Loksound?

[Eboy87]

Anyone have experience with these? I've never actually had the chance to play with one, as I've been a staunchly DiGiTrax guy, but as a sound engineer, I'm always looking for the next best thing. I've got a P42 and P40 that I need to start detailing (weather's warming up so I can finally paint). How easy are these to work with? How hard is it to upload sounds? I'm downloading the literature to give it a good read, but I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the cost of 2 DiGiTrax SFX decoder, plus a transponding decoder (requirement for one group I run with).

And a picture of the fleet

 

[ryanstrains]

I don't have any experience with LokSound quite yet (have a MP36 on order and can tell you about it once it comes in..if ever), but have you looked at Soundtraxx? In my opinion Soundtraxx has the best sounds and features packed into a decoder.

 

[Eboy87]

I've only used the older Soundtraxx offerings. They were always "meh" for me. I didn't love 'em, but I didn't hate them. Most of my AC4400 and Dash 9 fleet has them. They were very one-dimensional; no tank purges, no air compressor, just very bland. I've not used the Tsunami series. How are they? One group I run with had issues with the Tsunami-equipped locos drawing too much current and tripping the breaker of that particular power district. I wasn't there so I couldn't give amperages or numbers.

Of course, the speaker and its enclosure have more to do with sound than the decoder. I've heard rumors of new speakers that came out with much better frequency response. They're large enough that they only work in cowl units, with a sturdier surround and cone, and a beefier magnet. I'll probably pick one up and give it a try.

 

[ryanstrains]

I will make a few videos of the Tsunami decoders and of my QSI Titan Equipped SD40-2 so you can get the best overall view of sounds available today, I will update this post as the videos are uploaded.

 

[ryanstrains]

Soundtraxx GE sounds, speaker in the IMRC GEVO is slightly smaller so you loose a bit of the quality that the ACe had.