Shoei GTAir-3 and SENA SRL3 - Wind noise 

Hello and thank you for your review. Was looking to purchase the GT Air 3 and considering whether to get the SRL3 and your review helped (not worth the cost). However, something that you might be interested to try out is the newer ear plugs (Loop and so on) which offers to filter out (lower) the wind noises and allows music through. I've recently obtained the Loop Experience 2 and found that it helped a lot (at least for me). You might want to check it out with your SRL3, might allow you to hear better at higher speeds.

i have the newest sena srl in my gt air 2... its nice but i need it to be louder. after 70mph i can barely hear it. if someone goes from that to the new srl3.. please let me know if it is any louder. thanks

Noise, i bought an gt air2, same issue, extreme windnoise and could not use my coms. I use cheap coms. Got the helm refunded and picked up a shark RS carbon. i can clearly now listen to music or talk with my daughter at illegal highway speeds. Shoei was my brand but all i hear these days a loads of complaints unfortununally.

That screen of yours looks to be near useless, based on that wind noise. Look at a US made Aeroflow screen. They are the best.

Thanks for your review. I have been looking at SHOEI helmets to augment my collection but it appears they are plagued with noise issues. As with nost of us in our age group, we are looking for a "quiet" helmet. Relying heavily on reviews like yours as throwing money at helmets is not very practical. My daily right now is a Scorpion R1 Air w\ Cardo Freecom 4 whicih I want to retain when I finally do purchase a new helmet (options are getting limited now with partnerships). MotoSafe earplugs on every ride by the way. Need the the added protection. At 160kph there is obviously windnoise but I am able to hear music\calls and use voice commands fine. Only issues I have with the combo is when I enter areas of poor reception (radio) or when it is extremely windy. Just my experience with the combo.

Outstanding review and very detailed. Thank you for the amount of work you put into this review. Ride safe and enjoy.

I could easily solve all your hearing issues but my solution may be too expensive for you. When im driving my bike 200km/h i have the volume just half way and i can easily hear the walkie talkie no issue at all

So because of motorbike riding (probably not using ear plugs) you lost some percentage of hearing?

Only one option IMHO, Earmold Australia and get a custom made set of plugs or headphones. Not cheap but then again you only have one pair of ears.

Are you aware that the Sena has a boosted volume setting? I have mine set to the boosted setting for the same problems you have, not least bad tinnitus. The setting can be found in the App.

Just purchased the Gt air 3 w. SRL-3 Sena unit. Not trying to high jack your thread. But has anyone had problems with the voice commands when using hey Sena. My unit does not recognize my voice at all it works perfectly with the iPhone Siri commands though. I even had Sena send me a warranty replacement unit. Still doesn’t recognize my voice commands. Sena sent me a video showing me that the unit I sent back to them works just fine. I can’t understand why it won’t work for me. I even had my wife try the hey Sena check battery and other Sena voice commands. Nothing works. Software is 1.2.

I gotta ask. Do you get any wind buffeting with that configuration of windshield in the BMW? If the answer is no, where did you get it? Looks cool. Also, awesome review, it is very very detailed

I thought mine was bad as well especially with "Harman Kardon" Speakers advertised. I changed the settings to Multitasking OFF, Audio Boost OFF, and HD Voice ON. It's night and day sound quality difference

Good review, I’ve been using a Shoei GT Air 2 for the past 5 years, I have reduced hearing in my right ear following a bout of shingles so a quiet helmet is something I’m after when I replace next year. Have to say good that GT Air 2 has been I’m disappointed Shoei haven’t moved things on much, my Air 2 has the SLR 2 fitted and I find it feeble at higher speeds - the problem with the GT 2 & 3 Shoei drive you down one road regarding comm’s and I think Packtalk is just a superior product, both in sonics and overall performance. Anyway, thanks for the review it’s helped me make my mind up.

Great video, Steve! I can't comment on your helmet but have the Sena 50S. My experience with wind noise is smack bang the same as yours. For clarity, my hearing is good (WiFi would of course disagree at times 😂), I ride your bike as you know, run 50:50 nobby tyres and wear nonoise ear plugs that I highly recommend. Your Sena has open Mesh, right? This is nowadays the ONLY option I use for communicating with fellow riders as, I believe, the volume is louder, clearer, crisper but I could be wrong. Pretty high price tag for an intercom system to only use it with Mesh tech ☹️. I doubt however that Cardo would be any better and ask myself often why Sena do not enable riders to set the vol at their desired level (without damaging the speakers). They could limit their liability by stating "If you increase the vol beyond this level, it is at your own risk if you damage your hearing." But really... do we need this parental guidance? Further, @Sena - why don't you develop SW that adapts the vol in line with riders speed in- or decreasing as well as based on wind noise? Now that would be a great new feature I might pay for and upgrade my current 50S.

Thanks for the review. It's a pity you didn't say anything about the controls as the users of the old SRL model complained about the size of the buttons.

