And the communication revolution begins

[sportsguy]

The day of the Seattle Motorcycle Show, I went online and bought a Cardo Scala Rider G4 Powerset so:

1 - my wife and I can chat while riding

2 - I can listen to a variety of music options

3 - would be nice to HEAR GPS commands (can't recall if my Garmin GPSMAP 60 CSx can talk, though)

At the motorcycle show, the dealer selling the units was sold out, which turned out to be perfect. He was selling the G4 Powerset for $412... A quick scan online via my phone at the show showed me prices down to $336 for the G4 Powerset. Via Amazon, I found a retailer who shipped me a new 2-set unit for $309 USD.

Now I'm sure someone will post the Powerset can be had for less, but I was just happy saving the $100 or so...

While at the manufacturer's booth at the show, the rep walked me through the usual features of the G4 Powerset, then noted how they (Cardo) are about to roll out a "social network" starting with the G4 sets. He explained that as riders approach each other, the units will try to connect, with the rider needing to press a button to engage the conversation. Ignoring it simply blocks the connection. He said Cardo thought of Facebook and Twitter and wanted to create something similar for riders, in real time.

In theory, it sounds kind of cool. Not sure I'll ever use it, though. I really am not THAT compelled to tell the guy heading in the opposite direction that his bike was cool...LOL

So this morning I figured I'd mount them up and see if,now fully charged, would everything work as expected in the test kitchen.

The units mounted easily on both of our HJC helmets: FS-15 & CL-16. Used the screw down clamps and they *seem* nice and secure. Easily synced with my iPhone via Bluetooth and had a stupid grin on wandering around the house listening to music while the phone sat on the kitchen island. Nice range - easily enough for fuel stops, coffee shops, etc. (within reason - losing the connection might NOT mean your bike was stolen. It could simply mean you wandered more than 30 or so feet away from the unit broadcasting... )

What really surprised me was the set I got has the boom mics, intended for open face helmets. The unit fitted just fine into our helmets and is not too obtrusive inside my FS-15 helmet. I thought I was going to have to buy new base units for the helmets to get the wired mics. The base units are relatively cheap, but would have been a PITA to order and wait for. The boom mics are so flexible they easily fit, and the flat foam mic cover was slim enough to fit comfortably. The foam just barely touches my lips, I can speak easily with the mic ideally positioned. I could remove the foam for a bit more clearance, but I'm fine with the current situation. We'll see how that works in real world riding.

One small concern I have right now is the relative water resistance of these units. The paperwork claims them to be somewhat water resistant. The units LOOK to be somewhat sealed...except for one obvious issue: the port to plug in the cord which attaches to an external MP3 player. Like for when you cannot connect via Bluetooth. The port is on the inside, lower edge of the unit which attaches to the helmet, so it's pretty well protected, but we all know how water travels in all directions while we ride, so I wouldn't be surprised if water gets in there over time. I'll be looking for a small set of rubber plugs to try to seal those ports up.

It's clear you WILL need to spend time with the instructions to learn the controls. While everything feels obviously different to your bare fingertip, you still need to memorize where each button is located, and memorize how to reach each function. Haven't tried the unit with my gloves on, though I suspect the windproof 3 seasons I ride most days with will still offer a bit of a challenge. The buttons themselves *seem* to be laid out in a wide enough pattern to be usable with my thinner gloves, but I suspect my winter gloves will thwart all intentional attempts to make selections. We'll see...

The buttons themselves require a firm push to engage, so it's unlikely you'll accidentally click a button and change the function. The overall design is, as mentioned, well spaced and with obvious height differences so you'll know by feel when you are on or off a particular button. Overall, it's a simple thing to feel you way around the G4. You *could* say it's easy to feel your way around your unit...er, it's easy to press your buttons, er... it's easy to find the button on the box...er, oh never mind, you get the idea...

Referencing the instructions, I paired the headset to my iPhone in seconds, first time. Radio operation worked as explained. Volumes *seem* fine wandering around the house, but we'll see what riding brings. I don't think I turn my iPhone up THAT loud while riding, but using the earbuds v. these in-helmet speakers could/will show a big difference in performance, I'm sure. I can immediately tell there is less bass response overall (not by much at lower volumes) and as the volume increases, bass trails off (likely to protect the speakers). Fine by me, I can thump the bass in the car.

