Cardo Scala Rider G4 Resource Thread

[carlt828]

Originally Posted by Planespotting

I can hear everything fine except the phone. I turn the volume all the way up but it is still too quiet.

With my iPhone 4 and Parrot in the car I have to adjust the volume using the Parrot each time I answer a call. I turn the volume knob and see the Bluetooth volume on the phone's display go up. With the G4 nothing happens and it is way too quiet to hear whoever called me. My volume is fine for whomever is on the other end so it is just my ability to hear. Has anyone else experienced this and/or found a fix for it?

Nope, my iPhone 4 & G4's call volume is great. Have you updated the G4 firmware yet?

[Simplyred]

I have the Cardo G4 Powerset and just used it on a week's holiday trip on my 250cc motorscooter. So the sets the max speed conditions during which I used it just around 100kmp/h.

I did develop a Love and Hate relationship with the Cardo System. Once it actually works, it does a great job .
But you will often get VERY annoyed before it DOES......

And I think this system is WAY to expensive to be this user unfriendly.
It is simply priced way to high.

I simply can not understand WHAT EXACTLY is so difficult in designing a system that is a pleasure to work with when one is on the move? When I am driving, I should be paying attention to the road, and not fiddling around with one hand on the side of my helmet, looking like an idiot and driving around with just one hand on the steering wheel.....
I do not want to be bothered by faulty designed equipment, but just want to enjoy the drive and expect this pricy device to do what it promises to do. And it does not.

The main problem is the immense number of times you need to fiddle around at your helmet device. Any intercom should work immediately when one starts to speak. How difficult can it be? Several times this week only driving around 80 kmp/h I had to shout like an imbecile to start up ANY kind of communication, even to the point the passenger on the back could easily understand me WITHOUT any "Power Set".....
I came very close to a point I really began to feel the urge to stop the scooter, rip the crap of the helmet and throw it as far away as humanly possible....
Only to relax again and enjoy when it "suddenly" started to work and conversation was cristal-clear and a real joy....

My experience is, the closer the mike is to your mouth, the better it works. So if you have any DUCT tape, tape it right on and you will have little problems I expect . Of course, that is a total failure of technology as I see it. And especially for that kind of money.

And yes, I have been trying to do almost anything one can think of to change things. I have the latest software, I drive full face integral helmets, not even a jet helm and it still is a pain in the ass to get the VOX function working. Like the OP has said when he started this thread: the VOX function is a non existing function when you look at a function as something that should be reliable and durable. I have not seen it happening with the G4 Cardo set yet.

I think there should also be a remote control unit for handling the units functions besides the fiddling around on the helmet thingy. Something with a nice small display that disposes of the guessing of what you are exactly doing. Maybe something working on bluetooth as well so it can connect with the main helmet unit. I think it would be a tremendous plus if you could actually SEE what you are doing and I would be willing to pay some extra money for it.

The built in radio function is also a real pain. You can preset the stations on the pc, but that does not bring anything if you are traveling outside the normal radius for instance on holiday. You would have no means of searching for any other stations whilst on the bike. Here too, the option of the remote control display could come in handy.

[rockinrog]

I found it easier to reach up and hit the A or B button than to rely on the VOX..I havent tried it since the firmware update though. You can search for radio stations using the volume up and down buttons.

Originally Posted by Simplyred

I have the Cardo G4 Powerset and just used it on a week's holiday trip on my 250cc motorscooter. So the sets the max speed conditions during which I used it just around 100kmp/h.

I did develop a Love and Hate relationship with the Cardo System. Once it actually works, it does a great job .
But you will often get VERY annoyed before it DOES......

And I think this system is WAY to expensive to be this user unfriendly.
It is simply priced way to high.

I simply can not understand WHAT EXACTLY is so difficult in designing a system that is a pleasure to work with when one is on the move? When I am driving, I should be paying attention to the road, and not fiddling around with one hand on the side of my helmet, looking like an idiot and driving around with just one hand on the steering wheel.....
I do not want to be bothered by faulty designed equipment, but just want to enjoy the drive and expect this pricy device to do what it promises to do. And it does not.

The main problem is the immense number of times you need to fiddle around at your helmet device. Any intercom should work immediately when one starts to speak. How difficult can it be? Several times this week only driving around 80 kmp/h I had to shout like an imbecile to start up ANY kind of communication, even to the point the passenger on the back could easily understand me WITHOUT any "Power Set".....
I came very close to a point I really began to feel the urge to stop the scooter, rip the crap of the helmet and throw it as far away as humanly possible....
Only to relax again and enjoy when it "suddenly" started to work and conversation was cristal-clear and a real joy....

