Scala G4, worth it?

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I would highly recommend the SENA SMH10 units. I did my homework before buying, and these seem to be superior to the Scala and Interphone units. I used a pair for three weeks on a cross-country trip. The sets worked flawlessly and exceeded my expectations in every respect. Although you can't buy them in Canada, if you order from Rocketmoto (google them!) in the states you will have excellent customer services and perfect execution of the order.

I could talk your ear off about the Sena units, they are one of the few purchases I've made recently that I can give an absolutely unreserved BUY recommendation for. Let me know if you want more info on them, I can answer your questions from a user's point of view. The guys over at www.advrider.com have been talking about these for months and have a very detailed, extensive thread on the subject (in addition to discussing the Scala and Interphone).

--- D
 
I ordered from a Canadian site out of BC.

While the Sena has many great features, they aren't perfect. BT headsets still have a ways to go.
 
OliverK said:
I ordered from a Canadian site out of BC.

While the Sena has many great features, they aren't perfect. BT headsets still have a ways to go.
Click to expand...

Nothing's perfect. All I said was that they exceeded my expectations and they didn't fail on the trip. I think these are as good as you'll get on the market today.

Make no mistake, there are better BT headsets... in the future.
 
The Scala rider G4 units battery life is huge, you can have it last for weeks, someone I ride with used it for weeks before the batterty went dead thats with him riding around few hours a day and lasted him 3 weeks. I was actually surpised, I find the G4 last for around 6-10 hours depending on the usage, when we ride we ride in comunications mode the whole ride and never turn them off if we take a break or something and they can last for easy 6 hours or more. The range is good, you can't hear any wind noise or anything like that with the G4's, I heard the Sena has some wind noise problems, same with g4 they have some static noise once and a while very rare, but when taking a call with the g4 no one can tell your on your bike thats how good it is.

Not sure how far the sena can go but I know the g4 can go for a far range before they start to break up.
 
Can't leave home without it,..... I think I Said that before.
 
Wondering how you guys thread the heads sets, do you go up through the lining for a cleaner look or under the bottom padding? Do you remove the inner lining and insert inside lining between foam and outer lining?

Any pics? I've got mine and use it with a Zummo 660 for cell, MP3 and GPS.
 
Poser said:
Can't leave home without it,..... I think I Said that before.
Click to expand...
you did.. so the question is, what do you usually use it for that makes it so worthwhile? music? cell? intercom?
and how do you find the charging issue. do you charge it every week? night? do you disconnect it from the helmet or leave it on all the time?
 
Just picked up my G4 powerset and all i can say is wow! Bluetooth connectivity between all devices is superb, the FM radio works well. The noise cancellation at speed (80-100 km) was for lack of a better term surprising. I think its the best bluetooth headset i have ever used. Intercom with up to 3 other units was really convenient and a lot of fun being able to communicate with one another. I would highly recommend this product.

I bought it from http://4wheelonline.com/Products.aspx?CategoryId=144763&ProductId=518041 $309 free shipping to anywhere in the US. Only problem is they only accept US based credit cards so I had a friend from the US purchase and send it to Buffalo.

Drove down yesterday and picked it up.
 
fyrebug said:
you did.. so the question is, what do you usually use it for that makes it so worthwhile? music? cell? intercom?
and how do you find the charging issue. do you charge it every week? night? do you disconnect it from the helmet or leave it on all the time?
Click to expand...

Music comes first, never wanna miss a call, and intercom can warn others(ahead or behind),... just got the 6gig data on my iPhone4, so I'll prob do more gps voice guidance, and Internet radio(tunein app), via my installed ram-mount too.

Charging is not an issue for me, as I can charge it on my bike(via installed USB power adapter),..... Although I use mine a lot, battery lasts a long time. Maybe 10-15 days then I charge it, I would turn it off any long stopover.

I'm on point whether to leave it on or not, when I'm out. It varies.
 
I have the Scala 2 version and except for the last trip I'm very pleased.
I suspect what I did was be careless with the little plug that hooded the power input - so after 2 years of very heavy use the unit now crackles. ( I ride 9 months of the year and it's my primary mode of transport - I communicate with staff and clients so it's vital to me )

Fired up the second of the set and it works flawlessly again - even with an open face and a wind buffetting communication is clear up to 100 kph - after that it gets iffy for the phone.

Rider to rider is superb as well. I have no reason to think the G4 is any different.
Called Scala and they will repair the unit.

They also offer spare mike/speaker attachments if you have two helmets for a very reasonable cost. :thumbsup: for me for the product and the company.
Incredible battery life. I got my set as a safety feature - tried to get my riding buddy's attention - he was trailing a strap that could have been dangerous.

Realized then we needed to be able to alert each other.
Makes trips easier and sharing sights and - "hey let's go here" far more pleasant and spontaneous.

Good products.

Blue Ant has been a success for us as well but I have no direct experience with their helmet gear....but they know their field.
 