Have you got phone settings volume to max? I thought my coms was quiet and in settings there’s about an xtra 20% you can give it

Hi, I had a R1250GS with the BMW Navigator paired to a Sena intercom on a Neotec 2. It was my first experience with intercoms and I was pretty excited by the prospect of listening to music while riding. My former bikes didn’t have any sort of connectivity. I always ride with earplugs and really didn’t bother listening to music after a while as there was too much noisey from the bike and the buffeting of the windscreen. I don’t think it has any thing to do with the helmet. I have no hard data to back up what I say but in the equation of factors that account for noise while riding a motorcycle, I would guess that the helmet is a rather marginal one. To a certain extent I think that motorcycle riding and listening to music via an intercom don’t mix well together. I since changed bike. I ride now a sports tourer with a smaller windscreen, you get more wind on the helmet but a cleaner flow, so no buffeting. I have a GT air 2 with intercom now but I only use it for the gps prompts. I ride in Europe and the windblast you get with legal and not so legal highway speeds would be unbearable on the long run without earplugs. I prefer to focus on the riding than settle with a subpair sound quality. Thank you very much for all the effort put into your video

Hey Steve. Thanks for vid. I too have a gt air 3 with srl3. Try your lid with the chin curtain fitted. It doesn’t fit properly in my helmet, but it does quieten it down considerably. I only connect my iPhone to the srl3 and it accepts Siri commands, which is so much easier. Cheers. Chris

I am Profoundly Deaf from a Bike Accident in 1980 and have the same issues as you Steve. Your cheap over the counter Ear Plugs are the Wrong choice as I have used them and found that they are too noisy for Road use. Having used Ear Plugs with Noise Filters dedicated for Motorcycling is your next step up to Better Hearing !!!! whilst Riding. I now use the Alpine Hearing Protection by Motosafe and come in Two Hearing Levels. It is the Ear Plugs with NOISE FILTERS that you need to wear and they will take you upto 120kph+ before it gets too noisy. For around town my Moulded Earplugs are ok but like your current Protection not satisfactory. Please enjoy your Riding like me Steve..... 🙂

I bought the gtair3 because of the write up on safety and wind tunnel tests, I thought that included noise. My 600 aud hjcf70 never needed earplugs even at higher speeds. This 1500aud helmet is soooo damn noisey. The sena 3 is great, The wind noise is ridiculous. I don't understand why shoei hasn't sorted that out being there are so many people around the world saying the same thing. I wish I'd looked up wind noise specific before buying.

There are basically two things you can do to improve your experience. Use earbuds like Alpine MotoSafe Pro and chin curtain. The foam earbuds blocks everything including human voice hence diffficulty in listening to music.

Nicely edited and put together video! I find the use of the CB radio very strange, however I'm sure the CB radio range is further that mesh alone. I have no idea how you and your mates ride but if your mates have mesh connection, you should definitely give that a try for the sake of clarity and volume. I've only ever ran the built in comms on both a Sena 20S Evo on bluetooth and now a Cardo PackTalk Edge on Mesh (since my friends use Cardo's) and never had any issues with clarity or volume when in range. I found on the Sena 20S Evo at max volume to be sufficient with earplugs and the Cardo is louder for sure and have it around 80-90% volume with ear plugs. I'm not sure if my hearing is as bad as yours but I think it is since I badly need hearing aids as well, just can't afford them right now.

Did you upgrade firmware ?

Thanks for video. You have to many " crap" on your control bar. To much distraction. Cheers , ride safe

I have a Neotech 2 with the SRL3 and I have the same wind noise problem on my Super Tenere 1200. I found using foam earplugs works too well and blocks too much of the music. The best solution I’ve found is the rubber ear plugs with the 3 pyramids like “steps” that are rated for 25dB reduction. On my Goldwing I have zero issues with noise because….well it’s a Goldwing. I barely even feel the wind but on other bikes it’s extremely loud. I’ve heard good things about PlugFones. I might try a pair.

Just purchased a new Shoes Neotec 3 today Steve after 5 years with the Neotec 2. I had a Sena 10 unit on the N2 which is now 11 years old and has never missed a beat. When looking at the N3, the salesman told me about the Sena SRL3 integrated unit. I figured that a new helmet and comms will be a treat. I fitted the SRL3 to the helmet today and wished I had asked the sales guy to do that. Refitting those damn cheek pads with the wiring in place was a real challenge. It is pouring rain where I am this week, so I might leave my road test for a less miserable day. My custom moulded ear plugs worked well with the Sena 10, so fingers crossed that the new unit works just as well. Another good review mate!

why u dont use bigger windshield

I have the PackTalk Bold from JBL/Cardo for 5 years now. I always wear 35db ear plugs (foam). And it's the only intercom that is powerful enough for highway and such. I'll be a GT Air III soon but will transfer my Packtalk.

Seems to me you’re bike set up is the problem not the helmet.

Did both speakers work for you? Only the right side works for me, do I have to adjust that?