Hi, John!

In my eyes this is the biggest drawback: mandatory automatic recognition.

Currently you need a CS1 to dim the lights of a loco with M* mfx decoder (but rumours say CS2 will learn it, too - sooner or later).

Yes it will

Benefits, other than auto recognition, are as Stephan stated in his post..
also practically a limitless number of lok address - as opposed to Marklin Motorola.
I'm quite satisfied with the characteristics of my MFX loks.

Of course, understandably, speed steps and number of functions are things that a good DCC decoder can easily emulate.

Another benefit for most customers is convenience of the complete packaging.
It is easy to jump straight away into MFX, rather then studying tons of material and deciding which way to go with DCC....

The main disadvantage is IMO;
Once you are accustomed to all the technology,
you would wish that MFX packaging could be a bit more flexible.
Sound or no sound; can I use that other brand with my Marklin, etc...
Basically, MFX is the way Marklin try to restrict you to stay within the realms of their own products.

As to the problems that John mentioned;
There seems to be a few problem with the "new" inhouse MFX decoders that Marklin fit in their latest models.
So far all of my models still use ESU decoders, so can't comment on these new ones...
but in Stummi, it seems a lot of posters are cursing the characteristics of these new decoders. Many of them actually replaced them with ESU V4 or a DCC decoder instead.

You cannot change the decoder number on a Märklin mfx decoder.
You cannot change CV's.
My point was and is, there are other decoders available without these restrictions.
My other point is, if technology improves on an open protocol market, mfx decoders could be difficult to sell.
Price could be another factor and has shown sofar in conversion sets (60901, 60921 etc etc.) against the cheaper set 60760.
ESU mfx decoders have one advantage, you can change or enter the loco number yourself and from this point onwards it recognizes it automatically.


John

Hello John,

I do not know what you are doing, but I can change the CVs and the numbers of my mfx decoders all the times I want by using my CS1 or CS2. Anyhow the number is not important anymore if you run in mfx mode. the decoder number is somewhay pre historic in this new era

yes, the new mfx decoder generation developped by Märklin seems to have some small bugs in certain particular conditions, which can be solved woth a firmware update.

My Br23 and 39 are running very well without claims luckily.

At the beginning of a new generation all decoders had bugs. Do not forget the lousy ESU mfx decoders in 2004, which had a lot of problems (ex Alzheimer effect) and the new Zimos in 2009, where a lot of people claimed the lousy firmware, modified afterwards by Zimo.
Märklin will catch up, I'm sure, as the others have done.

rgds

Stephan

Hi John,

I appreciate your help, I know how to set up the new MS as a slave or I could figure out how to get them all loaded into the new MS. I did it once before. But that's the point, how many times do I add loks to my control system? Not enough that the process is on top of my mind. So it was really nice that all the mfx loks loaded onto the MS automatically. I like that. For the casual user or someone who does not program much, automatic recognition is really useful. I think its a good move by Marklin to make the system easier to use.

Chris

Some what related, when I read the ESU manual its shows how to change CVs, as in this figure from the manual:


But when I try to do that with the Lokprogrammer and ESU mfx decoder, then the "Edit CV" button does nothing, as in this screen shot from my computer:


It took me a while to figure out, I keep thinking I was doing something wrong. Its frustrating because I read about CV values on forums and I can't directly input them. Its interesting that both Marklin and ESU decoders in MFX don't give you access to change individual CVs.

Too bad we can't have both. I guess one has to decide what one does the most: edit CVs or place loks on a layout. If I had to choose one, its placing a lok on a layout, because once I get the decoder set right I don't want to mess with it again. But on the other hand, if I could edit CVs, I would get the decoder set up faster and probably better. Trade offs suck.