With normalized mp3 tracks, the volume supplied by the Sena SMH10B (I have v 3.3 of the firmware) that I use on my streetable Ducati 1098 is adequate up to about 50 mph, which is fine for in town riding. But once I get up to highway speeds on the freeway, unless I deliberately recapture the original audio at a higher gain, I can't hear the music over the wind noise. I've done this for all of my music that I still have the original media for; but that is only about a quarter of my music library. I don't have this problem with phone calls or intercom transmissions; I can hear those at *any* speed. How can I increase the volume output of the Sena when I'm listening to an MP3 streamed from my iPhone to the Sena? Would a firmware update fix that?
117 comments
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Chris Graeser Man it's frustrating to have no substantive response from Sena. Well, F it, I decided to get custom molded earphones. Not quite the same NRR as foamies, and another $200 that I shouldn't have had to spend.
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Matt I have custom molded earplugs that I use for shooting, but they stick out just enough to be annoying in my helmet, and foamies just work better. I've had custom molded earphones in the past, in fact the best ones I ever had were the cheaper mold em your self phones. But even those wear on me in a 24 hour or multi day rally/road trip so I don't use them anymore.
These: http://www.earfuze.com/ were the best. Best part was the earphone cords were fabric, and didn't tangle. The molding stuff is just radians ear plug stuff.
I have considered this but from what I've read, the volume still isn't there.
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Chris Graeser Thanks Matt. I'll report back.
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Matt Well I just bumped into what's probably a show stopper for me and will push me back to my Starcom. The volume from the Zumo 665 is like I reported probably about 80% of what it should be... GPS directions on the other hand, holy crap. Too loud, and changing the volume of it on the Zumo doesn't affect it. So they may be a "Garmin" problem more than a Sena problem. I still think they can boost the audio should they choose. But with the 665 wired I don't have this issue.
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Ervin Small I just got my sena for the can-am and it is so low that i think i want to take it back before the 30 days you would think that after 1 year this would be fixed very upset with the sena family
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Billy W I was reading the review on webBikeWorld and about to order these when I found this thread. Unfortunately I will not be getting these now. I am very disappointed with the company's action on this complaint. -
Jeff A I was going to purchase a pair of these until I stumbled upon this issue that Sena seems to be completely ignoring.. The whole purpose of purchasing one of these would be to eliminate some of the wires and ditch the earbuds..I guess I will go read reviews for the new Carda system... Too bad, this looked like a great product, lacking support I will not be buying..... -
Chris Graeser Everything works fine for me now... but only because I spent $220 for a set of custom molded earphones and $35 for the earphone Sena base. Really, as the above poster notes, not much point in having the Sena beyond the once or twice a year ability to comm with a riding buddy who has the same unit. It's just one more thing to charge and I might toss it in the drawer and run the phones to the iPhone in my pocket directly. Color me frustrated. -
Matt I agree with Chris. Volume is more than enough with *good* earbuds, and the earbud base. It's with speakers that the problem is there. Unlike my previous unit a Starcomm, it was really important to get the speakers right in the middle of the ear. Almost all the new helmets have speaker cut-outs in the foam, so you don't get a lot of choice. That might actually be part of the problem too. But with the other base, and good in-ear earbuds like the Westone UM2's, the sound was pretty awesome for me on my last ride. Now dealing with ear-bud fatigue is a new issue/problem. -
Gary I just updated from ver. 4.1.1 to 4.2 and find the volume for Bluetooth music now goes higher than before and although have not tried on the bike, I expect it will be fine. Thanks. -
Billy W Have any others updated? Could this actually be fixed? I'm still not ready to purchase these unless more users have posted that they are satisfied with the results of this software update. -
Paul W Wow, I think Sena needs some PR help here. I tried 4.2rc1 when it first came out and was one of the early ones saying it didn't help. However, they quietly came out with 4.2 (not rc1) on 3/25 but didn't tell anyone! I just found out about it today when I saw Gary's post. I've installed it and it does seem to greatly increase the volume. Just at home with no ear plugs, it's loud enough to hurt my ears, which it wasn't even remotely that close before. I will have to put in some foamies and go for a ride to try it out. I think this is it. Sena did post on 4/1 that they improved the volume, but nowhere did they mention there was an OFFICIAL 4.2 version out that supersedes 4.2rc1. I think they could have avoided a lot of bad press simply by being more clear about it. -