Well, if the weather cooperates over the next week or so, I'll take a cruise and see what these things are like on the road. I'm not looking for hi fidelity. I am looking for background music and the ability to communicate with my wife. Talking with others would be cool, too, but given the crew I often ride with here, it's maybe best I DON'T hear most of what they are saying anyway...

 

[wingshot]

Thanks for the write up, I looked fairly closely at the same model. However, I lost interest as they didn't have an earbud option. The saleman mentioned that they might come out with an earbud option later this summer when the social network option was available.

The salesman also let is slip to another interested party that if you sent them in with some proclaimed defect the company would send you a new set up instead of trying to repair yours. It would be a great way to get the lasted and greatest model, especially if you did it a month or two before the warranty expired -- something to consider.

Look forward to hearing your comments after riding with the unit.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Nice write up sportsguy. Often thought about having comms between bikes to coordinate turns, stops, road debris, etc...but the idea of having another radio turned me off. Perhaps the advance of bluetooth technology and equipment like the Scala will make it easier.

Like wingshot, I'd be interested in ear buds verses helmet speakers. We'll see!

--G

 

[wfooshee]

If there's any comparison to my Scala Rider Teamset, the volume will raise with ambient noise, even just starting the engine. I wear earplugs and have no difficulty with the speakers. Actually, without earplugs it's harder to hear, with all the wind noise and other outside noises coming in.

Referring to the ear buds vs helmet speakers issue, I prefer the speakers. The unit is self-contained in the helmet, all you do is put your helmet on the way you always have, and you're connected! With ear buds, you'd have to put them in, then watch the wires when you put on your lid, and remember the wires when you remove it.

As for the mics, I don't think they have a different kind. They work in open face helmets, but they fit in closed face, too. The foam is part of the noise protection, but the foam on mine has gone, torn up long ago. (My Teamset is over 3 years old.)

The following is my experience with my teamset, may not have anything to do with the G4. I've not tried music or GPS, as the Teamset has no wired input and is not stereo, and my GPS has no BlueTooth. But for phone and intercom it's been great. Battery life is amazing, too. 2, even three day on a charge, and charging only takes a couple of hours.

The ONLY thing I hate about it is it will not hang up my phone. If I make a call and get voice mail, I'm connected as long as the other end stays on the line. When the other end hangs up, I get my phone back.

EDIT: Oh, yeah. . . no issues whatever with water, although mine doesn't have that jack you're talking about.

 

[Fred W]

This is starting to sound better all the time. I guess my one question about the BT limitation would be: How many other devices can you pair to simultaneously, and how does it prioritize the connections? These are the things that have kept me wired so far.

I'd really like to see a fully wired communication / intercom server (like a Starcom1 or Autocom) that just has a wireless connection between the base unit and the helmets. I don't really want or need BT to any other of the external devices (GPS, Phone, RD, B2B) just cut the wires to my helmet and I'll be happy.

 

[maddad]

There are a few people on here like me that have had the Scala G4 for awhile. Initially a few bugs with audio and my iphone where I couldn't jump forward on songs and the sound on music did not match the level on phone or other devices. That was all fixed up with a software release. Make sure you get the software updates, they are free and have functional improvements.

The instructions are unclear, but I think you can pair with the 3 devices. I know you can pair up with 3 other riders, but they do not indicate if you can do that while keeping your phone or GPS paired.

- Radio is almost useless unless you are commuting in a city with strong signals. Just does not have any range.

- Audio is my primary use with an iphone 4. iphone 4 fixed some issues I had with iphone 3. (being able to skip to next song)

- Phone I find works very well with good noise supression. Have had conversations at 80 mph but more typically at 60 mph for safety and to eliminate and noise effects.

- Intercom works well again with noise supression. Changes in noise, like my cousin hammering the throttle on his ZX14 will be heard for a few seconds but not steady motor noise.

- No issues with weather proof, have driven in lots of rain.

- Priority is phone, intercom, music.

Largest issues, I've mentioned before is patience and learn to use the device. They try to pack alot of options into a few buttons. When listening to music and a call comes in, press the button and wait a second for it to switch. When the caller hangs up, do nothing, just wait for it to switch back to music. If you hangup as well, you've probably just shut off your music and will starting pressing everything to get it working again just causing more problems. When you try to call your buddy on th eintercom, press the button, wait a second and then start speaking. Usually have to say "Hey you there?" it's suppose to beep once, but if they are listening to music, they'll probably miss it. It doesn't ring like a phone, so more than once, I've connect through intercom and waited stupidly for him to say Hello. Again usually started pressing buttons and got things screwed up.

