A lot of Static Noise in intercoms
During intercoms, either 1 to 1 or in a group, there is always a lot of static noise.
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Results:
2 up HD coms, antennas up... superb. Great range. Amazing clarity. No static. When we got out of range for too long it goes beep and disconnects and automatically reconnected with a beep alert when we got back in range. Simply outstanding.3 up with 8 way on or off. Horrible. Static, obviously less range, the further we got apart the worse the static got. One of us had the music cutting in and out and had to shut it down to use coms but in 2 up has zero issues. The opposite of outstanding.
Basically any time it is not in HD it is simply horrible.
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Its an old thread, but I'm still having this popcorn popping sounds with 3 devices connected. Any solutions yet?
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It seems that everyone has weighed in, and has experienced the same. However, there is a deafening silence from Sena Tech Support. Seems they provide this forum so we can Air our grievances to each other, but don't monitor it to see what is on our minds. I am very disappointed.
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I've also started to experienced the popping while connecting a third 20S to my (20S), a second (10R) and third (20S).
My 20S and the 10R was was working perfect, clear and no popping between each other.But the added third 20S was sounding bad with popping and dropping out.
Hello Sena, can you give us a hint if you are working on this or if we need to find an other solution?
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Welcome to the world of Sena. 2 headsets works great, anything more than that.....crap.
Solution: Cardo Packtalk. We all converted and never looked back.
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Has anyone tried the Ride Connected app? Since that uses cellular, I wonder if anyone has better luck using that over the normal pairing of headsets when using more than 3 riders.
As for just normal pairing, Sena has chimed in and said there isn't anything they can do. When it is 2 riders it is HD audio, but with more than 3 they have to use a different pairing and it is just a lot weaker and comes up with the popping etc. It is pretty funny because I called them out how their website touted HD intercom with up to 8 riders, and then they promptly took off that verbage.
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We tried the app and it works (if everyone has a phone or tablet on the internet), but you loose being able to listen to stereo music at that point. It just reverts back to a mono music source because it's acting like you are talking on your phone. I've given up on getting anything done on the 20S for more than 2 people. I do love my 20S when it's just my wife and I, but can't use it with my kids riding with us and expect to really have a peaceful ride.
I've noticed the new Sena's coming out are supposed to separate the Bluetooth from the "new LTE" communications, but I'm very weary of buying new headseats from Sena because of this problem. I spent around $1,000 on (4) 20S comms and should have probably went with something else for group riding.
The Paktalk folks seem to like theirs, but I think it's all a matter of opinion on which one is better. I will say this ... I will NOT be buying the new Sena, as much as am excited about it, until I hear some really good reviews on the multiple intercoms (more than 4 people), better range (again, 3 people and range is dropped dramatically) and nobody saying it still has these issues. I would think if it's not fixed in the new headset, they might as well close up shop unless their focus is just moving to 1-to-1 comms. Somebody will one-up them on the next intercom soon after it's released anyway. Then I will be able to do some real comparisons.
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We often ride with 4+ riders on a mix of 20's and 10's. No real issues with group talk. Once in awhile we will hear the popping you refer to, but it usually passes in a minute or so.
it may be in my head, but raising the 20 antenna seems to help.
the biggest issue we have is getting everyone connected. If a 10 connects to a 20, then other 10s can join in, but not other 20s. We always have the 20s connect to each other and then the 10s. We ride open mic with all riders all day.
We gave up long ago on connecting back and forth between music, gps and intercom. Inevitably someone gets dropped and can't get back in.
the leader rides with gps pairing that just announces it over intercom, i.e. Does not drop intercom connection.
We had to ask ourselves what we wanted intercom for, and most basically unpaired their phones and music sources and we use as intercom only which works pretty well.
i am on my third 20 due to various defects. My original SMH10 still works like a champ.
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Just returned from a 4 week trip. The Group Intercom with 3 riders has noise that sometimes got so loud I had to end the group intercom. The units work great with any two of the three riders but the group intercom with 3 it totally unacceptable, I regret buying these units. Based on the posts this problem has existed for over 3 years and had not been corrected. Very poor reflection on the company with this lack of service.
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I have only had experience with the SMH10 intercoms and have never had an issue with these.
Recently had to get some additional intercoms so purchased some 20S's.
Now we're getting the popping noise which I can live with - but also getting crackling talk coming through (like you're on the edge of range) when 3 units are connected together. As others have mentioned 2 intercoms (1 to 1) are perfect, but add another intercom and I just end up wanting to turn the intercom off.
