LGB Ge 4/4 III - Sound Installation

T

TimJohans

Registered
Country flag
Hello,

I would like to install sound into my Ge 4/4 III "Vals" that I have. The locomotive has space for a speaker, which I have. I am wondering what I need in terms of decoders for sound? From looking inside the locomotive, there is already two decoders inside - one being a switch bus for all the connections, the other looking similar to a Massoth XL with SUSI interfaces.

I assume I would need to remove this decoder and replace for one with sound built in? Or does this decoder already come with sound - and it is a matter of connecting the speaker?

Cheers,

Tim.
 
Tim,
Can you post a picture, and we can tell you what is already in there!
If you can give the LGB model number, and the figures from the little gold sticker (if it has one), we can get the year of manufacture to help as well.
PhilP.
 
Hello,

I can't really get a picture as I don't have the loco open. The model number is 27420 - not sure what that says about year, country of manufacturer etc. There is also a Marklin sticker on one of the bogies - 11007492, so assume 2011, made in Hungary?
 
If you have an XL as you suspect you can easily fit a Massoth S unit to it. The S is just the sound unit, not a decoder.
 
If it is a Massoth XL you should be able to use any SUSI sound module. As well as Massoth S which is fine there is Uhlenbrock who also do a Ge 4/4 III sound project for their Intellisound 3 product although I have not heard this particular project. The Uhlenbrock website is only available in German but IS3 are about half the price of Massoth S if you can manage that. Uhlenbrock are also rebadged by Dietz who have some English documentation on their website.

EDIT
I have done Uhlenbrock a disservice, they have English documentation here:
http://www.uhlenbrock.de/de_DE/service/download/handbook/en/INDEX.HTM
 
Last edited:
TimJohans said:
I believe it is this decoder here:

https://www.trainli.com/products/detail/304/6395

LGB-26570-M032 Onboard Decoder

...not sure if that helps?
Click to expand...

If that's definitely the decoder you have, then it doesn't have a SUSI port - all the little 2, 3 and 4-pin sockets on it are for micro-CT plugs. It is possible to get a little separate adaptor board which goes straight to track power and then provides you with a SUSI connection, if you wanted to use an Uhlenbrock/Dietz sound module (I think that Cliff George on here has been experimenting recently with these little SUSI adaptors), but if you want a simpler solution then the aforementioned Massoth S simply plugs straight onto the two track power pins that are located right in the middle of your decoder board, between the four large sockets.

Jon.
 
The downside with connecting a Massoth S (or any other sound decoder) direct to track power (rather than via SUSI) is that you have to make sure the decoder is set to the address of the motor decoder before you install it, otherwise the sound decoder won't respond to load on the motor decoder; and if you subsequently program any CVs you need to check that you don't inadvertently change a CV on the other decoder.

I have done this on an LGB Maintenance of Way loco which had an LGB small decoder installed; there was no choice as that decoder has no SUSI bus either. It works very well but it is a PITA if you want to reprogram anything. Actually there was a choice which was to remove the installed decoder and replace it with a Massoth LS or XLS (motor and sound decoder), which if I was doing it again is probably the path I would follow. There's a writeup of this install on this forum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom