Earplugs and comms

[Jerry1111]

Thinking about buying a Bluetooth headset (mainly for phone's satnav and for comms). Are motorcycle headsets loud enough to be heard with earplugs in?

[Guest Richzx6r]

I do believe so

[geofferz]

Do you mean a comms system like a sena with speakers you stick in your lid? I have a cheap one which works a treat and I can hear it over the engine no problem even with earplugs in. Its the wind noise at high speeds that makes it harder to hear, but it's fine up to 70mph.

[Stu]

More than loud enough

[raesewell]

I have a Sena 20S Evo with a Tomtom 550 and Samsung Galaxy S8, it is the first headset I have had to turn the volume down a bit. Oh and yes I wear earplugs.

[raesewell]

I have a Sena 20S Evo with a Tomtom 550 and Samsung Galaxy S8, it is the first headset I have had to turn the volume down a bit. Oh and yes I wear earplugs.

[gogs01]

Any decent comms system should be loud enough to be heard using earplugs and at any speed, unless you're having to overcome excessive wind noise ......

[elwon20]

Depends on the comms system. Higher-end ones are built with this in mind. Actually they're often easier to hear with the right plugs in because plugs block out the wind noise more than everything else.

The Mrs always refused to wear ear plugs because they're uncomfortable. She used to struggle to hear me over the Packtalk. Once she put ear plugs in she was blown away by how much clearer she could hear me.

[Jerry1111]

Great, thanks all!

In that case I'll start to prepare myself mentally for a splash for a Sena kit. No point in buying it twice

[elwon20]

Great, thanks all!

In that case I'll start to prepare myself mentally for a splash for a Sena kit. No point in buying it twice

 

Personally I think Cardo are currently ahead when it comes to intercoms. But then I have a Cardo so I probably would.

If you haven't done much research here's some videos:

If you've already done your research and decided on the Sena then... ignore me and carry on! - but you're still wrong xD

[Guest Richzx6r]

I have a flip lid with the built in viper bluetooth, can't say i really fault it so far, unsure of how easy or otherwise they are to connect to other intercom systems or even if they can as I have nobody I go out with but for 180 quid for lid with bluetooth I thought it was a good deal and audio quality isn't bad and can still be heard up to 80 or 90mph

[Tankbag]

I've got Uclear HBC200 HD line of sight is 800 metres, impressive for bluetooth, its loud enough to hear with earplugs, and as said it's the wind noise over 70mph that's the problem

[James in Brum]

I have a flip lid with the built in viper bluetooth, can't say i really fault it so far, unsure of how easy or otherwise they are to connect to other intercom systems or even if they can as I have nobody I go out with but for 180 quid for lid with bluetooth I thought it was a good deal and audio quality isn't bad and can still be heard up to 80 or 90mph

 

Which kid do you have dude?

[Stu]

Packtalk bold here

Its the bees knees

[Guest Richzx6r]

I have a flip lid with the built in viper bluetooth, can't say i really fault it so far, unsure of how easy or otherwise they are to connect to other intercom systems or even if they can as I have nobody I go out with but for 180 quid for lid with bluetooth I thought it was a good deal and audio quality isn't bad and can still be heard up to 80 or 90mph

 

Which kid do you have dude?

 

It's a viper flip up lid with built in bluetooth

[Jerry1111]

Personally I think Cardo are currently ahead when it comes to intercoms. But then I have a Cardo so I probably would.

If you've already done your research and decided on the Sena then... ignore me and carry on! - but you're still wrong xD

 

Had Packtalk in school - worked without a single glitch.

What I'm really thinking about is UClear - I really like the boomfree mike. In fact during my DAS I was thinking about modifying these Packtalks and hiding the mikes somewhere in the front.

[Stu]

Personally I think Cardo are currently ahead when it comes to intercoms. But then I have a Cardo so I probably would.

If you've already done your research and decided on the Sena then... ignore me and carry on! - but you're still wrong xD

 

Had Packtalk in school - worked without a single glitch.

What I'm really thinking about is UClear - I really like the boomfree mike. In fact during my DAS I was thinking about modifying these Packtalks and hiding the mikes somewhere in the front.

 

you get a boom mic and a corded mic with a packtalk

[JRH]

Personally I think Cardo are currently ahead when it comes to intercoms. But then I have a Cardo so I probably would.

If you've already done your research and decided on the Sena then... ignore me and carry on! - but you're still wrong xD

 

Had Packtalk in school - worked without a single glitch.

What I'm really thinking about is UClear - I really like the boomfree mike. In fact during my DAS I was thinking about modifying these Packtalks and hiding the mikes somewhere in the front.

 

The units usually come with both types of Mike. Boom and corded for open and full face helmets.

[James in Brum]

I was looking at those. Think I might get one for my birthday in A few months

You think it’s a good bit of kit?

[Guest Richzx6r]

I was looking at those. Think I might get one for my birthday in A few months

You think it’s a good bit of kit?

 

Well iv had mine nearly a year and had no problems with it at all, it has enough battery life to do 8 hours riding should you wish, it only takes around 2 hours to charge from pretty much completely discharged to fully charged, so as a fairly budget lid and bluetooth combo I'd say you cant really go wrong

[geofferz]

My squad has packtalks so I'll get one of those soon enough.

[raesewell]

I am more than happy with the Sena 20S Evo and it does everything it's supposed to do. If I were in the market for an intercom now I would go for the Cardo Packtalk Bold.

[gogs01]

The Cardo Packtalk video makes it sound like the way of the future. They seem to have all the bases covered.

As an older gent, I'm a bit wary of having to use a mobile phone app, but I'm sure I'd manage if I have to. Does this "mesh" system use the mobile phone in place of bluetooth ? Or is it a radio system built into the Packtalk ?

I have lived with the BMW Communicator for years now and it is best described as adequate. It gives perfectly acceptable communication between rider and pillion or bike to bike up to 30 metres (that's 30, not 300 or 3000), and the battery life is good for most days on my trips - unless I have a very long day. Switching on in the morning and hoping it will last 13 hours continuous use would be an act of faith rather than common sense.

One day I think I'll take the plunge and go for a Cardo Packtalk. It would be interesting to find out if it would pair with other comms systems, including the BMW Communicator (bluetooth mode only, of course). Shame it's nearly £500 for a pair !

[Stu]

The Cardo Packtalk video makes it sound like the way of the future. They seem to have all the bases covered.

As an older gent, I'm a bit wary of having to use a mobile phone app, but I'm sure I'd manage if I have to. Does this "mesh" system use the mobile phone in place of bluetooth ? Or is it a radio system built into the Packtalk ?

I have lived with the BMW Communicator for years now and it is best described as adequate. It gives perfectly acceptable communication between rider and pillion or bike to bike up to 30 metres (that's 30, not 300 or 3000), and the battery life is good for most days on my trips - unless I have a very long day. Switching on in the morning and hoping it will last 13 hours continuous use would be an act of faith rather than common sense.

One day I think I'll take the plunge and go for a Cardo Packtalk. It would be interesting to find out if it would pair with other comms systems, including the BMW Communicator (bluetooth mode only, of course). Shame it's nearly £500 for a pair !

 

It's all built in to the unit and you can do almost everything on the unit the mobile app just makes life easier for setting up

They will pair with anything Bluetooth and have a bridge facility for this but I'm pretty sure you can only pair one extra headset per cardo unit which means if you have 3 mates and one cardo then you can only pair to one of your mates! I would have to check as I don't have to worry as me and my mates and wives all have cardo and it just works!

Only two of us going out its not a problem it works 3 going same again it works 4 going..... You get the drift

[Jerry1111]

I really like the boomfree mike.

 

you get a boom mic and a corded mic with a packtalk

OK, by now I get that Packtalk is dogs bollocks - fair enough, no point buying twice. Having had some time with it, I'd like to make it work for me.

I've gone through at least a dozen of reviews and I'm sick and tired of everyone talking about nothing useful and everyone onanizing about the theory of DMC - noone could test it because the dealer didn't give them enough free toys for the test - but I don't care about that.

From what I could see, the recommended way to install Packtalk in a flip-up helmet is to use their "hybrid" (mounted on a boom) mike and position it where your mouth is. That means that when I flip the lid up, then the mike will be still in front of me - it won't go up together with the lid.

Has anyone successfully mounted the corded mike in a flip-up helmet? I want it mounted in a way that when I lift the front up, then the mike is not in front of me - it can either be on the side (like in UClear) or can go up with the lid.