Scala Rider VS Sena

[rubbersidedown]

I'm in the market for a new communicator. I've been using a Chatterbox and am just tired of all of its issues and cords so it is time to move on. Here are my requirements:

Built in FM tuner - I commute and it is nice to listen to music without messing with a second device.

Bluetooth - nice not to mess with cords.

Wired mic - I wear a full face helmet and the boom on the Chatterbox is a pain in the butt.

As I see it this limits me to:

Sena SMH5-FM

Scala G9, Q2, Q3

Any others?

If you have one of these let me know how it works, how good is the tuner, would you buy again and any regrets.

Thanks for your help.

[jch82]

I love my Sena SMH10 and it has proven its worth as a comm system on several long trips. Battery life is great and the speakers don't sound half bad. I can't comment on the tuner as the 10 doesn't have it, but I usually bluetooth it to my phone and listen to downloaded music or connect to Sirius. Also have connected it to my Zumo and listen to music and have turn by turn nav.

You can control the volume and change songs using the Sena when it is connected by bluetooth. My phone stays in my pocket and I control everything with the Sena unit.

[rubbersidedown]

Thanks for the input Josh, Sena seems to make a good unit. I had never heard of them until I started looking into a buying new unit. I have a couple followup questions.

Do you know if there is a technology change between the SMH5 and the SMH10 or is the tuner the only difference?

Where was your SMH10 manufactured?

I found one listed on ebay and it said Manufactured in DPRK (North Korea). That would be a big pill for me to swallow. I could not find that on there website.

I plan to use my unit similar to the way you use yours, the bluetooth will be great! (I've been corded.) I recently got a new phone and plan to bluetooth for Nav and phone and MP3 for longer rides. The FM tuner is big for me because I like to listen to the morning news on my commute to work.

[Mary#17]

Well, we just bought the Q2's and finally had a chance to use over a 4 hour period. I am NOT satisfied with the quality and will be returning them.

We bought two that were supposed to be paired from the factory. They were not. Finally got them synced and all seemed good. First time out, they unpaired not far into the ride. Went out again on Saturday and we were constantly working to get them paired again when it is supposed to pair up immediately upon powering up. Lots of wind noise came through. My husband had to turn his off because the noise was bothering him which defeats having them in the first place. And although the volume was fine, the clarity wasn't always there. We bought these mostly for the rider to rider intercom feature but my husband did set up the Bluetooth for iPhone. We got lost at one point and he tried to use it to get directions and it couldn't recognize what he was saying.

Maybe we got a defective unit but I'm voting fail on the Q2's.

I'm going to return these and try the Sena next. Hope it works better.

Mary

[Mary#17]

does anybody have any thoughts on Boom mic vs universal (flat) mic? The boom mics fit in our helmets but I'm thinking the universal would be a better fit but does one have a better quality than the other? Specifically as related to wind noise? Thanks.

Mary

[Bad324]

the universal is awesome! much easier to run the wires and use in a full face if you ask me

[rubbersidedown]

+1

I managed with a boom on my HJC for a couple years before switching to a corded. I will not go back to messing with a boom again. If you have a full face helmet it is the way to go and worth upgrading if you don't have a corded mic.

[rubbersidedown]

Well, we just bought the Q2's and finally had a chance to use over a 4 hour period. I am NOT satisfied with the quality and will be returning them.

We bought two that were supposed to be paired from the factory. They were not. Finally got them synced and all seemed good. First time out, they unpaired not far into the ride. Went out again on Saturday and we were constantly working to get them paired again when it is supposed to pair up immediately upon powering up. Lots of wind noise came through. My husband had to turn his off because the noise was bothering him which defeats having them in the first place. And although the volume was fine, the clarity wasn't always there. We bought these mostly for the rider to rider intercom feature but my husband did set up the Bluetooth for iPhone. We got lost at one point and he tried to use it to get directions and it couldn't recognize what he was saying.

Maybe we got a defective unit but I'm voting fail on the Q2's.

I'm going to return these and try the Sena next. Hope it works better.

Mary

thats good to know.

[NinjaDoc]

Been using scala 4 satisfied, serves the purpose well, it can do way more stuff than I use it for, like vox calling, using siri to text etc. 4 of us have it now will be using for group rides. And it does make the group ride much safer.

Bit of a learning curve that's the one negative and less responsive controls

[jch82]

Do you know if there is a technology change between the SMH5 and the SMH10 or is the tuner the only difference?

Not sure on any differences between the two. Other than the tuner, they seem to be the same. I have had mine for a couple years now and they pair seamlessly with each other. My buddy and I have done several long trips and tested out the distance on the highway and it is plenty far. I have paired it with my buddy's Sena unit and my cell phone. I used my phone for music and used the Sena unit to control it. When you push the giant knob, it connects to the other Sena unit and cuts out the music. When you are done talking, you push the giant knob again and it returns you to your music. You rotate the knob for volume and push in/rotate at the same time to change tracks. Very user friendly unit.

Where was your SMH10 manufactured?

It says Korea on the label.

does anybody have any thoughts on Boom mic vs universal (flat) mic? The boom mics fit in our helmets but I'm thinking the universal would be a better fit but does one have a better quality than the other? Specifically as related to wind noise? Thanks.

