Analogue sound units for American diesels?

M

Martyn W

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Hi all,
I have an Aristocraft RS-3 I'd like to fit with a correct sounding (ie Alco) sound unit. I'm aware Aristocraft used to do a sound unit for this loco, anyone know of one available somewhere? Or a Sierra Soundtrax Analogue Alco sound unit (I have these in 3 of my locos but again they don't seem to be available any more?

Failing that has anyone converted a DCC sound unit to run off analogue with battery backup? Any help appreciated!
 
Personal preference but I think the only really good sound unit is the Phoenix but it is expensive. I am told the Soundtrax were good but have never heard one in action. I have a Dallee unit which is rather boring compared to the Phoenix - so much so that IMHO the Phoenix at circa £250 is better value than the Dalle at about £80.

You can view my GP9 with phoenix sound being controlled by a train engineer and with no magnets in the track at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK2Q1Jly9QQ

And another one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXNFOjJX9RI . The GP30 has no sound only the GP9.
 
Oh and I've added a shed load of batteries inside so it will shunt most of the day and keep the sound going. The engine does do a shut down if it doesn't get power for mor than 30 seconds - don't know whether this can be overidden.
The sound ceretainly carried well across the room at the Reading ALSRM show earlier this year.
 
I use Phoenix, Soundtraxx Sierra, Massoth XLS and QSI but have not tried the MRC ones. I have heard the Dallee jobbies and while they are not near the quality of phoenix or the lamented Sierra, they are reasonable for the price. QSI aren't bad at all but their diesel sound are a little 'synthesised' sounding even though the sopunds are based on actual recordings.
If you got the readies then, in IMHO, Phoenix are the best with Massoth a close second but if you can get a Sierra for a decent price then grab it. The others (MRC I cannot vouch for but Gizzy can) are great for giving a mute loco a new lease of life.
 
Have sound traxx sierra in my Alco Pa sounds very nice and a sound traxx in my EMD F3 but have 3 locos one GE and 2 EMD Dallee sound boards got them for around £70 each from the states a few years back for the money they sound good with a good horn and bell worked from reed switches and not to hard to fit . I don't have a Alco Dallee board but you could check there web site as i know they do them .
 
I have the MRC diesel sound modules. I bought a load when they were chucking them out at $10 a piece. But as Mike says, good for making silent locos noisy. Most people who don't know the difference between arch bar, commonwealth and Bettendorf trucks, certainly won't notice the difference in sound units.
 
The little Massoth S sound module will happily run on analogue power, and will cost you around £110 over here or about £90 direct from Germany (plus shipping, but worthwhile if you're ordering several items together). It's also very small (about 20mm x 35mm) so you can fit it in almost anywhere. Just a two-wire connection to track power, and a plug-in speaker connection (the S has a 3watt speaker driver output, paired with a nice big Visaton speaker they sound lovely).
They list sounds for an ALCO, I assume it's actually for the LGB White Pass one but it may be close enough....

Jon.
 
Wow thanks guys, a few ideas to persue there! I'm told by a retailer who used to fit both that the Sierra units are as good as the Phoenix as they are synthesised from the actual prototype. I use Sierra in my GP9, NW2 and S4, at around £120 when I could get them they were good value compared to some, and are very adjustable. I have a scratchbuilt Baldwin AS-616 and an Aristo RDC railcar fitted with Peter Spoerer soundunits which at around £55 are in the "cheap and cheerful readily available sound is better than none" category (search under "mylocosound") but with a decent speaker they are ok, and again the sounds can be adjusted.
I will check out the MRC and Massoth units, though the Phoenix are out of my price range at the moment. As said I'd love to find some more Sierra ones but they seem to have disappeared - I emailed Soundtraxx but was told they are no longer available. Odd as there must still be a high percentage of non DCC G scale modellers out there!:impatient::impatient:
 
IMHO the Sierra was as effective as the Phoenix units. The main differences on analogue being that the Phoenix has a higher output power and the Sierra can be programmed to give more effects such as alternating ditch lights linked to the grade crossing sound.
AFAIK the company that produced the Sierra units made a decision to concentrate their business on the smaller scales. They are still in business and offer service on the old units, so if you have a dodgy Sierra unit it's worth checking with them if it's repairable.
 
Would one of the Massoth S sound units run on battery power? Was thinking around 10V max. What voltage does it start working at?
 
No worries Martyn!

The 40mm speaker supplied with the decoder is best replaced by a larger 80 mm one of 8 ohms impedance. You should be able to find a suitable one easily enough....


Martyn W said:
Cheers Gizzy, have checked out the MRC link you provided, their sound decoder #0001817 looks just the ticket and very reasonably priced at just under $100, so thanks for passing that on!
Gizzy said:
MRC decoders will work on analogue, and they do an Alco one....

http://www.modelrec.com/train-controls/dcc-decoders.asp

I've used one on a V51 diesel....
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
After contacting MRC I decided against their sound unit as it cuts out below 6v and has no battery backup. As I run a shunting layout this is next to useless! After checking the Aristocraft website I found Dallee sound units (the manufacturer of Aristocraft sound units) on Ebay and have ordered one through there (its cheaper than via Dallee's own website, as is the postage). Works out at £86 and has all the facilities I need.:thumbup:
 
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