In-helmet audio/bluetooth..

I'm probably the only person on the planet who isn't familiar with the intricacies of the commonly used in-helmet comms systems. As I try to resist the urge to farkle endlessly, I've concluded that getting rid of my earbuds and dangling cords is a worthwhile experiement. If I don't like it, I'm not out that much. This is primarily for music and phone calls, but could end up being in my wife's helmet too if I like it personally. My primary helmet is a Nolan N104. Any information on the ease of use, quality, etc. of N-Com, Sena, or any other system is appreciated. I probably would not hardwire initially, hoping to have nothing involved but tx in the glovebox and the rest inside the helmet.

I've got the n - com B4+. It works well. I do still use ear plugs, for wind noise.

Nobody here has probably tried any of these things or combinations. I'm sure it's never been evaluated or posted. I have had great luck for me and my pillion with Scala Cardo products.

I'm in the process of doing the research on this subject. The first thing I recommend doing is deciding EXACTLY what you want to do. For me it was #1 interface with GPS, #2 play music, #3 do bike to bike with 1 to at most 3 other riders, not to B.S. but coordinate fuel, food and rest stops, #4 talk to the passenger, #1,999 talk on the cell phone. Oh, yes #3b is talk to guys who have another brand of communicator.

I'm down to three, maybe four units: Sena 20S, Sena SMH10, Cardo Scala 9x, Cardo Scala G4. There is another one out there, a Uclear 200 which has a rapidly growing following but I'm deaf in one ear and it doesn't seam to be right for me. Serious range of prices and capabilities. You might want to call Revzilla.com. Those guys are really smart and will give you good information. Right now I have a set of detailed questions I sent to them and am waiting for an answer.

Hope this helps.

I'd stick with the ear buds and go with a Sena unit. Their current offerings cover just about everything out there. I have the SMH10s with the earbuds. One if these days, I'll upgrade to their new more loaded series.

Back in August I bought the Sena SMH 10D-11 Dual pack with universal mic's from Jeff at Bike effects https://bikeeffects.com/products.asp?cat=8625&pg=2

He offers a discount for the forum members and is a great guy!

The dual pack is for 2 helmets as the wife will need one also. Just like Zilla I use it with ear buds and it works just fine. Loved the bluetooth to my phone as I can take and make calls on the fly. People I talked to didn't have a clue I was going 75 mph on a bike.Works great to talk to my wife although I realize I talk out loud to my self while riding and she wonders what the hell I am talking about, nothing new there.

My left speaker quit working as the wire came out of the speaker and Sena is sending me a new unit under warranty.

Bill Lumberg said:

I'm probably the only person on the planet who isn't familiar with the intricacies of the commonly used in-helmet comms systems.

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No. You're not. Watching with interest

I have no desire to talk on the phone while on the bike so I just use a set of bluetooth earbuds for music and turn by turn directions.

They're not as good keeping out the noise like a pair of earplugs are, but they do pretty well.

Ray

Grey13 said:

I have no desire to talk on the phone while on the bike so I just use a set of bluetooth earbuds for music and turn by turn directions.
They're not as good keeping out the noise like a pair of earplugs are, but they do pretty well.

Ray

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That sounds like what I'd prefer as well. Care to share what brand you're using?

My concern is being able to hear them and fitting comfortably under a helmet.

Got the Sena 20 pair for my woman and I, they are the latest and after the first firmware upgrade they worked very very well. Another upgrade was just released as well...

At first I felt the speakers weren't loud enough but after I put the foam spacers in to get the speakers closer to my ears everything was darn near perfect.. Granted not in ear monitor good but good enough.

CoMm's with woman and my android music sharing, and GPS maps on the phone I'm very happy with these and highly recommend them... They really work well.

Bike effects treated me right also...

What helmets are you using... Make sure you can get speakers to fit if you go this route... We have the Shoei GT Air

Old Guy said:

Grey13 said:

I have no desire to talk on the phone while on the bike so I just use a set of bluetooth earbuds for music and turn by turn directions.
They're not as good keeping out the noise like a pair of earplugs are, but they do pretty well.

Ray

Click to expand...

That sounds like what I'd prefer as well. Care to share what brand you're using?

My concern is being able to hear them and fitting comfortably under a helmet.

Click to expand...

Sure. I use the LG Tone Pro headset. The main part sits around my neck and under the collar of my jackets and only the buds go up into the helmet.

Controls are placed on the sides and can sometimes get pressed when I'm turning my head quite a bit. it doesn't happen very often.

I've thought about getting the LG Tone Plus model. It's cheaper but the buttons are on the topside of the neckband so it should be much harder for the buttons to be pressed by accident.

Ray

Warpdrv said:

Got the Sena 20 pair for my woman and I, they are the latest and after the first firmware upgrade they worked very very well. Another upgrade was just released as well...
At first I felt the speakers weren't loud enough but after I put the foam spacers in to get the speakers closer to my ears everything was darn near perfect.. Granted not in ear monitor good but good enough.

What helmets are you using... Make sure you can get speakers to fit if you go this route... We have the Shoei GT Air

Click to expand...

