WOW Sound Decoder, with stay alive

Being a regular visitor to US of A, these steam  sounds, are the nearest i have heard to perfection. Has any body bought or fitted on as yet, and if so, are there any snags. john

I've only heard them in the adverts John.  Do they do UK outline sounds or just USA ?

Have you tried Zimo chips from Digitrains ?  I've got a few of theirs and they're pretty impressive. :thumbs

Petermac hi, no they are only american sounds, but  thats the attraction, and i have Bachmann locos, that would take them.Have not looked at ZIMo, will do so. Have not yet fitted any sound decoders. My prob like many others is the size of my collection. Must have 50 plus DC locos, so  fitting them is just not viable, thats without the 20 odd 3 rail ones. john

Hi John.
              I can also recommend the Zimo sound decoders, having fitted 5 out of my loco stable of 30+ so far. I have also tried ESU sound decoders, but have been put off these, having had 2 in quick succession fail on me, the first within 30 minutes whilst testing before fitting the loco body back, the replacement took a month to arrive from ESU in Germany, then via Southwest Digital, (the UK importers) to my supplier and failed after 45 minutes use. The supplier (Rails of Sheffield) were superb in their service, and readily refunded me after the second failure. Suffice it to say that I don't have much confidence in the ESU decoders after this, although I doubt my experience is typical. Another 'plus' with Zimo is that, type for type, their decoders are physically smaller, useful if you are tight for space to fit one, as is the case with some loco's.
                                  Keith.

Take stock of your locos, and decide which ones you run the most. Those were the ones to sound chip , Its not worth sound chipping locos you only run occasionally


Cheers

   Matt

I certainly wouldn't consider chipping the old 3 rail locos John - heaven knows where you'd even start - …………….nor anything more than around 10 years old ……………..:roll::roll::roll:

Matt's right - there's no point in sound chipping locos unless you run them regularly.  It doesn't matter what brand of chips you use, none of them is cheap !!!

actually chipping three rail loco`s is easy,you just need to isolate the pick -up feed brush,
:thumbs;-):cool:

Silver fox, any chance of posting a diagram, or instructions. Do you run DCC 3 rail. john

http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/HO_Scale/Walthers/Duchess_Class_LMS/Wrenn_
try this site,it explains it better than I can, it is the same procedure for 3 rail,hope this helps
:thumbs;-):cool:
http://www.tcsdcc.com
this one works scroll down to bottom of instalation page, to wrenn loco`s

Hi John,

Nice decoders, although just one of many manufacturers with NA steam sound files (Digitrax, ESU, Soundtraxx, QSI maybe). I prefer ESU Select, often $30 cheaper. Digitrax have recently gone up to 16-bit files, they do the usual sounds (light, medium, heavy steam). Half the price of the others. Haven't tried any. It's rare to found any sounds based on a real engine, they all seem to be tweaked electronically. And they don't sound anything like UK steam.

Nigel

Digitrax are good Nigel, Paul Chetter (a forum member!) does them and they are good, very good!!

Cheers
Ron

[user=1775]g0ibi[/user] wrote:

Digitrax are good Nigel, Paul Chetter (a forum member!) does them and they are good, very good!!

Cheers
Ron

No he doesn't Ron,

He's tried several times to get something decent sounding from Digitrax (the make of decoder) with no real success. The specs aren't up to much, and life's too short to waste trying to polish the unpolishable.

But he does do UK sound projects for Digitrains (the well known DCC specialist retailer) using ZIMO decoders. I suspect that's what you mean.

Kind regards,

Paul

 

As a lapsed (failed),    sound project maker (should that be projector?),    I always recommend Paul's Zimo sound projects for British rail enquiries.

Buy them from Digitrains.

Home page

Hi Paul

[user=1775]g0ibi[/user] wrote:

Digitrax are good Nigel, Paul Chetter (a forum member!) does them and they are good, very good!!

Cheers
Ron

Hi Ron,

El cheapo's? I once tried an 8-bit sound with GWR steam sound files kept getting a bell on slowing down. Hmm. Waste of $60.00. 'Nuff said. Guarantee is good though.

Zimo's look nice but are pricey (nearly $200 Can plus the speakers plus import costs, probably nearer $250), for that money I can get 2 ESU select decoders (same electronics as the V4) with diesel prime mover sounds and 2 decent sized speakers.  All my UK stock for the layout is DCC sound, if a moment of madness arrives (or the winning lottery ticket) and I decide to get a new steam engine I'll give the Zimo a try.

Nigel

Sorry Nigel, I did mean Zimo! (got Digitrax and Digitrains mixed up, must be my age!!)

Cheers
Ron

I'm more than happy to recommend Zimo, Digitrains and Paul Chetter's sound projects.  I can't really compare them with many other sound chips because I only have 3 other makes (I won't name them because they are, in fact, quite good), but Paul's offerings on Zimo chips leave them standing and are, IMHO, absolutely amazing. 