The gf mentioned the only thing she didn't like about being on the back of the bike was not being able to converse, and I sure wouldn't mind some music for my common commutes back home that take about 7 hours or the ability to use my phone.
So it's something for my wish list, but I think I'll end up going with the Sena SMH10
 
Here's why I don't call them "perfect":

Background noise cancellation is poor or non-existent.

The Sena also has trouble managing dual BT connections. My iPod touch disconnects repeatedly. The only way around it is to plug it into the headset directly. While this has also solved the poor BT max volume to the headset; (I use earplugs and need to crank it to hear anything) I lose any sort of remote control features the Sena is supposed to provide for controlling the iPod.

The rotary control is a great idea, and makes it simple to use, but it protrudes excessively. There has been several occasions where my shoulder pads have inadvertently operated this button. My helmet won't fit in the side bags unless the module is removed.

Battery life has been admirable.

The stick-on attachment is flimsy and broke within a day's worth of use.

Switching between sources is painfully slow, upwards of 5 seconds. This can be really annoying if you are paired with a Garmin, which will send beeps whenever the touchscreen in operated.

The Sena does many things well, better than the Midland I used to own, but there is much room for improvement. The advrider thread mentions these things.
 
I run the iPod to "Ultimate Ears SuperFi 5vi Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone" and use the inline switch to control the iPod - skip and on/off.

There is quite enough space and sound volume for the Scala to work as well - for phone and buddy chat.
So I have the quiet environment the 5vi provide and the communication of the Scala.
Clients report very little background noise up to about 100k - best around 70-80k - so the noise cancelling works well.
I'm open face so closed face would be better.

Volume range is good and units are durable if you keep the power port closed.
Buddy chat is clear up to 1/2 km or more in line of sight and normal speaking voice.
BT pairing with phone can be a bit tricky - keep any other BT units away when pairing.
Pairing with buddy sets is veyr straight forward.

I suspect they are category leader for a reason.

rmedic Scala has a comm system for rider passenger that is inexpensive - have seen them used as low as $50.

http://www.cardosystems.com/scala-rider/scala-rider-teamset

pretty good feature set
 
Question. Having the Scala G4, if you were listening to music while riding with a couple buddies, and one of them tried to communicate to you while your music was on, would you have any indication that someone is trying to talk to you?
 
You set the priorities ( AFAIK ) on the G4
- for the Rider 2 - cell dominates and over rides the the buddy chatter...chatter resumes when the cell hangs up ( you don't have to do anything )
I believe the G4 allows you to set priorities for phone, music, buddy and GPS

I separate the music out as the 5vi are way higher quality and they also cut ambient noise 70%.
I manually turn off the music but I can hear over it if it's set low.

Not sure how much better the Scala G4 speakers are over the 2s....but I'd rather have my music direct in.
 
I can't stand ear buds in while I'm riding, I feel an internal pressure on my ear drums and it drives me nuts, but since I have the Iphone 4, I can just integrate everything with that pretty easily.
 
have you tried the high end ones? Different animal to ear buds...these guys are good at it and have size and material differences for the supplied ear canal adapters.

www.etymotic.com in particular given their background,
I can't tolerate the wind noise without some significant reduction and ear plugs generally offer too much attentuation.
and these guys specialize in work with musicians...in both cases the premium cost is worth it in sound quality and comfort
http://ultimate-ears.net/superfi/ultimate-ears-superfi-5vi-review/

The only way to get attenuation and fidelity is find a set you can tolerate.
Ear plugs = no high frequency for music
Scala speakers = wind noise.

I'm actually trying to fit a pair of noise cancelling Panasonics that do not enter the ear canal but getting a decent seal inside the helmet is tricky and the attenuation is only 26% or so versus 70
Still the active cancellation just about eliminates any engine noise - kinda spoky when I hit the switch
does nothing for wind noise tho :(
 
Last edited:
Duster929 said:
I would highly recommend the SENA SMH10 units. I did my homework before buying, and these seem to be superior to the Scala and Interphone units. I used a pair for three weeks on a cross-country trip. The sets worked flawlessly and exceeded my expectations in every respect. Although you can't buy them in Canada, if you order from Rocketmoto (google them!) in the states you will have excellent customer services and perfect execution of the order.

I could talk your ear off about the Sena units, they are one of the few purchases I've made recently that I can give an absolutely unreserved BUY recommendation for. Let me know if you want more info on them, I can answer your questions from a user's point of view. The guys over at www.advrider.com have been talking about these for months and have a very detailed, extensive thread on the subject (in addition to discussing the Scala and Interphone).

--- D
Click to expand...

Hey , I got a Sena SMH10 as well from rocketmoto. Fantasic device. Much cheaper and easier to use than the scala G4 units.
 
I have the Scala G4 and found that the speakers are too tinny and quite hurtful to the ears, I usually keep it at low volume when listening to the radio, there is no bass to compliment the music. Pairing to a 3rd party was a mission and one rider would always fade out and would be unable to reconnect. I also found that the right side speaker started to crackle and I received a buzzing sound when trying to toggle between the A button and B button. The intercom works fine between two riders and the BT also works great when using your phone and having a clear conversation at 100+kms.
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