I just got my Sena 20 as part of the revzilla 20% off sale ($230) and installed it today into my Shoei GT Air (which I love). When I used the foam spacers underneath the speakers, they were touching and rubbing my ear and not comfortable, so I just attached them to the velcro in the plastic ear hole. Update the firmware to 1.3, and tested it out today and it seems to be a quality product and work great for the most part. Being the speakers are a little further away from the ear, I do need to dial up the volume a little higher. And the double tap on the side of the unit to get her to respond, didn't seem to always work. Think it's more of just getting the cadence down when tapping. That is a neat option though, when it works. Radio is mostly static with what are strong local stations, except when I have my hand on the unit and help the antenna, which I looped up around the top of the helmet to the other ear. Any idea how to get better reception? And being the dang thing does so much, I think I need to tape a cheat sheet to my tank to figure out how to do it all while riding, tap this, dial that, double tap that....

HotRodZilla said:

I'd stick with the ear buds and go with a Sena unit. Their current offerings cover just about everything out there. I have the SMH10s with the earbuds. One if these days, I'll upgrade to their new more loaded series.

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+ 1

I used to use the in helmet speakers with the Sena. Great for around town but when you hit the open road they needed to be full volume and then were still not adequate. I switched out to the ear bud base. I use some Sennheiser Street II buds - they were $11 at frys. The difference is incredible. I intended to move up in buds when some cash was available. I am not sure I will now. Just for a reference I wear a Shoei Quest helmet (rated as a quiet helmet) and the in helmet speakers didn't cut it.

When we are talking around the subject of helmet audio, a "quiet helmet" is a red herring.

You need to either use helmet speakers WITH ear plugs, or noise-isolating earbuds eg Shure 215k with the appropriate foam tip.

In my experience, the SENA speakers are just loud enough to be used with regular foam earplugs, and as the earplugs are comfortable for many hours this is a solution that works for me. I also have the Shure 215s with Comply tips. These are a superb arrangement. The earphones sit flat and lock onto your ear. The noise-isolation is excellent. All outside sound is muted to a dull background sound, and the SENA never needs more than half volume for crystal clear sound, with decent bass, at any speed. The SENA helmet speakers are pretty awful without earplugs. They are harsh and tinny, no bass and sound downright nasty. Add a decent set of earplugs and they are transformed into a well-balanced unit that sounds decent, for what they are.

The only problem with the Shures is that I can't wear them (yet) for days on end, a problem that probably would be solved with custom ear molds ... at a high price.

As long as everything else is represented, I'm using the Uclear. It is very easy to setup in that the microphones are integrated into helmet speakers or the optional noise isolating earbuds. Without a microhone, there is more room in the helmet and the unit is much easier to move from helmet to helmet or to lend to friends for a day of use.

Excellent VOX for phone, bike to bike, or rider/passenger. Good fidelity helmet speakers, exceptional fidelity earbuds. Last 10 to 12 hours continuous use or longer on standby (I'm yet to have one run out of power). Very small unit that in unobtrusive and easy to control. Uclear uses a short-hop technology that gives it longer range with riding with a group, but range is decent for just two riders.

Another happy UClear HBC200 user here. Previously had the Cardo Scala Rider, and while a good unit, got tired of having the boom between the chin bar and my lips all the time. No boom to worry about w/ the UClear and excellent sound and good noise cancellation - when receiving a call while riding, the caller never hears any wind noise and doesn't know that I'm riding the m/c unless I tell them. UClear, Sena, Cardo - all seem to be good products and just a matter of personal preference.

I have no desire to talk on the phone while riding and not much of a need to communicate with pillion or other riders, My main interest was music and navigation from the Zumo. I've been really pleased with earfuze and Jumbl Bluetooth receiver. Earfuze is having sale now and I see they now offer a "wireless" version which is essentially a Jumbl unit hardwired to the headphones. I prefer a detachable bluetooth receiver so that I can run 2 units and always have one charging in the glove box. Lifespan is 6+ hours but on long days I've adopted a habit of changing units when I fill up just so I don't have a unit die while I'm on the road.

I also had an opportunity to try a Sena 20 this summer. It was a really nice unit but I have a hard time justifying the cost when I won't use most of the features. My only complaints were that music volume was a bit low (although VOX was fine) and I had to wear earplugs to block wind noise. I'm aware you can use earbuds with the Sena but being attached to the helmet would bother me getting suited up. I can leave the Jumbl unit in my jacket pocket and it is independent of the helmet.

These?Shure SE215-K Sound Isolating Earphones with Single Dynamic MicroDriver

Twigg said:

When we are talking around the subject of helmet audio, a "quiet helmet" is a red herring.
You need to either use helmet speakers WITH ear plugs, or noise-isolating earbuds eg Shure 215k with the appropriate foam tip.

In my experience, the SENA speakers are just loud enough to be used with regular foam earplugs, and as the earplugs are comfortable for many hours this is a solution that works for me. I also have the Shure 215s with Comply tips. These are a superb arrangement. The earphones sit flat and lock onto your ear. The noise-isolation is excellent. All outside sound is muted to a dull background sound, and the SENA never needs more than half volume for crystal clear sound, with decent bass, at any speed. The SENA helmet speakers are pretty awful without earplugs. They are harsh and tinny, no bass and sound downright nasty. Add a decent set of earplugs and they are transformed into a well-balanced unit that sounds decent, for what they are.

The only problem with the Shures is that I can't wear them (yet) for days on end, a problem that probably would be solved with custom ear molds ... at a high price.

Click to expand...

I was running an older version of the Cardo Scala Q2. Worked good but was having difficulty connecting up to other riders who had newer units. It paired well with my GPS and phone but couldn't get music to play from my phone through the system.

Recently purchased the UClear HBC-200 Force Boomless. Super easy install. Love that I don't have a boom to deal with. Still testing them out but so far sound seems pretty good. Pairs easy with GPS and phone for both calls AND music.