Hello All:

Although I'm sure that this question has probably been asked, but how does one determine which of Marklin's locomotives come equipped with the newer decoders that can be upgraded using the CS2? Is there a list of the newer Locomotives that have the capability of upgrading, or do all of the MFX locos have the upgrade ability. As I said, I', sure that this subject has been discussed before, but I have been off list for some time now, and I don't know where or how to go about tracking the information down. I used the USB upgrade set-up to upgrade my CS2 to the latest upgrade, however, some of the critical upgrade information still comesout in German. I have tried resetting the language to English and this helps for about 50% of the messages from the CS2, but I still keep getting messages (such as, "upgrading locomotive settings" in German). I will try to upgrade my CS2 via Ethernet, but until then....

Any help would be appreciated
Thanx

Thanks Tom. I was wondering about the extra (or new) sounds that can be found at http://www.maerklin.de/de/produ...ads/decoder-updates.html. The site has a number of what appears to be additional sounds, however, I'm not sure how to access them, or even if I can use them with my existing locomotives. There is a video at the bottom of this page, and it sort of shows what to do, however, it is in German, and with most Marklin instructional how to's, sketchy at best.

I have a friend who could translate, although he is German but he's not a Marklin fan, .

Thanks again Tom.

Regards

Very disappointing...

This is an age where all other factory-fitted sound decoders are usually programmable and can be updated with new sound files as per what a customer wants.

When I read last year that they were going to introduce a new generation of sound decoder with those features,
I finally thought that at last, Marklin is making progress....

(Although quite unfortunately, the sound files can only be updated through the exclusive CS2 and not from other peripherals)

... alas... this is not true, as it doesn't apply to factory fitted models. So, what's the point?

I don't think I will ever understand their logic. It seems they are never serious enough in really competing in development of MRR digital technology.

Arguably, makes it better in my mind to just stick with no sound models, and just chuck it out if I want to get a full sound decoder.

They better hope that there are going to be enough Marklin supporters that will continue buying their digital products.

I can see their logic.

Here's a new sound loco - it's got the correct sound files loaded on - Don't mess with it!

Now here's a new sound decoder for converting an existing loco - you'll need to load it with the right files for your loco.

In one case you discourage inexperienced owners from messing up their locos, and in the the other you encourage the experienced owner to complete his digital sound conversion with the correct files.

It's not all "evil Marklin" playing games with us, you know!.....

Yeah, the drawback is like the late Taurus model that comes with too early starting sound then brake release, before actually going off,
or some steamers without the proper "bell" sounds (forgot which model),
or similar diesel sounds of BR218, VT08, and others, which I don't know whether prototypical or not,
or models with full sounds, yet only 3 available sounds??

Marklin takes no responsibility, and all can't be fixed unless we buy another new programmable sound decoder.

They don't cause much concern for me to be honest, but there are disappointed owners:

"What? I can't add an extra prototypical horn sound to that #@$@# model??"


Sorry, Ray, didn't really mean Marklin is evil...
I just think that they're producing lesser value with their sound models though it may look quite cheap compared to other brands. But depends on how you think, you'll pay its future price of non-convertible sounds.

Just remember that there are inexperienced customers who probably aren't too concerned, yet there are also very experienced ones who like to tune their model sounds to the detail.

I just think to continue to be in business,
it's better to have the ability to accommodate both needs and don't get either of them too disappointed - which may prevent them from buying more Marklin products.

Example:
Inexperienced ones are not likely to own a sound programmer, so the original sounds will not be convertible so long as they never bought one.

Experienced ones will benefit fully if they bought the programmer - they would likely to have learnt how to do them before playing.

Ray... you are correct when you say that the factory settings are (in their opinion) the correct settings, however, they do offer a fail safe option for anyone who wishes to "dabble" with the decoder's CV's under the "Restore to factory settings" option. For the most part I have no problem with the factory settings except that some locomotives I have found require "tweeks" such as adjusting the "chuff" sound to correctly correspond with the lok's movement. On a number of occasions I have found that the locomotive has sped up to a workable running speed before the sound function has engaged.

