why there are only a couple of people even bothering to try. One of the more interesting things Fred came up with is a project that makes the decoder into a multi-sound stationary sound generator - like the Dream Player sort of thing, so you cna have multiple under-layout sounds, like a background of nature sounds with an occasional sawing and tree crash for putting under a lumber camp, that sort of thing. That's what my Soundbug will likely end up being used for.
Loksound Select and QSI allow you to swap the complete sound set, but not adjust the 'script'
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
MRC = Made Really Cheap!
rrinker Like I said, you need to check out some projects made by people who have figured them out. The default ones are pretty poor. The improved ones for diesels have things like notch transition effects and HEP for the F40PH. The steam ones have rod clank and all. The Digitrax sound decoders are definitely not something you simply take out of the package and use, they do requite access to a PR3 to load sounds - the generic default (supposedly) SD38 is blah at best, and the steam sounds in the default sound set are even worse. Both are compromised by having two sound projects loaded at the same time (CV60 switches between them) so there is insufficient memory for either one to be optimized. All the work from the members of the Digitraxsound Yahoo group fully utilize the storage space - one of them leaves less than 100 bytes of memory free when loaded, talk about squeaking it in. There are Youtube videos of both the stock ones and these much improved sound sets, there's simply no comparison. The real shame is that it's so complicated to get the optimum out of these decoders, so only a couple of people are really doing anything. I have MRC, Loksound, and MTH which are all the same Alco 244 prime mover, and the Loksound is definitely the best of the bunch. --Randy
Like I said, you need to check out some projects made by people who have figured them out. The default ones are pretty poor. The improved ones for diesels have things like notch transition effects and HEP for the F40PH. The steam ones have rod clank and all. The Digitrax sound decoders are definitely not something you simply take out of the package and use, they do requite access to a PR3 to load sounds - the generic default (supposedly) SD38 is blah at best, and the steam sounds in the default sound set are even worse. Both are compromised by having two sound projects loaded at the same time (CV60 switches between them) so there is insufficient memory for either one to be optimized. All the work from the members of the Digitraxsound Yahoo group fully utilize the storage space - one of them leaves less than 100 bytes of memory free when loaded, talk about squeaking it in. There are Youtube videos of both the stock ones and these much improved sound sets, there's simply no comparison. The real shame is that it's so complicated to get the optimum out of these decoders, so only a couple of people are really doing anything.
I have MRC, Loksound, and MTH which are all the same Alco 244 prime mover, and the Loksound is definitely the best of the bunch.
I'm a little confused here. Did you mean to aim these comments at the MRC decoders rather than Digitrax??I am beginning to get that feeling that in order to try and get anything decent out of the MRC's you need to be a 'programing type' which is definitely not my forte (maybe age etc, ha...ha)
I had a very recent experience with Loksound decoders. I had purchased a few A-B lashed-up F3 units from Broadway (their Precision Scale Models), with the idea of putting these 'sound chassis under some of my non-sound locos.
I had only run these units a few times to test them out when I got them. I was NOT impressed with their sound (lacking 'body') and very low volume. I took them to the Balt train show (to sell) a few weeks ago, and there discover a Loksound factory representative. I ask him to run my locos and see if he could improve upon their older decoder sounds. We again experienced the very low volume and seemly lack of sound 'body'. He suggested that if I should keep them, I might want to replace the older decoders (V'3.5) with the new V4.0 (I think those model numbers are correct?). BUT he did demonstrate the great motor control capabilities of Loksound decoders.
I brought these units home and ran a little test of my own. Without the shells on, I ran the locos while placing a 'cupped hand' over the backside of the speaker(s). WOW, what a difference, and it seemed that I could even improve upon that sound by the size to my 'enclosure' (cupped hand). I then put the shells back on, but I taped close all those venting fan holes on the roof of the shells. WOW, again I was pleasantly surprised by the 'body' in the sound, and in the horn. I'm keeping these PSM locos now, and do not see a need to upgrade to the newer chip.But one last observation. I think these older model Loksound decoders are fine for diesel engines, but not steam ones. I have listened to numerous Youtube presentations of sound equipped steam engines and NOT found Loksound capabile of giving a good whistle, nor robust sound I'm looking for in big articulated locos....such as the Allegheny:http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15747
...or H7 i'm having kitbashed:http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27672
middleman Larry: I hadn't thought of that - I usually just have sound turned on for the engine(s) I'm running,and then only about 1/2(or less) max. volume. I can imagine that in a club setting,with quite a few engines going,it could be overwhelming,no matter how good the individual units sound. Mike
Larry: I hadn't thought of that - I usually just have sound turned on for the engine(s) I'm running,and then only about 1/2(or less) max. volume. I can imagine that in a club setting,with quite a few engines going,it could be overwhelming,no matter how good the individual units sound.
Mike
Mike,The worst offenders seems to be the MTH steam locomotives..Those suckers are loud.
I enjoy sound but,sure do wish they would lower the volume.I don't say anything about since most of the guys don't have a home layout and the club is the only place they can run their models.
My Bachmann S4 volume is just loud enough to hear up close and fades as the engine moves into the distance.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Hmm, QSI comes out with true stereo sound, suddenly MRC does too. I wonder if their CPU is actually capable of playing two sounds, so they can go in and out of sync, or if it just plays a fixed soundtrack of two prime movers, slightly out of phase with each other that never vary in how out of phase they are.
That's my take on sound regardless of brand after the first 15-20 minutes at the club.
I'm sure if the guys would lower the volume it may not be half as bad.
Like I said, you need to check out some projects made by people who have figured them out. The default ones are pretty poor. The improved ones for diesels have things like notch transition effects and HEP for the F40PH. The steam ones have rod clank and all. The Digitrax sound decoders are definitely not somethign you simply take out of the package and use, they do requirte access to a PR3 to load sounds - the generic default (supposedly) SD38 is blah at best, and the steam sounds in the default sound set are even worse. Both are compromised by having two sound projects loaded at the same time (CV60 switches between them) so there is insufficient memory for either one to be optimized. All the work from the members of the Digitraxsound Yahoo group fully utilize the storage space - one of them leaves less than 100 bytes of memory free when loaded, talk about squeaking it in. There are Youtube videos of both the stock ones and these much improved sound sets, there's simply no comparison. The real shame is that it's so complicated to get the optimum out of these decoders, so only a couple of people are really doing anything.
[
emdmike I also have an Atlas NRE GenSet with a MRC decoder - install went fine, but the sound is really not correct for a GenSet. They advertise about 'stereo' sound - but do not provide dual speakers, and I cannot ofr the life of me understand how one can get 'stereo' in a model train engine. This is just the usual marketing hype you read in their magazine ads. Jim
Jim
When I look at the specs and the photos of this product I see 2 speakers (two 28mm round speakers).http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/MRC-HO-1902-DC-DCC-Sound-Decoder-Diesel-Proto-2000-p/mrc-1902.htmIs the 'stereo sound' claim actually referring to, "Dual out-of-sync EMD 567B Prime Movers for realistic operation" ?Isn't this somewhat analogus to the 'reverb' option on the Tsunami that can make it appear to be two engines??
Sure looks like this subject thread has stirred up lots of opinions, ...really what I was looking forward to....I'm learning, thanks, Brian
PS: I must be sure and review that other subject thread that was referenced above.BTW: One of my ideas here was to utilize a 'dual engine sounding decoder' like this MRC one in a dummy B-loco between 2 A-unit locos of a cheaper brand that I have. Or maybe in the 'fuel tender tank car' between 2 older Spectrum CSX desiels I have. Then I might also put an economy, 'just motor, decoder in the 2 powered locos sandwiching that dummy-B or fuel tender.
I had the opposite sentiment. I despise Digitrax, and would recommend no one ever get them. I had two of them, and the sounds that cats make having sex sound better than Digitrax. The motor control is the worst I've ever experienced, hands down.
That's just my opinion.
Yes, they all seem to come out of the box on max volume, toy train style. For a public venue club show (we're modular and go to different palces) I tend to crank them up, or you can;t hear the sound from even 2 feet away. At home I turn them way down. If one side of my room is supposed to represent a place 15 miles away from the other side, you shouldn't be able to hear the locos working on the opposite side of the room.
middlemanthe only realistic sound was the sound of wailing,and gnashing of teeth.
Though most of my engines are Loksound,QSI,or Tsunami,I have 3 UP 4-8-4s and 1 Challenger that came with MRC decoders(my first engines - I plead ignorance).They all ran,and sounded,awful. I put a QSI Titan in the Challenger,the 4-8-4s are boxed,awaiting new decoders. When running the MRC's,the only realistic sound was the sound of wailing,and gnashing of teeth...and those sounds were coming from me...I can't think of a scenario where I would try MRC again.
Actually, you are using it in DCC mode. When you are operating the Tech 6 in "dual" mode, you are operating it as a very limited DCC system. This actually brings up something else I don't like about MRC, and that is their outrageous, sometimes misleading, advertising. For example they used to specifically advertise their "blackbox" technology as bringing out the sound in DCC lcocos without DCC(they have since changed the wording). No, their "blackbox" technology is DCC.
-----------------------------------------
The Tech 6 has a DC and Dual( DCC) mode and its far advanced then what most realize.
