Sena 20S Music Sound Quality?

Over the years I have used various hardwired systems for integrating a music source. I am considering 'cutting the cables' and taking the plunge on a Sena 20s BT system but Im curious about the sound quality for music over BT as compared to a hardwired system.

For those of you that have transitioned from a hardwired system to the Sena 20s, Im curious what your opinion is of the sound quality of music over BT with the 20s and the Sena headset and if you have been satisfied with it as compared to a hardwired system.

Also, is it possible to use an aftermarket headset, such as an Edsets 3G headset, with the 20s?

I just switch from the SMH10 to the 20S I haven't really used the 20 S yet. But the SMH 10 was fine for me. The head set was not as good as using ear buds but adequate for me. With the 20 S I will be able to alternate between ear buds/custom earplugs with built in speakers and the head sets that came with the 20S. I wanted to try the Ed sets speakers with the SMH10 but Ed said it wouldn't work so I never did I imagine its the same with the 20S he told me there wasn't enough power to run his units.

I was using the J&M CB before the switch the Sena... You get more power and louder sound using a hardwired version.

I wear ear plugs and have to set the sena at 100% most of the time. I may back off 5% due to distortion or sometimes phone calls are louder than music.

So, it won't be as loud so the perception is the quality isn't there... without ear plugs in, it's a bit tinny sound wise and just right w/ear plugs - for me anyway.

One thing I hated w/J&M system was every other year it seemed like one of the cords had issues and they weren't cheap, none of that setup is cheap at all...

That being said, I can hear music and calls via the sena 20s and it's 'good enough' for me... also, it's nice to know I can have 2 bikes and just get on one or the other and not have to reinstall all the hardwired stuff or buy 2 sets... that depends on what you're connecting to... if you connect to your phone only and get calls/music from that it means you really have a nice portable sound system.

Same as Joe said, wear ear plugs I end up turning up volume almost all the way. I do like no cords and battery life is very good. When I did my 50cc I listened to music and talked on phone for atleast 12 hours before charging that was with SMH10, I do like the 20S for it's multipoint bluetooth. You can intercom or GPS and music lower in volume and plays in background when done conversation the volume raises up automatically. I did buy I pretty decent set of ear buds and sound quality is very good and don't turn up as loud now, I usually just use them on longer trips where I don't have to take helmet off as much. Would never go back to cords now.

Ken, the 20S has an audio out jack that I use for ear buds (in-the-ear-canal speakers), Klipsch in my case. I used the Sena helmet speakers for a while but I wear ear plugs and was not happy with the resulting sound quality. Since I would wear ear plugs anyway, it's not really any different putting in ear buds before putting on my helmet. My Klipsch ear buds came with a variety of tips (silicone, foam, sound attenuating soft foam...) and I found I preferred the size Small sound attenuating soft foam tips. Eventually (like after a year) these needed replacement and I bought a set of 3 pairs of Comply ear buds on Amazon.

For me, ear buds provide much better sound quality than the helmet speakers and function like ear plugs for cutting wind noise, etc. Battery life on the 20S is significantly longer with ear buds since they are so much smaller than the helmet speakers. I have no problem putting on and taking off a helmet with these ear buds inserted, but recently someone on the New England Riders forum indicated he could not put on his helmet without his ear buds coming out. Probably a combination of the shape of your head, ears and helmet will determine if this solution works for you, but definitely a winner in regards to sound quality over helmet speakers. I left the Sena helmet speakers installed as backup.

I tried some earbuds once... they came out a little and I couldn't get my helmet off... LOL.. I was starting to panic... that's really an issue w/ear buds and not the senas but just passing on that visual in case anyone wanted to laugh today.

My brother and I both bought a Sena 20S at WeSTOC 2016. We had Autocom systems and his speakers were going out, so that help him decide (and me) We were surprised at how well we could talk on the 20S compared to the Autocom, even when the speakers were in good shape. We were forever telling each other to repeat what they said and sometimes you still couldn't make it out very well. That changed when we got the Senas. We only had to repeat ourselves once in a great while!

I now have two of them (20Ss) and I use one for a few days until it needs recharging and then swap to the other one (I'm not always where I can charge it and I really don't want the charging wire dangling from my tankbag.)

As far as the music goes, it really depends on the quality of the song whether I hear it well or not (some songs aren't very good quality and some aren't as loud as others). Also, it seems that my original 20S music has a tendency to sound like it's slightly off station, which drives me nuts! So I usually use my newer one. (I have them numbered 1 & 2, so I can tell them apart). Now I'm not sure if this is how they are set up or not. My #1 unit says "Phone connected", while #2 says "Device connected".

Also, I just haven't spent enough time playing with them to learn all the little secrets they have!

I went from an iPod and wired earbuds to a SMH5 and declared I'd never go back to wired music even though the audio quality wasn't as good.

I'll be the first to say I'm not an audiophile so the finest details of audio are not important to me. Working around jet engines in my youth took it's toll as well as loud music.

The freedom of getting on and off the bike sans wires, helmet fitmet, no wires getting snagged on something 1 mile into a 200 mile leg and pulling 1 bud slightly or completely out of place, etc. all make wireless worth it to me.

The SENA 5 was good but the 20S is much better in every way but size. The audio quality and seamless over-lay feature when intercom or phone calls come in are much better.

