vanda32547 said:
Any suggestions on which brand of decoder with sound will work the best with my MRC Prodigy Advance DCC system? How expensive are the decoders with sound? this will be my first install so I am a little nervious. Also I heard something about Rivarossi locomotives having a history of poor power pickup and wonder if I should bother equipping this one for my layout...any input on this issue?
Thanks,
The Prodigy Advance is built by Lenz. Thus, it should be compatible with all NMRA compatible decoders.
MRC builds a steam decoder, it's relatively cheap. But, you do get what you pay for. Soundtraxx builds a steam decoder as well. The Soundtraxx unit is expensive, but has much, much, much better sound quality. You might also look at MRC's stand alone sound systems. They are remote from the locomotive, but the sound is much better. They really aren't synchronized, but again the use of real speakers allows for really good sound reproduction and you can have sound with all your locomotives, not just one.
One final thought on sound, it's can be really annoying in a home layout room. One of the guys in my operating group has a BLI steam loco with sound. Loco is the operative word too when he runs the fool thing.
HTH
Alan