HELP PLEASE
Iam debating on one or the other I do run Marklin trains MFX but esu price sounds good and you get a transformer.
I would appreciate any tips or comments .
Many thanks
Wasp

Hi,

I was initially planning to go with new Ecos, but finally settled on the new CS3.

My feeling is that Ecos is better in terms of more advanced flexibility and letting the users decide their configurations. E.g. on Ecos you decide how many amps you want, CV programming is better supported and Esu manuals are written much better than the competitors.

On the other hand Marklin CS3 is more of a easy plug and play system, the Mfx registration is ultra fast, it has better screen with track diagrams and it has more advanced route memory function. On the downside it ultilize a touch screen which best is used with a mouse and still has some software bugs.

If you primarily drive only Marklin locos with Marklin decoders, and want the Mfx+ option I would go with CS3, and hope the Marklin will solve the software bugs.

If you have a mix of locos with DCC and Marklin Ecos might be an better option. But as Tom said you should have a play with each of them to decide what works for you.

What put me off Ecos was some reports on Stumi regarding slow Mfx registration and then seeing below YouTube video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JT_jLi8WRO4

Brgds Lasse

Depends what kind of model railway you want.
If you want sort of mixed with all protocols.
CS3 do have:
mfx
mfx+
MM
DCC

Ecos 50210 do have:
DCC
DCC + (Railcom plus)
MM
M4 ( type like mfx)

Both CS3 and Ecos supports all kind of decoder with protocols.
An rumor says that ESU will change design of the Ecos 50210 next year as new ( probably)
CS3 are nice design but i don´t like the soft program and there is still bugs to fix it ( Märklin fix not until autumn).
If you want CS3 i suggest wait until autumn/winter if Märklin did fix the problems with the CS3.

Digital system do always have Pros and Cons.
There is youtube which you can see test results.

Digital market is big and there is always competitors which do produce digital system.
I suggest you to wait and check after others products like Viessmann Commander 2.
It seems promise system and if you use Apples latest Beta version ( arrives download autumn) in the Ipad you control digital model railway much faster and more advance functions.
Commander 2 can also download upgrades of the soft program (possible with same type like Märklins "world of the operation").
Viessmann Commander 2 do also support:
DCC
DCC + ? not sure
MM
mfx

Good luck!



P.S.
The most important is to have digital locomotive which do have multi protocol decoder.

Hi Robert,

Did you have any issues with Mfx registration?

I fully agree with you the sound files are much more advanced that Marklin. Iam having lots of fun running one of my locos with full throttle diesel feature. The lokprogrammer is also brilliant for CV programming.

Brgds Lasse

Absolutely right, just buy Loksound M4 and ask your dealer to load the sound project of your choice ( what i do ) or go also for a Lokprogrammer ( what i am thinking to do ).
Regards

I have told you that of years now about ESU loksound are better than Märklins mfx sound decoder.
You can use ESU sound decoder with Märklins CS3.
Ecos 50210 support RailCom plus while Märklins CS3 doesn´t have it.
RailCom plus can been use too with the Märklins three rail tracks.

If TS want to use better locomotive decoder i recommend ESU.
No matter of CS3 or Ecos 50210 to use.

Judging from years of discussions on Mfx vs. Railcom+ on this forum: Quite a few...

I too will eventually upgrade to CS3+. The MFX+ feature is something I wish to explore as I progress in the hobby. I'm also concerned with backward compatibility. Marklin, as it incorporates more functionality in its Loks will not concern itself with other brands. I've already run into this, and it's getting worse with time, as the ETE module group continues to use the Uhlenbrock system. Granted, it's obsolete, but still.........

I fail to see what remote control has to do with this debate. I already use my iPhone and IPad on my layout as remote controllers and see this as the future for all systems. I'm not building any control panels etc.

When one accumulates a bunch of MFX Loks, one will appreciate the speed of CS3. I look forward to the next iteration for faster Lok recognition.

With Märklin one can just run the smartphone mobile apps to make a wireless controller out of the smartphone most folks already have. I expect that is the case with any modern controller, so that shouldn't be a concern with a new controller purchase unless the controller you are looking for doesn't support a remote phone app controller.

ESU...Roco...Viessmann do have theirs system which also support smartphone/tablets by use apps.