It's a real pity as the SMH10's served us so well for years.
Does anyone know if this problem remains the same with the 20EVO or the 30K?There are other riders in the group that are about to purchase intercoms, but are not sure what unit to get yet.
Pactalk is not a viable option since we have so many riders already invested with Sena intercoms (10 series in one for or another, mostly SMH10's) hence the question whether the 20EVO suffers from the same problem?
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Coming back to confirm incase it helps anyone else searching the net that I know first hand that this issue exists with the 20S-EVO as well.(At least with current firmware as of today)
I haven't had first hand experience with the 30K but reports from other users says that the bluetooth function has the same problem as well.
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Since my posts last year things have degraded. My riding group is so frustrated, basically we can not keep the group connected. 2 riders are perfect. 3 works pretty good. 4 can not stay connected for any length of time and the fourth gets garbled, straight line flat road in a tight pack. We had assumed issue was related to mix of 10s and 20s. We all upgraded to 20 and will test in a few weeks. I am betting no difference, turning off HD audio made it somewhat better, I will report back but group intercom has become a distraction.
the “intercom failed” issues are very frustrating. We all know that if you upset the group by answering a call or other activity most likely you can not reconnect nor can anyone in the group call you. You are cast into pergatory.
it baffles me how Sena can keep selling an intercom as 8 way capable when few can get more than 3 without garble, popping, and static. I guess we keep buying.
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I was a big fan of Sena and my group all bought them from my recommendations in the S10 days and then because of that experience we then upgraded to the 20's. Then you know what Sena? You made a mistake with a fail piece of equipment and tried to cover it up... at our expense.
You stretched the truth with the indication that they were waterproof and when we bought it said 8 way HD intercom. That was not even a stretch, anymore then 2 and it was garbage on a whole new level of frustration. The final nail in the coffin was us standing on the side of the road trying to shut the static up and I almost through mine into the bush. We were that fed up.
Many many emails to customer service. Reset defaults, must be power lines, try rearranging the order, beeps that would split your head open and popcorn popcorn popcorn sometimes so loud the units had to be turned off.
I tried helping you diagnose the problem but it was a real insult when the case was closed, did that make it look like you had another happy customer? You wasted so much of our time with this junk and you caused us so many dramas and frustration on our ride.
The worst bit is you knew all along these things has serious problems and you kept selling them and we bought them and we lost a lot of money solving the problem.
You know how we solved the problem Sena? We bought Scala Packtalks and guess what? They do everything that you advertised the 20's to do except... they actually did it. We blew another grand to replace our Senas with Cardo Packtalks and have not looked back.
You have not only lost another sale. You have lost a lot of sales now and into the future because myself and my friends don't care what you promise about anything you do in future, we will never be back.
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This is not a power line problem or anything external to the 20S. Unless SENA starts to get their head out of the sand and they stop pretending it’s working fine, we’re out of luck. If they don’t at least acknowledge the problem and provide us with a solution, I will never ever buy a SENA product in my life and I’ll make sure nobody I know does. There has been class action suit for less than that in the past. This is a shame.
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I feel you guys. I was a raving fan in the early days. Now they just don’t acknowledge or respond. We just bought two more 20evo trying to hang in there. Once they got into cameras they walked away from motorcycle intercom. I would feel better if they just came out and said it can’t be fixed and changed the code in the 20 to only allow one to one. At least I know what it can and can’t do and I will stop messing with it.
I am not a idiot, I work neck deep in technology every day. Telling me to reset, and power cycle is not some thing I need to be told.
surely they know what the issue is and just won’t tell us.
