Austin Bill posted:Seeing and hearing Scott's engine in person convinced me so I ordered two ESU Loksound Select L decoders, the ESU Programmer and the ESU decoder tester. Look forward to installing the decoders in steam engines and comparing the results to my 6 amp QSI Titan Magnum Q2 and Q3 equipped steam engine installations.
Will compare: Ease of installation and programming. Motor control. Sound and lights. Function button mapping. Documentation and Support. The ESU S/W and Programmer vs. QSI CV Manager and the Quantum Programmer. Downloading files.
I go into this knowing that the QSI Titan Magnum has two totally independent speaker outputs which can be adjusted to balance the sound between an engine speaker a valuable feature. The Loksound Select L has 2 positions to connect speakers to but on just one channel. Wondering if I can find a way to balance them or maybe just get lucky.
Also the Titan Magnum has screw terminals. The Loksound Select L has solder pads on the base board with multi connectors between the decoder board which rides on top of the base board. So, the base board can be permanently soldered in place and yet the decoder board can removed by just unplugging it for whatever reason. This is good IMO. Bet the OEMs will like this for RMR activity.
Austin Bill,
Could you please let me know when an ESU programmer is needed? Is it needed to enhance the performance / sound or to customize DCC decoders in existing DCC locomotives or is it only needed for new DCC installations? I read that high-end DCC systems like Digitrax Super Chief have more functionality compared to an entry-level Zephyr Xtra starter set but I am beginning to think that there must be something lacking from these high-end systems that required you to get the programmers.
Since you also mention QSI Manager & Quantum programmer, am I correct in assuming that even though DCC is a standard, you cannot modify default settings unless you have programmers from each decoder manufacturer. If that assumption is correct, then it would take away some of the standardization I expected from DCC. Most of my DCC capable locomotives would be MTH Proto-Sound 3.0 since they are the only choice for modern 6-axle locomotives. Would any of these programmers work if I needed to say match the speed between MTH models?
I have been running conventional DC for the last 10 years but recently bought my first DCC system from ESU.
These are just my opinion,
Thanks,
Naveen Rajan