Matt No 4.2 with speakers (using earplugs) is not loud enough _still_ It is with earphones though and that's what I've switched too. If you don't wear earplugs you will probably have ample volume. -
Paul W Well, it's not great. It's definitely an improvement, but I feel many won't find it enough. For me, I think it is. I can hear podcasts well enough to understand the speech. At max volume, music causes noticeable distortion, so I think we've just hit the physical limits of the speakers Sena uses in the clamps. I may try to replace the speakers with some Koss speakers. A friend did this and got significant improvement, even on the old firmware. Perhaps this could be a reason for Sena to start manufacturing the clamps with higher quality speakers. Sad to have such a great product throttled by crappy speakers. -
Gary With the high variability of the comments to my earlier post i felt compelled to dig a little deeper. While I stand by my comment it helped...it is still not a powerhouse and may not satisfy all. Especially with ear plugs. Keep in mind that 1) people hear at different levels. 2) people prefer different listening levels based on content type, I.e. spoken word, rock, classical. And something I just learned today is that these small speakers are sensitive to placement relative to you ear which should make sense based on how in-ear headphones (buds) respond to placement.I have a Bell Sena Mag 9 with integral pockets about 2x the size of the speakers with velcro closures. When I first installed them I just stuck them in the pockets. They can easily move 1-2 inches in any direction and were easily an inch away from my ears. I played around with different thicknesses of foam and found that the speakers sounded considerably better when they were spaced 3/4 inch closer to my ears and down lower in the pockets. Better mid range and even a little upper bass (if you can call it that). Originally they sounded like my I phone playing through the on-board speakers. This also helps the volume issue a little. I now cannot stand the highest volume level but I am somewhat sensitive to loud noises. However as someone else mentioned, there is some distortion now at the top end, either from the speakers or the amp circuit. Perhaps Sena should consider a hi-fi version for those who want better tunes. Suspect many just use it for GPS. phone, podcasts which are less critical. Sorry for long post just wanted to share my observations. -
Gary Paul W, are you suggesting splicing the speakers from Koss over the ear headphones into the system? -
Paul W Yes, a friend of mine (Christian, from the thread above) has done this for his wife's Sena. I don't know the exact details yet, but he actually opened the base and unsoldered the old speaker wires and soldered in the new. He said he used some more expensive speakers, but the Koss Titaniums are the same speakers and can be had for $16 on Amazon.
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Kyle Hale Hello all,
I just received my Sena SMH10 yesterday, installation went great, powered up the device and went for a ride. I synced my SMH10 with my iPhone 5, EQ off, volume all the way up on my iPhone5, Sena, and Pandora app and I was incredibly underwhelmed how low the volume was. I'm running version 4.1.1 on my device, out of the box.
Sena - What can be done to fix this? Does an update to 4.2.1 fix this issue? I'm reading through the complaints here and it looks like this has been an issue since February 28, 2012, over a year ago. I hate to have to return a product that I JUST bought, but if I can't increase the volume due to firmware, this is a deal breaker.I will give this product 5 stars and a great review if the volume issue is addressed. I love the packaging, ease of installation and everything else that comes with this product.
Please reply to me here or directly to my email. Thanks for your attention.
Kyle
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Chris Graeser Kyle
Don't hold your breath. Return it and save some headaches, or join the rest of us who think it's a great product except for the one issue - volume on A2DP - which kind of kills the whole product for us. It can do the volume, of course, because it's fine on phone profile and com. But, Sena doesn't give a rat's tail about fixing the issue. Or, maybe they do but since they barely respond who knows?
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Kyle Hale @Chris,
So even with the update to 4.2.1 the volume is not corrected from 4.1.1? Like you said, I can hear phone call volume perfectly clear, it's great! Music volume is just horrible and is definitely a deal breaker. Software support and updates are a necessity in 2013...
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Matt It's relative folks. If you're sitting on a gold wing behind a big ass barn door windshield it probably is loud enough. If you use earbuds, it's definitely loud enough.
