Asked Kato about them supporting sound in the HO line and not in their bread and butter line "N" scale. Their response was: Sound availability is entirely dependent on the DCC manufacturers. At this time, no DCC manufacturer makes drop in sound DCC boards which operate in a manner we feel is up to the quality standards of our locomotives. Does this mean we will never see a reliable factory installed sound engine from Kato? What does the KOBO shops do?
I asked them the same question months ago. Broadway Limited is a choice if you are willing to wait. I know Vince at Brooklyn locomotive Works will install sound in a Kato engine.
I have three engines from Broadway and the sound on 2 stopped working on them. Sent one back, got fixd, broke again. ID rather wait for Kato if it's ever going to happen.
Digitrax DCC sound in Kato E's. Just gotta mill/drill a hole for the speaker and a make room for the capacitor and the rest is a drop-in. Works in PA/PB's, and F's too. Another view: Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
I don't believe there is a "Vince" at that e-tailer... BUT... there is a 'Vince' at Top Hobby Trains http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/forumdisplay.php?270-Top-Hobby-Trains and they are a Trainboard advertiser... and posts here regularly.
There are a lot of folks that don't like to endorse the MRC N scale decoders... though... I found even the 8 bit decoder to be acceptable. NOW... there are 16 bit decoders which I've been told are better than the former 8 bit ones. They are a bit pricy... but they are drop-in replacement for the original light board from the manufacturer. Here's the link to MRC's page of decoders: http://www.modelrectifier.com/train-controls/decoderschart.asp I have an 8 bit decoder in this Kato F3:
I've put MRC sound in all my recent Kato F units and have been thinking seriously about repowering my old Santa Fe freight units with new mechanisms to give them sound also. MRC make decoders for just about all the Kato diesels except the NW2 and they are mostly very easy installations. The irony is that in Japan Kato will custom install an MRC sound decoder your Japanese steam loco. The tender of the D51 2-8-2 even has space in the weight that is the exact fit for an MRC decoder with a circular space beneath for a speaker, I've done two of these myself and the latest MRC steam decoder sounds very nice.
The MRC 1800 series sound decoders are nice in my IM FP-7's (6 or 7 I forget). The 1900 series, if as-good or an improvement, is good enough for me. I look forward to adding them to some of my F3's and finding out!