Mary

The boom mic is attached directly to the unit installed on my full face helmet and I have had no trouble with it. The boom mic for the Sena has a little triangle on it to identify which way it needs to face. If you turn it around or point it up or down, you can't hear the other person talking. This works out great to minimize/nearly eliminate the wind noise.

I don't think I can say enough great things about the Sena...

You can also have up to (4) units paired at the same time, if you so choose.

[Mary#17]

We just got our Sena SMH10's after returning the Scala's. Sound quality is excellent. In fact, it could get too loud. Clear without static or breaks. They seem to pair easily and the two buttons are much easier to navigate. The bluetooth with the Iphone 4s worked well on my husband's but we couldn't get mine to work. Didn't feel like messing with it anymore as we were going for a ride. For some reason, my husband could hear my bike exhaust and wind noise but I couldn't really hear any outside noise from him so I might need to adjust my mic?? 

 

We tried splitting up to see how much distance we could get from them and it was pretty short lived but I think the straight line distance might be more. We were going in different directions entirely. The unit beeps while trying to search out the other pair but immediately paired back up when we got closer to each other at our meeting point.

 

So far, I like the Sena more than the Scala Pro Multiset that I had tried earlier but this was a short ride so I'll update when we take a longer trip.

 

Mary

[Connie14]

I love my Sena SMH10 and it has proven its worth as a comm system on several long trips. Battery life is great and the speakers don't sound half bad. I can't comment on the tuner as the 10 doesn't have it, but I usually bluetooth it to my phone and listen to downloaded music or connect to Sirius. Also have connected it to my Zumo and listen to music and have turn by turn nav.

You can control the volume and change songs using the Sena when it is connected by bluetooth. My phone stays in my pocket and I control everything with the Sena unit.

+1.

I enjoy my smh10. The latest firmware updates allow the use of ear plugs and still hear the music clearly. I have had phone calls while riding down the freeway, and the other person couldn't tell that I was riding a motorcycle.

[Pokey]

+1.

I enjoy my smh10. The latest firmware updates allow the use of ear plugs and still hear the music clearly. I have had phone calls while riding down the freeway, and the other person couldn't tell that I was riding a motorcycle.

 

Love mine too, and I have the universal kit. I like not having the boom microphone, and I added the pads to make the speakers closer to my ears. The biggest difference between the SMH5 and the SMH10 is the battery time and distance you can go between the units. So far I really love mine.

[Bad324]

Haven't used the rider to rider comm yet but love everything about my smh10

The only gripe I have is sometimes Siri seems to not connect right as she's super quiet compared to the music so it can be annoying when trying voice commands or having her read you a text

[Pokey]

Haven't used the rider to rider comm yet but love everything about my smh10

The only gripe I have is sometimes Siri seems to not connect right as she's super quiet compared to the music so it can be annoying when trying voice commands or having her read you a text

 

When we finally go riding together we can talk!!!!

[rubbersidedown]

I ended up getting the Scala Rider G9.  So far it is awesome!  The FM tuner is really good.  VOX phone calls and receiving calls is easy. And listening to Mp3's via the phone.  Just about everything can be controlled with voice commands.  Why did I wait so long?

[Bad324]

Finally used rider to rider comm and it was awesome! The range on them however isn't all that great

[GuardRail-Mike]

I have scala G9... Love it works awesome .... distance is amazing everything you could want..... would buy again

[ohiomike]

I've got the Scala G4 and until recently it was great.  Then the wifes scala stopped working.  Called Cardo and went through their checks and they finally just had me send it back for a new one.  Can't beat that.

[2talltim]

Just had Nate quote me in the sena and he gave a great price but Amazon was slightly lower.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0087NAZM0/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1372507638&sr=8-1π=SL75

Edited June 29, 2013 by 2talltim

[Mary#17]

We just used our Sena's for a 6+ hour ride and they worked great. We are both really pleased with the rider to rider and the range. Love having communicators!!!!!

 

Mary

[2talltim]

Amazons price went up so I just ordered them from RD:D

[2talltim]

I've used mine for 2 days now with no problems, my wife use hers for the first day and it died. Rode down to Cabelas it was working fine, came out of the store and it turned on just fine, a couple mile down the rode I lost contact with her. So I puled over and looked at it and it was dead, I played with it for a few min and got it turned back on. A couple miles later, dead again and now I cant get it to do anything. Only thing I can get light up is when the battery is charging. I even tried the rest pin button on the back.

[Pokey]

We just used our Sena's for a 6+ hour ride and they worked great. We are both really pleased with the rider to rider and the range. Love having communicators!!!!!

 

Mary

 

Was great on my last trip, my buddy and I rode for at least 8 hours everyday. We both listened to music the entire time and also talked a shitload too, neither of us ever ran the battery dead.

[Connie14]

I have the smh-10, and I always stream music from my cell phone. The smh-10 battery lasted from the Outer Banks, NC to Logan, Oh. In Logan, the battery died. So maybe 10 hours or so. It lasted similarly on the way to the Outer Banks. I made it from C-Bus to Franklin, NC on a single charge. FWIW.