If the speakers are right up to your ears, with no gap and perfectly centered, it's probably loud enough.
I sure hope they fix it, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Kyle Hale @Matt
I have a windshield, I'm on a 2013 BMW r1200GSW, and I have an Arai XD-3. Wind noise shouldn't be that much of an issue. I'm going to update when I get home from work today and will report findings.
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Matt @Kyle
Do you wear earplugs? with 4.2 (and make sure you do the factory reset thing after you upgrade, then delete all pairings and start over). But with that on my FJR with earplugs, it was usable, but not what I wanted. About 80% of the volume I wanted. Since what I had previously worked wonderfully, I wasn't willing to give up 20% of the volume for 90% of my riding so that I could have bike to bike intercom which is why I bought these. I already had rider/passenger intercom.
But switching up to good earbuds did fix my problem. If they do ever fix it, I'll happily roll back to speakers because it's just faster/more convenient.
-MD
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Kyle Hale @Matt,
The whole point of this product should be ease of use, e.g. not having to put earbuds in. I have earbuds, but they hurt my ears on long distance trips and are just a nuissance to have in my ears while putting my helmet on. It's gotta be good volume from the speakers they provided or possibly returning the product.
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Matt @Kyle
I agree with that. I sent them back last year because firmware 3.x was complete shit. http://www.dishers.com/2012/06/15/sena-bluetooth-vs-starcom-1
This year however, I needed the bike-to-bike and was willing to sacrifice for a 32 hour rally. Finding good earbuds can be difficult, no doubt. I kept the starcomm intact just in case but removed it recently because I'm currently "OK" with the earbud solution. But they cost me as much as the Sena itself, actually as much as the dual pack.
That said the other options Cardo and the other one have "other' issues which currently make this the least of the evils.
I do hope they read this, and I do hope they fix this. My gut says though that we'll see a Sena SMH 20 or something before that happens though.
-MD
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Jeff A @Kyle
Exactly... If I wanted to wear earbuds I could continue to use what I am currently using. The whole purpose of me considering purchasing this was to get rid of the earbuds and some of the wires for 90% of my riding, with the added benefit of having the intercom function for about 10% of my riding. This is something I am not even considering anymore until they address this issue, I am currently looking at the competition to see if any of them fit my needs... It is very disappointing that this has been an issue for over a year and Sena has their head stuck in the sand pretending that it does not exist....
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Kyle Hale @Matt
Such a bummer. I have great ear buds, Shure SE535's that I use at work everyday, I just don't like riding them cause they are awkward to put in with a helmet and hurt after extended periods. I hope Sena listens as well, as this is a pretty big deal, and a deal breaker for some folks like myself.
Sena, Are you listening?
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Schomer I heard from Sena fairly recently... I told them the audio for phone calls is fine - plenty of volume and bass - but playing music stinks. Absolutely no bass in the music, which makes everything sound like crap. They told me voice is mono and music is stereo - and that is why there is bass for phone calls, but not music.
Give me an option to enable mono playback for music, if this is the case! I bought this for music and it's a terrible experience. I'm outside the return window though, so I'm stuck with something that doesn't work.
Also, Sena replaced the unit I originally purchased because it didn't hold a battery charge. The replacement they sent me was a terribly scratched up used unit. Thanks again, Sena.
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e kull I tried the Sena with music pumped in from my Ipod via the mp3 in jack and the volume was plenty. The weak point is not the speakers or speaker placement, it is either the pre amp for the bluetooth or the software. I repeat, the sena can put out the volume and the speakers can handle the volume. Dont believe me, try it, use the spring cord and connect directly to your phone or mp3 player and go for a ride.
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Gary I have managed to get another small improvement to my SMH 10 speaker system used with ear plugs. I downloaded the latest v. 4.2 firmware and added foam to position the speakers optimally to my ears. And most recently I purchased a pair of Down Beats ear plugs which are tuned specially for music (they say) and provide only 18 dB of attenuation vs 30-33 dB from most of the foam plugs. The Down Beats cut out the road/wind noise without cutting as much of the music. Works quite well. I know it seems like a lot to go through just to make the Sena product work acceptably but I did what I had to do as Sena did not seem to have an answer.