RMweb Premium newbryford Posted August 18, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 18, 2018 Has anybody used these sound decoder kits? https://tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Products/WOWKits/Diesel/index.php They seem like a good solution for US prototypes. Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gismorail Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Has anybody used these sound decoder kits? https://tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Products/WOWKits/Diesel/index.php They seem like a good solution for US prototypes. Cheers, Mick Good information thanks have you hear any of the projects Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted August 18, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 18, 2018 Good information thanks have you hear any of the projects Just searching through youtube. This seems like a good selection of what is available. (Pity they don't do UK horn as the EMD 710 turbo sounds pretty good) Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 Just searching through youtube. This seems like a good selection of what is available. (Pity they don't do UK horn as the EMD 710 turbo sounds pretty good) Cheers, Mick Reasonable 8Ohm speakers but lacking in any bass sadly. Charlie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted August 18, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 18, 2018 Reasonable 8Ohm speakers but lacking in any bass sadly. Charlie Maybe Bif needs to branch out into US stuff......................... Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliepetty Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 We would IF we had the time, far too busy doung what we do. Currently shovelling them out! Charlie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 I haven't used TCS Wow Sound although it was generally well received by US modellers when introduced a few years ago. I have US locos with Turbocharged EMD prime movers from ESU Loksound, Tsunami and QSI and I find that all lack bass when compared to Legomanbiffo's Class 66, which , of course, has a 710 series prime mover. Mal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowlander Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 Hi Good find Mick. They do sound good. I didn't see any prices on the Web page though. As for sound maybe a double sugar cube would provide the bass. Or a double of i-phone 6s would do. Doesn't give as much bass. But very clear. Regards Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted August 20, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 20, 2018 Hi Good find Mick. They do sound good. I didn't see any prices on the Web page though. As for sound maybe a double sugar cube would provide the bass. Or a double of i-phone 6s would do. Doesn't give as much bass. But very clear. Regards Stephen From looking around, prices vary from dealer to dealer. I've also discovered that the very helpful Kevin at CoastalDCC here in the UK stocks them. Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT42CWRDriver Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 I've just fitted an Atlas GP38 with a Wow kit, purchased from Coastal DCC. Instead of the supplied speaker I cut down and resealed an iPhone 4 one fitted on top of the rear weight which I milled for clearance. The rear led was glued on top. I'm very pleased with it so far, I especially like that when it moves along at slow speed it will sound like it's going into notch one or two and then back to idle whilst the loco speed remains constant. I drive Emd locos for a living and hate when you see a sound equipped loco running light at slow speed with constant revs. On the real thing the load regulator soon has you up to about 15mph with a continuous notch one selection. It has to be a notch one - off - notch one - off sequence for continued slow speed running, unless the slow speed control (pacesetter) is engaged. The audio assist is easy to use and there are a multitude of bells and horns to choose from. If you decide at a later date you want to fit the decoder to another loco you can change the prime mover as well. The keep alive function works very well too, the sound will keep going for quite a while after you lift it of the track. The only down side so far is the standard slightly jerky TCS motor control, it is just not in the same league as ESU, Zimo or Lenz and unlike Soundtraxx you can't adjust it. I don't think I'll buy another one until I've tried a Tsunami 2 with the Dynamic Diesel Exhaust function. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted August 20, 2018 Share Posted August 20, 2018 The WOW kits are very convenient...however to my eye/ear they suffer from a lack of variety. Example - no specific EMD switcher sounds such as no V12-567 as heard in an NW2. No V6-567 as heard in an SW1, and so forth. ESU has a much broader variety of sounds available and with the Full Throttle feature the ESU has been my go-to after starting with TCS. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Scottish Modeller Posted August 20, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 20, 2018 Hi all, I have several of these decoders and they really do benefit from a change of speaker. I use a Bass Reflex speaker mounted as low down in the chassis as possible. In most cases this means a lot of heavy cutting! Even then - still not as good as an ESU with Bass Reflex speaker. Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted October 5, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 5, 2018 Purchased a ATH-3 kit for my Athearn Genesis SD45-2. This was from a cross-referenced list on the TCS website. The kit came complete with a rectangular speaker. Turns out, I should have got the ATH-8 kit (listed as SDP45....) This has the round speaker that fits into a round recess in the chassis that is exposed when a weight is removed. https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/athearn-sdp45/wdk-ath-1 Anyway, Kevin at Coastal had the correct speaker in stock and with his usual prompt delivery - it turned up a day later. (The rectangular speaker will be used on another project) All installed very quickly and efficiently. I've installed sound decoders in plenty of locos and fitting this in was one of the easiest installations I've done. TCS have a "audible assist" that simplifies programming without having to refer to printed instructions and changing CVs, however...... Even though I listened to the instructions, I couldn't get it to save my changes until I found a flowchart online at the TCS website. https://tcsdcc.com/sites/default/files/2018-05/Audio%20Assist%20Diesel%20V4.pdf What the Audio assist didn't mention was to press F8 to save the selected changes. In this case, reading the instructions did pay off.................... even though I'd listened to them. Quickly sorted and I now have a SD45-2 with the correct prime mover sound. I will be certainly looking at the Wowkits again to fit sound to some of my US fleet - next up may be my pair of CF7s....... (Daughter is going to USA for vacation holiday soon and may purchase a couple as my Christmas pressie to myself.....) Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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