HO DCC Decoders

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February 19, 2013

Malcolm asks others for help:

“I am about to change to DCC. I am reading up on it but cannot see an answer to this question. If I want sound do I have to instal 2 decoders or does a sound decoder also perform like a basic decoder to operate the loco?”

Comment below.

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2 Responses to HO DCC Decoders

Louis-Georges says:

March 3, 2013 at 12:44 pm

Hi Malcolm,

As a veteran DC modeler who switched to DCC a couple of years ago, I also wondered about sound. Through many discussions in aw different blogs, I found out there’s no “one and only” answer. Acutally, the only manufacturer that does a single mobile/sound decoder that I actually used is Digitrax. Although Soundtraxx seems to work along many rolling stock manufacturers to provide them whit such a decoder as factory installed but I never got around using them in my locomotive conversions. The first question to answer is the time and money you are willing to spend on converting your locomotive fleet. As I own around thirty DC locomotives, I though I could upgrade them all to DCC with sound. After a few conversions, I decided to convert some and keep the others on a mobile decoder only. If you like sound but don’t want to pay too much, I suggest you lookup Digitrax SDH164D Sound/Motor/Function Decoder. You might like waht you see

Good converting…

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Peter Skennerton says:

March 21, 2013 at 9:14 pm

I have used Soundtrax and Loksound motor/sound decoders and am happy with the results. There are just sound decoders that are aimed at the already DCC equipped locos. I found the cost of a motor and separate sound module is more expensive and may take more space in the loco. Ensure you fit the largest speaker and enclosure you can fit into the space for best sound quality. Be aware of the Ohm rating of the speakers as Locsound requires a higher impedence speaker than most others.

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