If you’re just dipping your toes into the world of sound, you’ve probably realized there are SO many opinions on which are the best, and you likely have lots of questions. One of the appealing options for those whose hobby budget is tight is SoundTraxx’ “Econami” series of economy decoders which replicate many useful prime mover sounds for coal-field modelers like the EMD 567 non-turbo (e.g., GP7, GP9, SD9, F-units…), the EMD 645 turbo (e.g., GP40, SD40, SD45, and their -2 versions…), and the Alco 244 (e.g., RS3, FA1 and 2…). It’s about 2/3 the price of a premium Tsunami2 decoder, and it uses the same basic sounds and features, but are the extra features of the Tsunami2 worth the cost? I’ll go through some of the key differences, and I’ll give you the opportunity to hear a side-by-side comparison of the Econami and Tsunami2 using two different prime movers so you can make an educated decision if you’re leaning toward SoundTraxx. Spoiler alert: while the Econami produces good sound, I have now converted almost all my locomotive fleet to the Tsunami2, so in my opinion, it’s worth the extra cost IF you will use the extra features like Digital Dynamic Exhaust (DDE). Otherwise, the Econami is a great choice for those wanting to get good sound at the lowest price.
More details below, but let’s skip right to the sound! I’m pretty new at videos and didn’t turn the volume up on my decoders, so forgive me if you have to crank up your speakers to hear well. Part 1 is a side-by-side comparison of two HO-scale Athearn RS3s featuring the Alco 244 prime mover.
Part 2 is a similar comparison of the EMD 567 prime mover in two HO-scale Intermountain F7As along with two DDE-enabled Tsunami2s in consist.
Why SoundTraxx? I’ve tried decoders from today’s three big manufacturers – SoundTraxx, ESU, and TCS. They’re all great products, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. For me, SoundTraxx programming is by far the easiest (especially with JMRI), the DDE is exceptional and better than back-EMF related functionality on other decoders, and their robust function remapping features allow me to get the most out of my utility throttles with a limited number of function buttons.
About the Econami. The Econami decoder is available in plug-n-play (PNP) and 21-pin versions, and it’s got most of the features you’d want from a sound decoder. It uses the same basic sound files as the Tsunami2, it comes with a selection of horns and bells, it has multiple light functions, it’s easy to program, and it runs perfectly in consist with Tsunami2s with compatible major motor functions like braking and momentum and robust advanced consisting options. If you’re just looking to add decent sound to a locomotive for the lowest price, an Econami is a great choice if your prime mover is one of the ones offered in the Econami diesel versions. These include the EMD 567 non-turbo, EMD 645 turbo, EMD 710 turbo, GE FDL-16 (modern), and Alco 244. This covers a pretty wide range of first-gen, second-gen, and modern diesels, but certainly not everything. In fact, it was the absence of an EMD 567 turbo that led me to my first Tsunami2. Up until that point, I was completely happy with the Econami, but that’s where I discovered what I was missing.
About the Tsunami2. The Tsunami2 and the more recent Blunami are the flagships of the SoundTraxx line. They’re available in different configurations including PNP, 21-pin, and compact purple-wrapped. Tsunami2s come in different variants, normally tailored to a locomotive manufacturer (e.g., Alco, EMD, GE) and offering several prime mover options on the decoder. Compared to the Econami, the Tsunami2s come with a much greater selection of horns and bells. Tsunamis contain more sounds in general than an Econami giving more depth and complexity to the sound, and each is tailorable for volume and rate of occurrence (e.g., pneumatic oilers, clickity clack, radio chatter, alarm bells). Tsunami2s also contain SoundTraxx’ “Fireman Fred” sounds such as fueling and wrench turning–I found these sounds distracting and turned them off, but some may like them. Likewise, the Tsunami2 offers a “reverb” for major sounds, but I found I like the sound better turning this feature to zero. Tsunami2s also allow a “pitch shift” in the prime mover–if you set the pitch shift slightly differently for locomotives of the same prime mover type, you’ll hear them cycle in and out of phase while idling which is a cool and prototypical effect.
The Tsunami2 features above aren’t enough to make me choose the Tsunami2 over the Econami, but there are two key features that do: Digital Dynamic Exhaust (DDE) and the alternate sound mixer. While designed to simply enable easy selection of alternative sound levels, the alternate sound mixer offers a key hack for consisting–it can be set up as a function and enabled automatically based on locomotive direction. This allows you to set up an advanced consist where the lead unit’s horns and bell are activated, and the lead swaps based on the direction the consist is moving. The biggest reason I’ve chosen the Tsunami2 is the DDE. The DDE takes a couple minutes to set up, but it results in load-based (back-EMF) prime-mover notching that’s really cool and tailorable! When drifting downgrade, locomotives will be at idle or in a low notch, but starting a train upgrade with a string of cars will result in notch 8 (max effort) until the train gets up to speed and settles into a lower but very appropriate notch. The “throttle sensitivity” is especially effective when momentum and deceleration are built into CVs 3 and 4. To start a train, you crank up the throttle which results in a large difference between the throttle and actual speed–this causes the DDE to crank up the prime mover notching until the train slowly gets up to speed or you drop the throttle setting. I find the load-dependent DDE in the Tsunami2 to be highly satisfying and worth the extra cost compared to the speed-dependent notching in the Econami. One word of caution–for the DDE to work well in a consist, the locomotive speed matching needs to be really tight, otherwise, any difference in speed will be interpreted as “load,” and one locomotive will be in notch 8 while the other is in idle. Thankfully SoundTraxx gives a lot of options for DDE load sensitivity and time delay to tailor your experience.
There you have it. For me, the DDE and alternate sound mixer in the Tsunami2 completely justify the extra cost. If you don’t think you’ll use these features and just want decent sound at the lowest price, or if you’ve got secondary “mid-consist” units where these extra features aren’t as important, the Econami is a great option. And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to ARRM’s new YouTube channel so you can be the first to see new content in the future!
I don’t have a true model railroad layout–yet–just some in strategic reserve (the “Mothball Central”, we could call it!). Two engine sounds I’d like to hear; well, would like to own units with the engines, are the Alco 539 (S-2/4 switchers) and 251’s (RS-11 and similar). You mentioned in the text about the lack of a turbo 567 EMD engine but for me, that’s not much of a problem. I remember B&O/C&O’s fleets of GP35’s (these did have turbo 567’s, no?) that didn’t sound that much different from the 40’s.
All in all, very informative and thanks for putting this out here. To paraphrase an old bromide, one video is worth a thousand words!