# Digitrax DH465 and "soundbug" review



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I haven't been posting here for a while. Got turned off by the pissing contests. But here's a review of a new (to me) product that some might find useful if they run on DCC and want a lower cost alternative.


I recently bought a Bachmann Thomas the Tank Engine, and wanted to install sound, but I didn't want to spend a huge amount on what's really a toy. Someone here recommended the digitrax DH465 decoder as a cheap way to get sound into a small locomotive. A QSI card, the brand I like best, goes for roughly $150. The DH465 and the SFX004 sound card together were less than $100. And I checked--they had a soundfile reasonably close to the sound of Thomas, a BR 0-6-0 "light prairie tank." So I decided to try it. That meant also buying the PR3 programmer unit. But I have a couple other projects this combination would work in.


Digitrax advertises the DH465 as able to handle 4 amps. We'll see. Thomas probably won't draw that much, or even close.


The decoder is very small--shorter than a QSI card and much more narrow. It comes with wires for track and motor and lights soldered to the board. It has a socket for plugging in a "soundbug. If you don't already know, Digitrax makes some inexpensive add-on sound cards which plug into their decoders. These can be modified and new soundsets can be uploaded the the card. You can also design your own sounds and add them. I did not find it easy to do though.


Digitrax makes an interface unit that works via USB, the "PR3." It is supposedly compatible with Mac os x via JMRI. So I got the PR3 as well. We have a windows netbook and I tried installing it on that first--it turned out to be very difficult for a Windows noob, and Digitrax tech support was comically bad when I called them. Long story, involved the usual windows driver mess, finally got it resolved and changed the default sound file to the "thomas" sound file.


It was easy, on the mac with JMRI, to change CVs, but I cold not get the sound file to load properly on the mac with JMRI.


Part of the problem is you can't program both the motor control card AND the 'soundbug" at the same time, at least I can't. I had to program the soundbug alone, then attach it to the DH465, then program the DH465. Getting the wheels to synch even roughly with the chuff will be a challenge, unless I can figure out an easier way or a way to program both cards at the same time.





*Ok, the sounds*. Sounds are not as good as QSI, not as detailed. But they seem better than Dallee or mylocosound. _The soundbug is not very loud._ If you're a fan of loud sounds this is not your soundcard. I live in a semi-urban area and set the sound volumes relatively low. I just went outside and tested it, and it's fine for kids--if you're near it, you can hear it. From a distance, it's ok, but any sustained ambient noise will drown it out. A more efficient speaker would help, but I've never been able to get speaker efficiency ratings on small speakers. The Soundbug comes with a very small 8 ohm speaker (the website says its' a 32 ohm speaker, but this is outdated--apparently they all ship with an 8 ohm speaker now) sized for HO. I replaced it with a larger QSI speaker. Significant increase in volume and sound quality. Digitrax lets users add their own "soundprojects." The generic steam file the soundbug came with was better quality than the Thomas soundfile I replace dit with, but I wanted a plausible Thomas whistle for kids. I might be able to add my own sound to the generic steam file--we'll see.






Pros: Low cost, high degree of programmability, decent sounds, very small size


Cons: relatively low volume, programmer awkward to use


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I just went out and tested it some more--the sound is fine. With QSI cars, I generally have a loud setting, that I use for effect and on loud days, and a normal setting that I use for quieter running. The Digitrax at full volume is right about where I have the low setting. I think it's just fine. Our layout is pretty compact though--if you have a really big layout, or you want BIG sound, try another card. I'll test it some more, but so far I think I've found a good alternative for smaller locos in DCC


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

Been there, done that with Digitrax sound. The motor decoders are very competent, I have used a lot of DG583S decoders and except for one easily fixed documentation issue, those work fine. 

You've hit most of the problems already. The low sound level is typical for HO systems like the soundbug even though the motor decoder is big enough for large scale. The 32 ohm speaker actually does produce a little more sound volume, but not by a lot. I'm not sure why they switched to using 8 ohms. If you want really weak sound, try the SFX0416, it is really bad. 

I never did get the sound loader software in JMRI on a Mac to work either, always got corrupted sound files. The Digitrax SoundLoader software that comes with the PR3 WILL work on a Windows machine in XP or later under Parallels 5 or 6 on a Mac, but it won't work in W2K under Parallels as the USB driver just won't install. As you found, even the install on a PC is problematic. 

There are some CV's to use to get the chuff synchronized that aren't in the manual that came with it. See http://digitrax.com/prd_mobdec_sfx064d.php 

Programming can be done fairly easily IF you use some simple addressing tricks. See http://www.girr.org/girr/lamrs/larms_dual_decoder.html


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Thank you george!


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

changed a link in my previous reply 

The dual decoder stuff is at http://www.girr.org/girr/lamrs/lamrs_dual_decoder.html


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