I want my cake and eat to

[Pat C]

I just returned my Sena headset, I'm alittle disappointed, I finaly figured out how to download my music to my phone so i could listen to music wireless. I went for a ride and I found out I can't have the music and phone connection at the same time, my phone won't split the signal. I called Sena and I either have to get a smart phone or a bluetooth mp3 player or a dongle with a rca jack, I don't want to spend anymore money at this time.

 

[SacramentoMike]

.

Anyway, what good's cake if you can't eat it? Sheeeee. . . ....... :angry:

.

Luckily, I have music playing in my head all the time. And the voices.

 

[FJRBluesman]

.... And the voices.

Is it Bust's voice? Just askin'.

Never an easy answer or low $$ for all the goodies we want. I'm still trying to figure out the blue tooth and mike set up with my GPS, MP3, Phone, etc.

 

[CAJW]

.... And the voices.

Is it Bust's voice? Just askin'.

Never an easy answer or low $ for all the goodies we want. I'm still trying to figure out the blue tooth and mike set up with my GPS, MP3, Phone, etc.

I feel your pain brother! I've been researching a system that doesn't seem to exist. My want list isn't unreasonable (IMHO), but there is yet to be a vendor who can combine all those things such as more than 4 bike to bike connections, a real 2 mile range, stereo BT for all accessories, selectable audio priority, auto mute for music, BT intercom, VOX, 12 hr. battery life, replaceable battery, 12 V charger, US Manufacturer, 5 yr. warranty, waterproof.. headset with good sound, (moving target I agree) But I digress,...now back to reality. :angry:

 

[SaharaJp99]

I have the Sena and I too fumbled around with different components until I found a system that worked for me. For me, the intercom function is mute, as 80% of the riding I do is solo, and the 20% I do ride with others, they don't use communicators.

I first started with a Scala Q2 as the Sena wasn't out yet. I used it for 2 seasons and used it for phone and MP3. The phone function worked fantastic with the unit, and I used the cord hooked to my iPod for MP3's and did the earphone jack mod on it w/earbuds so the music sounded decent, and also functioned as earplugs.

Well, when I bought the FJR I wanted to add GPS in the mix and get rid of the cord going to the MP3 so I bought the Sena. I didn't have a GPS yet when I bought the Sena, but soon shortly decided on the Nuvi 765T to be my MP3 player and GPS. I never had any qualms with the Sena with that set up, my frustration was with the Nuvi. The Nuvi worked with the hands free technology, but was extremely flakey. The bluetooth only worked for about 20 hands free inputs, then the audio would start skipping like a scratched cd, which resulted in having to drop the Sena from the GPS and reconnecting it, fairly annoying if you want to skip thru a bunch of tracks. Also, the Nuvi wasn't performing as a GPS like I wanted and wouldn't pair with the phone via the Sena. I was frustrated with the whole set up, especially when trying to add the phone into the mix. It was extremely buggy and always locking up, having issues, etc. Also, it was a pain to pair both the Nuvi and the phone to the Sena as both shared the A2DP profile. Neither my phone nor the Nuvi was selectable in which profile you wanted, so you had to trick it by pairing the Nuvi first, then the phone second in order to get both to work.

After a 1,300 mile trip with the Nuvi bugging out several times, and it then becoming a consistent issue when used for more than 1 and a half consecutive hours I had finally had enough of the Nuvi. I shelled out the big bucks for the Zumo 665 and did the latest software update on it. I just completed a roughly 2,000 mile trip with it and am 90% happy with the set up.

The bluetooth works 100% better than it did with the Nuvi. The phone pairs beautifully with the Zumo and comes across nice and clear for both myself and the other person on the line with the Sena. I never once had an issue with skipping, or music not playing correctly, or it prioritizing correctly. Also, you don't have to worry about pairing sequence. Just turn everything on and it connects itself. AWESOME!

As a GPS, the 665 is also 10 times the unit the 765T was. Much more in depth routing preference options, much easier to use on the MC, etc. Only two downfalls with the 665. Map detail sucks when zoomed out. It takes a lot of scrolling at small increments to be able to look at nearby roads to see if they are paved, or are curvy, or connect to where you are wanting to go. This is no different, or might even be better than the Nuvi was though.

The second thing that sucks is that the handsfree bluetooth option doesn't work with the XM Radio. Being able to just push and hold the jog dial on the Sena to pause MP3's is awesome, if you want the music to mute in a hurry. I wish they would have incorporated the same handsfree technology to mute the XM radio. It is kind of a pain to mute the XM in a hurry, I usually just end up turning the volume down on the Sena.

