Autcom Pro AVI Intercom evaluation

[Fred H.]

I have been testing one of these units for about the past two months or so. I just posted the final evaluation here if you want to read it.

https://www.angelridevideos.com/reviews/

 

[Groo]

Thanks much for the writeup Fred!

Got a question for you, is there some way to use earbuds (like Etymotics) with this system as opposed to the helmet speakers?

 

[bramfrank]

Thanks much for the writeup Fred!
Got a question for you, is there some way to use earbuds (like Etymotics) with this system as opposed to the helmet speakers?

I can answer that one . . . Yes. Autocom offers an adapter to allow the use of third party in-ear earphone systems.

 

[Groo]

Cool... thanks a ton! Going to be doing a couple long distance rides with some friends in the next year, and we all want to be able to communicate... unfotunately, my current audio setup will be difficult to modify to do that, and I may need to go to something like the Autocom.

 

[IAGeezer]

Thanks Fred! I've been lurking and looking at these systems for a while, and it seems that your review will be enough to push me over the edge. All the local shops carry the other brands, and I just didn't want to bite, based on things I had read and heard. Thanks for the thorough review.

Scott

 

[Thug]

Thanks Fred I kept reading some of the other stuff you had posted!

Baehr Intercoms I think are the best around at the moment

Cheers

 

[Fred H.]

Baehr Intercoms I think are the best around at the moment

I have a Baehr Intercom as well, and wrote a review on it also.

https://www.angelridevideos.com/reviews/Baehr.html

While I like the unit, I have a few complaints. Baehr uses hot mics with no VOX, and instead relies on electronic filtration to take out the wind noise. Most of the time it works, but if you get into crosswinds or at high speeds it can be problematic. There also is no sidetone provided from your own voice on the Baehr, which makes it feel awkward when speaking. Another complaint with Baehr units is their price.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the Baehr unit, and I think it is a good quality intercom, but I feel the new Super Pro AVI Autcom is better, and costs less money.

Autocom has raised the bar with this new unit. It will be interesting to see how the competition responds.

 

[Penforhire]

Thanks for the review. That background noise sensor would be a very welcome addition to my Pro7.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

Baehr Intercoms I think are the best around at the moment

I have a Baehr Intercom as well, and wrote a review on it also.

https://www.angelridevideos.com/reviews/Baehr.html

While I like the unit, I have a few complaints. Baehr uses hot mics with no VOX, and instead relies on electronic filtration to take out the wind noise. Most of the time it works, but if you get into crosswinds or at high speeds it can be problematic. There also is no sidetone provided from your own voice on the Baehr, which makes it feel awkward when speaking. Another complaint with Baehr units is their price.

Don't get me wrong, I do like the Baehr unit, and I think it is a good quality intercom, but I feel the new Super Pro AVI Autcom is better, and costs less money.

Autocom has raised the bar with this new unit. It will be interesting to see how the competition responds.

I have heard different from a reputable dealer of Autocom. Problems and annoyances.

 

[Mogan]

Hi Fred!

I recently completed install of this unit on my FJR and agree with your comments. You have good insights, too. I've had some minor difficulty fine-tuning the vox and I'll chalk that up to noise sensor placement. I put it in the back by the neck, but will try it on the side by the cheek.

The only real puzzle remaining with my install is getting aux 1 to work. After plugging anything into it the VOX immediately goes to always on (green light illuminates). Any suggestions???

If autocom is reading...I SECOND THE REQUEST FOR REMOTE VOLUME AND FADER CONTROLS!

 

[Mark G]

Fred, maybe you can answer an Autocom question. On the Goldwing, we can adjust bass and treble. We're using the Active 7 Smart system on it...and the music sounds fine. With the new Active Plus system on the FJR, we have no tone controls, and my wife complains of tinny, "no bass" sound...I use specialty molded earphones and don't really notice the problem, but I also have a low frequency hearing deficit. We're using an Ipod, and I'll be wiring up a Roady this week.

My question is, are we stuck with the tinny sound, not having amplification and tone controls for the FJR? Would something like the Mixit help?

My systems don't have the new noise technology yours does, but I've noticed something very interesting. We've ALWAYS had big problems with wind noise on the Wing in the pillion mike, no matter what we've tried, including correspondence and advice with the Pres of the company, but there's NO wind noise like that on the FJR.

One final thing, if you're buying Autocom, I had a great experience with Kieth Goudelock...nice guy, great advice, sent me the unit immediately.

 

[Fred H.]

The only real puzzle remaining with my install is getting aux 1 to work. After plugging anything into it the VOX immediately goes to always on (green light illuminates). Any suggestions???

I made the same mistake. Aux 1 is a 4 pole connector. If you plug in a standard three pole (stereo) jack into it, you will short two of the poles together and cause it to go into VOX transmit mode. Aux 4 is made for a cell phone or FRS connector. You can use it as a normal input as well by using a 4 pole mini plug and just not connecting the 4th lead to anything.

If you look close at a mini stereo plug you will see three distinct sections or rings. That is a standard three pole connector.

My question is, are we stuck with the tinny sound, not having amplification and tone controls for the FJR? Would something like the Mixit help?

Yea, I noticed the same effect. The Ipod has some equalization curves built into it, and you can use those, but they aren't anything like the Wing's bass and treble and ambience controls. I am afraid there is no good solution to this and you will just have to adjust to the difference in sound.

I have heard different from a reputable dealer of Autocom. Problems and annoyances

As for the comments on Baehr, they operate in a whole different manner. Their mics are always on and they attempt to switch filters on and off when you speak that filter out the wind noise. In some ways this is an advantage, as it makes speach more natural than when the VOX is turning on and off, but the down side is that they do not give you any sidetone, or feedback, of your own voice in your headset. I also found that even in mild crosswinds, the Baehr couldn't handle the wind noise and the filters were overcome. I got a whole mile from the house before I had to turn the noise filters up full blast, and they still couldn't handle it.

Crosswinds are probably the most challenging thing for an intercom to handle. Like I said, the Beahr unit is good, but right now, I think the new Autocom unit is better and handles crosswinds and difficult wind/noise enviornments better. They combine VOX with active wind filters and noise canceling mics, and it take all three of these to make a good intercom. Baehr leaves off the VOX, and while this makes the unit a bit smoother in operation, it makes it more suceptible to noise in windy environments when the noise filters get saturated.

But others may have a different opinion, and that is ok. This is just my own experience with both systems. I like them both, but if I had to chose one, it would be Autocom, but Baehr would be my second choice for sure.

By the way, you couldn't give me J&M or Chatterbox equipment. I would rather do without.

 

[ronjrieth]

The only real puzzle remaining with my install is getting aux 1 to work. After plugging anything into it the VOX immediately goes to always on (green light illuminates). Any suggestions???

I made the same mistake. Aux 1 is a 4 pole connector. If you plug in a standard three pole (stereo) jack into it, you will short two of the poles together and cause it to go into VOX transmit mode. Aux 4 is made for a cell phone or FRS connector. You can use it as a normal input as well by using a 4 pole mini plug and just not connecting the 4th lead to anything.

If you look close at a mini stereo plug you will see three distinct sections or rings. That is a standard three pole connector.

My question is, are we stuck with the tinny sound, not having amplification and tone controls for the FJR? Would something like the Mixit help?

Yea, I noticed the same effect. The Ipod has some equalization curves built into it, and you can use those, but they aren't anything like the Wing's bass and treble and ambience controls. I am afraid there is no good solution to this and you will just have to adjust to the difference in sound.

I have heard different from a reputable dealer of Autocom. Problems and annoyances

As for the comments on Baehr, they operate in a whole different manner. Their mics are always on and they attempt to switch filters on and off when you speak that filter out the wind noise. In some ways this is an advantage, as it makes speach more natural than when the VOX is turning on and off, but the down side is that they do not give you any sidetone, or feedback, of your own voice in your headset. I also found that even in mild crosswinds, the Baehr couldn't handle the wind noise and the filters were overcome. I got a whole mile from the house before I had to turn the noise filters up full blast, and they still couldn't handle it.

Crosswinds are probably the most challenging thing for an intercom to handle. Like I said, the Beahr unit is good, but right now, I think the new Autocom unit is better and handles crosswinds and difficult wind/noise enviornments better. They combine VOX with active wind filters and noise canceling mics, and it take all three of these to make a good intercom. Baehr leaves off the VOX, and while this makes the unit a bit smoother in operation, it makes it more suceptible to noise in windy environments when the noise filters get saturated.

But others may have a different opinion, and that is ok. This is just my own experience with both systems. I like them both, but if I had to chose one, it would be Autocom, but Baehr would be my second choice for sure.

By the way, you couldn't give me J&M or Chatterbox equipment. I would rather do without.

Fred,

If you primarily wanted to hook up an XM radio and werent as concerned about intercom....what would you do?

Thanks,

Ron

 

[Mark G]

The only real puzzle remaining with my install is getting aux 1 to work. After plugging anything into it the VOX immediately goes to always on (green light illuminates). Any suggestions???

I made the same mistake. Aux 1 is a 4 pole connector. If you plug in a standard three pole (stereo) jack into it, you will short two of the poles together and cause it to go into VOX transmit mode. Aux 4 is made for a cell phone or FRS connector. You can use it as a normal input as well by using a 4 pole mini plug and just not connecting the 4th lead to anything.

If you look close at a mini stereo plug you will see three distinct sections or rings. That is a standard three pole connector.

My question is, are we stuck with the tinny sound, not having amplification and tone controls for the FJR? Would something like the Mixit help?

Yea, I noticed the same effect. The Ipod has some equalization curves built into it, and you can use those, but they aren't anything like the Wing's bass and treble and ambience controls. I am afraid there is no good solution to this and you will just have to adjust to the difference in sound.

I have heard different from a reputable dealer of Autocom. Problems and annoyances

As for the comments on Baehr, they operate in a whole different manner. Their mics are always on and they attempt to switch filters on and off when you speak that filter out the wind noise. In some ways this is an advantage, as it makes speach more natural than when the VOX is turning on and off, but the down side is that they do not give you any sidetone, or feedback, of your own voice in your headset. I also found that even in mild crosswinds, the Baehr couldn't handle the wind noise and the filters were overcome. I got a whole mile from the house before I had to turn the noise filters up full blast, and they still couldn't handle it.

Crosswinds are probably the most challenging thing for an intercom to handle. Like I said, the Beahr unit is good, but right now, I think the new Autocom unit is better and handles crosswinds and difficult wind/noise enviornments better. They combine VOX with active wind filters and noise canceling mics, and it take all three of these to make a good intercom. Baehr leaves off the VOX, and while this makes the unit a bit smoother in operation, it makes it more suceptible to noise in windy environments when the noise filters get saturated.

But others may have a different opinion, and that is ok. This is just my own experience with both systems. I like them both, but if I had to chose one, it would be Autocom, but Baehr would be my second choice for sure.

By the way, you couldn't give me J&M or Chatterbox equipment. I would rather do without.

Fred,

If you primarily wanted to hook up an XM radio and werent as concerned about intercom....what would you do?

Thanks,

Ron

I'll give this a shot: get some earphones, either deluxe or cheap, and power the XM through the bike's power system...either hard wired or use the aux plug. Plug the earhphones directly into the XM. Use the money saved on the intercom system to buy an ipod, and load all your music into it. Use the same idea to listen to it.

You can control the XM volume by fiddling around with the Roady controls. Ditto the ipod. You can get a remote control for the ipod (make sure it's RF, not IR) about the size of a big roach, and stick it somewhere on the bike. I got one by a company called Griffin from Compusa last week for about $14, used code FREESHIP to get it sent at no charge. YMMV.

Am now looking for a remote for the Roady. I'll just toss the unit in the cubby, use the remote.

 

[ronjrieth]

Fred,

If you primarily wanted to hook up an XM radio and werent as concerned about intercom....what would you do?

Thanks,

Ron

I'll give this a shot: get some earphones, either deluxe or cheap, and power the XM through the bike's power system...either hard wired or use the aux plug. Plug the earhphones directly into the XM. Use the money saved on the intercom system to buy an ipod, and load all your music into it. Use the same idea to listen to it.

You can control the XM volume by fiddling around with the Roady controls. Ditto the ipod. You can get a remote control for the ipod (make sure it's RF, not IR) about the size of a big roach, and stick it somewhere on the bike. pho got one by a company called Griffin from Compusa last week for about $14, used code FREESHIP to get it sent at no charge. YMMV.

Am now looking for a remote for the Roady. I'll just toss the unit in the cubby, use the remote.

Mark, interestng thoughts...I will look into that...already have the ipod and music...I like some of the XM talk radio and sports...any recommendations on good earphones...sorry dont mean to hijack this thread..

Ron

 

[Mogan]

Thanks, Fred!

You know more about the autocom gear than the people selling it...that's for sure!

 

[Fred H.]

I suspect you are going to have problems getting enough volume out of an Ipod or XM radio to drive helmet speakers loud enough to hear the music at 70mph, and forget about wearing earplugs while listening to helmet speakers with this type of set up. What you would need to use in-ear speaker buds to make this work.

If all you want is music, this is probably a viable alternative, as long as you don't also need a Radar Detector or talking GPS input. The more devices you add, the more complicated things get.

 

[Mogan]

Here's a weird question. I understand that some people prefer to wear earplugs, but then listen to music through helmet speakers! Is this simply to reduce wind noise? Is this better than using earspeakers?

I have earspeakers, but I also just installed the new autocom helmet speakers. Both seem to work well although the road noise is certainly muted while using the earspeakers. Which setup is best if you want to protect your hearing?

 

[Fred H.]

Here's a weird question. I understand that some people prefer to wear earplugs, but then listen to music through helmet speakers! Is this simply to reduce wind noise? Is this better than using earspeakers?
I have earspeakers, but I also just installed the new autocom helmet speakers. Both seem to work well although the road noise is certainly muted while using the earspeakers. Which setup is best if you want to protect your hearing?

For me it is simply a matter of convience of not having to try to insert earbuds with wires on them and then get the helmet on without dissconnection something or pulling out one or both of the earbuds. Helmet mounted speakers are just less hassle factor.

And since ear plugs attenuate all noise, it is harder for you to turn the music up so loud that it damages your ears. While earspeakers may attenuate road noise, they also put the music source closer to your eardrum and may make it easier for you to damage your hearing from the long term exposure to louder levels of music at close distances to the eardrum itself.

But I have not really used earbud type speakers much, so your experience may differ. I can tell you that after many years of riding motorcycles long distance, I am starting to develop tinitus in my ears, despite wearing ear plugs, and from what I understand it is irreversible.