irishthump

Incredible! Well worth the wait!

The main Loksound decoder used in the US is the Loksound Select. This is a slightly lower spec then the V4 or V5. Files for the Select decoders can not be customised like V4 and V5 Loksound files and are generally smaller as the select has less memory. There are also 2 different versions of the V5 being released for US and Euro market. The V5 is the standard EU decoder and works with DCC as well as other control protocols. The V5 DCC is only available in the US and is DCC/Railcom only. I've heard it also has some differences in the brake features but I have'nt been able to find out much more than that. So the upshot is that you can only purchase the V5 DCC on your side of the pond. However, that should'nt matter. If you can get the files from Wheeltappers they will still work as the 2 versions are identical in all respects except for the ones I mentioned above.

Well to be honest I'd probably use the old MM 071 file and just change the engine sound.

Those 121 decoders will work fine for the 141/181 locos as well. You MAY have some trouble with the lights but that's easily sorted. Well I missed that one! Apparently I was only searching the V4 files. That engine sound would be perfect for a 201.

Have'nt a clue. That's too far down the bleedin' rabbit hole! I know I loaded the 2 different sounds to my pair of 071's. One has a higher idle sound which I thought would be quiet plausible. If you watch any of the many videos on Youtube you'll notice that no two locos sound the same! No when you reprogram a decoder you need to completely replace the existing sound file. So you can't take a pre programmed decoder and simply change the engine or horn sounds and keep the rest. You need to load a complete file.

I don't see any reason to not get the 121 decoders even if you have the Lokprogrammer. The engine and horn sounds are great from what we've heard in the short videos that were posted here and if they come with the Full Throttle features then happy days! If they don't then I'll most likely reprogram the decoders. Personally I'd rather have better driving characteristics than 100% authentic sounds, but that's just me.

There are files for engine model used in the 121 and 141 locos (8 cylinder 567CR). Same for the 181 (8 cylinder 645E non turbo) There are 2 different sounding files with 645E3 turbo which works for the 071. They even list the files as being suitable for the EMD JL8, GL8, JL18 and JT22CW models in their descriptions. The 201 is the only sticking point, there was a file for the 12 cylinder 710G3B which I downloaded for my lone 201 model. But that file does'nt appear to be there anymore. Again the 16 cylinder is there in several versions. As Fran said they have many other files with different cylinder configurations and while there is a difference in sound between them its damn hard to hear in an OO gauge model. It might be more noticeable in the new V5 decoders as they have improved sound quality but it remains to be seen. Again as Fran said there is no file available to match the A Class. I used a 567 which had a somewhat similar sound but it's not the same by any means.

Hopefully the 121's will be the same. Not trying to scaremonger, just want the decoders to be as good as the models, be a shame for the sound to let the 121's down.

The V5 decoders are backward compatible with the V4 sound files and will work just fine. I've not even tried the V5's yet, I believe the sound is far superior and they have other features like variable brake settings but I get along fine with the V4's. I do have 2 V5's ordered for my 121's though. In my opinion the Lokprogrammer is the very best option. Building an original sound file from scratch is very labour intensive and requires knowing the workings of the programmer and decoders inside out. I haven't even tried it myself. As Noel mentioned I made my own files but they are simply the Murphy Models OEM files. I simply replaced the engine with one from ESU's vast library of US sound files. These have all been updated with the improved driving features mentioned above. This is simple to do, basically a drag-and-drop operation. They have files with the EXACT engine model used in all of the Irish GM locos. In most cases they have MULTIPLE examples so you can have different sounding engines across your fleet. Like I said this is a simple thing to do and you could get to grips with this is a couple of afternoons. The likes of Wheeltappers and DCCSoundguy make great products but there's an awful lot to be said for being able to do this yourself at home. Yes you save around €30 per decoder but when you order decoders with loaded files from the other suppliers you have to wait for them to arrive then you might not be entirely happy with what you get, and you're stuck with it unless you want to send it back to be reprogrammed. If you have the Lokprogrammer you just load a different file! On a side note I'm a bit worried about the upcoming decoder for the 121. It's a V5 but I have a feeling it may not have the Full Throttle and Brake features. These have to be built into sound file itself and only the US sound files are built this way. They were created by the US end of the ESU operation and if you look at all of the European sound files which were created by the EU side of ESU you'll see none of them have these features.

Silver Fox are moulded resin, so the finish is a lot smoother. Whatever scale your modelling in a 3D printed model will require some finishing to removing print lines but if you're prepared to put in some work or if you can live with a cruder finish then there's no reason not to use printed models in O gauge.

Despite all the hype around the advances is 3D printing, it's still a long way off being good enough for quality modelling in OO gauge let alone N gauge.

Trouble is once you ballast the track it really doesn’t make much difference, it’s only marginally quieter.

Bear in mind the 121 chips will be a good fit for the 141/181’s as well. Even though they will be programmed for the specific lighting on the 121’s PCB it should work fine on a simpler loco like the 141/181. Even if the lighting is a little screwed up it would be a simple fix.

Exactly. I ordered the MM decoders for my 121’s. I love using the Lokprogrammer but if you can save yourself the work why not? I would have needed to buy decoders for them anyway! It’s not that simple. Even a simple horn sound has quite a complex sound schedule that needs to be built from scratch.

There would be no problem arising from using a different sound decoder. All they mean is that the MM chip has already been programmed to have all the lighting functions available, any other decoder would need to be programmed with the correct functions. The 121 decoder is physically no different from any other ESU decoder, they just have the lighting functions programmed in already. If you buy a blank version of the same decoder you’ll need to programme these yourself which is a nightmare without a Lokprogrammer! I think the point of the disclaimer is so that MM don’t have people sticking in a different decoder then ringing him an complaining - “the lights don’t work”. It’s the same issue people had with the 201 when it first came out. It has so many light functions that it needs a higher spec decoder for them to work.