Sena 20s Reviews with earplugs

[GreyGoose]

I was looking for a consensus concerning the 20s and the:

1. Ability to hear the unit for audio and voice when using ear plugs
2. Audio quality when playing music

3. Overall opinions concerning the 10s vs. the 20s.

I'm currently using a custom set of wired ear buds that i plug into my iphone for music and gps directions. The sound is pretty incredible. I'm attempting to go wireless and have a basic set of custom ear plugs (no speakers) that i would like to use instead. I realize that i'll be giving up quite a bit of audio quality in the transition, but i'm will to do so to incorporate voice communications into my 2 wheeled world. The reviews of the sena 20s note that they are the very good at getting loud enough to clearly hear when using ear plugs (reviews state "first of its kind"). I have no way to know of the quality of the speakers that come with the unit. Getting loud is one thing. Sounding good is another. I realize that sound quality is going to be directly effected by wearing ear plugs,but i wanted to ping the members of the board who have this set up to try and get some "real world" feedback vs. what i've read in the reviews. Sounds like the 10s and 20s both do an excellent job of enabling voice communication effectively, so i'm not too concerned in that department.

any feedback would be helpful before i drop the 250 bucks.

thanks

Greygoose

 

[Intech]

I don't have the 20S. I am using the SM10 with Earfuze custom earbuds. The custom earbuds provide sound attenuation, so you don't have to have the Sena output at high volume. That is worse for your hearing than just road noise without ear plugs. With the SMH10 the sound quality is excellent. That is a combination of the SENA and the earbuds. If you get quality earbuds I am sure the sound quality of the 20S is just as good. I have my phone connected to a Zumo 665 and the 665 and an iPod connected to the Sena. It works great.

 

[rogdeb]

I don't have the 20S. I am using the SM10 with Earfuze custom earbuds. The custom earbuds provide sound attenuation, so you don't have to have the Sena output at high volume. That is worse for your hearing than just road noise without ear plugs. With the SMH10 the sound quality is excellent. That is a combination of the SENA and the earbuds. If you get quality earbuds I am sure the sound quality of the 20S is just as good. I have my phone connected to a Zumo 665 and the 665 and an iPod connected to the Sena. It works great.

These are my findings and opinions also ^^^^

 

[juniorfjr]

we've got the s20 but mostly use custom westone earbuds. I thought the sound with speakers and earplugs ok, but not ideal.

 

[Tiger_993]

I was in your shoes a couple of years ago, using ear buds plugged into my phone for music, and wanting to cut the cord, so to speak. I bought the 20S shortly after it came out and got fitted for some Westone TRU custom musician earplugs. They don't have the same attenuation as a high quality set of foam earplugs but they do have enough to do the job for me. I went with the model offering 24dB of attenuation. What I Iike about the Westone plugs is that they allow voice frequencies to pass through with much greater clarity than a foam earplug will.

With the 20S and the Westone plugs, I run the volume of the FM radio slightly down from full power. When Bluetooth music streaming, I run the 20S volume at full power. For phone calls, I usually will turn down the 20S volume a bit. With the musicians plugs, spoken audio, such as during a radio broadcast or a phone call, sounds great and the plugs also pass music very well. However, the 20S speakers are nothing to brag about and my hunch is that you'll be pretty disappointed in them, particularly coming from a set of ear buds. For what are essentially small headphone speakers, they sound "okay" at full volume, and I notice the ear plugs actually clean up the sound a bit.

But it's the price to be paid to be free of wires and I have found it all to be a good fit for me.

Incidentally, the 20S speakers can be swapped out via plug-and-play and I've been eyeing these from iASUS. They're expensive but the reviews look promising, including some reviews by motorcyclists. An alternative that you may not be aware of is that you can connect your existing custom ear buds directly to the 20S. Doing so, you obviously would then have a wire connecting your ears to your helmet, but there would be no wire going anywhere else, like your phone.

 

[Ignacio]

I was looking for a consensus concerning the 20s and the:
1. Ability to hear the unit for audio and voice when using ear plugs

2. Audio quality when playing music

3. Overall opinions concerning the 10s vs. the 20s.

Why would you give up the custom ear buds? Switching to wireless doesn't preclude their use...with either SMH10 or SR20.

Concensus? Yeah right. There are as many stories and experiences with these complex systems as owners. That's one of the reasons the subject of Senas have been made many, many times on the forum and you'd do well to search on the term and look through the many threads.

Specifically, I've been using an earbud/earplug for over 10 years (Etymotic ER-6) and switched from a Mix-It to SMH-10 units 5 or 6 years ago and upgraded to 20S for a specific case of better mixing options and increase flexibility with multiple audio sources (i.e. voice, GPS, iPhone, radar detector, other riders) last year. I didn't notice a difference in audio quality between the two.

I do not there were some initial reports of 20S being not very loud, but they have updated firmware and that issue was put to rest long ago.

Using either product didn't reduce the sound quality I get from say an MP3 file comapred to directly wired from the source in a noticeable way..at least to me. It's the ear buds that are the key here.

If your need is to simply add voice ability while riding with a single source like a phone that provides MP3 and cellular service--the SMH10 used might be a better value proposition. Just be aware that the SMH-10 requires an ear-bud specific headset (about $35) and the 20S can be setup either for earbuds or speakers.

If, like many that have gone down this road, you go to a Sena you start thinking about how to mix all the sources of audio you might have (i.e. listen to music from your iPhone while also listening to GPS unit) then the 20S tends to have more options and gets more complicated.

 

[Kneedragger55]

I purchased the 20S last week and the best thing by far are the voice commands and audio intermingling. I can launch navigation to the nearest gas station via my Google voice (one button), skip songs or start FM (another button). I an also send text or make calls if necessary. Voice recognition is good. Clarity of the audio is ok. Human voices like navigation and phone calls are pretty good. Music... Mehhh. I first tried the speakers without ear plugs and it was doable. Alot of noise though from road, wind, music, etc. Recently tried basic foam ear plugs and for me it's not worth it. On the highest volume, I'm barely able to hear music, especially at highway speeds. I think that's one consensus you'll find here, music quality not great, voice quality pretty good. I think I'll be going to headphones, but I was really looking forward to not having something shoved in my ear for hours. I may even do speakers with no plugs, but that'll upset the hearing nazis here. Plugs with speakers will be my last choice unless I can find some plugs with less dampening.

 

[Queensland Ken]

I have the SMH10 with the SMH-A303 base, a 3.5mm output for the custom silicon Earmolds I use, no helmet speakers.

Get very little wind / road noise, beautiful quality of sound at low volumes.

Very happy with the setup, save what little hearing I have left.

 

[Niehart]

Speakers in town and ear buds on longer rides.

But I am think about upgrading to better helmet speakers.

 

[GreyGoose]

we've got the s20 but mostly use custom westone earbuds. I thought the sound with speakers and earplugs ok, but not ideal.

I've also got custom westone earbuds with speakers. Not sure what model they are but they cost me about 400 bucks some years back. They sound great, and i'm sure i'll never get anywhere close to that type of sound by going with a speakerless earbud combined with helmet bluetooth speaker, but i just wanted to find out how deep the cost would be for the switch. That being said, the review of the 20 s try to get you to believe that the product gets us one step closer to "having the cake and eating it to". I just wanted to see if what i was hearing was true. Sounds like we're a longer way off than i thought.

Appreciate all the feedback

Greygoose

 

[Warpdrv]

I purchased the 20S last week and the best thing by far are the voice commands and audio intermingling. I can launch navigation to the nearest gas station via my Google voice (one button), skip songs or start FM (another button). I an also send text or make calls if necessary. Voice recognition is good.

I would like some instruction as to how to do what your saying here....

How do you get google voice to start..... I have no problem skipping songs or setting it up to talk to my better half....

I have no clue on initiating "Google Voice" part. That would be helpful...

Thanks

 

[Niehart]

 

[Kneedragger55]

First I think you have to upgrade to the latest firmware, if you haven't already. At that point it's pretty simple. The lower (audible) button controls sena, and the back (on/off) button controls Google.

 

[Denver_FJR]

I was looking for a consensus concerning the 20s and the:
1. Ability to hear the unit for audio and voice when using ear plugs

2. Audio quality when playing music

3. Overall opinions concerning the 10s vs. the 20s.

I have both 10r and 10s and both have same speaker elements. The 20s looks like it also uses the same speakers.

Regarding sound quality, I was impressed... when engine is off, you're sitting still and without plugs. Once under way, engine noise and wind noise take over. Even with plugs I can easily hear audio (music or intercom) but as far as quality while on the road, I can't imagine any speaker is going to make much quality difference at sane volume levels. If sound quality is important, some type of ear buds are the way to go.

Overall, I scoffed at the prices for years, but finally gave in based on friends experience. I've been impressed with functions, integration with phone and intercom between other riders or pillion.

 

[Warpdrv]

Thanks, but that did not help....

 

[Kneedragger55]

You should be able to follow what I did pretty easily. Just make sure the firmware is updated. I don't think it works the same with the original firmware.

 

[Warpdrv]

Got it now... Took some figuring out

Thanks

Got it now... Took some figuring out

Thanks

 

[Harald]

I haven't tried the new 20's, but have been using the SMH10 since they came out. Like others have mentioned, the music through the speakers actually sounds better when I have the traditional yellow foam barrel EAR brand plugs installed in my ears. But better is nowhere near what you'd get with a set of Bose headphones plugged into your home stereo.

No one has mentioned phone use with the Sena if the phone is routed through a Garmin GPS. I've given up on taking phone calls because the phone audio is too chopped up and is just an exercise in frustration. I understand that the phone audio is great if you link the phone directly to the Sena, but then you give up the ability to see who's calling or dial calls through the touch screen. Has the Sena 20 fixed this issue?

 

[Intech]

No one has mentioned phone use with the Sena if the phone is routed through a Garmin GPS. I've given up on taking phone calls because the phone audio is too chopped up and is just an exercise in frustration. I understand that the phone audio is great if you link the phone directly to the Sena, but then you give up the ability to see who's calling or dial calls through the touch screen. Has the Sena 20 fixed this issue?

Check post #2 I don't have any problem with phone conversations. People don't even know I am on the motorcycle, so I don't think it is the SMH10. Just for the record I am using a Zumo 665 with a Galaxy S3 first and now an S6.