I wear NRR 30 or 32 foam ear plugs and can usually adjust the SENA volume high enough (max) to hear it over wind noise on the ST. The NC has less wind noise so I usually can turn the volume down 10 or 20% from max which helps with distortion.

I have that same problem with the ear buds....have to be careful putting on helmet that the ear buds don't come out. That's why I usually I don't use them all the time.

If you like ear plugs you can go the custom route and get them with built in speakers they work well and the sound quality is very good but they can be pricey. I am fine with the speakers and foam ear plugs.

I have the Sena 10R, but it has the same speakers as the 20S. They are OK, but can't handle much volume before distorting. I just purchased a set of upgrade speakers (Link) that another forum was touting... we'll see.

If these don't work much better, I'll have to try the earbud route. But I'll have to do some creative soldering or buy the adapter cord, since the 10R does not have a specific output jack for earbuds.

DaveM said:

I have that same problem with the ear buds....have to be careful putting on helmet that the ear buds don't come out. That's why I usually I don't use them all the time.

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I have some nice s-plug ear buds but the base of the 3.5mm plug doesn't fit flat into the 20s connection so it doesn't work too well... I'm going to see about finding a narrower addapter..

I have the SMH5fm for the wife and I mainly for intercom. These are the lower end of the Sena lines, but serve well and good volume. As said before the features and ear plug jack of the 20s is very good. Formerly rode a Goldwing that wife and I were tethered to and loving the wireless communication. Sure some trade offs to wireless, but at 70+ who cares if you here all the notes of the Eagles - Take it to the Limits.

JMartin said:

I have the Sena 10R, but it has the same speakers as the 20S. They are OK, but can't handle much volume before distorting. I just purchased a set of upgrade speakers (Link) that another forum was touting... we'll see.

If these don't work much better, I'll have to try the earbud route. But I'll have to do some creative soldering or buy the adapter cord, since the 10R does not have a specific output jack for earbuds.

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Interesting! I'd like to know how well they do!

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback! It is very informative and makes the picture come into focus for me regarding the music sound quality of the 20s. As Joe stated in post #3 the Sena is "good enough" and I think maybe that is what I was really trying to ascertain and the feedback from the rest of you reinforces that. And thanks also for the info on using earbuds. Certainly something to consider since I ride with earplugs all the time anyway.

I use a pair of Shure earbuds with my Sena 20S paired directly to my iPhone. Sound and music quality is perfect. The Shure earplugs are low profile so fit well inside my helmet.

With the updates to the Sena 20S the volume adjusts automatically with the ambient noise. You can also adjust the volume for music, GPS and phone independently.

I also have the speakers installed in my helmet and will occasionally use these with earplugs.

I have a SMH5 (on my old helmet) and a pair of 20S for the GW.
The Bluetooth is not as good of sound quality as the JM setup and GW wired connection, but it is good enough, usually.
Dana complains sometimes music is not clear enough for her. She gets more wind noise riding on the back than me.
Also, I'm using a iPod in the topcase (with factory wire) then a SM10 in the left fairing pocket attached to factory GW wire. The SM10 is also connected to Escort 8500 that alerts in my L. ear speaker only.
Bluetooth (to me) is not as easy as plug and play, but much nicer without a cable attached to your head.
Ride Safe

For time being my GoTo BT rig is a Sony wired/BT combo. The BT box has the mic and an FM radio plus a 3.5mm jack for the earbuds.

I can't make/receive calls because the box doesn't fit in the helmet but that's fine by me. With the small earbuds and wearing a helmet liner removing it and keeping the earbuds in place isn't a problem. I can get on/off the bike without unplugging or having to remember to unplug. If I do some damage to the earbuds I can always plug in another pair. Not a great way to roll but an acceptable stopgap.

A Sena S20 is on the list but not all that close to the top. My goal is to use earplugs and speakers. After trying several brands and models of earbuds along with different sizes and types of tips the end result is always the same— the body of the plugs conducts ambient noise too well no matter how good the tips might isolate. Plugs with no music aren't as quiet as earplugs. Turning up the sound on bare ears to drown out wind helmet and ambient noise isn't good for the tinnitus. Or the ears that don't have it.

Given all the negative factors— BT age Fillmore and Winterland concerts and not knowing that wearing earplugs was (and is) a thing— my concern is audio intelligibility over audio musicality. There's very little music I listen to that I haven't heard before. I'll recognize it and sing along and on a bike no one can hear you're off-key. That's good enough.

I have the same issue with trying to get my helmet on and off over earbuds and i would really like to try it. I think the sound would be better and outside noise would be cut down considerably. I came across these and am seriously considering this as they look to be very low profile http://www.earfuze.com/index.html. Just curious as to whether anyone has tried these

Bmacleod said:

I have the same issue with trying to get my helmet on and off over earbuds and i would really like to try it. I think the sound would be better and outside noise would be cut down considerably. I came across these and am seriously considering this as they look to be very low profile http://www.earfuze.com/index.html. Just curious as to whether anyone has tried these

Click to expand...

Looks promising. Checked them out on Amazon but the longevity reviews weren't good (3 positive, 15 critical): https://www.amazon.com/FUZE-Custom-Earphones-by-EarFuze/product-reviews/B002HYUNMC/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_show_all?pageNumber=1&reviewerType=all_reviews