[Jay Gustafson17]

Hello all,
Going on trip with group of guys and considering getting communication devices. Do they all have to be the same brand before they’ll work
together ? Some want the Cardo pack talk and others interested in the Sena.
Thanks, Jay

 

[SStlthy]

No personal experience, but I have read in several places that Cardo and Sena do indeed connect. Some features don't work together, such as background music while listening.

 

[Cameroni79]

They’ll connect but it’s a pain in the butt. If you all have Cardo pack talk they’ll mesh and connect easily.

 

[saxmaniac]

If they are different brands they will connect but only half duplex and you lose all the good features. Definitely start with matched brands before you try anything else.

 

[Jay Gustafson17]

Thank You

 

[saxmaniac]

Thank You

One other tip. Have a meeting off-bike a few days prior to pair everything, and learn how to use them. Doing it on the trip will be a disaster due to the learning curve.

Even today, now that we are all paired, we still have a short pre-trip meeting to re-pair if necessary and re-test the devices before heading out. That can happen on trip day.

 

[Hoax]

I have the mesh cardo along with my buddy. Great crystal clear dialogue. Playing music in the background still leave a bit to be desired, and music volume levels are hard to hear over the pipes, but voice to voice communicate is clear up to about 1 km with clear line of sight. In the city, around a city block it looses the signal, but automatically connects once in range because of that mesh network. Overall its made riding w/ friends a lot more enjoyable, and keeps us all more of aware in case one of us see's a hazard the other missed.

 

[Dvance800cc]

I have a Sena 20s first bought only to listen to music on my old bike and take the occasional phone call. Now I have a fairing bike with music so I dont use that function. I now ride with someone that also has a Sena and the communication works well. I will say this, both Sena and Cardio probably have way more functions than you'll use. Learn the 2 or 3 you need because you'll never remember how to use them all lol.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

I love the Sena. I have had the SMH10 and recently upgraded to the 20S.
I listen to a lot of music unless I’m with my girlfriend, we talk the whole time. Since I enjoy talking to her, it’s fine. I was on a ride with three other bikes one time, all of us connected and they drove me crazy with conversation until we stopped and I disconnected them all.

 

[zee]

Love the Cardo Packtalk Bold. I like it so much that I got one for my wife too, even though she rides like twice a year.

The mesh system works really well and does increase the range. The music is okay, but 'ok google' and 'hey siri' works which helps keep your eyes on the road.

You can get more powerful speakers if you want louder music, but overall I rate it a buy.

 

[RedRM]

I was fortunate to benefit from my riding buddies experience. They all started with the sena systems a couple years ago. They dumped them all after constantly. Being frustrated trying to get connected for group rides. Now we have grouped once with the cardoboack talk bonds with jbl speakers and they automatically connect every time we get in range. Wonderful clarity and great frleatures for connecting to the bike or phone. They have been very satisfied with the new cardo systems. Music lowers during conversations automatically. Wind noise in minimized and not an issue unless open face helmets are used. Recently we discovered plugging earphones into the packtalk in place of the speakers provides reduction of ambient noise and wind noise from the helmet for long rides. Great product! Highly recomended.

 

[tranco]

I heard that range can be an issue when using different brands. Is this true?

 

[RedRM]

I have not owned another brand. But the cardo uses a mesh network design that uses the nearest rider to link to the next and so on, extending the range. And semelessly reconnects if the distance gets to great without any action. I am pretty sure this was one of the gripes regarding the other brand. We have cardo and absolutely no regrets

 

[lugnut1009]

We have Cardo packtalk Bold comms and all our friends have the Sena20s. While I like the Cardo much better, none of them play well with other brands, they claim to but they don't. If your group runs Sena go Sena, if Cardo go Cardo.

 

[Erratikmind]

My family and friends use Sena. As such, I use a Sena SRL. It works great!