Hot mic?

 

Hot mic?

 

The Sena 30K units get a lot of negative reviews. Do some homework first.

I went with the Harley 20s EVO which work great.

 

I've had the 20 s the units were ok. When you talked to rider passanger they worked great, battery life was great, could go all day. When used as. A group they were marginal. When talking between people it sounded like popcorn in the back ground, very annoying. I've since up graded to the boom 30k . World of difference, in mesh mode very clear when talking between people, battery life not so good about 6-8 hrs. I always turn mic off then turn it on when talking. When paired between rider n passanger no difference then then the 20 k.

 

Why not the HD 10S? I have not used the intercom yet but it works perfectly fine with the WHIM for me. For the most part I have no need for the extra features in the 20 and 30 models.

 

From what I was told and understood the 10s did not work with the WHIM. I stand corrected.

However, I have a SENA 10 (not HD) that I use with my half helmet, especially when riding my Heritage. It does not work with the WHIM.

Also, the quality of the sound on the 30 vs the 10 is deffinately superior, IMHO.

 

My wife and I both share a set of the 30k Duals. We did a trip in Montana this past July on a rented 2018 Ultra, which was the first time we used them. We originally used them to just talk to each other, while we had an I Phone hooked up to the Ultra. Towards the end of that trip, we were each listening to our own music and would use the intercom. Which is kind of how we ride now. We each have own our bike (we both have 2013 Switchbacks) with power ports and phone mounts.

The farthest we've had the them away from each other on the road was about 1/4 mile line of sight with no issues. We both have Schuberth modulars (C3Pro for Women, for her and C3 for me) and we both find having the mike mashed up against the inside of the chin bar provides for noiseless communication. I've taken a few calls while riding and the person on the other end said they wouldn't have known I was on a motorcycle. Haven't hooked them to additional units since no one else I ride with has an intercom. The longest I've had the unit on in one day before a recharge was about 9 hours. But during that 9 hours, I only used it for sporadic communication with my wife. For my wife, she' s also used the unit for 9 hours listening to music and intercoming with me before a recharge without drama.

Regarding the speakers. I'm into music and I write music. I don't think the speakers are all that great. In terms of music, there isn't much low end (bass), like not much at all. Speaker placement in the helmet has been crucial. 1/4" difference in the speaker channel in the helmet is the difference between audible and where did the sound go? The speakers are not loud but they do get above the exhaust (V&H ProPipe w/ Quiet Baffle). Having said that, after 45 minutes or so, I realize it's too loud and have to turn down or just turn it off. I literally just came back from an overnight in VT from NJ with my wife and her brother and his wife. I only used the music for about 1/2 hour the entire trip (total of roughly 18 or so hours over 2 days). I'm going to try foam ear plugs in addition to see if the sound quality improves.

Also, I understand it, the Cardo PackTalk comes with JBL speakers, which are supposed to be a dramatic improvement in music sound.

I picked up the 30K dual set at the IMS show last Dec for $425 , not knowing anything about anything regarding communication systems. I'm not unhappy with the Sena, but knowing what I do now, I would have gone with the Cardo set for not much more. Both systems have a lot of reviews around and I think equal amounts of praises and criticisms. I think if you're leading bike runs and using the full features of one of these sets, there are differences that matter.....that I'll probably never utilize.

After renting the Ultra with my wife last July, I realize I'm not too hot on the idea of a Street/Road/Ultra Gllde due to the mass (though if I had a spare $20k laying around, the Road King would be in my garage, but again...a fairingless bike). Having said that, I like the idea of music, and I want good quality sound. The communication setup offers me that without the mass of the big bikes. I may yet check out that Cardo though due to the speakers.

Overall improvements to these systems I'd like to see.....
- Improvement in music sound
- Add in some kind of spare battery system as a back up, that can be charged on the bike (as far as I know, all the major systems do not have a removable or secondary battery, so once the unit runs dry on power one has to recharge the unit. Most time this isn't an issue due to the 9 or so hours available on a new unit, but I could see this being very desirable as the unit's battery gets old and can't hold a charge as long, or if you're doing big rides for looooong distance)
- Possibly easier to find and use buttons (although the Sena setup is not bad)
- HUD

 

It would be easy to be convinced to go to the 30...but the truth is it's overkill for the use you describe. The 20 will give you stereo sound if you ever install a WHIM and the 30 has way more capability than you need. I use a 10, and other than no stereo sound, it works fine.

 

Fully supported to. I'm not into hacks.

 

The cardo works fantastic! And Having spent some time with it I do not see the need for a whim. Set your phone up for the communicator and listen to all your music through there, and then if you’re using your GPS set the volume high and you’ll still hear it. So basically the bike only gives you your GPS instructions when needed and everything else is handled directly from your phone to the communicator. You can even choose to share your music or not with a passenger or they can set theirs up as a separate rider and listen to whatever they want on their phone. I am not sure what the whim actually accomplishes any better unless you have the in bike XM radio.

BTW the Senas suck with crazy amounts of wind noise and forget about connecting well with more than 2 maybe 3 units. Sena is a waste of money!