Intercom headsets
Discussion
I'm looking for a new headset as my interphone F5MC is dying after about 7 years of use.
I've narrowed it down to (probably) three units.
Sena 10s, the 5s would do but battery life is a bit short.
Cardo freecom 4, I might stretch to the packtalk bold (at a mere £50 over budget) if it's amazing.
Interphone tour, great battery life and looks pretty simple. Some reviews say it's a bit quiet.
Looking to spend around £150ish, it's mainly for listening to music and nav directions on the bike with occasional bike to bike intercom use.
I'm more interested in being able to hear my classic rock than clever systems I'll never use, the models I've narrowed it down to are mainly because they've got long battery lives and apparently decent speakers.
Any opinions on these or others to add into the mix?
I'm not up for using a phone and earbuds, much prefer helmet speakers so I can still use ear plugs too.
I've narrowed it down to (probably) three units.
Sena 10s, the 5s would do but battery life is a bit short.
Cardo freecom 4, I might stretch to the packtalk bold (at a mere £50 over budget) if it's amazing.
Interphone tour, great battery life and looks pretty simple. Some reviews say it's a bit quiet.
Looking to spend around £150ish, it's mainly for listening to music and nav directions on the bike with occasional bike to bike intercom use.
I'm more interested in being able to hear my classic rock than clever systems I'll never use, the models I've narrowed it down to are mainly because they've got long battery lives and apparently decent speakers.
Any opinions on these or others to add into the mix?
I'm not up for using a phone and earbuds, much prefer helmet speakers so I can still use ear plugs too.
I use a Cardo Packtalk Bold with JBL 40mm speakers in a Shoei NXR helmet and I appreciate it's more than £150, but it really is worth the extra money. I tried a number of intercoms years ago and none of them were loud enough or the battery died after a few hours, there was always something wrong.
But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
Jazoli said:
I've got a Freecom 4 with JBL speakers and it works really well, to be honest I never found it quite loud enough until I changed helmets, now it's more than adequate at motorway+ speeds.
Another here, brilliant bit of kit!Edited to add, I couldn't believe how good the battery life is on it, 10 hour day with the volume wound up and still going strong
Edited by Rushjob on Wednesday 9th March 17:11
Sena user for a few years and just recently upgraded to the 50S. The updated 50 range have upped the sound quality a lot and a big improvement over previous and older versions. I have ridden a lot with friends with Sena systems also and we havent really had an issue, bar a few initial peering fumbles.
SteveKTMer said:
I use a Cardo Packtalk Bold with JBL 40mm speakers in a Shoei NXR helmet and I appreciate it's more than £150, but it really is worth the extra money. I tried a number of intercoms years ago and none of them were loud enough or the battery died after a few hours, there was always something wrong.
But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
Same here. But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
SteveKTMer said:
I use a Cardo Packtalk Bold with JBL 40mm speakers in a Shoei NXR helmet and I appreciate it's more than £150, but it really is worth the extra money. I tried a number of intercoms years ago and none of them were loud enough or the battery died after a few hours, there was always something wrong.
But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
i have the packtalk slim and can't hear much at all with the speakers, using an arai profile v. But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
my new rx7 seems quieter so will be swapping it over soon. i struggle to get earbuds to stay in when i put my helmet on, even my custom fit ones, so hoping its an improvement
shirt said:
SteveKTMer said:
I use a Cardo Packtalk Bold with JBL 40mm speakers in a Shoei NXR helmet and I appreciate it's more than £150, but it really is worth the extra money. I tried a number of intercoms years ago and none of them were loud enough or the battery died after a few hours, there was always something wrong.
But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
i have the packtalk slim and can't hear much at all with the speakers, using an arai profile v. But the Packtalk bold works well with a group of friends, the battery usually lasts all day (9am to 5pm type day) or on my own I play loud music all day and it only starts to run out on a long day from maybe 9am to 6pm. It's loud and very clear.
