RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted March 20, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 20, 2014 I've got a regular who is looking for me to fit a Digitrax sound chip to a Bachmann Crab, now I know from experience that this loco can be a bit rough running (I sold mine on because of this) so is the Digitrax motor control up to say Lenz/Zimo standards? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliebanger Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I've got a regular who is looking for me to fit a Digitrax sound chip to a Bachmann Crab, now I know from experience that this loco can be a bit rough running (I sold mine on because of this) so is the Digitrax motor control up to say Lenz/Zimo standards? You are joking Ian, aren't you? 'Problem' locos need the vast array of motor control 'tweaking' CVs that Lenz and particularly ZIMO provide, but since Lenz don't make sound decoders............ Kind regards, Paul. Edited for typo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Short answer is no. The motor control on Digitrax decoders is quite primitive really. Then again for 90% of the locos they were designed for they don't need to be all singing like Zimo. That is reflected in the price. I'm from the old school where if a loco runs like a 3 legged dog on DC its going to be crappy on DCC. Hiding this with all sorts of power smoothing or pulsing and bemf with a £30 decoder is just plastering over the cracks and a lazy way out. Get it running as smooth as possible with naked DC first, then look at DCC. If you really can't get it running good and have to rely on the decoder you can go with a higher end motor decoder and piggy back a Digitrax Soundbug on top. That will give you the better running and the Crab's Digitrax sound project. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliebanger Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Short answer is no. The motor control on Digitrax decoders is quite primitive really. Then again for 90% of the locos they were designed for they don't need to be all singing like Zimo. That is reflected in the price. I'm from the old school where if a loco runs like a 3 legged dog on DC its going to be crappy on DCC. Hiding this with all sorts of power smoothing or pulsing and bemf with a £30 decoder is just plastering over the cracks and a lazy way out. Get it running as smooth as possible with naked DC first, then look at DCC. If you really can't get it running good and have to rely on the decoder you can go with a higher end motor decoder and piggy back a Digitrax Soundbug on top. That will give you the better running and the Crab's Digitrax sound project. Yes, that's a good idea for your own locos if you have all the time needed to effect the required changes, and you will be happy with Digitax sound at the end of it all. Since Ian's client will be paying for his time, however, how quickly will the extra cash a fully featured decoder might cost be spent in labour charges instead? High-end decoder plus Digitrax Soundbug? Seriously? The combined price of decoder and soundbug is around the same as a ZIMO sound decoder but you still only end up with Digitrax sound and have to find space to fit two components instead of one. Where's the advantage in that? Kind regards, Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted March 20, 2014 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 20, 2014 He's going to speak to Jeremy tomorrow ....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliebanger Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Ian, Jeremy will be travelling to the Ally Pally show tomorrow, so after today he's unlikely to be able to speak until Monday. But as Digitrains are moving to new, much larger premises in Lincoln* over the next couple of weeks, they are going to be rather busy. Telephone and internet sales will continue thoughout, but the new shop is due to open on 2nd April. * ten minute walk from both Railway and Bus stations. 15 Clifton Street Lincoln LN5 8LQ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Yes, that's a good idea for your own locos if you have all the time needed to effect the required changes, and you will be happy with Digitax sound at the end of it all. Since Ian's client will be paying for his time, however, how quickly will the extra cash a fully featured decoder might cost be spent in labour charges instead? High-end decoder plus Digitrax Soundbug? Seriously? The combined price of decoder and soundbug is around the same as a ZIMO sound decoder but you still only end up with Digitrax sound and have to find space to fit two components instead of one. Where's the advantage in that? Kind regards, Paul It would be up to the customer to make sure the loco ran properly first. Not Ian's responsibility. Lets, see a good quality decoder is around £28, bit more for a Zimo. Zimo sound decoders start around £90. A soundbug is £36. So £64 for tolerable entry level sound with high end motor control, or £90+ for higher end sound. Hardly around the same price. The SDXH166D at £49 for 16bit sound is a reasonable compromise for someone that doesn't want to spend a fortune. I guess it all depends on what the customer wants to spend. If its someone who is just testing the waters or is slowly adding sound to an existing fleet, a £30-£40 difference per loco is an attractive option. From my standpoint I had over 100 locos with decoders when I first decided to play with sound. Rather than replacing the existing I went the cheap route and piggybacked the bugs. It worked well as a starting point. I've got bottom end sound bugs still running with TCS and NCE decoders as well as top end Loksound, QSI, and Soundtraxx. From 8' away its difficult to tell which is which. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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