Atlas Moves to ESU

[Mark R.]

Newsflash ! ....

Looks like Atlas is dumping QSI in favor of ESU Loksound ! Good move in my opinion. Not only do they have great sound, they now have ESU's superior motor control.


Mark.

[WP-MOW]

On the fence with this one, have been installing LokSound selects in my GP40's and 40-2's and I'm lovin em. Matt @ Loksound was very helpful when a ebay seller refused to stand behind the sale, Matt made it right. So thanks Matt. The kato gp35's with the 567 turbo is nice, LokSound (Matt) is recording the 567 sound, in N. California. Qsi's in the 40's and 40-2's that I have are the best.
While working on the railroad and living in bunk cars the train crews would tie up and park the idiling locos, so that it was almost impossible to get a decent nights sleep, the idiling locos sounded the the qsi's. Trust me if you were in the bunks trying to sleep you might agree. Yes we aked them to park further away but beings they were more concerened about a early quit.....but working in the mow, they paid , could'nt figure out why they worked the whole 12 hrs. Guess that's why the called us maintainence in the way.

[bnsf971]

Originally Posted by WP-MOW

While working on the railroad and living in bunk cars the train crews would tie up and park the idiling locos, so that it was almost impossible to get a decent nights sleep, the idiling locos sounded the the qsi's.

The newer QSI's do sound a lot better, and the idle sounds do sound very much like an idling locomotive. The motor control is also very good.
The problem is when you move the locomotive, QSI has, instead of using the real sound, simply sped up the idle sounds. I have a pair of EMD 645 turbo units, and they sound great sitting in the engine terminal, idling. On the road, not so much.

[Iron Horseman]

Originally Posted by Mark R.

Looks like Atlas is dumping QSI in favor of ESU Loksound ! Good move in my opinion. Not only do they have great sound, they now have ESU's superior motor control.

My first ESU experience was tainted by their use of those high ohm speakers (100 ohms as I recall). I was never able to find enough variety of sizes and shapes of 100 ohm speakers do do what I wanted. Hence, the only time I used ESU was when someone specifically asked for them to be installed. I've not had that request for a looooong time.

[Mark R.]

ESU hasn't used 100 ohm speakers since their v3.5 decoders. The v4.0 decoder was released well over a year ago and utilizes 4, 8 or 16 ohm speakers.

Using the new version decoder with the 4 ohm speaker really kicks some butt ! Another added bonus is to use two 8 ohm speakers in parallel for a 4 ohm load to net some really great sound.

I installed a pair of 16mm X 32mm configured this way in a Bowser 628 with their new decoder and was really impressed.

I think you'll find ESU becoming a bit more mainstream in the coming years.


Mark.

[WP-MOW]

I've been using 8 ohm (railmaster) with the esu and it sounds good, thanks Mark I am going to give the 4 ohm a try on the next install. I did a install the other day using a soundtraxx 645 turbo in a kato sd45 8 ohm railmaster and I have to say she sounds very nice.

[Iron Horseman]

Originally Posted by WP-MOW

I've been using 8 ohm (railmaster) with the esu and it sounds good, thanks Mark I am going to give the 4 ohm a try on the next install.

Just remember that a 4 ohm speaker puts twice the power load / stress on the amplifier.

[Mark R.]

Loksound decoders are DESIGNED for 4 ohm speakers, so there is no dangerous load on the amplier, unlike other sound decoders that may be damaged using a 4 ohm speaker.


Mark.