The second release of Heljan's Hymek is a very nice model indeed and includes some minor upgrades over the original (including LED lighting). Importantly, for DCC sound installation, the considerable bulk of the chassis has been reduced somewhat which allows more space for fitting decoders and speakers.
This particular model came to me already equipped with a Zimo MS950 DCC sound decoder. In terms of sound quality, the MS family of decoders are a considerable step-up from the older MX type and, in my opinion, the MS also does a better job here of dual motor control (when compared to Zimo MX and ESU V5 DCC sound decoder offerings).
Unfortunately, what lets the model down slightly is the YouChoos sound project - not the recordings themselves which are of excellent quality and fidelity - but rather the way the sounds interact with throttle inputs. There are a few anomalies, unfortunately, that I couldn't find workarounds for via CV modification. I'm hopeful that these will be resolved in a future release of the sound project (YouChoos customer support is excellent).
N.B. My go-to supplier for Zimo sound projects is Paul Chetter (via Digitrains). In this case, although a Hymek file is available, unfortunately it has not been remastered for MS decoders (at the time of writing) and although the drivability is an improvement, background hiss/static detracts and distracts to the extent that the YouChoos version is the better compromise in my opinion.
9 июн 2024
