Questions for SENA owners

[cruisinTX]

Last year, we purchased a pair of SENA 10S packaged together in anticipation of my wife riding her Spyder more apart from me being on a bike. She has not yet ventured out on her own but I have ridden quite a few miles with a friend of mine who has a 5S unit and the Sena's work fine up to maybe a 1/3 of mile. After that, they get a little garbled, but it is a sufficient range to be worth-while for our needs. This is our first comm system since we had an Auto-comm back in the 2006 to 2008 time frame when we were wired together on the bike but had absolutely none of the issues I'm asking about here.

My questions are: for those who have tried to use the SENA units as a rider to passenger intercom, do you get somewhat of an echo when talking that close together?

Is that to be expected or is there a cure for it?

Is wind noise a big problem when using a modular helmet?

Have you tried ear buds instead of the helmet speakers? (with any success?)

 

[ARtraveler]

We have the 10's. We prefer them to other brands. On our second set now. Have had at least one of most of the others.

We do not use them for intercom. Ours is for bike to bike. The distance before garbling, is sufficient for us.

If you use them for intercom...I am guessing lower volume should take care of any echo.

 

[2dogs]

My questions are: for those who have tried to use the SENA units as a rider to passenger intercom, do you get somewhat of an echo when talking that close together?
No.

Is that to be expected or is there a cure for it?
Should not be expected. Call Sena and ask.

Is wind noise a big problem when using a modular helmet?
No, not with us, has not been an issue.

Have you tried ear buds instead of the helmet speakers? (with any success?)
No, but I've heard it's one more thing to put on and take off. :gaah: :banghead:

 

[CopperSpyder]

I have Sena 30k head set and use them all the time to talk to my passenger (wife), and have no echo. I have them setup to tap to talk i.e. turn on intercom. I use a modular helmet and the wife said there is no wind noise. I also had a Sena 10c that I used ear buds with and that worked good but I like the Sena helmet HD speakers much better.

 

[cruisinTX]

As suggested above, did you find that keeping the volume low helped?

 

[ThreeWheels]

I had a pair of Sena 10s and I ditched them, preferring the 20S model.
I used them as passenger/rider intercoms and listened to music with them.
I never had any issues with echo.
The music would play, and then, to start a conversation, either of us would hit the intercom button which silenced the music and began the intercom.
VOX has never worked for me on any intercom system.
The problem I was having was the transition from music to intercom could often take 3 to 5 seconds. If I wanted to point out something on the road, by the time the intercom kicked in, we'd be past the view.
Also, we wear earplugs, and the volume boost for the 10s just didn't cut it.
With the 20S the transition is almost instantaneous, and the volume boost is more than adequate.

As always, my free advice comes with a double your money back guarantee.

 

[Little Blue]

Sena 50s

I purchased my latest SENA'S from motorcycle Dave, the 50S model. They have been very good for me. No real problems but I wear a full-face helmet. The helmet will have a big difference. Live and Learn. .....:thumbup:

 

[ARtraveler]

Volume at minimum (but able to hear each other clearly) is where we like it. Have never had an echo. Also, we use modular helmets. In summer, I ride with the faceplate up, because I like the wind in my face.

 

[2dogs]

I had a pair of Sena 10s and I ditched them, preferring the 20S model.
I used them as passenger/rider intercoms and listened to music with them.
I never had any issues with echo.
The music would play, and then, to start a conversation, either of us would hit the intercom button which silenced the music and began the intercom.
VOX has never worked for me on any intercom system.
The problem I was having was the transition from music to intercom could often take 3 to 5 seconds. If I wanted to point out something on the road, by the time the intercom kicked in, we'd be past the view.
Also, we wear earplugs, and the volume boost for the 10s just didn't cut it.
With the 20S the transition is almost instantaneous, and the volume boost is more than adequate.

As always, my free advice comes with a double your money back guarantee.

Why do you folks wear earplugs? Just asking. :dontknow:

 

[Bartender]

To protect what's left of my hearing from the repetitive road and wind noise. I started wearing ear plugs 10 years ago when I noticed that I was suffering some loss of hearing which I attributed to motorcycle riding. Also, it makes a long day of riding much less tiring when protected from the wind noise. Good quality ear plugs with filters allows most speech and music to remain audible. Almost everyone that rides in my group has been using ear plugs for many many years.

 

[cruisinTX]

Why do you folks wear earplugs? Just asking. :dontknow:

Ear plugs will do two things for you:

1. protect you from hearing loss due to wind noise
2. reduce fatigue from constant wind noise

 

[2dogs]

I've worn earplugs for years operating noisy equipment and on the shooting range, but never on a M/C or spyder while wearing a helmet. I thought hearing loss went along with just getting older.

