ESU 59925 LokPilot with E24 interface now available

[reinhardtjh]

Thank you. I had NO idea Digitrax was doing sound. My memory of them was from years ago.

Yeah, the early ones sucked kinda bad (blow a whistle/horn and your loco slowed down or stopped due to power drain!) But the newest ones aren't bad.  Again, not as good as ESU, but not as expensive either.  With the McMasters sound files they probably rank 3rd or 4th in quality after (my ranking) ESU, SoundTraxx, and maybe BLI (N scale)

[peteski]

Yeah, the early ones sucked kinda bad (blow a whistle/horn and your loco slowed down or stopped due to power drain!) But the newest ones aren't bad.  Again, not as good as ESU, but not as expensive either.  With the McMasters sound files they probably rank 3rd or 4th in quality after (my ranking) ESU, SoundTraxx, and maybe BLI (N scale)

Just few weeks ago,  because of the clearance problem with the LokSound5 in a Kato PAs, friend of mine and I ended up installing SDXN167K0A decoders in his PAs  (while we held our noses, because we had previous experience with Digitrax sound decoders).

Off the bat, we had all sorts of issues with them.  These Kato locos use standard motors that Digitrax decoders should have no problems controlling.  My friend already has many Digitrax non-sound decoders in his loco fleet and they run ok.  Well, these had really jumpy speed control (no, it was not speed steps mismatch). One of the decoders started totally misbehaving (motor control, sounds, and headlights - reset did not help). He ended up sending it back to Digitrax for repair (which they did).  We messed around with BEMF settigns, and finally ended up disabling BEMF, to make them run smoothly.  This motor control we encountered was a different behavior from the other Digitrax non-sound decoder he uses.

Other issue was the white LED front headlight (which comes installed on the decoder) kept on flickering. I remembered that found out that Digitrax transporting uses the headlight circuit (for a load?), but in the past the factory setting was transponding disabled.  However on these decoders is enabled by default, so thankfully disabling transporting cured the flicker.

The decoder also has  only very basic function remapping capability. And it also has a capacitor dangling for it, so a spot for it has to be found. We ended up replacing that cylindrical cap with more typical caps we usually use as keep-alives.   Also replaced the round speaker with a sugar-cube type speaker.  Still, even with all those modifications I would only call this decoder as "serviceable".  I guess I'm spoiled by higher end decoders.

SDXN167K0A Decoder Features:
    8 CV-Selectable Steam & Diesel Sound Schemes Included
    6 FX3 Functions, 200ma Output
    8 Ohm 13mm round Speaker
    External 100uF Capacitor

John I would not be as kind to those decoders as you are.  Saying "not as good as ESU" is like saying a "Ford Pinto is not as good as a Lincoln Continental".  But they do fit in some locos where the ESU decoders do not fit. The price difference between Digitrax and ESU sound decoders is about $25.  That nowadays is about a cost of a tasty McDonald lunch for 2. 

[bigdawgks]

I think that's a good indication that when it comes to decoders, you get what you pay for. I know many people like to use digitrax decoders cause they're cheaper but I avoid them. In my opinion, if you're going to pay a lot of money for a nice locomotive why cheap out on the decoder? Especially when it has such an impact on its performance. It seems like a few people I know at least treat installing a decoder in their newly bought locomotives as just a necessary nuisance they need to go through to be able to run it. To me it's a fundamental part that should be selected with as much care as any other.

[reinhardtjh]

Just few weeks ago,  because of the clearance problem with the LokSound5 in a Kato PAs, friend of mine and I ended up installing SDXN167K0A decoders in his PAs  (while we held our noses, because we had previous experience with Digitrax sound decoders).

Off the bat, we had all sorts of issues with them.  These Kato locos use standard motors that Kato decoders should have no problems controlling.  My friend has many Digitrax non-sound decoders in his loco fleet and they run ok.  Well, these had really jumpy speed control (no, it was not speed steps mismatch). One of the decoders started totally misbehaving (motor control, sounds, and headlights - reset did not help). He ended up sending it back to Digitrax for repair (which they did).  We messed around with BEMF settigns, and finally ended up disabling BEMF, to make them run smoothly.  This motor control we encountered was a different behavior from the other Digitrax non-sound decoder he uses.

Other issue was the white LED front headlight (which comes installed on the decoder) kept on flickering. I remembered that found out that Digitrax transporting uses the headlight circuit (for a load?), but in the past the factory setting was transponding disabled.  However on these decoders is enabled by default, so thankfully disabling transporting cured the flicker.

The decoder also has  only very basic function remapping capability. And it also has a capacitor dangling for it, so a spot for it has to be found. We ended up replacing that cylindrical cap with more typical caps we usually use as keep-alives.   Also replaced the round speaker with a sugar-cube type speaker.  Still, even with all those modifications I would only call this decoder as "servicable".  I guess I'm spoiled by higher end decoders.

SDXN167K0A Decoder Features:
    8 CV-Selectable Steam & Diesel Sound Schemes Included
    6 FX3 Functions, 200ma Output
    8 Ohm 13mm round Speaker
    External 100uF Capacitor

John I would not be as kind to those decoders as you are.  Saying "not as good as ESU" is like saying a "Ford Pinto is not as good as a Lincoln Continental".  But they do fit in some locos where the ESU decoders do not fit. The price difference between Digitrax and ESU sound decoders is about $25.  That nowadays is about a cost of a tasty McDonald lunch for 2. 

Yeah, since I haven't actually used one of the new decoders, I was giving Digitrax the benefit of the doubt. I guess they are still a distant 3rd or 4th... 

[peteski]

I had a senior moment. This decoder will fit in Kato E-units.  I confused it with the widebody adapter board with Next18 connector which Wutter brought out few years ago.  It was that board which did not work with the E-units.  Sorry!  I went back to my earlier post and corrected it.