Hi For those 2 engines, which decoders would be the best choice (same price ~ $65): MRC 1808 or Digitrax SDXN146K2? I've heard a lot of bad things about MRC decoders, but also read this specific #1808 was good though..... I know ESU ot Soundtraxx will be better, but I'm looking for true drop-in decoders Thanks
MRC decoders have really improved in the last few years and I wouldn't hesitate to use them. I agree with you on using a true drop in decoder.
I guess I will give the #1808 a try ($64 on Amazon) for my SD90/43MAC......... And for the emd SD70M, it seems the right decoder is the MRC 1960. Not sure about the price though
Just received my MRC #1808 from Amazon today....I guess I will install it on my Kato SD90/43MAC this weekend I found out that XL Systems Inc is the company that manufactures the decoders for MRC....and they sell the 1808 for $39 !!!! If the 1808 from Amazon works fine, I may buy more directly from XL Systems (#1806 and #1960) I'll keep you posted...
While I am not too interested in the sound aspect, I am interested in how well these MRC or XL decoders work. I have quite a few Kato engines that need decoders and at $45+ for non sound (Digitrax and NCE) is starting to hurt my wallet.
Quick update: installation went relatively well. But board doesn't seem to slide all the way under the tabs....I didn't want to break the decoder by pushing too hard, so I left it as it is............but it works -) Motor control is not too bad -) sound works but I guess it needs some tweaking with the CV -) I don't have enough experience with sound decoders to tell if it's bad, decent or good....One thing though, horn and bell are quite loud when engine is not running, but become barely audible when running -) I had some issue to program some CVs.....It simply didn't take the new value, and had to repeat several times. I don't have that issue with a Digitrax sound decoder on my Kato P42 I will play more with it, but at the end I may return it (Amazon) and buy directly from XL Systems Inc for $20 less, and replace the speaker with a sugar cube and see how it goes...
Do you get any sort of warranty with the XL Systems decoder? Since the MRC decoder that you bought is already installed and seems to be working, then I would keep it.
