Is your Sena Bluetooth headset too quiet?

I recently purchased a Sena SMH5-FM headset. Mostly I just want to listen to music and podcasts. From the first time I used it, it was too quiet. Sure, I could hear the music, but podcasts were too quiet to hear what people were saying. I wanted to turn it up just one or two notches.

A Google search showed that this is a common complaint.

I wear a full-face helmet and ear plugs. I've experimented in the past with using earphones inside my helmet, but I could never get a satisfactory solution. The earphones hurt my ears. The wires would tug and pull. They would come out of my ears inside the helmet, etc.

If I took out my earplugs, the sound was far more than adequate. So, clearly, my earplugs were working too well.

I'd been using foam earplugs with a NRR (noise reduction rating) of 30. I went to the Earplug Store and found a set which had an NRR of 23. http://www.earplugstore.com/noname4.html (I selected the blue earplugs.)

Now, my earplugs block out the wind noise that I don't want to hear, but I have little problem hearing the podcasts from my helmet speakers.

My solution may not work for everyone, as there are countless combinations of helmets, windscreens, hearing ability, and personal preference. But for me, that's what worked.

Jamie

I just got back from a week long trip. we had three bikes using the Sena system. i used ear plugs and could hear just fine. Granted I did not listen to any music or podcast but communications was plenty loud. I have had trouble before and resolved it with better placement of the speakers. you may want to play with that, it did make a significant difference.
I agree with you on the in ear speakers. After spending $250 on custom made units with speakers built in i ended up abandoning them. I was hoping for good sound and ear protection all in one. They hurt my ears bad if i wore them all day and the wire was a pain in the ass. Love the Sena with foam ear plugs.

Sena 5's here too. Work great as a com with the wifey but music isn't loud enough with or without ear plugs. Without there's too much wind noise, with it's not loud enough. Went back to ear buds with the ipod. With earplugs I can't hear the com over about 70mph.

Try buds with a very small head that doesn't stick out of your head, see how that goes. REI had some last time I was there for $35 and $50 that I would like to try. Very small. I have denon's that work quite well although I have had the issues you mention. Still, they put out plenty of sound and block wind roar at the same time. You just have to gingerly slide your helmet on while keeping them in place.

The law here says you can only have one ear bud. Nothing against plugs. Asshats. I have not been stopped with them both in. The music is great though.

I had the same issues when using the Sena for music through Bluetooth. Tried that only once during a long trip. Next time I tried an iPod shuffle with a wired connection to the line in of the Sena and that worked just fine.

I have a Sena SMH10 with the earbud/wire mic clamp. I'm using Yamaha EPH-100 earbuds. All of it attached to a XD-4 which fits pretty well and seemed made for the setup.

This setup is clear and loud enough for me to hear at 80 mph and comfortable enough for several hours. Earbuds are narrow, shallow, and light weight. With a seal good enough to protect hearing on their own. The different between outside noise with these and without is like night and day, if I leave them out I'm reminded about how loud motorcycling actually is.



When I had the stock helmet clamp speakers, they were "fine", but clarity left a lot to be desired. Add hearing protection and it was rather a muffled mess.

I use my Sena mostly for music and weather alerts on my commute and long trips. I've only had the occasional call which are fine. Never used as an intercom yet.

I have been using an SMH10 along with a Nolan N104 helmet for just over a year. I love it, and feel it is by far the best bluetooth setup for myself.
Most of the time it is more then loud enough. I am a big podcast listener as well, and most I do not have problems with, but some are just recorded to quiet for proper use on the bike. I also come across a few songs on my Iphone that are to quiet. While others are to loud and I have to dial it down.
So there are just to many variables for everything to be perfect. The noise level in your helmet plays perhaps the biggest factor. A good helmet will drastically reduce the wind and street noise. (I always read that the Shoei's are the quietest).
Second would be the volume of the recording. And then probably third would be position of the earphones. (I use the speakers in the ear pockets, no earplugs).
But all these things play a role. With everything right, I doubt the music output of the Sena is to low. And just in case, at there last software upgrade (over 6 months ago I believe) they increased the sound output. So you could also look at the software version you have.

My .02 cents.