All in all, if it broke, I'd go right back out and buy another one.

 

[GalaxyBlue]

I think my patience in waiting for technology to catch up has finally paid off.

I REALLY hate wearing ear buds and want to be completely wireless!

 

[sportsguy]

OK, so I went out and road 70 miles today and used the G4 the whole time. Here are my impressions.

First up, as regards listening to music, it's money well spent for me. If the rider/passenger comms is anything like it was listening to music, I'll be pleased.

While suiting up, I opted to try something I'd read here - riding with foam earplugs while using the G4. Luckily my garage is well stocked. I grabbed a set of 33 db plugs, slipped them in and dropped my lid on. Hmmm... kinda low volume, even with the volume set to max. I was unsure if it was just me, or what, but I knew the volume was maxed, so what to do?

I removed the 33db plugs and slipped in a set of 25 db plugs. MUCH better. Still decent noise protection, but I could now hear the music better and a bit louder.

Firing up the Barge, I was pleased to note I could still easily hear the music. Now, to be clear, this is NOT as loud as your iPod ear buds can manage. It's reduced but still completely usable. Looking back on it, over 2 hours of riding, I wanted for volume only once, on one particular song. I could hear it, but the bottom end of the dynamic range was entirely missing as the volume was simply too low. The culprit? The original recording is low, so it's not the G4's fault.

Pulling out of my driveway, I left my windshield down (Cee Bailey's +3) and my visor open. I tried this combo up to roughly 60 mph, using what I thought would be a "max noise" scenario to judge the volume of the G4 against. No problem for the G4.

Let's see, how many combos did I try out today...?

1 - visor up, windscreen down - up to 60

2 - visor up, windscreen up - over 60 mph

3 - visor down, windscreen down - all speeds

4 - visor down, windscreen up - all speeds

Bottom line was there were no circumstances where the G4 disappointed me in terms of volume.

How can this be you ask?

Well, it's due to the auto-setting volume control. As ambient noise amps up, the G4 increases the volume. Yep, it'll find MORE volume than cranking the volume manually allows you to access. That's great news as the overall average volume ends up being very friendly to your ears, especially when wearing hearing protection like I was.

One gripe, is the G4 can overpower the speakers. One a few songs I noted the speakers "bottoming out", essentially topping out their own range in the lower octaves. After first noticing this, I pulled over the changed my iPod setting from "small speakers" to "off". This ensured the iPod was not boosting any frequency ranges to compensate for the ear buds I normally use.

After this, things were better. A few songs still proved to be a bit much, but nothing lowering the volume one notch couldn't cure. And with the system setting overall volume based on the noise it senses, the effective volume I was hearing remained just right.

Overall, for enjoying your tunes wirelessly, this combo is a solid option. I'm glad I bought it at this point.

As expected, fitzing about with gloves on was a learning experience. I still don't clearly know the buttons and functions each can manage, so most of the outright errors were from my fumbling. With my three-season gloves on, I could manage things if I went slowly and looked for points of reference to start my poking from. Part way home I swapped to my full-on winter gloves and as expected, manual dexterity went out the window. I did manage to decrease the volume once, as I had planned. Saying this was an accident or on purpose, however, remains a 50/50 proposition.

I'll need to reserve judgment on rider/passenger comms, though, as today's ride was solo. I don't expect any issues, however.

Someone above asked about the prioritization of the functions. Here it is, straight from the owner's manual. Higher prio items are at the top and lower prio items at the bottom:

1 - mobile phone audio or GPS instructions (device specific)

2 - Intercom

3 - A2DP audio source (Bluetooth/wireless)

4 - FM Radio (built in)

5 - Aux. line in port (for corded connections like an MP3 player)

Here's a practical example. Let's say you get a call on your phone (and it's connected via Bluetooth). That incoming call trumps your ongoing intercom conversation. Your passenger starting an intercom conversation will over-ride the FM radio.

I'll try to remember to report back when I have a chance to ride two up, but it'll likely be a while with it being winter in the PNW and having the holidays upon us.

 

[DeweyIsgod]

FYI - for those interested, the Schuberth dealer at the Dallas Motorcycle show said that their custom version for the C3 helmet is just a reshaped Scala G4 unit. The Schuberth bluetooth can be paired with a regular G4 unit, although at $399 currently, the neck-roll version for the C3 is quite a bit more expensive.

