I'm considering the Scala G4 and wondering if those of you have it also use ear plugs to protect your hearing and if so what that does to the intercom and music playing experience.

I'm guessing that mounting the speakers snug against the ears won't be enough to protect ears but not sure about that.

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DL650k9 Grey/Silver

The "new" Scala Rider G4, anybody got one?

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FB MEMBER #133 - 2008 Wee

Bought a set and have used it on one trip and some casual pre-rides. My companion used it while using her i-pod with ear buds. She could still hear me when I communicated via the intercom.
Had other issues with it. Below is transcript of my review on another forum.

"Scala Rider G4 Powerset

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Just a preliminary review till I get some assistance and work through some issues.

My set-up was the G4 Powerset paired with a Blackberry 8330 Curve and Tom Tom Rider 2nd edition.

The units with provided clamp attached easily to an HJC 3/4 helmet and more difficultly, just barely, to my Scorpion EXO 700 FF. I did not even attempt it on my new Bell Star as the attachment points for the replaceable liner parts were not conveniently located to make it practical. I did not choose to use the provided "stick-on" mounting option.

As a personal comment I would have perfered the Bell as it has better ventilation but I will not "glue" anything on my helmet.

The mic boom was flexible enough to locate in usable positions for both helmets used. The speakers are very slim, 1/8", though about 1.25" in diameter. The speakers have a "Velcro hook" type backing which may attach to the lining in many helmets but small pieces of "loop" tape are provided for attachment if required by ear pocket design.

The speakers are "hard wired" with no detachment method, as is the mic boom. Per the instructions an alternate base type with corded mic instead of boom mic for FullFace use is available at time of purchase. I had no problem snaking the boom mic to an acceptable position though the corded option, had I previously known about it would have made headset placement easier in my Scorpion and possible in my Bell Star.
There was ample length of small diameter speaker wire to allow snaking through the foam padding.

In Intercom mode they perform pretty well, not having any previous experience to compare to. Voice clarity is good, range is good, if you're using a windshield, FF helmet or 3/4 with faceshield wind noise is minimal. I did notice times when I would receive static and garbled voice from my companion. It was discovered that it could be cleared up by them first turning off the intercom mode and turning it back on. If I performed the same tasks there was no improvement. My transmissions to them were always clear.

During my just completed 10 day trip I would have to say the device was in intercom mode 75% of the time. My companion used her i-pod with the i-pod earbuds the entire trip and could still hear when I would page her. She chose to stay with the i-pod earbuds for her music as the sound quality was better in her opinion than listening through the headset speakers.

Even with so much intercom "on" time battery life was excellent

She chose to not pair the headset with her phone, a Samsung SGH a767 Propel as it would activate the MP3 function immediately upon closing a phone call or intercom communication. We could not correct this prior to the trip and turning the MP3 phone function off meant pulling the phone from a pocket, sliding it open and depressing the "call off" key twice to deactivate. Not convenient while riding.

Recieving instructions from the GPS was terrible and I don't know if the problem is the headset or the GPS. Instructions either weren't relayed at all or when they did came through as garbled electronic bursts unless traveling slower then 20 mph. I have to suspect the Tom Tom broadcasting but as there is not an auxilliary headset jack on the GPS I have no way of knowing what the verbal instructions are supposed to sound like.

Phone usage was sporadic. It seems that if I used the intercom function at all then headset pairing with the phone was dropped and would have to be re-initiated to work. While phone pairing was active I could send/receive calls through the the GPS. My phone address book is syncronized into the GPS and all functions such as look up, dial/disconnect/re-dial etc. work on the GPS touch screen.

According to the listed heirarchy designed into the headset, phone functions are supposed to override intercom usage so the fact that the phone appeared to become "un-paired" is disappointing.

When working properly incoming calls would appear on the screen and could be received with a simple touch of either the on-screen receive icon or phone call receive button on the headset.

Outgoing calls could be made by using the GPS touch screen, number look-up function but only if you were stopped. While moving the GPS cancels your ability to activate any complex GPS or phone functions.

I don't have much Bluetooth experience other than a simple earpiece/mic that I use during the workday so I don't know if there is a particular heirarchy in the pairing order. The manuals are notably vague when it comes to this, only covering what it takes to initially pair the units.

The initial pairing had to be done twice for the devices to work at all.

The GPS comes on with the bike key. As it boots up and the devices are not on or in range the touch screen shows small phone and headset icons with question marks adjacent (?) to them.
If the headset and phone are active and within range the GPS automatically attempts to connect and displays connection status.

The phone screen lights up and first asks to mate with the Tom Tom, and then the G4 headset. There are times though when the phone does not prompt for the headset so I'm sure if has connected or not.

I am making a list of these issues so that when I contact "support" I have all info at hand.

Comments or suggestions from more knowledgable are welcome."

Nice review RC. Thanks and looking forward to an update if you do one.

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DL650k9 Grey/Silver

Well, I've been waiting till they made the "corded microphone" base available as an accessory because I didn't want to mount the boom mic bases on my Bell Star.
Get the new base last week ans decided to revisit some issues from the summer usage.
The support guy was very patient and helfpful. Didn't fix the pairing issue with my Blackberry Curve.
If I pair it directly I have almost no volume when trying to make a phone call. If I pair the BB through my TomTom Rider 2, and pair the headset to the TomTom then everything works fine. So that takes care of the V-Strom but doesn't help me on the V-Rod unless I choose to move the GPS back and forth, which I don't.
We tried deleting the pairing in both the phone and headset, depower and remove battery from the phone, repair the units and no improvement.
First suggestion is download the Scala updates that have been made available on site which I'll try later and see if there is any change.
The support tech claimed to have and use a couple Black Berry's, none the particular model, and says that they can be finicky and that he has had to perform the repairing more than once as the phone can get confused when it has a library of paired devices.
Will let you know what happens.

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'07, DL 1000, gift to self
'04 Anodized "B" model V-Rod, 50th B-day gift from Darling Wife. http://www.mem.com/Story.aspx?ID=2528706

I have had great success with my setup. The only issue I had was the VOX is too sensitive and was constantly opening up the comms channel(at least when riding at hwy speeds). To avoid that I just went with manual comms. A single tap to open the channel, and a tap to close.

Mine is paired with a TomTom Rider2 and a Blackberry Pearl phone. It all works just fine. The phone is actually paired to my GPS, not with the headset. I also have a Satellite radio that the built in Scala FM radio picks up on.

For a most recent test/comparrison check out:

2010 Motorcycle Intercom Comparison - webBikeWorld

Cheers!

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K5Wee in Kanada (255,500 KM and stalled for winter)
IF YOU WON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS.....FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM