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Are Decoders Expensive?
Dave has a question for others in the hobby and asks:
“Why are decoders so darned expensive? Especially sound decoders? The technology has been out a long time but the prices don’t seem to be coming down at all!”
Add your thoughts to Dave’s posting.
3 Responses to Are Decoders Expensive?
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Dave, I think model trains are like so many other products. The manufacturers make their money on the accessories. I recently purchased a printer for my computer and it cost me just $38 … cheaper than the replacement ink cartridges. I also went to my local auto dealership to buy one tiny screw for my car key lock. They wanted $3.80 for it when I know the cost of producing it at the factory would have been less than one cent. We all do model trains as a hobby, but the manufacturers are operating commercial businesses where they are answerable to their shareholders. I’m not trying to justify the prices they charge, but just simply state a a reality.
I am not sure that the comment that decoders are that expensive. I have recently purchased a couple of them for my new locos and found that they are approximately 10% of the DCC ready locomotive price. This seems reasonable to me to access the flexibility and realism that the decoder provides.
These days for decoders, you get a lot of bang for your buck. In my opinion, decoders are very affordable. Sure there are expensive decoders, but those are the cream of the crop, top notch best sounding decoders. Non-sound decoders I can find for $15ea or less, now that’s cheap. One of my favorite sound decoders is the DigiTraxx SDH164D, for my HO equipment. This decoder I can buy for around $43.00. It comes pre-loaded with a Steam loco and a Diesel Loco sounds on it, it also has a “Chuff Cam” input for Steam Chuff sync Cam. Or you can run “Auto Chuff”. If you don’t like the sounds the decoder comes with, you can go onto the Digitraxx web site, and down load different sound schemes from their sound library. You will need to purchase their down load interface pod for $75 to connect to your PC’s USB port, to your programming track. I do like the sounds I found in the library, but you can actually download you own sounds too. So far, I have not tried that. For decoder programming software, aside from the Digitraxx software, you can get JMRI (Java Model Railroad Interface) on the web for free. It is great for setting up and programming you decoders, if you don’t want to use the Digitraxx Pod. As far as I know, JMRI should work with most DCC systems. Warning, once you go DCC & Sound, you may never go back!