Comms advice

[Lee337]

For a fes tears now I've been using g a Freedconn BT comes unit in my lid. I don't particularly want to talk to anyone as I usually ride alone.  About the only time I ride with someone else, it's my brother & he's deaf, so no point talking to him.(Get to the point Lee!).

Anyway, I ma8nly use it for the Garmin, occasionally Google maps and even more rare, music. But my old Freedconn is just that, OLD. it's BT version 2, the speakers are pretty much shot & the last time I took a call I'm told, it sounded like I was using two tin cans & a piece of string.

I've been doing some research & with a budget of £200 I've narrowed it down to a Cardo freecom 4x.

Have I missed any obvious alternatives?

Not really interested in mesh comms or long range, but sound quality is important.

[ghulst]

I hear a lot of good things about the Cardo series, especially when combined with the JBL speakers. I (used to) ride with an old ALDI/Medion Bluetooth set in my helmet. However, when I am wearing ear plugs, there is no chance I hear anything at all. Be it a friend talking or a call, they are hardly audible. So, I have been doing some research myself and I tend to lean towards the Cardo Pack Talk Edge/Neo. Yes, I know, that is probably overkill in your situation, but the newer tech in there might make it slightly less outdated over time. Plus, for me the mesh is interesting for riding with a friend and communicating with my daughter/wife on the back. So, that is what I am saving up for...

[London_Phil]

Tech has improved immensely. I just got a pair of noise cancelling earbuds for use when on some very noisy tube lines, which aggravate my tinnitus, and the level of ability they have is stunning. I don't think they would be any good on the bike, due to mic location, but they are quite something at blocking noise, and sound quality is impressive.

[ghulst]

I love my AirPod Pro's for that purpose Phil. Plus they are small enough to easily fit in my pocket. However, they do not comfortably fit under a helmet...

For long flights or longer stints in very noisy environments I have a pair of Bose noise canceling over ear headphones. That works pretty well.

[London_Phil]

I love my AirPod Pro's for that purpose Phil. Plus they are small enough to easily fit in my pocket. However, they do not comfortably fit under a helmet...

For long flights or longer stints in very noisy environments I have a pair of Bose noise canceling over ear headphones. That works pretty well.

My Soundcore Liberty 4nc's were £50, and whilst not as good as the airpods, I am very impressed with the noise cancelling at the price point, as I am an occasional user...anyway back to the main topic....Cardio seems a good brand....

[Lee337]

Bit the bullet & bought a Cardo Freecom 4x yesterday whuile out & about. Spent yeaterday evening stripping the olod Freedcon unit out of my lid & replacing it with the shiny (well not really shiny) new Cardo Freecom. I was briefly tempted to buy the Mesh version but quite honestly I spend most of my riding solo & quite like the solitude, I couldn't justify the addes expense for ther very odd occasion when I'm riding with someone else, usually my brother & as I previously mentioned, he's deaf.

WOW  the difference in sound is truly chalk & cheese. I haven't actually ridden with it yet, just sat at the table with ear plugs in & helmet on. Got a really strange look from Mrs L mind. Connecting it up to my phone & satnav was a pain though. Every time I connected the phone, the satnav disconnected & vice versa, It's supplsed to have two Bluetooth channels. That is until I read the instructions, which tells you very clearly how to connect two different BT devices together.

So with phone & Satnav now correctly connected, I put some music onthe phone & was rewarded with a good, clear stereo rendition of Genesin' Home by the Sea, followed by Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

This Cardo unit is supposed to be voice controlled, with commands to switch the radio on & off (you need the app to store radio channels & only FM, no DAB), answer/ignore incomming calls, speed dial, switch between music & radio & access Google 

Guess that's the next thing I'll test, for now I'd be happy with a decent szound & being able to hear my Satnav instead of (quietly) 'Krrrrrshk at the roundabout' which is prettty much what the ond Freedcon unit did.

