Sena 10S, brief review and question

[Wizeguy]

I have no desire to give an in-depth review on a thing that's probably been reviewed to death. 

But on Sunday SWMBO and I headed out for an afternoon ride for a few hours, the first time since we received our Sena 10S dual pack last week.  We had been using 2 different Cardo units (mine a G9X, and hers was I think a QZ) that worked OK, but hers had no intercom feature.  So we needed to move up to something else, and the 10S seemed like the ticket.

Anyway, these things are great!  Simpler, quicker operation than the G9X.  Intercom worked well up to nearly a mile distance between us in a straight, flat area.  I always ride with high-dB foam earplugs, and I have absolutely no problem with the sound level from the speakers.  They are louder than my G9X speakers.  I'm using an Android phone to stream to the Sena.

The same positive result cannot be said for hers.  She hears me just fine using the intercom feature, no volume issues with that feature.  But streaming music from her iPhone 5 isn't loud enough.  I have checked in her 10S settings on her Sena utility app, and the volume boost is on, so I'm scratching my head.

Anyone else out there using a 10S or other Sena, and you also stream music from an iPhone?  And what has your experience been? 

 

[Sport rider]

is the media volume on the phone turned up?  I usually turn my phone volume to max and then use the Sena control to turn volume down to an acceptable level.  I use Android, but Denise uses Iphone.  both of ours work fine.

 

[Wizeguy]

is the media volume on the phone turned up?  I usually turn my phone volume to max and then use the Sena control to turn volume down to an acceptable level.  I use Android, but Denise uses Iphone.  both of ours work fine.

Yeah, I checked the simple stuff first. 

Not being that familiar with iPhones, I guess I wondered if there was some well-intentioned "nanny" switch buried in the settings that limits volume to bluetooth devices.  I may have to just have her download a volume boost app and see if that helps.

 

[Sport rider]

yeah, I checked with Denise to be sure.  volume all the way up on the phone.  she said hers works fine.  must be some type of setting someplace.  Maybe someone else has some better ideas...

 

[diz@ct]

Make sure Sena is snapped into the mounting bracket all the way, so both speakers are working. Check the connector that runs the speaker wire into bracket from the speakers. Good luck! She shouldn't have 2 different results from intercom to streaming music.

 

[tomde]

For any system, it best to have the speakers directly over the ears and the closer the speakers are to the ear the better.  My Sena 10s had thick foam pads, and in my helmet they helped to place the speakers close to my ears.

Tomde

 

[Victor Salisbury]

I had a retailer give me a good tip on the speaker placement, and I could tell an improvement with my SENA.
Start out with one speaker in the helmet to figure out the ideal spot, mirror that spot on the other side. A quarter to half inch movement was really noticeable.

HTH

 

[Wizeguy]

She shouldn't have 2 different results from intercom to streaming music.

Exactly why I was looking at the phone as the source of the inconsistency, rather than the Sena.

I had a retailer give me a good tip on the speaker placement, and I could tell an improvement with my SENA.

For any system, it best to have the speakers directly over the ears and the closer the speakers are to the ear the better.  My Sena 10s had thick foam pads, and in my helmet they helped to place the speakers close to my ears.

Really good points.  I think maybe we'll try to adjust placement at this point, see if that fine-tuning makes enough of a difference for her.

 

[robertv]

As noted by others, check the speaker placement as it should be close to her ears. I have a 20S and an iPhone 6 using the latest iOS. So probably make sure the following settings are set...

volume settings... https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4347/36359788736_6ea31bb2ff_z.jpg
sena settings... https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4441/36007970600_ebebab2912_z.jpg
music playing with volume turned high... https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4344/35596760743_f0011bb26e_z.jpg

Also have you tried pairing her iPhone to your helmet/Sena and see if you hear the same result and vice versa? Just trying to see if you can isolate the cause.

 

[stealth connie]

I'm not sure how the 10 compares to the 20s, since I've only had the 20s, but when I'm using my Samsung S8+ for music and phone, and my Android tablet for GPS, the Sena 20s allows for different volume levels for each type of input, in addition to the actual device.

So when in intercom mode, even thought the volume is all the way up, when back to music it may not be all the way up...  :??:

 

[Wizeguy]

I'm not sure how the 10 compares to the 20s, since I've only had the 20s, but when I'm using my Samsung S8+ for music and phone, and my Android tablet for GPS, the Sena 20s allows for different volume levels for each type of input, in addition to the actual device.

So when in intercom mode, even thought the volume is all the way up, when back to music it may not be all the way up...  :??:

That's a good point that some may miss.  However, that was the first thing I had her check.  I had already noticed by accident that the different input sources (FM, intercom, streaming BT) all had independent output levels from the device.

Have had ZERO riding time since I started this thread.  But I'll be making some adjustments in the speaker position in her helmet before we go out this weekend.