dominic c Motley Can you tell me a little more of this MTH flash upgrade? Or better yet show me where you read this? This is the first I have heard of this. I would like to turn up the volume on some of my engines using the CV's Thanks Joe C Pittsburgh
Motley
Can you tell me a little more of this MTH flash upgrade? Or better yet show me where you read this? This is the first I have heard of this.
I would like to turn up the volume on some of my engines using the CV's
Thanks
Joe C
Pittsburgh
Joe, this news has been out for several months now. I called MTH customer support, and they told me I can have all my SD70Aces upgraded with the new chip.
You can also get Ulrichmodels to do your upgrade for you for $20. http://www.ulrichmodels.biz/servlet/the-Locomotives--dsh--HO-Scale-cln-MTH-cln-Diesel--dsh--Sound/Categories
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
I have several BLI steam engines:
M1b- QSI
I1sa-Paragon II
J1- QSI
Both QSI's have been sent in for repairs. The J1 was my fault. The cost was very reasonable and living close to the company service was quick. They are all great looking and running loco's and I am happy with them. I wish they would make a smaller loco like a 2-6-0 or a 4-6-0.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/
JimStrez Every one of the Paragon 2 locos has jerked sometimes violently enough to shake the 20 cars behind it.
Sometimes that is not a mechanical problem, but a problem with the CV settings.
If you have the Back EMF settings too high for example it can cause problems. I would try setting up Decoder Pro if you don't already have it, and go thru the CVs and maybe try turning BEMF (and momentum) off and see what happens.
You might also try - if you run only in DCC - to change the CV to turn off the "dual mode" capacity so the engine only runs on DCC. Some folks have found that doing that makes the engine run better.
Also make sure the CV29 is set to allow 128 steps.
It may be none of these work, but I'd try these things before giving up on an engine.
Lets not compare BLI to Spectrum. Most will agree that the Spectrum 2-8-0 is a great loco. Both of mine quit running only after a couple hours. The plastic motor gear slips on the shaft. My 44 ton is on its third motor. And both of my K4s could only pull 3 cars without spinning its drivers on a small grade until I added lead to every place I could fit it. The only good spectrum I have is the 4-8-2. That make a score of 1 out of 6. If that is a good track record then why are we complaining about BLI?
If you want the best quality control program then bring back the kit locos. All my Bowsers run great and can pull a house down. Mass production of a precision steam loco is bound to have problems every now and then. By the time a mass produced part is found out of tolerance there could probably be hundreds already assembled and packed. Take side rods for an example. If one hole is off even by a thousandth of an inch there could be binding and poor performance. Testing every loco is impractical so they randomly spot check here and there. The hundred in between could be good or bad. No one knows for sure. At least the manufacture is making good on repairing or replacing defective ones.
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!
OK, I'll chime in.
I have 5 BLI/PCM steamers and 4 BLI/PCM diesels - results vary.
The first, an N&W class A, from the first run, was and remains perfect out of the box.
The 2nd and 3rd, two Reading T-1's, had minor issues which I fixed, poor balance (weight added in smoke box) and drawbar hit tender frame when close coupled - a liitle filing fixed that. They run and pull very nice. I replaced the rubber traction tires with nylon ones from Calumet trains - no more traction tire problems.
4th and 5th - two heavy Mikes, both ran very poorly after only a short amount of use - but I had already heavily modified them cosmenticly - so returning them was not an option - I completely disassembled them and fixed them myself, with some PURCHASED parts from BLI.
The diesels - a four unit set of F3's run very nice.
DISCLAIMER - all of these locos are DC, some came as original "stealth" DC versions, others have been deprogramed by removing decoders, replacing tenders, etc.
Not a great track record in my opinion. Especially considering I have over 30 Bachmann Spectrum steamers and have only had three duds, which they promptly replaced with engines that run perfectly.
And considering the price difference - Bachmann is a considerablely better value - I can't wait for the EM-1's, I think 4 or 5 will do nicely.
Crandell, the Bachmann J is without question one of Bachmann's weak links,and I appreciate the fairness of your comments relating to your experiance with yours.
Just to mention a few, I have nine heavy Mountains, eight 2-8-0's, four 2-6-6-2's, and five 2-8-4's converted to 2-8-2's, two 4-6-0's - all run well and look great.
As for MTH, everything I have seen suggests great mechanical build quality - but until they change their view on the electronics I am not interested. And I must say, I'm not impressed with the oversized cast metal detail, toy like drawbar spacing, and other toy like features of the sound and lighting systems.
But, I don't care for onboard sound in HO, so what do I know?
Sheldon
PS - note all following this thread closely, I successfuly built my first Mantua steam loco kit in 1969 - at age 12.
Orsonroy,
You've got a good point. I don't think there is one manufacturer for which I haven't tweaked a locomotive for one reason or another. Granted, I don't use diesel so I accept this. I've got quite a few brass models that are waiting their turn in the shop/workbench for tweaking and upgrade. I have even more from Bowser, Walthers, and yes, Bachmann's that all need tweaks for one reason or another. I can't say there's a huge price differential to any of these frankly in comparison to the brass models I have.
JimStrez orsonroy: ... I would love to get my T1 running perfectly. It's beautful when it 's not convulsing.
orsonroy:
... I would love to get my T1 running perfectly. It's beautful when it 's not convulsing.
Has your T1 been returned to you 'repaired'? I wonder if the techs and BLI found nothing really wrong with it, which kind of leads me to suspect there is something about your DCC system, maybe speed steps on your throttle, or something that doesn't allow this one engine to perform well on your layout. Stranger things have turned out to be the case after tons of shipping costs and transit time have passed in the night.
I will be the first to admit that the past two years don't seem to have been kind to BLI. People have written posts on their website forum complaining about Paragon and Hybrid locomotives. In most cases, pretty much all of them in fact, BLI or other membes have helped to get them fixed.
Are your Paragons the first round or the Paragon 2s?
I have a Paragon Hudson that I have no problems with (didn't even have to "tweak"). The Paragon 2s are the issue.
Maybe we need a post on how to tweak with some visual aids. I would love to get my T1 running perfectly. It's beautful when it 's not convulsing.
Strezzy
Add me to the list of BLI steam fans. I have owned nine of them: four of the original Blue Box USRA Heavy Mikes, and five of the Paragon USRA Lights (I'm down to one heavy, simply because I needed more of the lights!). I've had ZERO problems with any of them, aside from some overlube issues. They all run great and have been behaving themselves very nicely, even the four that I currently have on loan to a friend who's backdating a LARGE home layout from 1970 to 1956. Those engines have been run heavily for two years now without a single problem. I plan on selling off what's left of my BRASS USRA Mikes in order to get more BLI Mikes.
Speaking of that large home layout, my friend also has about a dozen BLI light and heavy Mikes of his own. He's had ZERO mechanical issues (he's a bit pickier than I am when it comes to decoders, so does occasionally rip out the BLI guts and replaces them with Tsunamis). I have another good friend who has another eight or 10 BLI Mikes as well, and he hasn't mentioned any problems with them either. Considering he's investing dozens of hours and LOTS of money on each engine to superdetail them to match a specific prototype, I'd think that he'd want to shake out any problems beforehand!
One thing I seem to see in this thread is that people have no clue as to how complex and fussy steam models really are. That most BLI engines look AND perform AND sound great right out of the box is a minor miracle compared to what this hobby has dealt with since the 1920s. Except for a couple of the commenters on this list, I doubt anyone here has ever fiddled with a Mantua or Bowser engine to get it to run reliably enough for mainline use; getting those same engines to perform well enough to SWITCH with can lead to "colorful" language. If most of you guys who were sending BLI steam back to have thrust washers installed saw the mess of brass Key and Oriental steam parts on my workbench right now, you'd all faint!
Ray Breyer
Modeling the NKP's Peoria Division, circa 1943
Been in that boat, too, Jim. I understand...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Point taken - frustration was speaking more loudly than sense.
JimStrez If the other manufacturers are so bad, where are all those posts? I'm not talking about 1 bad loco. I'm talking about 4 out of 4 locos and 3 out 3 releases in my experience. I don't care about great customer service if the loco is junk!!!! (Underscore mine)
If the other manufacturers are so bad, where are all those posts? I'm not talking about 1 bad loco. I'm talking about 4 out of 4 locos and 3 out 3 releases in my experience. I don't care about great customer service if the loco is junk!!!! (Underscore mine)
Jim,
I think your last statement is a bit strident when referring to BLI.
As I said in an earlier post, I have a love-cautious relationship when it comes to BLI locomotives now. Newer releases from them may come with issues but the issues are - in most cases - fixable. I may not enjoy having to send them into BLI for repair but at least they honor their guarantee and fix them.
And when they aren't fixable, BLI has been very good about replacing the defective units. In my case, the four steamers that I sent back for repair came back running very well and issue free; one them was replaced completely.
Junk locomotives, OTOH, are junk when you buy them. And - no matter how much time, effort, and money you put into them - they aren't going to yield you a better or improved product.
So, I do agree with you that for the price, QC should be much better with BLI releases. However, calling them junk is hardly fair. My
I understand that one may get a good running loco here and there, but it certainly sounds like the frequency of taht occurrence with BLI's HO, Steam, Paragon 2 (not 1) series, is less than desirable. In my opinion 50/50 is no good.
If the other manufacturers are so bad, where are all those posts? I'm not talking about 1 bad loco. I'm talking about 4 out of 4 locos and 3 out 3 releases in my experience. I don't care about great customer service if the loco is junk!!!! If t it never runs properly, what's the difference. Also, If I shell out $300 at the cheap end for a loco, I would expect at least 1 out of 4 to work properly. So far I have heard that most people are satisfied with the older Paragons... not the Paragon 2s (i.e. Korea vs China). I expect to "tweak" a loco after it has run propely for some time - not when I buy it!
If it's a Digitrax issue, why not disclose you have a problem with that booster? Which leads to another issue I didn't even mention of BLI posting features on the locos that don't exist in the end product. Even after I told them, they did not change the description.
I am aware of the family name in the BLI company and I am not "friends" with MTH either so whatever rivalry exists between them and their supporters is irrelevant. The product QC at BLI is clearly off, at best. They should be addressing that if they want to survive. If american built solves that issue, perfect, but even Korean built seems to sit fine mith most.
Posts like this should exist to warn people that they are taking a chance with the product. Posts like this should also be read by the manufacturers so they can make a better product.
Hi again!
To paraphrase a previous poster...............
We (on this forum) often hear about the guy that got a "lemon" loco or car or whatever. But for every "lemon", there are a whole lot of guys that got very satisfactory products. As I wrote earlier, I did get an RSD-15 w/o the sound system it was supposed to have. But, BLI took care of it for me, with no problem.
These new fangled locos are complicated precision machines, and there will be problems - and hopefully they are few and far between.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Just for the record, we have seven steam locomotives 4-6-4 and larger. Two of them are BLIs. A Mikado and a Hudson. The Mikado has been in service since Christmas of 2004 and the Hudson since 2005. Both locomotives operate flawlessly and at any speed, and both have hundreds of hours on the layout.
I have no experience with BLI's more recent offerings, but for the money I don't think there is a better steam locomotive available than the originals from BLI.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
locoi1sa galaxy: Although I have never personally bought a BLI steamer, I have read WAY to many reports here on these forums about bad performance, poor performance, lack of performance, no performance, need of repairs, need of "tweeking" to get it to run right and returning it to the service department, waiting for the service department, having to return it AGAIN to the service department, that I have officially decided that for the money they charge less the apparent quality issues equals a "no purchase order" from me. G. What you don't see are the thousands of satisfied customers of BLI steamers. I have 7 of them ranging from the early Paragon to the Paragon 2 I1sa. The only problem I ever had was with a Blueline J1 with a broken gear. A quick Email to BLI got me 2 sets of gears in less than a week and a quick note with helpful instructions. In less than an hour it was running like a Rolex. My Blueline M1b ran for an entire weekend train show both days non stop. This loco probably has well over 200 actual miles on it with no troubles at all. My two I1s (PCM and Paragon 2) run great together and I team them up with a brass I1s and BLI J1 regularly at the club in pusher service. I bet a few of your problems will go away if you change out the traction tired axle with all metal. The traction tires are not very uniform in thickness. Pete
galaxy: Although I have never personally bought a BLI steamer, I have read WAY to many reports here on these forums about bad performance, poor performance, lack of performance, no performance, need of repairs, need of "tweeking" to get it to run right and returning it to the service department, waiting for the service department, having to return it AGAIN to the service department, that I have officially decided that for the money they charge less the apparent quality issues equals a "no purchase order" from me.
Although I have never personally bought a BLI steamer, I have read WAY to many reports here on these forums about bad performance, poor performance, lack of performance, no performance, need of repairs, need of "tweeking" to get it to run right and returning it to the service department, waiting for the service department, having to return it AGAIN to the service department, that I have officially decided that for the money they charge less the apparent quality issues equals a "no purchase order" from me.
G.
What you don't see are the thousands of satisfied customers of BLI steamers. I have 7 of them ranging from the early Paragon to the Paragon 2 I1sa. The only problem I ever had was with a Blueline J1 with a broken gear. A quick Email to BLI got me 2 sets of gears in less than a week and a quick note with helpful instructions. In less than an hour it was running like a Rolex. My Blueline M1b ran for an entire weekend train show both days non stop. This loco probably has well over 200 actual miles on it with no troubles at all. My two I1s (PCM and Paragon 2) run great together and I team them up with a brass I1s and BLI J1 regularly at the club in pusher service.
I bet a few of your problems will go away if you change out the traction tired axle with all metal. The traction tires are not very uniform in thickness.
Pete, that may well be. There may be 3.5 million satisfied BLI customers out there with 35 million locos that ran {run} great and fine.
But I have seen more actual reports of failures on the forums than I have seen bad press for Bachmann! THAT does not bode well for BLI. The negative press can do far more damage than the positive IF it was posted. Perhaps it is because people spent $200-$300 on them, and expected more quality for the extra money over a "cheap brand" like Bachmann is supposed to be.
Bachmanns are the ones people like to claim are "junque". I own 13 Bachmann and one Athearn locos. ALl my Bachmanns are DCC OnBoard. Only one "growls" at lower speeds, and although I know naught about fixing such things. i supose I should send it back to Bachmann. I have had narry a problem "right out of the box" with any of the Bachmanns, except that one that growls at low speed. Each has had many hours of use, save the Athearn. Why? cuz i just don't like it.
If it IS true that only one manufacturer in CHina makes all locos, or even if only a small number of factories do, then bad quality issues will transend the lines, regardless of final price put on the item.
SELECTOR/CRANDELL: your problem was :" I only ever purchased one Bachmann Spectrum, and that was supposedly a NIB J Class from a reputable dealer on 'that auction site'". It may NOT have been "new in box" or may have sat a long time, etc etc, "reputable dealer" or not.. Many items I see reported on the "famous auction site" were actually "NEARLY new in box" or "ALMOST new in box" or "WELL USED, BUT LIKE new in box" instead. I would have sent it back to Bachmann {as I should mine that growls} because I can tell you my Bachmanns-even the one that growls- run great at slow speeds. But I bet you already know everything I said
Have a good day Pete. and All...
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Crandall you are not alone on the Spectrum J engine. My 610 did not like slow and if there were any flaws in the track it would pick up the tender and rarely (as in never) placed it back on the rails. Poor design in the tie bar.
Other Spectrum engines, like the 2-8-0 and the heavy mountain are great runners.
Massey
A Veteran, whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Darth, I only ever purchased one Bachmann Spectrum, and that was supposedly a NIB J Class from a reputable dealer on 'that auction site'. Neither I nor my very skilled local engine fixer buddy, a brass and plastic collector and decoder installer/repairer for years, also an electronics enthusiast, could get it to work smoothly below 20 scale mph. I finally ordered a Stealth Paragon J from another fellow, also deemed new, but it had a split gear. BLI asked for proof of purchase, which I supplied them as a jpeg attachment to reply email, and they promptly (next day) invited me to send it in. That represents one of five times I have sent a BLI steamer in for repairs, two others also warranty, and two my own fault. They fixed my Hudson for nothing anyway, very nice, except for return shipping only, and the fourth was my precious PCM Y6b that I dropped. That was $40 for everything, returned to me.
I know that many people make good use of the Bachmann line, so I am not going to assume my J was representative. People have raved about the Spectrum 2-8-0, and I hear good things about the other J's, their Heavy Mountains, etc.