My experience is, the closer the mike is to your mouth, the better it works. So if you have any DUCT tape, tape it right on and you will have little problems I expect . Of course, that is a total failure of technology as I see it. And especially for that kind of money.

And yes, I have been trying to do almost anything one can think of to change things. I have the latest software, I drive full face integral helmets, not even a jet helm and it still is a pain in the ass to get the VOX function working. Like the OP has said when he started this thread: the VOX function is a non existing function when you look at a function as something that should be reliable and durable. I have not seen it happening with the G4 Cardo set yet.

I think there should also be a remote control unit for handling the units functions besides the fiddling around on the helmet thingy. Something with a nice small display that disposes of the guessing of what you are exactly doing. Maybe something working on bluetooth as well so it can connect with the main helmet unit. I think it would be a tremendous plus if you could actually SEE what you are doing and I would be willing to pay some extra money for it.

The built in radio function is also a real pain. You can preset the stations on the pc, but that does not bring anything if you are traveling outside the normal radius for instance on holiday. You would have no means of searching for any other stations whilst on the bike. Here too, the option of the remote control display could come in handy.

[Simplyred]

I found it to be virtually impossible to remember all the possible handling options and button-magic... sometimes you need to click once, sometimes you need to hold the button x-seconds....so in the end, you end up just pushing buttons until you hear something happening.

For me, the operation of the device just is not "automatic" or "intuïtive" enough. Remember, you are supposed to drive and have your attention on the road.....

It delivers a lot of doubt and second guessing during operation. What should I do? Must I click A or B? Do I have B here or is this A?

Why can't this all be dealt with automatically just based on a pre-set userlist of priorities: when 1 delivers sound, 2 to 5 shut down. When 2 delivers sound, it does not overthrow the sound of 1, but it does overtrhow the sound of 3 till 5 and so forth and so on. When 1 shuts down, 2 comes up (if delivering sound) and so on. The user could choose what gets 1 priority, 2 or further so. Ready you are. No button pushing?

I also found the voice support system which you can set to help telling you what is going on not really any help at all. I almost never heard it say anything at all although it is set to "enabled".

I have already trouble finding the A or B button (which one do I have?) during the ride wearing gloves and not being able to look at what you are doing. As said, it often was a matter of pushing "a" button and waiting what happened. Most of the time, the connection with the passenger popped up in the end, but there were several times I needed to reset the system by turning it off and on again. VOX most of the time did not work, and my setting was preset to HIGH for Vox responsiveness.

The device also takes quite some time to switch between priorities. It takes way to long to switch to intercom when the system finally thinks someone just said something. And vice versa it takes way too much time to switch back to music again thereafter.

Of course, it could be me as the good old stupid user, but I still think this device has a long way to go to reach the stadium of perfection. The sound quality is great as it is. The volume is great as well. No complaints there.

The real weaknesses of this system (as I see it) are the really insufficient user friendlyness of the system and the failing vox functionality, even when set on "high" and operated within a full face closed integral helmet with lower speeds. And that says it all.

I would definitely NOT buy this product again at this price with the experience I have now, and would likely switch to something else like the SENA SMH10 device which seems a lot simpler to handle?

[Shunka]

I've been a bit frustrated at times with mine as well, it does take some patience to get it working at times. Far more than it should. I just emailed management about the possibility of a smartphone app. If everyone here did the same they might at least give it some consideration.

Email Addresses Technical Support: support@cardosystems.com Business Development: bizdev@cardosystems.com Sales: sales@cardosystems.com Press: press@cardosystems.com Management: mgmt@cardosystems.com

[BMW_BIKER_KEITH]

If I were to start over, I would consider the Sena product.

[Simplyred]

@ Shunka: what kind of app did you have in mind? I am certainly willing to support ANY solution that can make the G4 product more user friendly....

[Shunka]

Originally Posted by Simplyred

@ Shunka: what kind of app did you have in mind? I am certainly willing to support ANY solution that can make the G4 product more user friendly....

Don't know if it's possible or not but something that displays on the phone what mode it is currently in. Being able to control it would be idea but I just don't know how realistic that is.

I have a droid phone so I would like to see that but sure a Iphone app would need to be developed as well.

[Simplyred]

In all honesty: I think that is a golden idea should it be actually technically possible to do that through bluetooth. But I fear it is not....