Ride magazine has a review of budget intercoms this month.
my new rx7 seems quieter so will be swapping it over soon. i struggle to get earbuds to stay in when i put my helmet on, even my custom fit ones, so hoping its an improvement
It is vitally important that the speakers of any intercom align directly with your ears. Even just a few mm out of alignment will result in a dramatic reduction in sound level and quality. My speakers are velcro backed and getting the alignment just right took quite a lot of helemt on, listen carefully while pushing the helemt forward, backward, up and down to work out which direction the speaker needed to move then removing helmet and carefully relocating the speakers before repeating th process. Sat on the couch at home doing this gives also the rest of the family an evenings free entertainment!
SBDJ said:
I use a Packtalk Slim but with already fairly naff hearing meaning I couldn't hear much at any real speed, I use mine with a set of UE SoundEar Pro instead of the supplied JBL speakers. It's a bit of a faff, but worth it for me.
That's a great idea, I'd not thought of doing that. I use earplugs so the Cardo is on near full volume all the time, but your idea would mean lower volume level with better music quality probably and my GoPro mic wouldn't then pick up the music from the Cardo or me constantly saying hey cardo, music off ! 
SteveKTMer said:
black-k1 said:
PackTalk Bold with JBL speakers here with a Schuberth C4. The sound quality is good enough to hold converstations (other riders or phone) or listen to music/sat. nag. at motorway speeds.
Providing nobody sings... 
The main difference between the pactalk bold and freecom 4+ seems to be the mesh communication, since I don't know 15 people with cardo headsets and can't imagine wanting to have a full on group chat while riding a motorbike I'm more interested in the freecom.
Now to add difficulty there appears to be a new version out (Freecom 4X) with some more features for much the same price as the pactalk, which is probably also due an update!
Speed addicted said:
SteveKTMer said:
black-k1 said:
PackTalk Bold with JBL speakers here with a Schuberth C4. The sound quality is good enough to hold converstations (other riders or phone) or listen to music/sat. nag. at motorway speeds.
Providing nobody sings... The main difference between the pactalk bold and freecom 4+ seems to be the mesh communication, since I don't know 15 people with cardo headsets and can't imagine wanting to have a full on group chat while riding a motorbike I'm more interested in the freecom.
Now to add difficulty there appears to be a new version out (Freecom 4X) with some more features for much the same price as the pactalk, which is probably also due an update!
SteveKTMer said:
SBDJ said:
I use a Packtalk Slim but with already fairly naff hearing meaning I couldn't hear much at any real speed, I use mine with a set of UE SoundEar Pro instead of the supplied JBL speakers. It's a bit of a faff, but worth it for me.
That's a great idea, I'd not thought of doing that. I use earplugs so the Cardo is on near full volume all the time, but your idea would mean lower volume level with better music quality probably and my GoPro mic wouldn't then pick up the music from the Cardo or me constantly saying hey cardo, music off ! black-k1 said:
You don't need to know/ride with 15 people to benefit from the mesh rather than the direct connect. Even with as few as 3 riders using the direct connect set up, it is not uncommon for one rider to "drop off" the group. Infact, on of the things that the childish among the Old Gits used to enjoy doing on a run was seeing if they could push far enough ahead of the group to get the intercom to report "Rider B Disconnected".
Ah hadn't really thought of that. I take it you can still do a direct bluetooth connection with riders that have other makes?Speed addicted said:
black-k1 said:
You don't need to know/ride with 15 people to benefit from the mesh rather than the direct connect. Even with as few as 3 riders using the direct connect set up, it is not uncommon for one rider to "drop off" the group. Infact, on of the things that the childish among the Old Gits used to enjoy doing on a run was seeing if they could push far enough ahead of the group to get the intercom to report "Rider B Disconnected".
Ah hadn't really thought of that. I take it you can still do a direct bluetooth connection with riders that have other makes?Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff