• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Sena or Other Headset Setup

hoss01

hoss
Please advise as how to setup and equip a Sena or Vardo helmet headset ie .... what I need to buy and how to equip the helmet for a solo rider to communicate with son on another motorcycle.
Also... in that I have hearing difficulties, does the volume level
work well enough for poor ears to hear clearly?
Would also appreciate information as to best units and where to buy as of March 2013.
Thank you.

Hoss

P.S. I have read that the Sena is more favorable for listening to music?
 
SMH10 Dual. Easy to install, easy to use and plenty of volume. Wind noise from the other helmet can be a bit of a problem, however I think that would be the case with any system you can buy.
 
Latest Sena here:)

Hearing loss in me too. NO ISSUES at all with volume, as it gets loud. Wife and I ride two bikes or two up and the headset has worked very nice, either way. Only problem I have is voice recognition and thats even in my car, not Sena issue. Takes some getting used to having comm with others riding along with you, as you tend to talk too much!!! I do or did. I found myself NOT shutting up, just chatting away to wife and thats got to be a first:). Randy
 
Sena

Happy with Sena for my son and I on the same bike. I still wear my ear plugs and have no problem w/ volume. I don't listen to music thru the Senas as I don't really want my son tuned out with his music... We have the best talks when riding!
 
Have the Sena to talk with my wife as pillion and my brother on another bike. Always wear earplugs and no issue with the Sena. I usually even turn it down some as it can be too load through the earplugs even. Easy to install on helmet and pairs right up with another Sena no problem and takes less than a minute, more like 20 seconds. Only thing to consider is if the helmet you are installing it on has an internal sun visor and where that lever is on the helmet. Seems more and more manufacturers of helmets are putting the sunvisor lever on the lower left chin area right where the Sena mounts best. Just something to think about. Nearly any aftermarket, clamp on the helmet BT set would have this issue.

I love my Sena, plenty easy to use with gloves on and works a good long time on a charge. I am not sure about their brand new slim line model, have not seen it in person, but seems like it is like the rest with buttons to find and push where the SMH10 has just the huge jog dial button/know and one other easy to find button. I would have no hesitation buying another Sena unit if I needed it.
 
Use with custom ear plugs

I've decided on the Sena SMH10, what is not clear to me is what you need to buy if you use that unit with Ear, Inc custom plugs that have speakers in them. Do the SMH10 ear pads just detach or do you cut them off? Do you need to purchase an accessory like the A303 helmet kit to use the ear plugs or will they just plug into the SMH10 unit with the 3MM jack? Buying the A303 acccessory kit seems to double up on the microphones and adds another device to the helmet. Any help is appreciated. brow
 
I've decided on the Sena SMH10, what is not clear to me is what you need to buy if you use that unit with Ear, Inc custom plugs that have speakers in them. Do the SMH10 ear pads just detach or do you cut them off? Do you need to purchase an accessory like the A303 helmet kit to use the ear plugs or will they just plug into the SMH10 unit with the 3MM jack? Buying the A303 acccessory kit seems to double up on the microphones and adds another device to the helmet. Any help is appreciated. brow

I have the SMH10 too, and I've got most of my friends on them. I can probably answer your questions.

The kit comes with a helmet mounted unit, which includes the boom mic and two speakers. The speakers have leads on them, and mount with included velcro to the inside of your helmet. I have a Shoei 1100; installation was a snap. You can only use the 3mm jack for music IN, not headphones.

If you wanted to use earbuds instead of the speakers, you'd need to buy the A303 to replace the stock mounting. The A303 includes the boom mic and the attachement for the main device, but instead of speaker leads there is a headphone plug. You can plug earbuds in there, and you're set. I bought the A303, but didn't like having earbuds in, and the speakers are plenty loud for me.

Hope that helps.
 
I'm using the Sena SMH10 too. I wear BTE hearing aids when I'm not riding and I ALWAYS wear the blue (33dB) foam ear plugs while riding (I'm trying to protect the hearing I still have). I have not had an opportunity to use the intercom feature but I find the Sena to be plenty loud (often too loud) with the GPS and iPhone; however, the volume is easily adjusted with a twist of large volume dial. It was a breeze to set up the SMH10 with the Nav4 and iPhone. Also, it was easy to install on both a Nolan N103 and Arai Signet-Q. Though I don't usually listen to music while riding, I have to agree that it the quality is very good if you do. I think the Sena is a good bet for the price and quality.
 
Back
Top