I find BLI Easy Consist very easy and functional, but agree that limiting consist numbers to 1-127 may seem like a fatal flaw to many. As to the question about sound in BLI Easy Consist, the bell, whistle/horn, and headlight are all turned off on all but the lead engine, with all other sounds active.
Otto K.
Which "advanced" consisting method to use? That is a conundrum.
After all, "easy" consisting actually utilized the NMRA-defined advanced consist functionality, but the DCC system is not aware of it, so you are limited to 1-127 address range. Plus, that address will likely not be like any of the road numbers on any of the locos in the consist.
But if you use the same (CV19-based) advance consisting, but using your DCC system, the DCC system will, behind the scenes, program the CV19 with some short-address, while allowing you to alias some regular 4-digit address to the consist address. For example you can use the road numberof the lead loco (even though that address is still assigned to the loco itself). That makes the command station advanced consist a bit more intuitive to use.