In fact, I think they're probably better than the real thing ………… 

Yes, expensive but this really does appear to be a case of "you get what you pay for" ………….:thumbs

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

[user=1775]g0ibi[/user] wrote:

Digitrax are good Nigel, Paul Chetter (a forum member!) does them and they are good, very good!!

Cheers
Ron

Hi Ron,

El cheapo's? I once tried an 8-bit sound with GWR steam sound files kept getting a bell on slowing down. Hmm. Waste of $60.00. 'Nuff said. Guarantee is good though.

Zimo's look nice but are pricey (nearly $200 Can plus the speakers plus import costs, probably nearer $250), for that money I can get 2 ESU select decoders (same electronics as the V4) with diesel prime mover sounds and 2 decent sized speakers.  All my UK stock for the layout is DCC sound, if a moment of madness arrives (or the winning lottery ticket) and I decide to get a new steam engine I'll give the Zimo a try.

Nigel

 

Nigel,

You're not really comparing similar products.

I don't create any US sound projects, so I don't have a hat in this ring.

ZIMO decoders are fully programmable, that is anyone can create a sound project and load it to the decoder. This is also true of ESU Loksound V4.0 (and earlier versions). In the UK, the prices for the decoders are comparable - but you have to pay extra for UK sound projects to be loaded onto LokSound decoders, that's what makes the difference to retail prices here.  (Or you can create and load your own for free).

The Loksound SELECT can be 're-loaded', but only with complete ESU created sound projects. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you like the ones ESU provide. There has been a dramatic improvement in these over the last couple of years, as they roll out new or remixed versions.

TCS WOW decoders have a huge range of sounds onboard, from which you can select to 'assemble' your own projects. They also come with a significant Stay Alive capability courtesy of included supercaps. Again, US sounds only, but if that's what you are after, happy days.

To add stay alive to Lok SELECT decoders requires soldering to the decoder or purchase of an adapter board. The ESU stay alive unit costs £30 (ish) in the UK.

ZIMO decoders come with wires and control circuitry onboard so you can easily add cheap capacitors for stay alive capability.

ZIMO decoders are available from several delears in Canada, here's the importer/North America distributor:

http://www.mrsonline.net/index.html

No prices quoted, though.

Kind regards.

Paul

Hi Paul,

GWR UK sound project (public domain from the Digitrax site) in a Digitrax sound decoder. Professionally installed. I know nothing about sound files, so it's all black box to me.

John, it wasn't clear whether you wanted US steam or UK steam in your Bachmann's. If you want's US* steam there is plenty of choice (Digitrax, Soundtraxx, ESU, QSI as it looks like they're still in business, TCS, MRC). If you want US steam in your UK steam locomotives (and I've done this in a GWR 28xx with an ESU select medium steam) it doesn't sound too bad, the chuff is a bit too deep in timbre (those oil-drum sized cylinders), but the whistles (and the bells) can be a bit jarring. Plus the random noise from the steam turbine electric generator, air pumps etc. need to be muted to zero. Of course if you know what you're doing and have the equipment appropriate sound projects can be substituted. QSI are interesting as they are designed to drive 2 speakers with independent sound control for each speaker. I have one of these in my BR WR 18000 turbine (with a turbine sound project).

The real point for me is that an ESU Select sound decoder over here goes for around $85.00 US, plus $12.00 for a large speaker. Post free. Big difference compared to a Zimo at £85.00-93.00 plus speaker (or an ESU V4 at £117.50, speaker included) given the current exchange rate (1.52). Even worse if I bought with Canadian funds. Plus the hassle of the tax (add another 15% plus the $12.50 the post office charges). I've never bought a Zimo with UK sound project, so I am unable to comment on the sound (which I'm sure is excellent, as long as it's GWR). A 3W amplifier on the larger decoders is interesting through. Fx power does seem weak at around 80mA per function.

Nigel

*There is only one US these days, all the others changed their names. Brazil for example used to be US of Brazil.



 

BCDR, and others, it may be, you have  not yet, had the experience of  listening to  a WOW sound decoder. There are ones on the net. Once you have heard one, there is Nothing to compare with, on the present market. The drawback, is, its American Trains sounds, although it is tinkerable with. It still brings a lot of emotion to both of us, simply by the haunting true to life sounds. I have plenty of bachmann american locos, to choose from, re fitting. I just want the nostalgia. Sentimental, may be, but those sounds, WOW. john

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

The real point for me is that an ESU Select sound decoder over here goes for around $85.00 US, plus $12.00 for a large speaker. Post free.

Nigel, Select decoders are not available in the UK, they were introduced in North America to compete with the existing suppliers you have listed.

 Fx power does seem weak at around 80mA per function.

Yes, if your figures were correct, that would be true. The power available for ZIMO Function Outputs comes from a common source. Each Function can supply up to 800mA. (Up to 500mA on the miniature decoders)

Nigel