So, I was in this position a few weeks ago with having to decide between the CS3+ or the ESU ECoS (50210). For me, there were a number of reasons why I chose what I chose. I read this forum before I made my choice and looked at what you guys all had to say. Then I did more of my own research online and also weighed my own experiences with the CS2 that I have owned for 10 years. First off, I have owned the CS1 and later the CS2 and I have never been really impressed with either. I sold the CS1 years ago, didn't like the fact that Marklin left everyone who bought it hanging so to speak because they soon stopped offering updates for it, and you were left out in the cold unless you sent it into ESU to be reloaded. Despite that, I bought the first CS2 when it arrived in 2008. I was never in love with the CS2, the processor was extremely slow even in 2008, and updates over the last 10 years did little to help the software's glitches and issues. For example, I still, 10 years after I purchased it, have many menus and prompts which are in German and not English, despite the fact that I have the CS2 set to be in English language mode.

I recently purchased some new loks, and started reprogramming the locomotives' CV values using the CS2. That was a big mistake. No matter what I did, and how I did it, I could never get the CS2 to reliably work at changing CV values. You select the CV, change its value to what you want, hit program, then hit the program to the track button with the arrow pointing to the track, and it would work sporadically at best. You'd have to do the same process 5, 10, or 15 times to get it to finally work. I actually had much much more luck using my ancient Marklin MS1 controller to change locomotive addresses than I did with the CS2! It worked very well, and I soon stopped using the CS2 for changing addresses. But I then ran into an issue reprogramming digital decoders and I needed the CS2 to get more in depth, but again, the CS2 did not work reliably. So in desperation I emailed one of the largest Marklin dealer/service centers in the United States explaining the issues I was having with the CS2, and asked if I should purchase a CS3+ in order to finally get a machine which would work. I was shocked at his response, he said: "you need to find someone with an ESU ECoS that you can borrow or use to do all this CV work". Keep in mind I had NEVER mentioned the ESU ECoS to him, I only asked if I should buy the CS3+, and essentially he said get the ECoS instead. Also, keep in mind I have never owned any control system except Marklin, I have never owned any ESU devices except the decoders pre-fitted in loks, and FYI around 90% of my 70+ loks are Marklin, many of them are MFX.

I then talked to another huge Marklin dealer in Germany regarding the same question and they told me that they themselves use the ECoS for their store. That to me said a LOT, and sealed the decision for me. So, as you might've already guessed, I purchased an ECoS (50210) instead of the CS3+. I can only describe the change as going from the dark ages to the 21st century. The comparison from the ECoS to CS2 isn't even a comparison. The ECoS is so much faster and more intuitive, if you think a button does a certain thing/function, it likely does it. That's seldom been my experience with the CS2, it's one of the most UN-intuitive devices I have ever used, but you force yourself to learn and get used to it. The ECoS makes reprogramming decoders and changing CV values so easy compared to the CS2 that you swear you must be doing something wrong, but you're not! It's just that much easier and faster. To me, the CS3+ looked like an amazing machine in videos and reviews, with the ability to drag icons and items, pinch to zoom, etc., but I know that the software is going to have a lot of issues, Marklin has had a decade to fix the CS2 software bugs with updates and they never did and it's still awful. I have no reason to believe that they'll change their ways now since they never did in the decade prior. I also suspect that while the CS3+ is certainly powered by a much faster processor than my old CS2, it will likely not be as good at programming and working CV values as the ECoS. ESU knows their decoders and software, and when you own an ECoS it really shows. I love my new ECoS, it's so nice to have a machine that when set to English actually has all its menus and prompt boxes written in English!!! Imagine that?

Looking up menus of all your locomotives is fast and easy with ECoS, and one other little detail that I liked was that on the menu list of locomotives you have saved on the ECoS, that it shows you the address number next to the name. It's nice that you can just see that, instead of having to select the lok, hit the wrench button, and then see the address like on the CS2. And even though money was not an issue for me, and I could have easily afforded the CS3+, I really liked the idea that I could get an ECoS for less than $700 with the transformer included in that price, the CS3+ with transformer would run me close to a grand at the cheapest. Yes, the graphics and display are more fancy shall we say on the CS3+ than the ECoS, but in my opinion, I want a control unit that can control and modify trains reliably, and some of the stuff on the CS3+ like MFX+ capabilities seem like a gimmick to me. When I'm running my trains I'm looking at my trains, not a fake engineer's cab on the screen!

So, all in all, I still own the CS2, and now I also own the ECoS, and when I had to upgrade and choose between the CS3+ and ECoS, I chose the ECoS and could not be happier. It's a very fast and intuitive machine that does what it's supposed to do incredibly well, which is control/modify trains and accessories. I really feel I made the right choice, but hey, do what you want to do.