DCC chips and sound

[IanS]

Delving into this now. I see reference to DCC control chips and DCC sound chips.

Do sound chips also do control or are two chips needed?

[brian1951]

Yes Ian you only need one decoder can be sound or not,

[Rog (RJ)]

Usually sound chips do everything.

There are some some sound only chips which can be used to add sound to a loco that already has a non sound DCC chip installed. These tend to be generic sounds which aren't specific to any particular loco, usually having diesel and steam sounds on the same chip. You program the chip to select whether you want steam or diesel sounds. Not the best sounds but acceptable to some people.

[IanS]

Thank you for your replies. I'm relieved to here I don't need to obtain two sets of chips at double the expense. Although I do realise that sound chips are going to be more expensive than control chips.