Tom Stephens said:
SNIP
I would rather pay $30 or$40 more and get remote control and sound that I find acceptable in a small diesel.Tom.
Where are you going to get Remote Control and “Lite Diesel” sound suitable for a small industrial loco for US$ 30 - US$ 40 more than US$ 80 for MyLocosound?
Tom Stephens said:
So you think MyLocoSound is the answer to cheap sound and will sound like a million?!
And you think buying MyLocoSound is not skimping on sound?! Why don’t you use Phoenix sound at three times the price. It should sound a lot better
and I don’t think that is skimping. Your statement sounds more like all the reasons you would not want to use MyLocoSound.
I think MyLocoSound is a good product in it’s place. It is just not for me. I would rather pay $30 or$40 more and get remote control and sound that I find acceptable in a small diesel.
Tom
Maybe I misunderstood your earlier post. You said you wouldn’t put an $80 sound system in a $110 locomotive, which is a sentiment I’ve heard others frequently say. The inference I get from that is you feel cheap locos only deserve cheap sound systems. You follow that up in this quote by saying you’d rather spend an additional $30 or $40 more for fully integrated remote control and sound. So while on one hand you wouldn’t spend $80 for a sound system alone, you would be willing to spend $120 for sound and control? That’s a different sentiment. It’s not “cheap locos only deserve cheap sound,” but “I want a good value sound and control system for this loco.” That’s something I can easily agree with.
On that front–especially small inexpensive critters–there is a wide array of suitable products which fit that bill. Revolution, BlueRail, RailPro, Loco Genie all offer good digital sound with good remote speed and function control. The DCC decoders do as well, though you’ll have to add the cost of a wireless receiver if you want deadrail remote control (add another $100 - $140). In that specific market, MyLocoSound comes up short–primarily because it’s solely a sound system. You’d have to integrate it with a remote throttle of some flavor. It would not be my choice for a sound system to be used in conjunction with 3rd-party command control system, even if its sound is on par or even superior to some of the sounds of its competitors in this class.
Peter may correct me on this, but I don’t see that as being MyLocoSound’s target audience. This product is aimed (as far as I can tell) at the folks who want good sound for their analog-DC locomotives. There are only three real players in this arena–MyLocoSound at $79, Dallee at $150, and Phoenix at $240. In that realm, MyLocoSound offers a very good value for its price. No, it’s not in the same class as Phoenix, but it holds its own very well offering features I wouldn’t expect to see at that price point. You’re not going to find a cheaper sound system that doesn’t sound screaming babies banging on cookie sheets. For those who say “cheap locos only deserve cheap sound systems,” this is as cheap as it gets, and it’s a surprisingly good value, in my opinion.
I totally get not wanting to spend “Phoenix” money on secondary locos on your roster. I’ve got a handful of locos that fit that bill myself. In the end, I wanted sound in them, so I put the system which gave me a good value for how those locos are to be used on the railroad–something to provide simple sound and motion in the garden while I work on other tasks. So maybe it doesn’t “sound like a million” in these specific installations–not compared to my high-end DCC systems. Still, it’s good for what my needs are for those locomotives. If I ever find myself using those locos in a different capacity, I’ll likely swap out the sound for something higher-end. Hopefully that explains the point I was trying to make a bit more clearly.
Later,
K
Tony Walsham said:
Tom Stephens said:
SNIP
I would rather pay $30 or$40 more and get remote control and sound that I find acceptable in a small diesel.Tom.
Where are you going to get Remote Control and “Lite Diesel” sound suitable for a small industrial loco for US$ 30 - US$ 40 more than US$ 80 for MyLocosound?
Tony
Have you ever heard of Train Engineer Revolution? For about $120 I can add my little diesel to my fleet of other remote controlled engines with sound.
It provides a very nice remote control system and sound that I find very acceptable for my use. Don’t play the prototypical card about Train Engineer’s
sound either, because I don’t think (in my opinion) the MyLocoSound fills that bill either. Most people I know don’t know the difference in sound between a “Lite Diesel” and a SD60.
They hear a bell or a horn and that is all. I can trigger the sounds remotely and/or use magnets. The Revolution DCC is even more exciting, but that is for another discussion.
I said before that MyLocoSound is a nice product, but not for me at their price point.
Tom
Excuse me here, but I think adding a decoder to an already operating system is different than adding sound to a loco.
You can discount the Tx, but not all can. That it can be triggered by reed switches means it will work fine with Del’s Critter control or an on/off switch.
It’s obvious (to me) that this product wasn’t aimed at you …
Just to confirm Kevin’s comment, yes our target audience is analog DC using track power or battery radio control. We aim to produce economical soundcards which are flexible and very easy to use and produce sounds which satisfy most garden railroaders.
