KB02
Well-Known Member
As I have finally made my foray into the world of DCC with sound, the first decoder I bought happened to be the Digitrax SDH166D. I figured that I would do a quick review of the decoder here so that others who may be looking at it may know my experience with it. Let's be honest, I bought this decoder because I am cheap and so was the price. I am certainly not unhappy with it, but there are a few things that I would like to change if I could. Again, as I go into this, bear in mind that this is the very first sound decoder I have ever owned.
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DIGITRAX SDH166D - AN ENTRY LEVEL SOUND DECODER AT AN ENTRY LEVEL PRICE:
There are two things that drew me into buying the Digitrax SDH166D: 1.) It came with a speaker; 2.) THE PRICE! I picked up this decoder for about $45 on eBay (Suggested retail price is still only $55). One certainly cannot argue about the merit of a good deal, but one also needs to keep in mind the traditional old sales slogan, "You get what you pay for." When you keep in mind that I picked up a five pack of non-sound decoders for just a little bit more than this One sound job, $45 isn't unreasonable.
Once I committed to the purchase, I THEN looked to the online reviews and YouTube videos to see what other people thought and to see if I had just wasted my money or not. Kinda did that one backwards, but I feel it worked out in the end. Here are some things that I have found as I have played around with this decoder that you could put into the back of your mind if you are considering buying one as well:
Comes with two preloaded sounds: A Steamer or a GP38.
As it turns out, I was putting this into a GP38-2, so it kinds of works out well. You can download all kinds of sounds from Digitrax's library and load them into the decoder if you have the proper program, cables, etc... which I don't. If you have a different loco, you might end up with the wrong prototypical sound unless you spend the extra to change it (or know someone who can do it for you).
Prime Mover sound is kind of quiet... but that's okay!
As I looked at different videos and reviews of this and other decoders, one of the first thing that just about everybody said or did was turn down the volume on the Prime Mover sound. As it turns out, the PM volume isn't that loud on the SDH166D. At first I was a little disappointed, but after I got to thinking about it, I probably would have turned it down to where it is now anyway so, once again, I was saved a step.
Quick Start-Up, but no Shut-Down
Probably my biggest, and nearly only, complaint about this decoder is that there is no Shut-Down sound or way to turn it off other than a Mute function (F8) which only quiets it... you can still hear it. So, If I just need to move the loco to a different track to get it out of the way while I work (play) with another loco, I then have to listen to it sit there and idle the whole time until I turn the power to the track off. The Start up sound is pretty quick in comparison to others I have heard, but that doesn't bother me too much.
Other than that, I am pretty happy with the purchase. It is certainly not a Bose Quality speaker, but what do you want for $45 for the whole kit & Caboodle? I dropped it into an Athearn Blue Box Loco, so it works for what it is. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6.5. Maybe a 7. That rating may change as I get other and play with other decoders. For now, though. I'll stick with it for a while.
Hope this helps.
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DIGITRAX SDH166D - AN ENTRY LEVEL SOUND DECODER AT AN ENTRY LEVEL PRICE:
There are two things that drew me into buying the Digitrax SDH166D: 1.) It came with a speaker; 2.) THE PRICE! I picked up this decoder for about $45 on eBay (Suggested retail price is still only $55). One certainly cannot argue about the merit of a good deal, but one also needs to keep in mind the traditional old sales slogan, "You get what you pay for." When you keep in mind that I picked up a five pack of non-sound decoders for just a little bit more than this One sound job, $45 isn't unreasonable.
Once I committed to the purchase, I THEN looked to the online reviews and YouTube videos to see what other people thought and to see if I had just wasted my money or not. Kinda did that one backwards, but I feel it worked out in the end. Here are some things that I have found as I have played around with this decoder that you could put into the back of your mind if you are considering buying one as well:
Comes with two preloaded sounds: A Steamer or a GP38.
As it turns out, I was putting this into a GP38-2, so it kinds of works out well. You can download all kinds of sounds from Digitrax's library and load them into the decoder if you have the proper program, cables, etc... which I don't. If you have a different loco, you might end up with the wrong prototypical sound unless you spend the extra to change it (or know someone who can do it for you).
Prime Mover sound is kind of quiet... but that's okay!
As I looked at different videos and reviews of this and other decoders, one of the first thing that just about everybody said or did was turn down the volume on the Prime Mover sound. As it turns out, the PM volume isn't that loud on the SDH166D. At first I was a little disappointed, but after I got to thinking about it, I probably would have turned it down to where it is now anyway so, once again, I was saved a step.
Quick Start-Up, but no Shut-Down
Probably my biggest, and nearly only, complaint about this decoder is that there is no Shut-Down sound or way to turn it off other than a Mute function (F8) which only quiets it... you can still hear it. So, If I just need to move the loco to a different track to get it out of the way while I work (play) with another loco, I then have to listen to it sit there and idle the whole time until I turn the power to the track off. The Start up sound is pretty quick in comparison to others I have heard, but that doesn't bother me too much.
Other than that, I am pretty happy with the purchase. It is certainly not a Bose Quality speaker, but what do you want for $45 for the whole kit & Caboodle? I dropped it into an Athearn Blue Box Loco, so it works for what it is. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6.5. Maybe a 7. That rating may change as I get other and play with other decoders. For now, though. I'll stick with it for a while.
Hope this helps.
