Sat nav is OK but a bit clunky, sound through a Sena headset is fine. Try to play music MP3's from it, it is utterly and completely rubbish. It plays in mono FFS and is so scratchy and tinny in sound as to be unbearable. Did a quick Google to find a solution, none exist. What a pile. It's (hopefully) going back. I am deeply, deeply unimpressed.
This was on my wish list mainly for music. Not now, thanks for the heads up. I'll stick with the I-pod
I have had an autocom and now have a sena and gave up on the 660, I now use my phone via Bluetooth for music Another gripe about the 660, why can't you search for campsites like you can with the 550 and Montana and in fact most of the farming range?
Isn't the problem here the sena ? My mates 660 connected to his autocom is just as good Audio wise as my 550, for either directions or music. Most certainly not tinny. Can't comment on via Bluetooth, but do recall some conversations on zumo forums about it only being mono.
I seem to have cured it. It seems to have something to do with iPhones. I disconnected Bluetooth and de-bonded my phone and the Sena and then re-bonded the Sena and it's pretty good now. I'll have more of a play and experiment tomorrow but if it means music, nav and no phone I'm more than happy with that. I'll update as and when I make any progress.
The 660 is adept at full stereo music from a variety of sources and will play these over hardwired connected headphones or bluetooth. I have the 660 as the centre of my setup and it works well, iPhone connects, bluetooth dongle connects for wireless streaming to crash helmet and no issues with music from various sources and quality stereo (enough for the bike). If you want a way cheaper helmet headset then buy the Sony Ericsson MW600 and a decent set of earphones (which you may already have) and you get a bluetooth helmet setup for about £30. I have no idea other than bike to bike why people buy helmet headsets. The MW600 even has a radio which I use as well. I would suggest it is easier to stream music from the 660 itself using an SD card than trying to stream from the iPhone and having multiple bluetooth connections on the go. I have a decent size card in mine and it holds enough music for some weeks away biking. From the setup you're after, I have had no trouble connecting the iPhone, having music from the 660 playing with satnav and iPhone calls/notification sounds/etc. interrupt the music. I also have speed cameras as well so it's doing a fair bit. If I'm playing the radio on my headset that also gets interrupted. On a side note, the bluetooth headset I have also doubles as an ad hoc make do when just wanting to connect an iPhone in a pocket to my crash helmet for music or satnav audio only instructions. I ran TomTom on my iPhone and was able to get all around the US just on audio with no battery issues and playing music all day as well.
I have Cardo Q3 linked to Zumo 660 and music works fine. Q3 is ideal for me as we use it bike to bike when the wife is following on hers and also when away touring and she is riding pillion, easy to use and no messing with leads etc. on person or the bikes. Previously had a Zumo 550 and Scala Q2 but they got a bit tired (rubber buttons cracking etc), so the son inherited them, still functioning but they were only mono bluetooth. If you want stereo over bluetooth you need A2DP which neither the 550 or Q2 had. I like the Zumo 660, aesthetically it suits the MTS best I think, has the advantage of lane assist over the 550, no buttons but don't really miss them. The only thing that annoys slightly is that you now have to remove the battery cover every time you want to upload some routes via usb. With the 550 it was also easy to remove the SD card and share routes with others you're out riding with, the 660 is now microSD and more fiddly to get to. Running the 660, a pair of Q3's and an android phone the Bluetooth pairing occasionally get's confused, but restarting the Q3's seems to sort it.
WTF - you guys shouldn't be worried about music on bike - just go WAAAAHHHHHHH with the engine. WTF, music on a bike. Next thing you'll be comparing MPG.
I hear you but there are exceptions: if I'm riding touring, covering a lot of miles and spending plenty of time on the bike then for certain conditions, I'm happy to have some music as well. I've covered 10 hour days in the US with some lengthy stints and the music was a bonus. Here in the UK, if I blat down to Cornwall or south Wales then I'm covering 250 miles solo and some tunes are also welcome. I agree with you on MPG, I couldn't care less and never brother to worry about it.
There's some quite detailed instructions on pairing the Sena in the manual (download it from their website). If you don't do it as they describe the Zumo can end up being paired using the wrong bluetooth profile which then only supports crappy quality mono music. You should pair your phone to the zumo and the zumo to the headset - do not pair your phone directly to the sena (it's all in the manual). Not a fault with the Zumo - you just need to be careful on first pairing with your headset... BTW - 660 supports stereo bluetooth, 550 does not (so you have to add a 3rd party bluetooth stereo dongle which you connect to the 550's cradle).
Problem solved. I've decided to upgrade even though I did get it working correctly so I've plumped for the 590. At least I know how to sort this issue if it arises again.
Ahh The 590 it looks like a lovely bit of kit...but fook me its eye wateringly expensive. I must admit I am very tempted, especially for some planned Euro touring this year. Please give us a review on it. If it's as good as it should be I think I'll go for one with a Navihalter mount. For now, I'll make do with Copilot on the iPhone 5. Using a few apps on the PC, I can pre plan routes and upload to the phone, it works great and the maps are stored on the phone, so no crazy roaming charges. Deaks
To be fair, it's little more expensive than the 660 was when that was first released, or the 550 before that (allowing for inflation)
I have 660 and the scala Q3 together with an iphone 660 paired to the q3 iphone paired to the 660 but not the headset It works perfectly and the music quality is very good - only slight issue is with my earplugs in the music can be a tad quiet at higher speeds - but the earplugs are cutting down massive amounts of noise tbh
I am with you on this one, I would rather be watching and concentrating on the road than wondering when the next track is coming on!! If I wanted to listen to music I would take the car!! Each to his own I suppose, but I do find that riding at 42 mph with head on the tank, legs streamlined behind me, Mohican luminous hair on helmet to aid wind buffeting, I can get 946 miles to the gallon, I think thats pretty good......
Initial impressions are that it's light years ahead of the 660. Smoother interface, way better graphics, very feature heavy. No internal speaker so it can't act as a music player in your hotel/tent/whatever and for all it costs the tight bastards don't supply a case for it I'll be giving it a proper road test tomorrow and will report back. Oh, no Sena/iPhone pairing issues either.
