Bach-Man -
I was pleased to see the new product announcements from the 2011 National Train Show. The HO scale S4 and FA/FB 1 look very nice. I am a little bit surprised to see that they are available DCC Ready or DCC Sound only. Your past offerings have been DCC On Board or DCC Sound. Why aren't these being offered DCC On Board that was always the big selling point for me with your locomotives, Good quality, good performance and DCC On Board for a good price. I have more than fifteen of your locomotives and I'm very pleased with them why are you changing your policies now?
Yea, i wanted to get 2, maybe 3 S4s, but not to spend another $20 and put a decoder in there, so I'm just gonna save up for one (maybe 2...) with sound.
There is still a large group of Analog modelers who disliked having to pay extra for electronics they would not be using. Secondly, decoders can be found around 15$ a piece. Also note that Bachmann shaved off 10$ from the MSRP to account for the lack of decoder.
jet,
look at it this way. the s4 will make a great little yard engine. it deserves a good fecoder with back emf. the bachmann dcc onboard decoders don't have that feature. (can we at least hope they will one day?) so in order to get the most out of this locomotive you'd have had to replace the decoder anyway. the $10 off the price for the dcc ready version means that a good bemf decoder will run you $10-15 instead of $20-25.
i for one am looking forward to these......
If the sound decoder is anything like my friend's C420 with sound, then it'll be worth it. (Throttleing up in the yard or on a local would be nice... ;D )
I belong to about 20 forums and I see many do not like the on board low end lenz decoder that has come with Bachmann locos so far. You can buy a decoder that is much better for around $15 to $20.
I suspect Bachmann is trying to find a better non sound decoder for on board lights/motor only.
Since the capacitors & inductors are an issue which the EU requires, Bachmann no doubt has to make sure the decoder will work with the present capacitors and inductors.
Many have to remove the capacitors when they buy a better decoder.
Rich
you can count me as one of those who isn't fond of the bachmann decoders. my big issue is that they don't support cv 5 and cv 6, so you can't adjust the top speed of the loco. if they'd support those 2 cvs i'd be happy with them.
btw, alcos4ever, did you see the other big announcement? bowser is producing the c636. this is one of the few diesels never available in plastic before.
Quote from: jettrainfan on July 10, 2011, 02:16:15 PM
If the sound decoder is anything like my friend's C420 with sound, then it'll be worth it. (Throttleing up in the yard or on a local would be nice... ;D )
I have the Spectrum 4-6-0 with on board Tsunami sound and it is a great loco.
I am wondering if the decoder is a Tsunami as all I could see is "affordable Soundtraxx® sound package ".
No mention of Tsunami. I would not make assumptions. Some users complain about the lack of some features in the Tsunami that presently comes with the Spectrum steamers.
Rich
This no doubt an effort by Bachmann to please a certain market. Anyone wanting these new loco should check for features before buying if you count a lot of the rivets. There are some who do not like the present Spectrum's with Tsunami because the Bachmann Tsunami have less features than the ones you buy yourself.
Sad thing is there are some who will not check first and assume.
Rich
Quote from: richg on July 10, 2011, 03:05:18 PM
This no doubt an effort by Bachmann to please a certain market. Anyone wanting these new loco should check for features before buying if you count a lot of the rivets. There are some who do not like the present Spectrum's with Tsunami because the Bachmann Tsunami have less features than the ones you buy yourself.
Sad thing is there are some who will not check first and assume.
Rich
You can be sure that the absence of the word "Tsunami" indicates the sound decoder is not the Bachmann Tsunami version, but something else, that is less expensive. Hopefully the sound decoder will be acceptable to most.
Quote from: Pacific Northern on July 10, 2011, 03:59:00 PM
Quote from: richg on July 10, 2011, 03:05:18 PM
This no doubt an effort by Bachmann to please a certain market. Anyone wanting these new loco should check for features before buying if you count a lot of the rivets. There are some who do not like the present Spectrum's with Tsunami because the Bachmann Tsunami have less features than the ones you buy yourself.
Sad thing is there are some who will not check first and assume.
Rich
You can be sure that the absence of the word "Tsunami" indicates the sound decoder is not the Bachmann Tsunami version, but something else, that is less expensive. Hopefully the sound decoder will be acceptable to most.
Right now, I speculate, guess, figure, assume it will be a SoundTraxx decoder with Tsunami characteristics since SoundTraxx is mentioned.
I hope the non sound with be the new SoundTraxx with same characteristics as the Tsunami which makes consisting easier, at least with the Tsunami.
It would make consisting easier for Bachmann users.
I belong to the Yahoo SoundTraxx group and have read about the new non sound.
The lower Bachmann price tells me something has been cut. And on line shops will cut that price.
Many are calling for sound in Bachmann diesels so Bachmann no doubt is trying to do something.
Rich
Thanks for the input everybody and points taken. I would really like to hear from Bachmann though. I know how much Bachmann gets trashed on many forums and I have always been a huge defender of their quality and value. I have been very pleased with the quality of their decoders and their performance. I said in my first post I have many Bachmann DCC On Board locomotives and for me at least they perform great. I hope Bachmann isn't caving in to opinions like those of the detractors on these forums because they wouldn't buy a Bachmann no matter what the quality, detail level or price. They don't like Bachmann and that's all there is to it. Also shaving ten dollars off the MSRP and then having to spend another fifteen or twenty dollars for a decoder seems a step backwards to me.
Quote from: ALCOS4EVER on July 10, 2011, 08:11:10 PM
Also shaving ten dollars off the MSRP and then having to spend another fifteen or twenty dollars for a decoder seems a step backwards to me.
If you want an economy/cheap decoder you can get them for $10 each, most people like bemf and other extras so they can buy a $20 decoder and save $10 in the process, and you can buy your $10 decoder and it would be the same as if Bachmann already had one installed.
Good Evening All,
If the sound decoder that will be put in the FAs and the S4 are the same as what Bachmann has been using for the past several years, then it will be Tsunami technology not a full blown Tsunami. Athearn does the same thing. What most people will find, if into sound, will be a good running engine with sound that is worth paying for.
Bowser never did a C636 before but Stewart did a big six wheel ALCO. Was that a C636 or a C630? Remember, what Bowser is putting out now is remakes with improvements of the old Stewart line.
stewart released both the c628 and the c630. the c636 was a little more difficult as it had unique trucks.