Regards
Peter Lucas
MyLocoSound
Peter,
I have Mylocosound cards in all of my Bachmann 4-6-0s and other steam locos controlled with Revo. Train Engineers. The Revolution with steam sound doesn't seem to keep up well with the four chuffs per revolution of the wheels, so I use your cards for sound instead. I especially like your newer blue card's sounds.
Getting back to your original question,
I have a battery converted Eggliner controlled by a Revolution. I was thinking about swapping out the original Revo. without sound with a Revo. with diesel sound but now that you're thinking of introducing this new sound card, what type of motor sound would you suggest for an Eggliner?
Adam
All of our trains are DC track powered.
We have several small gas/diesel engines that we run frequently: a couple Macks, LGB rail truck, LGB Schoema diesel and a small something-or-other switcher from an LGB starter set.
I’d be interested in a small, simple, economical sound card for them.
SophieB
Dismal Creek Railroad
I installed the Zimo MX645 in my LGB rail truck. For a decoder at $85 I can control the lights I added (headlights, cab light, tail light) motor, realistic sound and it works on DC and DCC. -+
Of course since I have DCC I added remote Kadee uncoupling and programmed the waltz.
So for almost the amount of a sound only inexpensive unit I have all these great features.
Dan.
Can that MX645 trigger sounds using trackside magnets and reed switches on regular DC? Even if if the DC track power was PWM output?
The MX645 does have one programmable input which could be a reed or chuff sensor.
Since decoders do look for digital signals, PWM or PWC can confuse a decoder. The pwm filter does eliminate this confusion.
MR. Lucas
I run the Bachmann rail truck …a low-cost sound card would be tempting…
I concur with Sean. I also have a Bachmann rail truck that is RailBoss 4 controlled. An inexpensive sound card for this type of engine just might make me consider sound for it and my other 6 Bachmann RailBoss controlled engines.
what type of motor sound would you suggest for an Eggliner?
Now that’s a novel question. I await some answers from our Eggliner experts.
Eggs … a turbo charged 4 banger running at high speed pushing a spur gear direct drive, no room for a generator. She whines a bit.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Electric mixer? 
Later,
K
EGG BEATER …
I think there is defiantly a market for a low cost sound card aimed at critters and all sorts of gas/ diesel engines in America.
Years ago I bought a a diesel mylocosound card for a NW2 and I didn’t like the way it sounded in that so I then put it in my aristo track powered rail truck and it is perfect. I really like the ability to control the horn and bell with a remote instead of reed switches.
Price of course is a sticking point. It is hard to spend $100 for a card and speaker for a engine that might be worth less than that but it is also ridiculous to spend $200 plus on a system that you might not be able to take full advantage of.
Ok, lets say I find the perfect locomotive for my need, on sale, for $80. Then I repaint her, and add detail parts to the tune of $60. Then I drop a sound card in her for $75 (or whatever these boards cost).
So what is the locomotive now worth?
A) going street price of $120.
B) $215 because that’s what I spent on her.
C) More then $215, because she is a one of a kind.
d) less then $120, because she has been “altered”.
Folks can argue each answer, with valid and invalid points for each answer. But she is worth a lot to me, because now I have just want I want, and I got it rather inexpensively, a bonus in my mind. So the argument about cheep locos only “deserve” cheep sound systems, doesn’t quite work for me. At the end of the day, I want to be happy with my equipment, and so I was willing to spend the money for Sierra boards, even for some of my less expensive locomotives. The issue was affordability. My disposable income would not allow me to purchase enough Sierra boards.
Right now I have a collection of sound boards, of various manufacturers. Now I just need the time to start installing them, so that I can determine what board sounds right with what locomotive, and what I still need to purchase.
I don’t want to overspend on sound, being as that am frugal. But I don’t want any of my steamers to sound like a tin can full of rocks rolling down the tracks neither. So if that means spending a bit more for decent sound, then it means spending a bit more for decent sound. The original purchase price, or trade value, of the locomotive, has no bearing on me wanting it to sound good.
You’re confused?
I want to know why a manufacturer’s R/C sound card inquiry became a DCC comparison contest? (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)No unfortunately I don’t need to know why…(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
Never were the DCC crowd asked if they wanted it, it assumed they would have their own. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)Same for other propriety systems… (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
I’m wondering why cost has become an issue, you like it or you don’t. What you do is your biz. $79 does fall under my mad money occasional expenditure limit of a C note. … impulse buys.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
I want a small gas engine that: back fires, races and sputters. I want the passengers to pray they get there…
I don’t want to advertise my toys, the sound is not loud, like my music, so I can still talk to myself! Priorities y’know!
Mostly I’ll want to know when my critter wanders through my daydream…
Pete Thornton said:
what type of motor sound would you suggest for an Eggliner?
Now that’s a novel question. I await some answers from our Eggliner experts.
No eggspert myself on anything. Certainly suggesting Nathan K5’s for horns though.
Now that would be sweet!!!