And just because I can, here's a pic from yesterday's ride. Relevant only if you know my surname 

[Lee337]

Now I have a nice new comms system in my lid which has the capability to play FM radio, it got me thinking 

If it's capable of picking up an FM radio signal, could I buy a portable DAB radio & transmit via an FM adapter (I already have one of those) to my Cardo?

I'm thinking for those longer rides which are lionger time wise than an entire album & where I don't have to put my music collection (on my phone) on random play.

The search begins for a suitable solution 

Update: Already found a floor in my initial plan, the portable DAB radios use the headphones as an aerial, so not going to be as easy as I thought.

[Lee337]

Took a short ride out yeaterday to test the Cardo Freecom & have to say it's a vast improvement. Music is nice & clear, Satnav instructions are audible and what I didn't know was that the faster you're going, the louder the volume from the Cardo.  Took me a while it's actually reacting to background (wind) noise in my helmet & not actually related to speed. 

The only real annoying thing is when listening to music, it kept cutting out for up to 5 seconds. Again it took a while to work out why. My Garmin satnav had too many notifications set. It 'bing'ed when approaching a reduced speed area, i.e. 60 to 30mph, or when approaching a school, or speed camera, or traffic lights, or junction which on the route I took, was a lot.

Now removed all the satnav notifications except directions when actually navigating somewhere. I also couldn't get the Cardo to respond to voice commands. I had my Ghost camera on as I was also testing a new in helmet mic. I lost count of howmany times I said something like 'Cardo, volume up/down' or 'Cardo, next track' or 'Cardo, play music'.

Turns out the commands start with 'Hey, Cardo...' & to make things doubly challenging, I was playing music from my phone via my satnav, not directly to the Cardo. This too has now been sorted. At least I hope it has, I'll have to wait until I go out next time to test it. 

[ghulst]

Installing the Cardo seems to be an adventure in itself.  
Another option to listen to the radio would be to install the radio station app on your phone. A lot of radio stations do have their own apps where you can listen to the live stream, which means that it will be on longer than your album.
Another option, if you use Spotify and probably every other streaming music service, is to select some kind of "artist radio" where they choose songs to play that are similar to music from the artist that you have chosen.

[Lee337]

I have Spotify, Amazon music & Planet Rock on my phone but was trying to avoid that as I have a limited data sim, but it's looking like a pay as you go data sim may be the easier option. To be fair, its likely I'd listen to Planet Rock anyway  maybe a podcast or two at most

[ghulst]

You can also build a playlist on Spotify and then download that to your phone to save your bundle. I've had unlimited data for years, so I haven't had to deal with that. And Spotify does podcasts as well, so that saves data as well.

[Madruss]

You can also build a playlist on Spotify and then download that to your phone to save your bundle.

I've been running a playlist on my phone for the last few months while at work in the "never never". Radio stations with any "range" have been dropped, "AM style" in favour of "low power FM", which quite frequently disappear due to a lack of mobile phone reception, typical in vast areas of Australia still
So when the phone service deteriorates to _____________________________ you just have to enjoy your travel without the distraction of music or a navigation system while concentrating on the potholes, corrugations along with suicidal wildlife.
Reminds me of a line from a song "this is austral-eeaah" SRHLookout.jpg[/attach]

[HockleyBoy]

Think you have made a good choice with the Freecom, I have the Freecom 2+ , on my second one as I broke the charging port on the first one(which was me not the unit  ), slighty less features than the 4 but it does a brilliant job for me, use it every day on the commute for music alongside teh satnav for traffic and camera notifications.

Sound is good and it connects well, rarely use it for calls but it works fine if I do.

[ghulst]

Well, as the Netherlands is the size of the distance between two houses in the Australian outback @Madruss, I usually have signal for everything.  

[Lee337]

And we here in England also have to contend with suicidal wildlife. They're called cyclists in the countryside & piss heads in the towns & cities