Sorry, this has turned into an GPS review, but my comments on the Sena are: they designed it to work with the Zumo's, and it works wonderfully other than the XM mute issue. With the earbud mount, the music sounds great, phone calls work great, the jog dial beats any of the other controls on the other bluetooth units I have used hands down, and the battery lasts consistently 11+ hours(I was on the road 12.5 hours today and it did not die) with music playing 100% of the time. I have only had the Sena die once on me, and that was with the Nuvi set up, and it lasted 10.5 hours, but it does come with the nice long, coiled 12v charger that you can use to charge while using the headset(nice feature).

Overall, the Sena gets a thumbs up from me, although, it is designed to work with specific components. My work around with cheaper components, IE, the Nuvi, left undesired results. With the Zumo, I am happy, although I have almost $900 in hardware spent between the Zumo and the Sena as well as almost a $200/year XM radio subscription, but for me, it is worth it. I use it roughly 1 1/2 hours everyday just for commuting, let alone trips, and just being able to turn everything on(takes about 5 seconds) and it automatically pairing without me having to mess with sequence or anything is worth it for me.

YMMV

 

[Pat C]

I have the Sena and I too fumbled around with different components until I found a system that worked for me. For me, the intercom function is mute, as 80% of the riding I do is solo, and the 20% I do ride with others, they don't use communicators.

I first started with a Scala Q2 as the Sena wasn't out yet. I used it for 2 seasons and used it for phone and MP3. The phone function worked fantastic with the unit, and I used the cord hooked to my iPod for MP3's and did the earphone jack mod on it w/earbuds so the music sounded decent, and also functioned as earplugs.

Well, when I bought the FJR I wanted to add GPS in the mix and get rid of the cord going to the MP3 so I bought the Sena. I didn't have a GPS yet when I bought the Sena, but soon shortly decided on the Nuvi 765T to be my MP3 player and GPS. I never had any qualms with the Sena with that set up, my frustration was with the Nuvi. The Nuvi worked with the hands free technology, but was extremely flakey. The bluetooth only worked for about 20 hands free inputs, then the audio would start skipping like a scratched cd, which resulted in having to drop the Sena from the GPS and reconnecting it, fairly annoying if you want to skip thru a bunch of tracks. Also, the Nuvi wasn't performing as a GPS like I wanted and wouldn't pair with the phone via the Sena. I was frustrated with the whole set up, especially when trying to add the phone into the mix. It was extremely buggy and always locking up, having issues, etc. Also, it was a pain to pair both the Nuvi and the phone to the Sena as both shared the A2DP profile. Neither my phone nor the Nuvi was selectable in which profile you wanted, so you had to trick it by pairing the Nuvi first, then the phone second in order to get both to work.

After a 1,300 mile trip with the Nuvi bugging out several times, and it then becoming a consistent issue when used for more than 1 and a half consecutive hours I had finally had enough of the Nuvi. I shelled out the big bucks for the Zumo 665 and did the latest software update on it. I just completed a roughly 2,000 mile trip with it and am 90% happy with the set up.

The bluetooth works 100% better than it did with the Nuvi. The phone pairs beautifully with the Zumo and comes across nice and clear for both myself and the other person on the line with the Sena. I never once had an issue with skipping, or music not playing correctly, or it prioritizing correctly. Also, you don't have to worry about pairing sequence. Just turn everything on and it connects itself. AWESOME!

As a GPS, the 665 is also 10 times the unit the 765T was. Much more in depth routing preference options, much easier to use on the MC, etc. Only two downfalls with the 665. Map detail sucks when zoomed out. It takes a lot of scrolling at small increments to be able to look at nearby roads to see if they are paved, or are curvy, or connect to where you are wanting to go. This is no different, or might even be better than the Nuvi was though.

The second thing that sucks is that the handsfree bluetooth option doesn't work with the XM Radio. Being able to just push and hold the jog dial on the Sena to pause MP3's is awesome, if you want the music to mute in a hurry. I wish they would have incorporated the same handsfree technology to mute the XM radio. It is kind of a pain to mute the XM in a hurry, I usually just end up turning the volume down on the Sena.

Sorry, this has turned into an GPS review, but my comments on the Sena are: they designed it to work with the Zumo's, and it works wonderfully other than the XM mute issue. With the earbud mount, the music sounds great, phone calls work great, the jog dial beats any of the other controls on the other bluetooth units I have used hands down, and the battery lasts consistently 11+ hours(I was on the road 12.5 hours today and it did not die) with music playing 100% of the time. I have only had the Sena die once on me, and that was with the Nuvi set up, and it lasted 10.5 hours, but it does come with the nice long, coiled 12v charger that you can use to charge while using the headset(nice feature).

Overall, the Sena gets a thumbs up from me, although, it is designed to work with specific components. My work around with cheaper components, IE, the Nuvi, left undesired results. With the Zumo, I am happy, although I have almost $900 in hardware spent between the Zumo and the Sena as well as almost a $200/year XM radio subscription, but for me, it is worth it. I use it roughly 1 1/2 hours everyday just for commuting, let alone trips, and just being able to turn everything on(takes about 5 seconds) and it automatically pairing without me having to mess with sequence or anything is worth it for me.

YMMV

What kind of phone do you have and are you listening to the music via bluetooth or mp3 jack?

 

[Harald]

It'll be nice when they get the bluetooth thing all figured out, although it'll probably involve buying new hardware that incorporates the improvements. Like Sahara, I like the Sena system and it works great with my Zumo 660. A simple push in on the jog dial and the wife and I have an open line to talk to each other. Otherwise I rock out to tunes coming from the Zumo, unless the GPS interrupts with directions before going back to music. When my phone is syncd, it will also interrupt the tunes and allow me to answer and hangup via the touch screen on the Zumo. Even with earplugs in my ears, the Sena puts out enough volume for me to hear via the helmet speakers that perfectly install in my Nolan N103 helmet.

The only gripe is my Motorola Q9c phone (Windows mobile version of the blackberry) locks up for at least 10 minutes whenever it's trying to BT connect to the Zumo while the address book is transfered. I'll be upgrading phones in August, so hopefully a newer phone won't have this issue. I plan on trying the wife's Droid 2 global to see how it interacts with the Zumo.

I mainly got the Sena to talk to the wife, but I'm actually liking listening to tunes on my daily commute.

 

[SaharaJp99]

What kind of phone do you have and are you listening to the music via bluetooth or mp3 jack?

I have a Samsung flip phone. It has a built in media player, but I do not use the media player from the phone. I either listen to XM, or MP3's from the Zumo, all bluetooth. So basically I pair the phone to the Zumo, and it uploads my phone book, call logs, etc, and you have total phone control from the screen of the Zumo, and then pair the Zumo to the Sena. Only 1 connection to the Sena, and with the Zumo, I can get phone calls, GPS instructions, MP3 and XM. The Sena must realize it as two different connections because you can adjust the volume on the Sena for the phone and GPS independently of the volume of the music, which is awesome, as the phone and GPS are much louder than the music is.

The first time I paired the phone with it it took about 10 minutes for the phone book to load, but now I think it is stored, as when I turn everything on, it pairs in about 5 seconds and my phone book is there instantly.

HTH

 

[Thug]

Great write up Sahara. I've just obtained the Sena and still playing with it. A quality unit that could have only be designed by motorcyclists surely?

 

[russperry]

I have the Sena and I too fumbled around with different components until I found a system that worked for me. For me, the intercom function is mute, as 80% of the riding I do is solo, and the 20% I do ride with others, they don't use communicators.

I first started with a Scala Q2 as the Sena wasn't out yet. I used it for 2 seasons and used it for phone and MP3. The phone function worked fantastic with the unit, and I used the cord hooked to my iPod for MP3's and did the earphone jack mod on it w/earbuds so the music sounded decent, and also functioned as earplugs.

Well, when I bought the FJR I wanted to add GPS in the mix and get rid of the cord going to the MP3 so I bought the Sena. I didn't have a GPS yet when I bought the Sena, but soon shortly decided on the Nuvi 765T to be my MP3 player and GPS. I never had any qualms with the Sena with that set up, my frustration was with the Nuvi. The Nuvi worked with the hands free technology, but was extremely flakey. The bluetooth only worked for about 20 hands free inputs, then the audio would start skipping like a scratched cd, which resulted in having to drop the Sena from the GPS and reconnecting it, fairly annoying if you want to skip thru a bunch of tracks. Also, the Nuvi wasn't performing as a GPS like I wanted and wouldn't pair with the phone via the Sena. I was frustrated with the whole set up, especially when trying to add the phone into the mix. It was extremely buggy and always locking up, having issues, etc. Also, it was a pain to pair both the Nuvi and the phone to the Sena as both shared the A2DP profile. Neither my phone nor the Nuvi was selectable in which profile you wanted, so you had to trick it by pairing the Nuvi first, then the phone second in order to get both to work.

