Sena headset not loud enough

TomInOregon

I'm not sure what to think. I ordered the Sena dual headset based on just about everyone saying that it is loud enough to hear at highway speeds, even with earplugs in. Mine is loud enough to hear at up to ~45 mph or so with no earplugs, but at anything above that, I can't hear it unless I duck behind my windshield. Volume on both headset and phone is maxed out and I am on a '91 ST1100 with stock exhaust. I have the headset installed on a Caberg Justissimo helmet which has never given me much wind noise. I tried moving the speakers around for a half an hour today with no change in volume at all (quieter or louder). I don't know if I got a defective headset or if you all have super hearing. I know my hearing is a bit better than normal, so it's not me. Any tips or things that I might be missing?

Thanks,
Tom
 
I wear ear plugs with mine (soft foamies, not the dense ones for shooting) and I've been able to hear the wife pretty good and at times I've had to turn it down. I was gonna say to try to move em around, which really helped mine to place it directly in front of your ear canal, but you've already tried that. For me, I had to lower mine which was not where I thought my ears were. Other than that if you've got normal hearing you should be able to hear it. As far as helmets go, we've have 3/4's with the face shields. For me, I've tried listening to music through them and wasn't impressed. But, using them for communication I thought was pretty good in sound quality.

And you may have a defective ear piece. I had one ear piece that had some popping in it and they (British something or another, can't remember their full name) replaced the whole headseat under warranty.
 
I have a older version (2010) of the SENA. I've used it w/ a moto-droid & now a iPhone 4S. No issues what so ever. The droid seems to put out more decibels VS my iPhone. Either way I set my phones output to 2/3-3/4 of full, then dial back the SENA to comfort.
Do you have a good BT pairing? Maybe try unpairing, then repair?
Just a hunch, sounds like a phone issue??
 
I'm using an Iphone 3GS, but I'll try it with my Galaxy Skyrocket to see if it's any better. I would be surprised, though, since the Iphone seems to be the standard that most electronics try to be compatible with.

Thanks,
Tom
 
I tried both phones and mixed and matched phones with the headsets. I discovered that both headsets are sensitive to wire positioning and how the bluetooth module is snapped into the base. It is really easy to have one or the other speakers cutting out. Both phones have about the same volume, but one of the headsets seems to be a bit louder than the other so I switched them and put the louder one in the helmet. I then spent about an hour or so messing with the speakers some more and got them moved to where the chin strap comes through the padding and this seems to be the optimal position. I can't say if it will be loud enough, but it is considerably louder than it was before. The speakers are now mounted in front of the liner cloth, so I hope they will stay in place. If so, I might have it figured out.
Thanks,
Tom
 
Make sure all the pins the on the BT headset are out. I had one that was pushed in and not contacting.

It should be plenty loud enough. If you question how loud it is put the helmet on w/o earplugs and it will blow your ears out!
 
I dont think it will help the intercom, but for plug in devices use the Boosteroo from radio shack. At least doubles the volume on my MP3 player. I have the Scala Q2 proset.
 
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Throttlejockey said:
Make sure all the pins the on the BT headset are out. I had one that was pushed in and not contacting.
Click to expand...

Good point. I had a issue last summer more of crackling sound after riding in a downpour. I pressed the copper pins in & out several times. Then sprayed the pins with electrical cleaner spray. Problem solved. I suppose a pin(s) that transmit volume may have poor contact or have oxidized a bit
 
I was not happy with volume and now I just use buds. I altered my base but a replacement base is cheap that will accept the bud jack.
 
yelsob said:
Good point. I had a issue last summer more of crackling sound after riding in a downpour. I pressed the copper pins in & out several times. Then sprayed the pins with electrical cleaner spray. Problem solved. I suppose a pin(s) that transmit volume may have poor contact or have oxidized a bit
Click to expand...

That's a great idea! On both of my units, I can get the speakers to cut in and out by pressing the unit against the base harder or lighter. It's a great intercom unit, but I'm not impressed with the connection to the base.
 
Tom,

The alignment with the ear canal is critical. Try loosely attaching in helmet and then move them fore and aft, see if volume varies. Al's got his and was complaining of low volume and when we re-adjusted them , it is now too loud. The alternative is the ear-bud version which WILL be very loud.

Chris
 
Bigmak96 said:
I was not happy with volume and now I just use buds. I altered my base but a replacement base is cheap that will accept the bud jack.
Click to expand...

How did you get the buds to work. There's only an input jack on mine, but no output jack for earbuds?
 
You know that each Bluetooth profile has it's own volume control, e.g. intercom and phone are separate from streamed audio. Do you hear different volumes in different profiles or are they all too quiet? Is the volume on the phone set to max?
 
jfoster said:
How did you get the buds to work. There's only an input jack on mine, but no output jack for earbuds?
Click to expand...

As Smash said you can buy a base that has the input. I was ignorant and being dissatisfies with the speakers anyway, I cut the speakers off and soldered a female jack on.
 
On my ride in this morning, it was loud enough to hear with earplugs in, but not impressively so. I now have the speakers positioned over the break in the helmet liner where the chin strap comes through, so only the edges of the speaker are attached to the liner. This is the best position to place them over my ear canals (and much, much better than I started with). The speaker on the left seems to press against my ear, while the one on the right doesn't. I will have to play with them some more, but for now it seems to be working well enough to do the job. Thanks, everyone for the help.

Thanks,
Tom
 
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