Yes, I said answer, not question. 🙂 I just wanted to share some research I did trying to figure which one was best for my needs. I have one for passenger/pillion comm, which I expect to be able to use with one or two riding buddies. It works well and I'm quite pleased with it. However, now that I'm on the board of officers for a riding group, my needs have changed. I want a system that can be used for group rides, possibly large group rides. That's where all the research started, and my recommendation is probably going to used by our group for a standard.
So- the one thing I really liked was mesh, or DMS (Dynamic Mesh Communication). This self-heals the comm network if someone leaves or returns, as in out of range. With standard BT comms, if your tailgunner is caught at a red light with half your group, and you get out of range (which is increasing, true, but still not more than about 1/2 mile), you not only drop comm, but it stays dropped. Everyone from that point back is no longer in communication from the front. I'm not really sure exactly what that does, perhaps you now have 2 separate networks, perhaps you have one with a lot of orphaned units, it might matter by brand, but anyhow, the point is, mesh re-connects automatically when the other units return in range. With this in mind, I decided we want that. It would be #1 on my list. So I compared all of the units with this feature. And I did a decent comparison of a few other units, until I discovered this actually was a thing, so I might have some good data on whatever one you're looking at even if I don't mention it, ask if you want. The total number of those units on the market is 2. (I know, right?) Sena 30K and Cardo Packtalk. In order to use the mesh, you need to have the same brand & model (unless you use DMC, more on that later, but that might be quirky, I don't know).
Cardo is waterproof rated, I think it's IPV67, the same standard I see as an electrician. Trust me, that's under water for half hour sort of waterproof. The Sena is water resistant.
Cardo has private chat, you can chat with anyone on the mesh without anyone else hearing. (You might need to choose that person with the cell phone app, which makes it less convenient but still better than non-existent.) Sena might have private chat, I can't find it on their site or docs, but I seem to recall seeing an ad that said they did. While this might be more info fail than hardware fail, I'm pretty sure if they do have it, it only works in BT mode with the one or two people you have paired in that mode.
Cardo has DMC bridge. To me, this is huge. I don't how well it works, or if you can only bring along 1 person total, or 1 for each Cardo headset, but the gist is you can bring another brand BT only headset into the mesh with you. You can even bridge a cell phone call into the mesh with you. The BT part is very limited range, and I don't think it heals after going out of range, so it's limited to pillions or really carefully the guy right next to you. The cell however- you can BT a chase car into the same comm mesh with the riders, and have him on his hands-free while he's pulling the crash trailer. how cool s that? Sena doesn't have anything that will mesh outside of a 30K. Their own 10 or 20 units won't do it, no cell phone, no other brand or BT only headeset.
With those 3 being the big differences that matter most to me, there's a lot of opinions, and they're all correct or else everyone would only buy the one brand. My choice for my conditions is the Cardo Packtalk. 🙂
BTW, the current one that's being upgraded is the U-Clear 200HD Force. It's slightly out of date, but still has all of the best features. The one thing I really like about this brand over the others, is no boom mic. I have it installed on half & 3/4 helmets, and there is nothing at all in your face. There is a dual mic array you stick up in the lining near your eyebrows. With 2 mics, it's directional, just like stereo vision. Once you get that, then you can use DSP to filter any noise not coming from directly in front of the helmet. It works pretty well, I can make cell calls at 60mph. Much past that, without a face shield, it just gets too noisy. My conversations tend be short at 80mph, "I'm coming over there. I'll get there at 4. Bye." But it still works consistently and reliably, and the noise is about the same as a Sena 20s, maybe a tad bit worse. 🙂
