Wexford70 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 (edited) I have not bought a sound chip before and was wondering if people could advise which is best for the new 121? The Murphy Models or the Wheeltappers chip? Edited December 21, 2020 by Wexford70 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Hogan Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Wheeltappers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishthump Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 1 hour ago, Wexford70 said: I have not bought a sound chip before and was wondering if people could advise which is best for the new 121? The Murphy Models or the Wheeltappers chip? If you have no experience with sound chips then the Murphy Models one will do you fine. The Wheeltappers version is more customizable but if you've never used a sound loco then it will be hard you to decide on any features. Just pick up the MM one and see how you get on. There's no difference as regards sound quality as they both use the same sound recordings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
declan64 Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Can listen to MM0567 here: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiveController Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Probably no advantage to the sound aspect per se as they'll use the same or very similar prime mover sound files but there may definitely be some advantages to having your headlights and marker lights work independently and more advanced motion control options as you become used to the driving characteristics. I had planned to purchase the 567 and 645 chips and waited for them to come in stock. They did and the 567 rapidly sold out again at IRM and Marks while I was procrastinating about buying some more Supertrain and BnT 121s. Since I've nothing else to order from IRM at the moment, I just ordered 3 chips from Wheeltappers including a 141 project to see how that sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIRCLASS80 Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 I always just buy blank ESU sound decoders and just manipulate the free files from the ESU website using the Lokprogrammer to get the result I’m happy with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb1 Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 Sound wise would be very similar but I've taken the sugar cube speakers out of my 121s and used double i phone speakers...made one hell of a difference to sound quality and clarity with no distortion.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphaph Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 That's interesting. I hadn't planned on this mod as I found the 121s pretty good and much better than the other factory fitted speakers in older MM locos. But I have a dozen double iPhone speakers in an envelope. They were originally destined for my baby GMs but it sounds like (sorry!) I should try a set in a 121 for comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb1 Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 If you remove the body..and remove the 2 screws on the fan end of the pcb it will just slide underneath.its the 40mm long i phone speaker by roads and rails i use...the sugar cube speaker just pops out and solder speaker wires to the 2 contacts...you can see the speaker thru the side grills but that's OK in my opinion... 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb1 Posted December 27, 2020 Share Posted December 27, 2020 20201227_130730.mp4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishthump Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 21 hours ago, Zeb1 said: If you remove the body..and remove the 2 screws on the fan end of the pcb it will just slide underneath.its the 40mm long i phone speaker by roads and rails i use...the sugar cube speaker just pops out and solder speaker wires to the 2 contacts...you can see the speaker thru the side grills but that's OK in my opinion... Nice job. I’ll be honest if the speaker failed in one of my 121’s I’d have no problem replacing it and I wouldn’t care if it was visible behind the grill! Would you be able to show us a picture of that installation with the body off the loco? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb1 Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 I'm fitting one in 124 during the week...Ill put it up then.. knowing my luck if I go to take the body off one of the ones I've done so far ill end up breaking some of the small details....lol...Air horns,handrails and vacuum pipes seem to need the gentle gentle approach.. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishthump Posted December 28, 2020 Share Posted December 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Zeb1 said: I'm fitting one in 124 during the week...Ill put it up then.. knowing my luck if I go to take the body off one of the ones I've done so far ill end up breaking some of the small details....lol...Air horns,handrails and vacuum pipes seem to need the gentle gentle approach.. been there, done that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb1 Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Here is the install of a double I phone speaker in a 121...Remove 4 body screws and remove loco body...remove 4 screws securing pcb board.take out sugarcube speaker...cut away front 2 lugs for securing pcb and file flat the ones nearest the grill..tin the 2 pads that were the spring connection for the sugarcube speaker..attach thin wire to the tinned pads...I phone speaker just fits snug under pcb..Replace the back 2 screws on pcb...GENTLY replace body feeding wires up each side of body as being replaced..Care needs to be taken on the grill end for the 2 coolant filler pipes while body being replaced....they can catch off the body and break...I gave mine a little pinch inwards before I started...also make sure led marker lights are in position before putting body on...Good luck... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb1 Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Video Quality isn't great but this is the 645 chip will the double I phone speaker...U can really notice it in shut down sequence...believe me its alot better in the flesh than the video.Well done murphys models the difference in sound between the 567 and the 645 can be seen...the 645 has a much deeper rumble... 20210105_172441.mp4 Just now, Zeb1 said: Video Quality isn't great but this is the 645 chip will the double I phone speaker...U can really notice it in shut down sequence...believe me its alot better in the flesh than the video.Well done murphys models the difference in sound between the 567 and the 645 can be seen...the 645 has a much deeper rumble... 20210105_172441.mp4 I should have said heard and not seen..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Very nicely weathered loco too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.