New Bershire in DC

[co_riff]

I would like one without the sound,  of the new Berkshires.Is their any way you might make some with out sound?

Curtis

[gatrhumpy]

You can easily buy one, take out the speaker and sound decoder and DCC decoder, and then you'll be good. They won't make one without sound.

[James in FL]

@gatrhumpy
So then.... that's like flushing money down the toilet, pay for DCC w/sound then remove it, where is the rational in that?

How does one turn off the sound when running strictly DC?
Short of physically cutting something at the board?
Does it come with a jumper plug to bypass the decoder?

@co_riff
I would have liked to have one too without DCC/sound but that's not going to happen.
I refuse to flush money on something not wanted.
It's my choice, if it's something I don't want, then I simply don't buy.

Who or whom loses out?
Certainly not me, my dollars are still in my pockets. I have lost but a dream of owning one.
Somebody lost potential sales.
It's all about choices.
Bachmann's choice to manufacture it this way.
My choice to purchase...or not.

[gatrhumpy]

He never said anything about flushing money down the toilet. That's his concern. If he wants to do that then fine. But Bachmann will not ever be making a DC version of this locomotive.

[James in FL]

Yeah... that was just my analogy of your reply.
If resources are a non-issue that's the way to go, remove it and replace with something else, or disable the sound in some manner.

Have a look at the spectrum thread in the general forum and take note of the yardmasters reply.
I read that to imply that all current and future spectrum lokies will come factory equipped with DCC and sound.
To me... this was not welcome news, to others perhaps a blessing.

It is what it is.

[Bucksco]

Please reread my response. All future "Spectrum" locomotives will feature a dual mode decoder which means it can run in DC or DCC mode. A sound "module" can be added by the consumer if they would like sound - nobody is forced to have sound if they do not want it. This statement pertains to HO scale (you asked about the HO Berkshire). In N scale there would really be no price difference between a decoder equipped loco and a Non-DCC loco since the decoder is built into the PC board. That is why all newer locos come equipped with a dual mode decoder. The N scale Berkshire is our first Steam loco equipped with sound in N scale. At some point in time it may be released in a non-sound version but it will feature a dual mode decoder - that's just how we do it now. We are sorry that you are not happy with the way we do things but there are many factors that we need to consider when we design and produce locomotives and this is the best way to please the most people (and dealers).

[kmcsjr]

Please reread my response. All future "Spectrum" locomotives will feature a dual mode decoder which means it can run in DC or DCC mode. A sound "module" can be added by the consumer if they would like sound - nobody is forced to have sound if they do not want it. This statement pertains to HO scale (you asked about the HO Berkshire). In N scale there would really be no price difference between a decoder equipped loco and a Non-DCC loco since the decoder is built into the PC board. That is why all newer locos come equipped with a dual mode decoder. The N scale Berkshire is our first Steam loco equipped with sound in N scale. At some point in time it may be released in a non-sound version but it will feature a dual mode decoder - that's just how we do it now. We are sorry that you are not happy with the way we do things but there are many factors that we need to consider when we design and produce locomotives and this is the best way to please the most people (and dealers).

Yardmaster
I will investigate this, this weekend, but I run DC and DCC. If I turn the sound off, using my DCC controller, will it stay off in DC?

Thanks
Marty

[ACY]

I will investigate this, this weekend, but I run DC and DCC. If I turn the sound off, using my DCC controller, will it stay off in DC?

Marty,
Anything that you program with a DCC system will remain if you run the locomotive on analog (DC) or digital (DCC). Provided you do not reset the decoder, the CVs will retain their values until you either reset the decoder or reprogram it.

[ACY]

James,
Bachmann could offer a non-sound version of the locomotive but in this case it would most likely not be feasible because when dealing with items in mass production, the greater quantity you produce of the same exact item, the lower the cost of manufacturing and production will be, when they have two separate runs of a sound and non-sound version the end result is an increase in price in both versions because each would be produced in lower quantities as a result. So you would not see a significant price difference between the sound and non sound versions for this reason. Also keep in mind that production costs for all companies with factories overseas have increased, including most of the major companies in this hobby, so the recent price increases are not limited to Bachmann. In an effort to minimize costs and make products more affordable Bachmann has elected to look for a variety of avenues to reduce the cost of production and one such result was opting not to produce a non sound version of this locomotive.
If Bachmann did produce a non sound version, you would probably only see a savings of around $20-$30, so paying $20-30 more for the sound version really is not that bad. And it would hurt Bachmann because it would inadvertently increase the costs of production of the sound version and exacerbate the very problem they are trying to rectify. If you simply do not like hearing the sound you can disable it with any DCC system by pressing F8, or you can replace the PC board and sell the original board to recoup some money.

[co_riff]

Thanks guys for your input. Yardmaster , I like the idea of dual mode. All I wanted was an opportunity to buy one with out sound.

Curtis

[rrjim1]

The sound board with speakers just plug in, it would be very easy to remove the board and make a jumper plug to turn the loco into a standard DC only loco. You don't loose any money you still own the DDC/sound board, which you could sell.

[skipgear]

I will investigate this, this weekend, but I run DC and DCC. If I turn the sound off, using my DCC controller, will it stay off in DC?

Marty,
Anything that you program with a DCC system will remain if you run the locomotive on analog (DC) or digital (DCC). Provided you do not reset the decoder, the CVs will retain their values until you either reset the decoder or reprogram it.

This is not true. There is a particular set of CV's that control how the loco works in DC mode. You must set those CV's to determine if the sound is on, the lights are on, etc. in DC mode.

[ACY]

If I press F8 on an EZ Command system and then run the locomotive on an analog layout the sound remains off. If I program the CV for master volume and set it to 0, the sound remains off/muted even if run on an analog layout. There are a bunch of configuration variables you can program that pertain specifically to analog operation, such as freqency of random sound effects, or what triggers the horn, whistle or bell (ie spike in throttle). However, one need not program those CVs specific to analog operation, they can easily obtain what is desired otherwise.

[kewatin]

 i agree with ACY ,even with my dcc power cab if i hit button 8 i can toggle the sound from high to off..the only difference with dcc every time i call for my loco # the sound file will reset to on,still i can cancel out by pressing 8.
so why would you want to remove anything when activating button 8 silences sound.
regards&later kewatin