Think I have said before that this type of thread does not really help anybody. There is useful information about both controllers and which is best for running Marklin mfx+ locos.

For me I am not able to try any before I buy and on reading all of the above I really dont find any answer. This is not that members are trying to be helpful but what comes through is that those using Marklin think they are OK (New CS3 still has problems though) and those with ESU always think they are great and are defend their purchase.

I am not aware of sales as to which controller sells the most but it is normal for a minority to speak up louder in support of their choice.

For me I will in the next few months buy a CS3 plus because I support and like Marklin and I buy nothing from ESU anyway. It could well be given the chance to try an ESU I would buy it but as said that is not possible.

What would be useful would be somebody who is neutral who could test both on a Marklin layout (similar to the car magazine tests) and give an unbiased view.

However I respect all opinions on here and in particular Tom who is well up on all model rail and provides excellent help. All I can say is I have an excellent CS2 which keeps going year after year and I expect I will keep as a second controller.

A very good thread. I am on the low fidelity, low tech end of the spectrum. I use these:

Atlas oldy

Unfortunately blew the 2 year budget on catenary as well. Perhaps in the future.

Thanks to all, this tread has been very helpful.

With 300 locos, I am a huge mfx fan, having a mix of Esu and mLD/mSD conversions.
A major requirement for me would be an intuitive, graphical menu to program loco decoders, e.g., assigning Aux outputs to F keys, including complex logical functions (Aux1 = F0, not F8, not F9)
With my current IB II, Esu LokProgrammer and 60971 programmer, I see no way to easily access and program all decoders' logical functions

How do CS3 and ECoS compare in terms of decoder programming? Intuitive graphical interface? Logical function programming? Do both give full access to Mä/Esu, proprietary Esu, mLD and mLD3 decoders?

Many thanks, that may prove very useful.

My other purpose was to gather information on the choice for ECoS vs. CS3.

How are mLD/mSD and LoPi decoders being programmed on ECoS and CS3?

Any screenshots would be helpful to get an impression.
Anyone experience with assigning complex functions to Aux outputs (e.g., for SBB red/white tail lights/consists)?

Yes.
The nice UI of the ECoS only supports non-mfx decoders from ESU and mfx decoders from any brand.

For ESU V 3 and V 3.5 decoders the UI is even nicer. The advanced features of the V 4 decoders require a more complicated UI. And for those V 4 decoders the LokProgrammer with a large PC screen makes things even easier.

Hope never dies, but both CS2 and MS2 have old bugs that were reported to Märklin years ago - and we still have to live with our well-known workarounds.