[Isorg]

Originally Posted by Simplyred

I found it to be virtually impossible to remember all the possible handling options and button-magic... sometimes you need to click once, sometimes you need to hold the button x-seconds....so in the end, you end up just pushing buttons until you hear something happening.

For me, the operation of the device just is not "automatic" or "intuïtive" enough. Remember, you are supposed to drive and have your attention on the road.....

It delivers a lot of doubt and second guessing during operation. What should I do? Must I click A or B? Do I have B here or is this A?

Why can't this all be dealt with automatically just based on a pre-set userlist of priorities: when 1 delivers sound, 2 to 5 shut down. When 2 delivers sound, it does not overthrow the sound of 1, but it does overtrhow the sound of 3 till 5 and so forth and so on. When 1 shuts down, 2 comes up (if delivering sound) and so on. The user could choose what gets 1 priority, 2 or further so. Ready you are. No button pushing?

I also found the voice support system which you can set to help telling you what is going on not really any help at all. I almost never heard it say anything at all although it is set to "enabled".

I have already trouble finding the A or B button (which one do I have?) during the ride wearing gloves and not being able to look at what you are doing. As said, it often was a matter of pushing "a" button and waiting what happened. Most of the time, the connection with the passenger popped up in the end, but there were several times I needed to reset the system by turning it off and on again. VOX most of the time did not work, and my setting was preset to HIGH for Vox responsiveness.

The device also takes quite some time to switch between priorities. It takes way to long to switch to intercom when the system finally thinks someone just said something. And vice versa it takes way too much time to switch back to music again thereafter.

Of course, it could be me as the good old stupid user, but I still think this device has a long way to go to reach the stadium of perfection. The sound quality is great as it is. The volume is great as well. No complaints there.

The real weaknesses of this system (as I see it) are the really insufficient user friendlyness of the system and the failing vox functionality, even when set on "high" and operated within a full face closed integral helmet with lower speeds. And that says it all.

I would definitely NOT buy this product again at this price with the experience I have now, and would likely switch to something else like the SENA SMH10 device which seems a lot simpler to handle?

upgrade the firmware, it fixed all of my vox problems, when i set the vox to low level.

[Shunka]

Originally Posted by Simplyred

In all honesty: I think that is a golden idea should it be actually technically possible to do that through bluetooth. But I fear it is not....

A quick search and it LOOKS like it is potentially possible...depends on a lot of circumstances though. Mostly what kinda bluetooth is implemented in the G4.

Hopefully someone more versed in bluetooth tech or droid app development can chime in on this idea and let us know if its feasible or not.

[Simplyred]

Originally Posted by Isorg

upgrade the firmware, it fixed all of my vox problems, when i set the vox to low level.

My firmware is constantly up-to-date since I check this every week. I run the latest versions of both the G4 PC Software AND the G4 firmware itself.

The fact that your vox works better if you choose the low setting for vox responsiveness is kind of strange, isn't it? It should work less good then a higher setting? I will try it at my system as well and see what happens there. It is worth the try.

[ADW]

Originally Posted by Simplyred

My firmware is constantly up-to-date since I check this every week. I run the latest versions of both the G4 PC Software AND the G4 firmware itself.

The fact that your vox works better if you choose the low setting for vox responsiveness is kind of strange, isn't it? It should work less good then a higher setting? I will try it at my system as well and see what happens there. It is worth the try.

The simple solution is to run in "open microphone" all the time and not wait for VOX to activate. Just turn on Channel Button Connect (as it's called in the manual). Basically rather than having the system set on "when I yell into the mic, notice that and activate the system" it's set on "both of us have the mics active at all times". So there's no delay waiting for it to "hear" your voice and activate, it's like an open phone line where anyone can speak at any time. Even when no one is speaking (meaning if your buddy is breathing heavy because he's working hard riding the bike over some whoops, you're gonna hear it). But, on the good side, when one of you talks, no waiting and screaming until the fucking thing "wakes up" and realizes you're trying to say something.

Batteries last all day even if you're on Channel Button Connect (open mike) all day long.

Works for us.

[BMW_BIKER_KEITH]

+1 to what ADW said. We run ours with constant open comm. Seems fine that way.

What I havent tried with this kind of setup is listening to FM or Ipod with an "open" mike... I dont think its possible... Some one correct me if I am wrong please.

[biker128pedal]

Originally Posted by BMW_BIKER_KEITH

If I were to start over, I would consider the Sena product.

Why? I am trying to choose.