DCC decoder sound decoder recommendation

[Micah]

Hello all, I'm new to this forum.

I just got hooked on HO Scale trains in the last year or so.

I have (2) HO Bachmann 'DCC ready with NMRA 8-pin plug' locomotives.

My question is, are there any good DCC 'sound' decoders with 8-pin plug for these HO scale locomotives ?

If not sound decoders then what are some good regular decoders?

I really am hoping to get sound without a lot of soldering and hope there are good decoders for these locos for sound.
Solderiong a couple speaker leads would be ok but with the 8-pin plug I hope things would not be too involved.

I have one Bachmann HO steam locomotive and one HO Bachmann diesel locomotive, both are'DCC ready with NMRA 8-pin plug'.

I have attached pics of the Diesel Locomotive for reference.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank's y'all ! 

[trainman203]

You can get great sound in your engines without any soldering if you have a professional do the installation.  Unless you are a real technology geek and you have done this kind of work before, like building radio kits, the odds of you becoming frustrated and even ruining the decoder are relatively high.  The fact that you asked about doing only a little soldering prompted my answer.

[Tenwheeler01]

For most of may Bachmann Steam locos I just use a 9pin JST to 8 pin NMRA harness. Most sound decoders have the 9 pin plug version available. And with using the built in circuit board I do not have to worry about added resisters for LEDs.

Depending on which Steam loco you have. The install could go from Easy to challenging.  If it one of the new Bachmanns with the speaker mount. You should only have to solder the speaker wires to the speaker.  I have installed sound decoders in all my Bachmann steam locos.

Some tenders are extremely tight inside other have plenty of room.  It depending on which loco you are installing into.  If it is one with a speaker mount you want to use the speaker gasket they offer. It has tape on both sides of the gasket. Or you can hot glue the speaker into place. But you want a go seal between the speaker and mount for the best sound.   

I have not install a sound decoder into a Bachmann diesel. There may be enough room to use the harness decoder setup.  But if it was me I would replaced the circuit board with the replacement sound decoder board. Also need to measure to see what size speaker fits the speaker mount. And it would give my 8FX leads for adding lights. 

When selection a sound decoder there is feature discrepancy with decoders in the same price range. One would think all $110 decoders would offer the same level of features...not so. If your layout has grades or you do like pressing an F button to lock you current throttle speed to use throttle knob to simulate load changes.  Make sure you go with a decoder with "DDE" or "Proto Notch/True Scale Sound".

Now with non sound decoders there should not be an issue with fitting the decoder and 9 to 8 pin harness and no soldering. 

[trainman203]

Much braver than I, sir

[Micah]

Yes ! .... Keep them posts coming please.

Thanks for your responses so far.

I am willing to get semi-involved in soldering or rebuilding these (2) locomotives... it's part of the fun (if the things work in the end ... hahaha).

All my newer HO locomotives I have purchased are DCC sound equipped.

I am now newly enlightened with the 9pin to 8pin harness idea and am already eyeballing them on-line.

Sounds like this could be exactly what I need (including getting sound).

If for some reason getting sound becomes an elaborate thing... I'll just go regular DCC without sound for these (2) locomotives and just continue to buy fully sound equipped locomotives like I have been doing since the purchase of the first (2) 'DCC ready' only locos.

However, it appears that thanks to this 9 to 8 pin harness information I may be set !   ... Thank you !!!

Also the info about fitting / attaching the speaker is much appreciated AND along with all the other details, for sure !



 

[Tenwheeler01]

Last week I upgraded my Bachmann USRA 4-6-2 Sound Value using the TSU-BH2.  It was straight forward replacement. My USRA 4-6-2 has because my primary passenger loco.  It just did not sound right going up and down the grades without DDE. Most of my other locos have DDE or True Scale Sound.

I then replaced the DCC ready board with the Sound Value board in one of the latest 2-8-0 runs with the speaker mount and LED lights. This was almost a straight replacement also. Add to extend two wires a bit.

There is an addtional unused wire on the USRA 4-6-2 in the loco to tender harness.  Trying figure out what to use this for, Firebox flicker, Cab light..  It would be used for turning on and off the smoke unit if equipped.