 

[spike747]

Wait till you start using it with the intercom and the GPS at the same time. VERY BUGGY! There was a couple of updates in the spring that sort of cleaned up some problems, but they have not had an update since July (ver 2.3). I used it for a week with a buddy that had one also. My music source was a Zumo. His was his black berry. Whenever he mistakenly hit the wrong buttons on his end, it would screw me up. 9 times out of 10, we both would have to cycle power on our G4's and I usually had to cycle power on my Zumo also.

This product was rushed to market with really buggy firmware and they have been incredible slow to fix these bugs. Really pisses me off. I would never in a million years recommend this unit. It does sound pretty good when it works, but once it starts to flake out it's a huge distraction on the road getting it working again. When I'm by myself it works good with the Zumo. But with another rider and the Zumo, its a total piece of $hit.

Their tech support told me to tell my buddy to stop pressing the wrong buttons. I say their firmware should be more robust.

 

[wfooshee]

Hmm, not very tolerant of eye-dee-ten-tee input, huh?

 

[bbdig]

Check 4wheelonline for pricing. They were running a special in early Dec.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Just to let you know...there is another BT option out there. The SENA BT has been road tested by Jeff Ashe, and I purchased one this past fall.

I like it! Enjoyed conversations with my son while riding the hinterlands one weekend.

Cougar8000 from this board sold it to me and I have been very happy with it!

 

[sportsguy]

Check 4wheelonline for pricing. They were running a special in early Dec.

...and so they ARE offering an excellent price! Nice find bbdig. $289.95 right now folks, and that't the best I've seen online so far. Got my Amazon sourced price beat by about $12! Free shiping from 4wheelonline, too.

 

[2006FJR]

Autocom user here and very happy. It's expensive but when paired with the Zumo 660 it is one hell of a tool. https://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-intercoms/autocom/

 

[MCML]

I REALLY hate wearing ear buds and want to be completely wireless!

Me, too. Going wireless is very seductive and it's not that I hate wearing the Etimotics it's that on rides of a couple of weeks or more my ear canals have ended up bruised and bloodied. Speakers blasting through earplugs is what I started with (Chatterbox) but the two Starcom set ups I have used subsequently just did/do not provide enough undistorted volume. Then there was the issue of bike-to-bike communication which, to me, adds a lot of utility and enjoyment to a ride. The Scala G4 with a really quiet helmet (not my X11, certainly) is intriguing. Not quite ready to change systems once again but it does seem like it's getting close. Thanks to all for the write-ups.

 

[Knifemaker]

.........The salesman also let is slip to another interested party that if you sent them in with some proclaimed defect the company would send you a new set up instead of trying to repair yours. Look forward to hearing your comments after riding with the unit.

I contacted Cardo to do this, as the Scala Teamset I bought several years back never worked well to start with, then after its 5th or 6th use on the bike the passenger intercom totally went away.

The bad news is they won't help me out because I do not have a reciept from the purchace. I bought it online...direct from them I thought, not even sure if I ever had a reciept.

They did point out they do not fix damaged units. So guessing any return is going to be a replacement.

So, Keep your reciept...(and register with the warrenty card too.) Not saying this isn't mostly my fault for not returning the damn thing when it first started acting up, but if I buy another bluetooth set up it will not be from Cardo. More than likely when I have the time and money I will go with the Auto or Star Comm units.

I do agree the controlls are pretty haphazard wtih gloves... even provided you remember what button does what.

I would really like to see a handlebar mounted controll unit with dedicated buttons. This could still be done using a bluetooth headset if I understand the technology correctly.

And someone needs to explain to me why after all this time these things still cost so much?

KM

 

[Fred W]

Autocom user here and very happy. It's expensive but when paired with the Zumo 660 it is one hell of a tool. https://www.webbikewo...ercoms/autocom/

For those not already aware, Autocom has been sold off to Tecstar, the parent company and manufacturer of Starcom1.

It seems that they just about have a monopoly on the motorcycle intercom business now.

 

[aroostook]

Thank you for the write up...it was very helpful. I have a bunch of other questions that I'm hoping either you or others might be able to answer.

1. When 3 bikes are using the units, can each bike listen to their own music and phone calls or is it one big happy family and everyone listens to everything?
   
2. When you and your rider are hooked up and a call comes in, do they hear the conversation as well?
   
3. Can you have a private conversation with your rider without anyone else hearing?
   
4. Under what circumstances would you need a direct wire connected to the unit??
   

I apologize in advance for my ignorance about such matters . I plan to get a zumo right off so keep that in mind when you answer. Thanks