Guest Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 thought I would post up a little mod I did to my autocomm headset... Didn't wanna pay $60 plug for ear bud adapters so I made my own... 1. cut of crappy helmet speakers 2. solder a 180 ohm resistor inline with the left and right channel 3 solder on a female 3.5mm jack... 4. heat shrink it up 5. plug in earbuds and enjoy... except for the cables autocomm ROCKS!!! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrek Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 thought I would post up a little mod I did to my autocomm headset... Didn't wanna pay $60 plug for ear bud adapters so I made my own... 1. cut of crappy helmet speakers 2. solder a 180 ohm resistor inline with the left and right channel 3 solder on a female 3.5mm jack... 4. heat shrink it up 5. plug in earbuds and enjoy... except for the cables autocomm ROCKS!!! Dan Would you mind posting up a few pics of what you've done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuntManDan Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 I have a Chatterbox XBi bluetooth and use it mainly to stream music and GPS from my Archos5 but you can hook it up to a cell phone too, the sound quality is good and so is the mic. the only thing they could improve is the size of the mic is too big IMO and the range is limited (20 feet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jasonsmith Posted March 12, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted March 12, 2010 I've been using the Chatterbox XBi2 for a bit now. I'll be using it on the Kootenay trip so will be able to comment on it's intercom system after that. The speakers and BT quality is good. The speakers sound excellent when the music source is connected via cable, okay if through BT. The mic is very sensitive and for me it needs to be positioned slightly lower than the front of my mouth otherwise it catches me breathing. I can say that it's "mode" system is fantastic, it switches between modes exactly when it should without issues and will do it on it's own. The buttons are easy to feel with bigger gloves on as well which is nice, you still need to practice with there positions though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuntManDan Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 I've been using the Chatterbox XBi2 for a bit now. I'll be using it on the Kootenay trip so will be able to comment on it's intercom system after that. The speakers and BT quality is good. The speakers sound excellent when the music source is connected via cable, okay if through BT. The mic is very sensitive and for me it needs to be positioned slightly lower than the front of my mouth otherwise it catches me breathing. I can say that it's "mode" system is fantastic, it switches between modes exactly when it should without issues and will do it on it's own. The buttons are easy to feel with bigger gloves on as well which is nice, you still need to practice with there positions though. they came out with that version about a week after I bought the XBi, and I've envied the XBi2 ever since. I might just break down and get some this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 If I was buying a full system today - I'd buy a Bikercom. The biggest negative is you can't use earbuds with it, which to me would be ideal since they combine ear protection and sound into one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrwaustralia Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 BlueAnt works reasonably well. Battery life not as long as they say. Noise reduction good. http://www.myblueant.com/interphone-motorbike-helmet-kit.htm Battery not replacable by yourself or factory .... expect 2-3 years life out of the battery ... expensive throw-away item but has great features and performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRSuperfreak Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 I've been checking options for adapting my FRS radios for bike-bike communication, but I'd really like the option of using bluetooth for all 3; music, phone, and intercom. Also since I'm always using sunglasses, these seem like a good option for at least 2 of the above. /edit I have a set of these noise cancelling earbuds, have anyone used such feature as NC-? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer micahm Posted June 22, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2010 I just picked up a Scala Rider G4 Powerset for my wife and I and tested it this weekend. Still need to tweak it but so far so good. I will include pics soon. I would love to be able to add a cb to the system but not sure how. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imintman Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 After running a J&M NAV-MP/3 for several years I decided to cut the cord and go the BT route figuring that these things have evolved to the point of being useful now. Besides, the J&M was a solo unit with no bike to bike comms capability. I purchased a pair of Interphone F4s for $294 from this place. Free shipping and I had them in my hand three days after placing the order. Below is a quick review I posted at advrider. The only thing I would add is that with all of these units, speaker placement is critical. It can be a time consuming process but must be done or you're wasting your time. All my bikes are wind in your face dual sports or sport tourers and I have no volume issues whatsoever traveling at high speed and wearing foam ear plugs. In fact, sound quality is enhanced by using ear plugs. Here's the write-up: Okay, I just installed a pair of Interphone F4s, one in a Shoei Syncrotec and the other in a Nolan N102. Up to this point I’ve been using a J&M NAV-MP/3 system connected to Garmin Zumo 550. Audio was routed to my helmet via one of their best wired headsets. The primary motorcycle is a 2007 F650GS single with stock fly screen. My wife and I finally decided that these Bluetooth gizmos had evolved to the point of being useful for bike to bike comms so we purchased a set. Our primary use will be intercom, GPS and cellular. I just installed the unit and have ridden with it only twice so don’t expect a lot of information. I’m contributing here because I got a lot of useful data from this thread and figured my info might help somebody else. First off, the webbikeworld dude said you could not install the F4 in a Shoei Syncrotec. Mine is installed and working fine. I guess it helps to be of a certain age and well beyond the fear of tearing things apart. I did have to remove some foam in order to make a channel for the left speaker/mic assembly. I would much rather have these things separated and deal with them one at a time. Having the boom attached to the left speaker is the F4’s Achilles heel when installing in some helmets, particularly the Shoei Syncrotec. Speaker location and angle is critical. The boom causes the attached speaker to tilt in the same axis as boom travel. Other manufacturer’s units have the boom attached to the helmet bracket which surely must be a better solution. My wife’s Nolan 102 was no problem. The only comparison I can make right now is to my MIL spec-like J&M system. Compared to J&M, the F4 is a toy until you turn it on. Believe it or not, F4 volume is on par if not better than J&M’s massive speaker endowed unit. How is this possible? The Interphone has speed or ambient noise compensation as good as anything I’ve ever experienced. During the test ride travelling at 70 mph I initiated a couple of phone calls using the Zumo. The recipient had no idea I was on my motorcycle. I also called my answering machine so I could hear for myself. I had done this before with the J&M and was amazed with the results. The F4 is light years ahead of J&M when it comes to audio processing. During my test loop I also listened to a radio podcast. Volume and intelligibility were as good if not better than my wired system. If it wasn’t for my distaste of the left speaker boom microphone design, this thing would be da bomb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer teleskier Posted July 1, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted July 1, 2010 We use units from Collett Electronics out of Canada. They are far superior to anything we have ever tried and we have tried a few. We stream bluetooth phone, music, etc. into them and they are the only ones I can carry on a phone conversation at 100mph and the person on the other end can't even tell I'm on a bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Joshvfr Posted July 11, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted July 11, 2010 I don't care about bike to bike, or rider to passanger. I am looking for the simplest set up to hear all functions of my zumo 550 and use my phone. I currently have a special starcom cord that is direct from the zumo to a starcom headset. This works great for me to listen to everything, but my input to phone calls is very distorted and partially not understandable. I have talked to starcom and they suggested I add one of their brain boxes that would clean up the wind noise, but I don't need any other function so it seems expensive. Bluetooth headsets don't appeal to me if they are rechargeable as I might out ride their battery charge. I don't mind a corded connection and would be happy if there was a cord I could plug into my blackberry to connect to the zumo. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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