 

[pegasus1300]

We Have Sena 20EvoS from Motorcycledave. There is no echo that we have observed. We both use modular helmets and I have put foam wind socks over mics. I also ride with the plastic face shield off as I like the wind in my face. Cynthia rides with me on the Spyder so I have no idea of the distance it will reach

 

[cruisinTX]

We Have Sena 20EvoS from Motorcycledave. There is no echo that we have observed. We both use modular helmets and I have put foam wind socks over mics. I also ride with the plastic face shield off as I like the wind in my face. Cynthia rides with me on the Spyder so I have no idea of the distance it will reach

The part in bold red makes me wonder if your mics came without foam over them. The ones with our 10S units already had foam wind socks on them. Did you add something to that or ?????

I'm thinking about adding part (thumb) of a latex or nitrile glove over the foam to see if it will cut down on wind noise. My friend that rides along with me some has some serious wind noise coming from his modular helmet but says mine is not terribly bad (also a modular but different brand). That covering with very thin rubber is a little trick a radio broadcaster shared with me many years ago. When they did outdoor spots in heavy wind, they would cover the mics with a condom :shocked: to cut down on the noise. So---I'm thinking the thumb from a rubber glove might accomplish the same thing on these mics.

 

[EdMat]

The biggest cause for wind noise with Sena units I've seen is having the hole in the mic pointed 180 degrees from where it should be.

 

[2dogs]

:agree: I noticed that as my foam speaker mouthpiece covering began to deteriorate I would experience intermittent disruption in our Sena com system. Replaced the covering with a new one, problem solved. :thumbup:

 

[cruisinTX]

I had a pair of Sena 10s and I ditched them, preferring the 20S model.
I used them as passenger/rider intercoms and listened to music with them.
I never had any issues with echo.
The music would play, and then, to start a conversation, either of us would hit the intercom button which silenced the music and began the intercom.
VOX has never worked for me on any intercom system.
The problem I was having was the transition from music to intercom could often take 3 to 5 seconds. If I wanted to point out something on the road, by the time the intercom kicked in, we'd be past the view.
Also, we wear earplugs, and the volume boost for the 10s just didn't cut it.
With the 20S the transition is almost instantaneous, and the volume boost is more than adequate.

As always, my free advice comes with a double your money back guarantee.

This part sort of surprised me. Our 10S units are loud enough to hear through ear plugs when the volume is only about half way up. I still prefer the clarity of using ear buds though.

 

[ThreeWheels]

Why do you folks wear earplugs? Just asking. :dontknow:

The wind noise while riding is at best annoying. The cumulative damage of loud wind noise over years leads to hearing damage.
Also, strange as it seems, the music comes through clearer wearing earplugs.
I know, that sounds counter-intuitive, but that's my own experience.

I offer this as information only. Others may have a different opinion, based on different experience.
It is not my intention to start a flame war over ear-plugs.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Last year, we purchased a pair of SENA 10S packaged together in anticipation of my wife riding her Spyder more apart from me being on a bike. She has not yet ventured out on her own but I have ridden quite a few miles with a friend of mine who has a 5S unit and the Sena's work fine up to maybe a 1/3 of mile. After that, they get a little garbled, but it is a sufficient range to be worth-while for our needs. This is our first comm system since we had an Auto-comm back in the 2006 to 2008 time frame when we were wired together on the bike but had absolutely none of the issues I'm asking about here.

My questions are: for those who have tried to use the SENA units as a rider to passenger intercom, do you get somewhat of an echo when talking that close together?

Is that to be expected or is there a cure for it?

Is wind noise a big problem when using a modular helmet?

Have you tried ear buds instead of the helmet speakers? (with any success?)

I'm a bit baffled .... you ride with someone ( that is on another Mtc. / spyder ) and you get 1/3 mi. ( approx 1700 ft ) apart !!!!. Even on a perfectly flat , absolutely straight road. I don't think you can see each other. Interesting. I think I would just rather ride alone. .... not dissing you - I hope someone can help you with this .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[2dogs]

The wind noise while riding is at best annoying. The cumulative damage of loud wind noise over years leads to hearing damage.
Also, strange as it seems, the music comes through clearer wearing earplugs.
I know, that sounds counter-intuitive, but that's my own experience.

I offer this as information only. Others may have a different opinion, based on different experience.
It is not my intention to start a flame war over ear-plugs.

Thanks for the insight. I do not recall having an issue with wind noise. I do recall using earplugs prior to helmet laws because of the noise of the M/C, not the wind. After the sensible helmet laws became the norm I tossed earplugs and went with just the helmet. Oh, those long hours of what to think of to pass the time. Then came the walkman. Wow, when it worked. Then the onboard radios and cassette players blasting out for everyone else to hear. And then the intercom systems, what a wonderful invention. So I guess I'm alone with not using earplugs while wearing a helmet. Now I use conservative talk radio and country/western music to plug my ears these days. Thank goodness for the full face helmet so no one has to put up with my sing alongs while I'm scoot'n down the highway.