I have one of the new Difalco Neo controllers. I like it a lot. It seems a little smoother and more comfortable than my Professor Motor. The Difalco has built in circuit protection to guard against incorrect wire hook ups or reverse polarity. The polarity on the controller can be easily changed to suit reverse polarity tracks. Difalco has been around for many years building controllers, including controllers for the 1/24 pro racers. Difalco's service and support are excellent! If you have questions or problems you can email them or call them on the phone and they will respond. Upgrades and repairs can be easily made by the owner without a need to send the controller back to the shop. I also have a Difalco for 1/24 racing that they built for me with options I requested. Yes, they will custom build a controller to suit your needs.
I also have three Professor Motor controllers. Two older original versions and one of the dual potentiometer styles. All have been used extensively over the years. One of the older ones served as my 1/24 race controller for many years, and I now use it for my Over 55 Class 1/24 controller as well as for 1/32. The Professor Motor controllers are very dependable! Professor Motor also has excellent service and support, and parts are readily available for their controllers.
DS controllers are relatively new on the market. I have used other racer's DS controllers from time to time and they are also very nice. They are very smooth and control is very linear. However I question their durability as mentioned by Mitch above. In addition their service and support is not good, and I know of no available repair or replacement parts.
When it comes right down to it they all work very well. From my experience I would rate the Difalco's the highest mostly because of the level of the service provided by the company, and the ability to make repairs or upgrades myself. Second on my list is the Professor Motor, for many of the same reasons I like Difalcos, plus they are dependable and tough! Bringing up the rear for me is the DS. They feel good in my hand and they are very smooth, but as of right now they just don't seem reliable and the service and support from the factory is not there. Maybe I'll change my mind some day.........
