Combination speaker/earphone baseplate?
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I ride with a Schuberth C3 which is a nicely quiet helmet. When I commute (a simple half-hour ride to work) I'd like to use in-helmet speakers as it's less hassle and they work OK in such a quiet lid. However, when I head out on longer weekend rides and tours I much prefer to use my custom earphones.
Has Sena thought about making a baseplate similar to the SMH-A0304 but with both attached helmet speakers *and* an earphone jack? Just like on a cel phone, when someone plugs the earphones in to the jack the speakers would shut off, making it quick and easy to choose what type of audio output to use that day. I think a lot of commute+tour combo riders like myself would appreciate that kind of option.
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Thank you for your feedback. We will do feasibility study for another optional clamp to enable both option in the same plate. We will keep you updated later.
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Excellent - I will keep an eye out for any updates. Thank you for being so responsive to your customers! :)
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I would like this as well. I modded the baseplate just now to support this. I put a female jack on the baseplate and wired the speakers to a male jack. I just plug in the speakers or the ear buds as I need them . I have a Shoei RF-1100 that is a bit noisy at times so on long trips I like my ear buds. Quick trips around town or short day trips the speakers do just fine. I think that the simplest cheapest mod for Sena would be to have the helmet speakers with a male plug and the wire that comes out of the unit be about 4 inches long with a female plug. I velcro the mini plug on the side of my helmet for ease of access but if the wire coming off the unit is long enough it could be tucked into the helmet.
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I also have to add that I LOVE my headsets. They are just about perfect.
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- Since the ear-phone base-plate has not been robust enough for me, I now purchase speakered bases and cut the wires and install a 3.5mm female plug for my ear molds. Don't mind not having speakers but would like a more robust speaker-less base.
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I'd just like to add my 2 cents worth, the smh10 is excellent, the only area of issue are the speakers! Was thinking if you could add a speaker port that bypasses the helmet speakers when plugged in, that would be awesome. lets us use moulded earpieces to reduce noise.
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I just happened to come across this as I was looking to send an email to SENA reference this subject. The set up of the SENA is awesome. I would definitely like to have the option of ear plugs or speakers (my ear buds have a better sound to them). Overall the SMH10 is phenomenal. I am holding out on buying a second set for 2 up riding to see if you develop this (passenger will get the SMH10 i have now so I can use ear buds).
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I, too, would like the option of helmet speakers or earbuds in the same base. Also, if nothing else, please change the female plug on the SMH-A0303. Mine snapped off somewhere along the line. It still works but now flops around. JB Weld is my next test solution. Poor design, great functionality.
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My second base plate is the A0303, I also wish it had the option for speakers too. On my 20 minute commute earbuds do not make sense, however, on my long trips I couldn't run without them. The idea behind wearing earbuds is to decrease the volume to your ear while being able to hear clearer. I should not have to choose which helmet to wear solely on the baseplate mounted to it.
I also would like to have a much better jack to plug in to. The one on this A0303 is way too weak to hold up to the rough & tumble life hanging off the side of a motorcycle helmet. I fear the collar on my Stitch is going to snap it off.
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Please put me down for one as well.
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I am also very interested in this!!!
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Please. Would be lovely to simply add the mini-jack to the standard hard wired speakers. Like in other devices, when something plugged into the mini-jack, disables the speakers.
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Oh, and add ability for speakers on removable / changeable microphone base plate so its main feature / difference is the microphone option and not which ear device.
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I use Etymotic earbuds on my bike. Add my vote for a combined speakers/earbud socket where plugging in the earbuds cuts out the speakers.
That makes more sense to me than having the MP3 3.5mm input socket.
And what happens if I want both wired mic and earbuds? At present you don't seem to have a solution. A comination speakers/earbud base with wired mic would cater for that too.
Even better, have the boom mic plug in, and be unpluggable. (Look at the first Bikercom models.) Then a wired mic could be plugged in instead.
One base does all functions! -Just sell various mics as options, including throat mic.
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I just spoke with 4 of my riding buddies that use the SMH-10.
We all think that these are the bee's knees and would buy these new base plates when they become available.
Please hurry!
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I would buy this also. The speakers are ok for around town and using the intercom with my girlfriend, but on long road trips at high speed, I need earbuds. As it is, I have to buy a separate base and yank out my speakers, which is a pain and hard on them. Or have separate helmets, this is a pain.
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I checked out the contacts of the earplug base vs the speakers base.
Two differences:
on the speakers base, the speakers -ves are not commoned, on the earplug base they are;
the earplug outputs have 75ohm resistors in series with them.So I figured the speakers base could get the -ves commoned.