After a 1,300 mile trip with the Nuvi bugging out several times, and it then becoming a consistent issue when used for more than 1 and a half consecutive hours I had finally had enough of the Nuvi. I shelled out the big bucks for the Zumo 665 and did the latest software update on it. I just completed a roughly 2,000 mile trip with it and am 90% happy with the set up.

The bluetooth works 100% better than it did with the Nuvi. The phone pairs beautifully with the Zumo and comes across nice and clear for both myself and the other person on the line with the Sena. I never once had an issue with skipping, or music not playing correctly, or it prioritizing correctly. Also, you don't have to worry about pairing sequence. Just turn everything on and it connects itself. AWESOME!

As a GPS, the 665 is also 10 times the unit the 765T was. Much more in depth routing preference options, much easier to use on the MC, etc. Only two downfalls with the 665. Map detail sucks when zoomed out. It takes a lot of scrolling at small increments to be able to look at nearby roads to see if they are paved, or are curvy, or connect to where you are wanting to go. This is no different, or might even be better than the Nuvi was though.

The second thing that sucks is that the handsfree bluetooth option doesn't work with the XM Radio. Being able to just push and hold the jog dial on the Sena to pause MP3's is awesome, if you want the music to mute in a hurry. I wish they would have incorporated the same handsfree technology to mute the XM radio. It is kind of a pain to mute the XM in a hurry, I usually just end up turning the volume down on the Sena.

Sorry, this has turned into an GPS review, but my comments on the Sena are: they designed it to work with the Zumo's, and it works wonderfully other than the XM mute issue. With the earbud mount, the music sounds great, phone calls work great, the jog dial beats any of the other controls on the other bluetooth units I have used hands down, and the battery lasts consistently 11+ hours(I was on the road 12.5 hours today and it did not die) with music playing 100% of the time. I have only had the Sena die once on me, and that was with the Nuvi set up, and it lasted 10.5 hours, but it does come with the nice long, coiled 12v charger that you can use to charge while using the headset(nice feature).

Overall, the Sena gets a thumbs up from me, although, it is designed to work with specific components. My work around with cheaper components, IE, the Nuvi, left undesired results. With the Zumo, I am happy, although I have almost $900 in hardware spent between the Zumo and the Sena as well as almost a $200/year XM radio subscription, but for me, it is worth it. I use it roughly 1 1/2 hours everyday just for commuting, let alone trips, and just being able to turn everything on(takes about 5 seconds) and it automatically pairing without me having to mess with sequence or anything is worth it for me.

YMMV

My findings with the Sena are very good as well, and I'm using a very different setup than you. I've got an iPod Touch with Navigon software as my navigation and music source, and a Blackberry 8700 phone. These work very well in combination and I don't have to pair the phone and iPod together at all.

My sequence for setup is as follows:

1) Turn Sena on, enter pair mode

2) connect Blackberry to Sena

3) connect iPod to Sena

It will not work if pairing the Blackberry first, but as long as you do it in this order it works every time.

Battery life has been no problem, but I haven't taken it past 10 hours yet like you have. I'm using the supplied speakers rather than the earbud option, and I find the volume is adequate (though not overpowering) even when I'm using Howard Leight 33DBA earplugs.

I also think the controls with the jog dial and 2nd button are simple to use (even with winter gloves) and reliable.

I have two problems still:

1) the iPod screen will not respond to touch while wearing gloves. There are a couple of options out there but neither are really usable. Conductive thread stitched into a glove finger (bad for waterproofing), or a stylus with a conductive pad tip (seems like it will surely be lost). I work around this by leaving the iPod on a 3 hour playlist (about the longest between fuel stops), and admitting I have to stop to play with the nav (probably the safe way though not the most convenient)

2) Reliability of the iPod docking station. I'm using the Dual XGPS251 GPS receiever/docking station. I've had to replace mine once so far, and think that the vibration in a motorcycle mount is too tough for this unit. My assessment, though not confirmed by their tech support, is that the GPS/battery switch failed. If this switch is not in the "GPS" position, then the positioning function is disabled. I started getting intermittent connections, then finally it would not show a good GPS signal at all. I'm going to run this 2nd unit and see how it goes.

Since I already had the iPod, and its a company-paid cell phone, my total cost for everything was $30 for the Navigon software, $90 for the docking station, and $165 for the Sena, with zero recurring fees - pretty reasonable budget, presuming the docking station can withstand the conditions. One other nice thing with the iPod is that you can use any of several nav packages, including golfing apps, geocaching, something you can't do with a dedicated GPS system.