There are a couple of ways you can go. Leave it stock to run the recoil mechanism, and the DBC3 will handle the flash and gun sound. PLug and Play, and everything is synchronized, or you can use a Tamiya style recoil if you choose. This will require 3 electric wires to be soldered.

On the DBC The cannon will fire before the next IR Round is ready meaning you get recoil and gun flash everytime you fire the gun, but the IR shot only fires at the prescribed times. I am trying to convince David we need the DBC to flash the apple once to let you know when the next shot is ready, like the EL Mod does. This means you will know when the next IR round is loaded and can be fired without counting down seconds

Another plus with the DBC is that it uses a removable PIC. David can write new code to keep the DBC current with advancements. To upgrade you just buy a new chip, and install it

Finally I am looking at a cheap basic digital sound card that will store the cannon, hit, and end game sounds for guys who don't want to spend the money on the Benedini right away. So you can have all the digital battle sounds, but won't have the engine sounds. There is an ELV card from Germany that can do it, but I had a high failure rate with these cards and quit using them. I have sourced out another one, and will be doing tests with that. However the Benedini is a slick unit, and the sound architecture creates awesome engines sounds. You will be hard pressed to find anything that accomplishes the smooth transition of engine revs like the Benedini delivers, or easier to hook up to your existing HL. Because it does piggy back on the RX18 it keeps the installation super simple

The competition between electronics is really muddying the waters. I can only do my best to answer questions about the system I sell.

All the systems have a certain uniquiness, so it makes it very hard to compare them side by side,

On features, of price, flexibility, sound quality and ease of hook up, the DBC/Benedini combo is a solid system

I know how tough the decision is. For some you will just have to buy a couple of different systems and see what you like the most. You will find a preference for one of the systems, and then most likely thst will become your system. Because most systems have adopted the Tamiya as standard, you won't be saddled with a white elephant.

Tamiya
DBC
El Mod
IBU
SLU

All use the same frequency and slow down the tanks when damage has been taken. This is crucial. Once the MAMBA gets released it too will have this, so no matter what you end up buying it should play well with others. You then just have to get the apples similar. I have done this by adopting the Tamiya apple, and include the cable to allow it to be used with a DBC3. There are a lot of clubs with Tamiya standards, and for me it just made sense to adopt the TBU, so I did