For the price of these things, you'd think the QC would be a lot better. Imagine if ABC Grooming Shear Company that sells $350 professional quality dog grooming shears to my daughter had a return rate even close to what it seems to be in our hobby! Sony and other companies sold $99 DVD players before the newer BlueRay ones came into the fore. I'm sure their failure rates were nothing like what the HO hobby seems to have to deal with these days.
Crandell
I've only made one BLI purchase. It's a Brass Hybrid Dreyfuss Hudson. One of my most beautiful steam engines. But, it had a number of problems out of the box. I ended up fixing them myself instead of going to BLI, after what I've heard about their repair department.
Motor wire was rubbing the flywheel. Moved the wire.Rear truck spring was lifting entire engine, causing terrible performance. Clipped the spring for proper pressure.Front driver springs were a little too heavy. Squished them down a little, now they're fine.Traction tire drivers were a little wobbly. Swapped them for the regular drivers.DC models are imbalanced. Added about 1oz. to the front of the boiler.Tender was sitting very low. Added washers between the trucks and frame for proper height and levelling.
It's quite a nice runner now. Very smooth and quiet, with average slow speed performance. I love the thing, but come on!! I shouldn't have to do this much to make a $300 steam engine run right! My cheaper Spectrums (minus the Shay) ran great right out of the box, and it's supposed to be Bachmann who has the poor QC!
_________________________________________________________________
galaxy Although I have never personally bought a BLI steamer, I have read WAY to many reports here on these forums about bad performance, poor performance, lack of performance, no performance, need of repairs, need of "tweeking" to get it to run right and returning it to the service department, waiting for the service department, having to return it AGAIN to the service department, that I have officially decided that for the money they charge less the apparent quality issues equals a "no purchase order" from me.
SMassey It is a tad too loud for my layout in my little shed but it is a smooth runner. Massey
It is a tad too loud for my layout in my little shed but it is a smooth runner.
That's easily rectified, Massey: Just turn down the volume on your SD40-2 decoder to 50%. You should be able to do this either through your throttle, or by removing the shell and turning the volume knob manually. Your BLI locomotive manual will have details on how to do this.
jeffrey-wimberly I've had exactly ONE (1) BLI steamer and I'll never buy another one even if it's on sale for $30. The ONLY steam loco I've had that ran worse is a Bachmann 0-6-0 that I gutted and made into a rusty steamer display. I gave the BLI away and I seem to remember the new owner made it into a dummy.
I've had exactly ONE (1) BLI steamer and I'll never buy another one even if it's on sale for $30. The ONLY steam loco I've had that ran worse is a Bachmann 0-6-0 that I gutted and made into a rusty steamer display. I gave the BLI away and I seem to remember the new owner made it into a dummy.
I would tend to agree.
I thought MAYBE MTH would be better {?}, but apparnetly NOT. I have read way to much about their failures to believe THAT for a minute either.
They say that all the models of washing machines are made in the same exact factory in China, and I believe the same is true of locos. Apparetnly crap comes out of the loco factory, regardless of brand name or price. Apparently CHina seems to think "Americans will buy any junk we throw at them and think it a bargain" It's time we showed CHina we will not accept "less than".
If we brought back AMERICAN jobs and QUALITY to the locos, I WOULD WILLINGLY pay $300 of my hard won money for a QUALITY AMERICAN MADE loco!
Until them, my cheaper $100 or so steamer or $50 diesels of Bachmann DCC OnBoard locos with simple DCC board and control {I don't "do" sound} , operated on my simple Bachmann EZ COmmand DCC controller {regardless of where made} makes me just fine and happy.
No, you are not alone, Jim. While I have greatly appreciated the NYC offerings from BLI over the years, I have been less than enamored by their "running" quality. I have five BLI locomotives - all steamers:
ONLY the first one - an original Paragon series locomotive - has never needed to be sent to the BLI back shop in Ormand Beach, FL for repair. The Mohawk, Hudsons, and Niagara all had slight binding issues with the drivers. Both of the Paragon2 Hudsons also had decoder/shorting issues during programming.
To give BLI credit, they have fixed each one of the locomotives the first time and never charged me a cent for the repairs. And they all run beautifully. The binding issues were fixed by shimming the slop out of the drivers. With the Brass-Hybrid, BLI completely replaced the unit. The decoder/shorting issues were related to the smoke unit, which has been manually turned off. I believe BLI replaced one of the Paragon2 decoders completely.
With that said, I would be hesitant about ordering another BLI steamer. While I much prefer the quality of the detailing of BLI models to their MTH counterparts, MTH units do consistently run better. I am NOT sold on the Paragon2 decoder either. While the sound has improved, the low-speed response is only slightly better than the original Paragon series locomotives - even after tweaking Vstart (CV2). (NOT the improvements that I expected with a newer decoder design.) The shorting issue was very annoying to deal with.
I still like and prefer the Blueline series concept. My Niagara is a real sweetheart. It did have slight binding issues but they were quickly resolved by BLI. I love the idea of being able to choose my own motion decoder. I chose a Lenz Silver MP decoder (which was on BLI "recommended" list. of decoders for compatibility) because it had excellent BEMF.
Never had a problem programming the Lenz decoder with the built-in Blueline sound decoder. My Niagara crawls as well as - if not better than - my smaller yard switchers at speed step 001 and puts the Paragon2 decoder in my Hudsons to shame, in that respect. And given the choice between good sound and excellent running ability? I'll take the latter - hands down - EVERY time!
I really do like BLI...but I am struggling with the QC issues that seem to have plagued them the past few years, in regards to my locomotives. So, I'm pretty much done with buying any more BLI steamers - i.e. unless BLI comes up with a completely new and different NYC offering that I can't refuse. (Go ahead, BLI - Try me! )
And I have NO desire to buy any of the MTH locomotives. While they do run well, their detailing isn't as good as BLIs and they have more of a toy-like appearance to them. I'm not too keen on the proprietary DCS decoders and the lack of ability to adjust CVs either.
JimStrez,At my club, we've had similar problems with the new Paragon 2's. It started with the very first Paragon 2's, the AC6000's. It drove me nuts trying to find the problem and fix it. Well, I never really determined what the problem is, but the solution that worked was replacing the Digitrax booster.
The issues with the sudden stop of the Paragon 2's only happened in blocks powered by that certain booster. No other engines did it, and the Paragon 2's only did that in that booster section. I pulled it out and replaced it, and the problems went away. I sent the booster to Digitrax, but they couldn't find anything wrong with it.
All I can figure is that the new Paragon 2 decoders pull a lot more power than the old ones, especially with a smoke unit (which might explain why your Mikado was sort-of okay as it doesn't have smoke). I also have a new Paragon 2 Mikado, and I've used it on my home layout (just a Zephyr). I didn't have any problems with it there.
Meanwhile, my BLI Paragon 1 New Haven I-5 4-6-4 steam engine is the pride of my loco fleet. I was able to haul 14 heavyweight passenger cars around my club's layout with ease duing the last operation session.
Paul A. Cutler III
I have a number of the older Blueline and Paragon series but only a couple of the new Paragon 2 series. I've only had one issue with an older Paragon Hudson. It had the slow speed issue you're referring to but I haven't bothered getting into the engine to see what the reason is yet. I can't say I've had any of the issues you or others refer to.
First generation Paragon here. I have an SD40-2 that is also first gen Paragon and it runs great as well. It is a tad too loud for my layout in my little shed but it is a smooth runner.
Mobilman, Wow, they do a lot of moving around.
I'm just plain worn out from all of that traveling.
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
Hi!
I've got 3 BLI steamers and 6 diesels - all HO with DCC and sound. They are my "best" locos, and I have well over 50 from various manufacturers.
That being said, one of the RSD-15s wouldn't produce any sound. I sent it back and it turns out the sound unit was just not installed at the factory! BLI took care of that, and while I was without the loco for 6 weeks, it is just fine now.
The thing is, these locos are really complicated and delicate pieces of work. Imagine being manufactured overseas, stuffed into a container, trucked to a ship, loaded on to the ship, and days later unloaded from the ship and reloaded to a railcar, travel across the country, get unloaded from the railcar and loaded onto a truck, driven to the warehouse, unloaded to storage, subsequently shipped to a distributor or a retailer - typically by truck, unpacked, and then repacked, put on a UPS truck, then on a UPS plane, then onto at least one other UPS truck, and dropped (hopefully not to hard) upon your doorstep.
Yikes, just the thought of that makes me wonder how any of them are OK !