By adjusting the start and top volt in DC you can actually speed match like brands..I speed match 2 Athearn RTR locomotives a GP38-2 and GP40-2 using P2=8..There is acceleration and deceleration momentum in the DC mode.
My P2K DC SW8 and P2K GP7 is set at P3=10(acceleration) and P4= 12(deceleration).The start volt is P2=3 and top volt is P5=7...
I also have a Athearn DC SW7 that is program P2=3,P3=8 and P4=9..P5=5.It only take seconds to program locomotives and I have a list of the DC settings for the locomotives I will be using on Slate Creek.
I use the Dual mode(DCC) with my Bachmann 70Tonner and only set the momentum and speed step.
MRC doesn't recommend running a standard DC engine in the dual mode.
I purchased exactly one MRC sound decoder, just to see for myself if they really are as bad as some people say. Luckily I got it for a large discount. It runs, but compared to my go-to TCS motor decoders, the motor control is horrible. But even more so - the sounds are BAD. It's supposed to be an Alco 244 but compared to others it doesn;t sound much liek one. ANd the horns are all muddled. Speaking of, it has some 16 different horns, selectable by CV - only no one, not even MRC tech support when I emailed them, can tell me which type of horn each one is supposed to be.
It is highly unlikely I will waste any money or time trying out these 'new and improved' MRC sound decoders. If you want cheap sound - Digitrax is much better than MRC< despite the MRC claim of being 16 bit sound whereas the Digitrax is 8 bit. Couple a Digitrax sound decoder with some of the much better executed sound projects (from members of the Digitraxsound Yahoo Group - some are now showing up in the Sound Depot) and you have better motor control and better sound. Still not as good as Loksound, but if you really need to keep the cost down... and MRC wants as much as Loksound, so if you are going to spend that much money, don;t waste it on MRC.
BRAKIE I use the MRC EMD 567 in one of my CF7s..It sounds ok and does the job but I use it in the DC mode on my MRC Tech 6 and I haven't fooled with any of the CV sittings except the horn selection(CV50) and bell type(CV52) and the master volume F13.
I use the MRC EMD 567 in one of my CF7s..It sounds ok and does the job but I use it in the DC mode on my MRC Tech 6 and I haven't fooled with any of the CV sittings except the horn selection(CV50) and bell type(CV52) and the master volume F13.
I returned to the hobby after almost 6 or so years, had nscale and almost all digitrax, but decided HO this time, I started with MRC, honestly not knowing more or doing any research, figuring electronics is electronics. All my engines had MRC and at first I was pleased, but I heard a Loksound, saw how it was excellent at the motor control. I bought one for an Athearn engine, I was sold, now switching all MRC's out to Loksound.
But I will say this, the MRC decoders don't run bad, just not what I wanted, slow speed crawls, and after hearing a Lok, I have decided the sound files are cleaner. Could be me selling myself on the quality.
I won't hate on MRC though, they have been my DC power pack of choice all the years in the hobby, and Frank at MRC is very responsive to any questions. So I give them an A+ for that type of service. There is a nitch for all DCC companies.
I have to agre with Mike. I'm using MRC for two N Scale Kato F-3A units because they are drop ins. But, after much hair pulling and online discussion, I have been unable to modify the top speed setting of either. Which creates a problem, since I had planned on speed matching them to other decoder equiped F's, so I had two sets with sound.
The sound is adequate and I'll only have a couple of sound locos on the layout anyway.
I'm using Decoder Pro and a PR-3 for programming.
If I had another "easy" choice for the F units, I'd switch.
Joel
I have several MRC sound decoders installed. One has been in service for 6-years and another nearly as long. Both have operated without problems.
Our Athearn Challenger came with an MRC sound decoder and worked fine for about a year and then just quit. No amount of tweaking would bring it back to life. I finally just replaced it with a Soundtraxx LC decoder.
Most of my self installed sound decoders are Soundtraxx DSD100 or 101LC decoders. I have a couple of DSX decoders installed as well. Only one failure out of nearly 20 installed. Too bad Soundtraxx discontinued the LC series of sound decoders.
I have a couple of BLI steamers with sound. A Hudson and a Mikado. Both have been in service for years and never given any trouble. I don't believe their sound quality can be beat either.
I don't have a Tsunami or ESU in my collection, yet. The next loco purchase will probably force me to break down and spend the money for one or the other.
For now, I am content with my slightly eclectic mix of sound decoders.
Back to the point. I have no complaints about MRC sound decoders. Those I have personally installed have operated without trouble for years. Maybe I'm just lucky.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
Experience is a big factor to what products one buys.
I have had a BAD experience with MRC sound decoders (2), so I will never buy another one.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.