Don

been wondering if they had ear plugs with less than isolation chamber level reduction. seems (and for most part makes sense) that everyone wants the quietest rated plugs they can find. but like you I use the Sena (10) and find them too restrictive. yes I can still hear the music, in fact since "normal" (non-musician) ear plugs muffle highs more so than lows, it helps alleviate some of the annoying (to me) tinny sound of the stock sena speakers. (installed RPHA Max)

I do have a set of koss headphones (that supposedly use the same drivers/speakers as the torx x-pro's) and intend on swapping the speakers to see if I can make it slightly louder, perhaps adding a small amp. (FiiO battery powered amp)

also looked at Etymotic Research ear plugs and ear phones... but the little port tubes sticking out don't look too conducive to helmet wear. still might try the phones at some point.

but about those ear plugs... thanks for doing the research! appreciated you pointing those out.

I know someone already mentioned speaker placement, and if you haven't done so already just take some time to make sure the speakers are directly over your ears. I have a different system, but ran into the same thing. Once I got them over my ears it was all good...

Perhaps a different decibel earplug rating might help as well?

Yay! Someone who actually read my post.

Jamie

I read your post

Thanks for the heads up - I have thought about getting some plugs with a slightly lower rating as my Sena is also a little quiet at times - podcasts in particular seem to have audio levels all over the place.

I have never tried these but at a couple of bike shows I have seem custom ear plugs that they mold to you ear. They can be bought to allow the tones you want to hear but block the harmful ones. http://allearsinfo.com/Motorcyclists_Ear_Gear.html

Pfreak

LOL! Oops! Yeah that's my bad. Just re-read.

I did read your post, but using lower rated earplugs was out of the question. Getting a higher volume input signal was much easier for me AND it has the benefit of cutting down more wind/motorcycle noise while letting more music through as the music is louder relative to the rest.

SMH10R here. I wear the green 33 NRR foam earplugs and can hear just fine which is amazing since I am already quite deaf!


1999 BMW Funduro

Two months with a SMH5-FM combined with NRR33 earplugs, and I hear music recordings, radio, phone just fine.
My full-face helmet is pretty good noise-wise, and I had to reposition the speakers a few times to achieve their best aim. These are the "upgraded" larger speakers.
A happy customer here.

The problem is with A2DP profile (music/podcasts). Volume is fine with phone or intercom (helmet speakers, foamies in). Sena is willfully blind to this issue, which is very frustrating. I spent $200 on a set of custom molded earphones and another $35 on the helmet clamp that I can plug them into. The rig is nice, but of course I have to deal with wires. At this point, even though the Sena otherwise meets all my needs, I cannot recommend it.

so... picked up some of those blue earplugs. and a few others I haven't bothered riding with yet, but have NRR's of 22 each. seem to work a bit nicer than the usual "full on" (or is that off?) earplugs that try to eliminate most ALL sound penetration.

afterall... you can use those when shooting a .454 casull or using a jackhammer. no real need for that extreme when already riding with a fairly quiet helmet. a NRR of 22 or 23 should suffice.

anyway, appreciated somebody doing my homework.

as an fyi, you might consider swapping in some different drivers in lieu of the ones that came with the Sena Headset. "supposedly" the ones from Koss KTXPRO1 Titanium Portable Headphones with Volume Control are the same as some higher priced "helmet speakers" and are easily soldered in place. the difference in audio is substantial. a bit bass heavy, but the highs can still come through even when wearing earplugs. (which still sound muddled, but better with the NRR 23's you mentioned)






worth the price and bother. easy to accomplish.

any howto details on making my sena 30k? I "upgraded" from the uclear amp plus - but then realized that the amp plus is louder (but less sophisticated in other ways). I have the same issue - I wear foam earplugs. The Uclear Amp Plus is great with music at highway speeds, but I can't listen to a book on tape faster than 50mph. Any help would be appreciated!

So I was very skeptical about buying this helmet due to the fact that people were having sound issues but I did anyways because of the price and functionality of this helmet. And it's a SENA. So after watching a bunch of videos about sound not sounding right the number 1 issue was placement of speakers so I gave it a go. I mean what a difference. I created steps to show you how to fix it. ......... 1. Remove padding around ears to get to the speaker behind and pull the speaker out of hole. 2. Get some velcro and cut some circles to fit hole or buy some already curt circles. 3. Refill the hole with velcro circles and some back to back or front to front to fill the hole flush. However they need to stick to each other right. 4. Make sure the last part of velcro up is the hairy side so it sticks to the speaker. I moved it to about here in photo to work best for me. Most like works for you too. 5. Putting padding back in and speaker should be raised and almost center in the place to the left of where the strap goes through. Sounds 300% better and I can actually hear bass now. Almost too loud on occasion. You're welcome.