i am a in on the class action is someone can get it started,
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Sadly, getting a class action suit started would be a lot of trouble for not much given the price of the item and the relatively small number of units in circulation. I believe social media is a much more powerful mean nowadays. If everyone gets the word out on forums, farce book fan pages, sub redits, product reviews on resellers online store, I think, altogether, we can achieve something. They clearly don’t listen, they don’t want to own the responsibility for this fiasco and they hide behind unresponsiveness. Shitty company, shitty product
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Adding my information if it helps anyone.I have 3 Sena 20s models. I purchased these all new in 2016.For one person, they work great to pair with phone, battery lasts around 12 hours, so using with phone has been fine.Two people - they work great as well, no real issues, good clarity, line of sight distance good, can drop off to not have "open mic" , say your buddy is singing, u can turn yours off and either can click in again to start conversation, all worked well.Three people - product is garbage. In normal pairing, A to B, B to C, C toD etc, its unusable. Can barely hear 3rd person, popping and crackling noises all the time, significant drop in call quality, and if third drops out of conversation, remaining 2 quality is still horrible, have to all drop and then 2 connect back and its good again, until 3rd person joins.. Overall sooo bad, we didn't even bother with it anymore. Tried Group Intercom - this works a bit different but was "usable" , we had 3 people, it worked ok, BUT the connection was open all the time. If anyone opted out, it would drop the intercom and only the Leader whom setup the group could reinstate it, and then all would be back and all with open mic etc all the time. This would not be OK with us. On trip over 3 weeks, 4 people, there will be times I don't want to listen to the conversation, and want to drop out/in or anyone may as well. This does not work on Group Intercom, if you drop out, basically the group intercom would break.So, because of the three people issue, and alot of these same issues are noted on several forums, I contacted Sena. They have the 30K model, that is supposed to work in "mesh" system like the Cardo. I explained my issue to them, asked if they would take the three 20S I have back and give me discount for three 30K models and i would get the fourth 30K at full price.I have contacted support, I have updated firmware, factory reset several times. I work in IT and doing the firmware updates/resets etc are no issue. Having spent nearly 750 on the 20s I was hoping some good faith.Sena's answer was No.So, on to the the Cardo PackTalk Bold, as much as I disliked spending more money, the Sena was worthless to use in any group rides.We used the Cardo system with the 4 of us, and all the issues we had with Sena are gone. How I wish I had made the move sooner as it was a looming deal to only be able to have 2 people talk (3 if it was an always on connection where no one could turn off their system), and over 3 weeks we felt that would make one person feel "left out" on the trip. The Cardo setup and connections all worked well.Onto the Cardo then:For one person, had no issue pairing with phone, all worked same as Sena, controls so far are even between systems.Two People - well I have yet to try really, as we went straight to four people in their DMC mesh connecton. Pairing was pretty simple. Connections are remembered when units are turned off/on. All the issues we had with Sena are gone.Distance is hard to judge if better worse, but I would say line of sight.Anyone can drop out, join conversaton with no issuesBattery - unknown yetFrom forums etc, both units seem to be fairly close, I wouldn't say setup, ergonomics etc that one is better, Sena prob wins for turning unit on/off, Cardo buttons are a bit smaller, but I dont turn it on/off really when riding.
BUT, i would say that the Cardo does rule over as:1. It is waterproof2. If anyone is wanting more the 2 riders in their group the setup is much easier.3. Cardo is in USAI had seen some early reviews of the 30K model, issues with people using the mesh system but in doing so, they could not use other devices, i believe external mic ext, was a few video loggers talking about that. But again, as my exp with Sena, I didnt want to continue with them0 -
@Rach S
You mentioned with the Sena unit that you didn't want to use the Group Talk function as you don't want the mic opened the whole time.
How does this work with Cardo Pack Talk? (I was under the impression that with Pack Talk it was a similar setup - you had to be connected the whole time)? Are you able to mute the mic with Pack Talk? (Or are you able to mute all coms with Pac Talk as well or do you have to 'drop off' from the network).
We've invested too much into Sena at the moment (between us all we have 10+ units), but all of these are 20S or below. We won't be purchasing any more SENA units and are interested in the Cardo units but we normally don't all talk together all the time, and would like the ability for 1 to 1 connections to be established, whilst also having a group option, but don't know if Cardo handles that. (Sena does - but obviously with quality that poor it's not worth using).
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@Adam
Reference as well: https://www.cardosystems.com/support/packtalk-bold-support/
With the Cardo, any rider can leave/join the "group" without no issues. We have the same level of clarity regardless if 2 or 4 riders. To "leave or join" group, you hold the scroll wheel for 2 seconds. So, the "group" is setup, and anyone can leave/join at any time.
Yes, can mute microphone: To mute the microphone completely and lower the speaker volume to the minimal level: ● Roll the Control Wheel outward, then inward.
Im not sure about muting all coms, again if I dont want to be in conversation, I can hold Control Wheel down for 2 seconds and leave group. The other 3 riders all stay connected, and I can do reverse to join back in.
So, the 1 to 1... I havent tested yet, but it states:
4.1.2.2 CHATTING PRIVATELY You can chat privately with a specific member of your DMC group. This option is also available using the Cardo mobile app.
So, this would be a negative on the Cardo, to have to use App to create a 1-1. For me, i have phone on a ram mount, mounted on handlebars, so would be doable, but could see it being an annoyance.
Rach
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