The digital world is evolving every year and with it, locomotive sounds which are getting closer and closer to the prototype. If Marklin desires to be proprietary with their product, then they should offer the same or better features that ESU or Roco/Fleischman offer. Therefore, it only makes sense that they should offer a way of upgrading their on board sound functions.
(if only to keep up with the "Jones's)

Point in fact, I recently purchased a BR E151 (originally from the starter set) and found that the sound package quite literately sucked. Every time I powered up the layout, no matter if the 151's sound was on or off, the horn would sound. When operating the lok if I went to sound the horn... nothing happened. Since the lok was under warranty, I sent the locomotive back to Marklin (Germany) where upon, I was told that the decoder came from the factory like that and, that there was nothing they could do about it. I decided to exchanged the decoder for an ESU product and was pleasantly surprised to find that the decoder offered a larger range of sounds, better quality, and louder than the original.

Given the amount of time, money and energy that I have expended on Marklin, I just want to justify my efforts. A German friend of mine told me recently that when it comes to the quality of Rolling stock coming out of Marklin, they can hold their own against any of the other manufacturers, however, regarding Marklin/Trix, their locomotives are (mechanically speaking), crap.

In closing, all I can say is that once the warranty of my locomotives have past, I will definitely be upgrading said decoders. I don't care who makes the decoder, but it will need two things... to sound awesome and to be upgradeable.

Regards to all
James

Here's some interesting info from the latest Digital Newsletter......


"The Marklin 60940 is another programmable sound decoder, but this one is made for Sinus motors. It
is easy to install since it is a 21 pin decoder. You just unplug the decoder on the Sinus circuit board
and replace it with the 60940. The 60940 has a socket for a speaker so no wiring or soldering is
required. This is a very convenient connection because the sinus connects to the motor with a ribbon
cable that you don’t want to disconnect. It is very easy to replace the old 21 pin decoder with the 21
pin sound decoder."

I thought Marklin should have been more grateful for their Sinus motor technology - in this case, SDS type which provide 21-pin slots.

In Sinus - the decoders always have their own load control ability disabled, and allow the Sinus drive board took control of this part.
The advantage is: this largely negates the really crappy load control that many new Marklin decoders have. Thanks to Sinus, I was largely insulated from this problem until last year - when a DCM model finally made me realize how bad they are compared to the older ESU-type.

Arguably, this also mean that they could've build new type of decoders without load control feature and make it cheaper - if there is the economic scale of having most models equipped with Sinus motor.



I think those are all business backward steps in the wrong direction for Marklin.
That makes the only alternative for those who don't want to be affected by this problem when changing decoder brand is to rip out the factory PCB, fit an older version or the ESU one, and then re-wire the whole thing back.
Thanks for the info though.

Edited by user 16 March 2012 01:48:28(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Thanks. It's not in the M database, that's why I couln't found it.

Thanks Ray, pretty much the same questions I had, which is why I posted the question 'What's the point of it then?'

If they don't control the Sinus motors, what do they do?

Thanks David.

Did we figure out what motors the 60940 decoder is for?

Dumb question, but how do you tell whether amplification is required or not? And, what are the differing decoders that are available (as in part/model numbers)?

Cheers, thanks Tom.

From the 60940 manual...

"This decoder supports the 6090, 60901, DC, Sine, and motors
with bell-shaped armatures."

With mtc21 interface, AUX3/4 either have logic level (5 V, up to 2 mA current allowed) or are amplified (open collector, switching towards minus, maximum current depends on transistor in use).

NEM 660 defines AUX3/4 to have logic level, requiring amplification on the loco PCB.

Certain locos with C-Sine motor require unamplified AUX3/4 as they use the logic level as a reference voltage. These are the locos that now require the 60940 special version of the mSD decoder.

New sounds for Steam locos have now been posted. Added to the Inventory are sounds for Br44, Br50, Br55, Big Boy, Br64, Br80, Gt 2x4/4, and others.