I did that, and wired the speaker outputs via a switching 3.5mm socket stuck to my helmet liner, which cuts out the speakers when earphones are plugged in.
However I don't have resistors in series with the earphone outputs.
The setup seems to work OK.A question for the Sena people: Is this arrangement OK, or am I likely to damage the amplifier outputs?
If necessary, I can ensure that no audio is being emitted when I plug in the earphones, because that action is most likely shorting the amp outputs together and/or to ground for a second or so.0 -
If this became available I would be buying 4 sets, 2 for my 2 helmets and 2 for my wifes. Depending on what ride we are undertaking means different helmets.. Riding solo we use full face or 2 up we tend to use our system flipup's... I much prefer to use my moulded earphones compared to the stereo speakers but to have the choice if i am only commuting into work would be great.. Loving the Sena product though :-)
Oh, hi from Western Australia..
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If this feature becomes available, I will buy a set for sure!
I used to have another brand of BT intercom and I find that it's pretty impossible to ride long distance using only the speakers.
If i can plug in my Shures to this unit, it'll be awesome!!!
Please keep us updated. Or let us know if this is even in consideration. Thanks.
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Thank you for your feedback. We will do the possibility study for the attachable speakers.
We will keep you updated later.
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Please I would be in for plate that simply adds the mini-jack to the standard hard wired speakers. Like in other devices, when something is plugged into the mini-jack, it disables the internal speakers. I looked at alot of models before settling on your device (was at the Revzilla store which has quite the selection) - I felt yours were the best overall - with the jog wheel and ability to update software, the only thing missing was the jack for those longer rides (plus 40 minutes) - the fit on the newer Bell Star helmets is perfect!
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Why not just install helmet speakers like these http://www.bikeintercom.com/products/x1.htm and plug them in instead of the earbuds?
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I tried installing helmet speakers and driving them from the A303 / A304 baseplate, with the ability to switch back and forth. The volume is NOT sufficient, even with an additional amplifier.
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I would also like to add weight to this request. Ideally, there needs to be a new mount plate that looks like the A0302, but with the mini jack input replaced by an output that shuts off the built-in headphones when a jack plug (to the ear buds) is inserted.
This will not suit those who want to use the external input, but really, how often does that get used. Far better to instead use it for earbud output so there's no other external protrusion that could be damaged as on the current A0304. Also no re-design required for the outer casing. Just internal changes.
This would be really useful for me since as others have stated, there are times when earbuds are suitable and other times when you want to just use built-in headphones. We need a new mount plate that allows this flexibility.
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Ken That would be the killer soloution. I would buy 2 of them in a heart beat ! 0 -
For those handy with a soldering iron...
waggies.net/Ken/Sena/The content may get 'improved', but I'll keep the link alive.
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That's an awesome writeup Ken :) Tackling this soon as I get the bits together, THANK YOU..
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Ken, that looks great, but wouldn't the earbuds and helmet speakers have different impedance requirements? I'm concerned that sending the highly amplified speaker signals to the earbuds may damage the earbuds.
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Christian, the optimum amplifier output impedance for speakers, headphones etc, is 0 ohms. This gives the maximum damping, ie reduces the cone's spurious vibrations or tendancy to resonate.
I find the the volume setting for speakers and earphones is similar, so when the earphones are plugged in, they aren't driven excessively hard.
No, I don't believe earbuds will be damaged unless you turn up the volume very high, in which case it is your hearing that will suffer most..
It is probable, though I haven't tested for it, that the battery life when using earphones is greater than when using the helmet speakers, since the drive current will be less, even for the same volume setting. The impedance of my earphones and most others is nominally 32 ohms.
With sound-blocking earphones like my Etymotics, you can have the sound down lower than with speakers anyway, because external noise is reduced.
A neater solution to my external socket, would be modifying the MP3-input socket in the clamp. But that doesn't switch, and space is tight. So I didn't think that would be too easy without a lot of clamp hacking. My solution is completely reversible without damage to the clamp or PCB.
An advantage to my helmet-mounted socket is that it is waterproof. As soon as you plug something into the MP3-input socket, it ceases to be waterproof. -Not that I think a bit of rainwater entering the clamp would kill anything. The headset part is still sealed.0 -
THANKS, Ken!!!!
My soldering is not as neat as a Navy Electronics Mate would do it but it works just as I'd hoped it would. One hour and a $2.50 switching plug from Radio Shack and it's done.
Hey Sena, Please make something like this for us. I know you'll do a cleaner job of it than I did. I'll still buy one if you make it.
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