John, Not completely true. The older version Cruise CDR had issues too.
Interconnecting the Railsounds Commander and a Cruise Commander, board version
3.4 or earlier (like the one shown in Figure 1), requires a special buffer cable assembly
as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Buffer cable assembly
Also the Mini-EX despite working with older RS board will not work with the new RS5.0 ERR board. Hence the Dummy loco controller board was created.
Granted, It may be some other issue with his TAS board. G