Without
a doubt, the Chatterbox X2 is the best communicator I've tried
so far, however at first it certainly wasn't - it took a little
work to get there. Read the review, get a feel for what we're
dealing with and I promise that you'll find the X2 is certainly
the best communications solution available today - you work
hard for those dollars, so before you invest in garbage, read
up, check 'em out and make a better decision:
As a member of 3 different sport riders
groups, putting on a combined 20-25,000 miles a year in sport
touring, it would be an understatement to say that we put
our radios through their paces! Whether sport touring and
just group riding, having a communicator is a real pleasure
- it adds safety, by allowing riders to relay traffic situations
and scenarios that are happening in real time. They also eliminate
the need for hand gestures and guess work (you know, "what
the hell is he trying to say????") it facilitates keeping
the group together (I need gas guys, let's pull over next
exit) this is a great example - how hard is it to get the
whole group to stop when you have 25 bikes riding and you're
at the end!!!! lastly, it allows a group to chat while riding,
and keep their heads up (using VOX not push-to-talk of course)
and this contributes to the overall enjoyability of the ride!
A great investment indeed!
Initially, my group started riding
with cheap FM-band Maxon communicators. They were an inexpensive
solution for sure, however they had huge shortcomings which
I'll address now:
1) They used FM band - FM is chocked full of static and interference,
plus these particular models liked to pick up 4900mHz cordless
phones signals - NOT GOOD
2) They only had one speaker - not TWO - imagine listening
to your walkman with one speaker in! Doesn't matter how good
the speaker quality is, its gonna sound like garbage!
3) The unit was not helmet mountable, which made for sometimes
awkward adjustment (IE having to reach into your tank bag
to adjust VOX level, volume, etc.)
4) most importantly, the units were made with cheaper parts
and would pick up horrible wind noise when travelling faster
than 65 mph, and we usually travel well over 80/90.... So
with all the hassle of using these communicators, we were
forced to step back, reconsider and begin shopping for the
best solution out there - listen folks, over 200 men and women
shopping around and researching and we all came up with the
same product in the end - the Chatterbox X2
The X2 is a great lightweight radio
which literally addresses all of the problems we had with
the other Maxons above. First, inherently, the X-2 is a much
less frequented band of transmission and therefore from the
get go, radio interference problems are literally washed away
- you will virtually NEVER get any kind of static and interference
on this band - a GREAT reason to use it!!! The only other
traffic on this band from consumer products is from similar
motorcycle communicators and walkie talkie type units - typically
used while skiing out west, for avalanche danger prevention
and enhanced communications between skiers.
The X2 utilizes 2 speakers which is
a tremendous improvement over one, BELIEVE ME! Forget the
fact that the X2 is comprised of much higher quality componentry,
just the stereo effect alone is a huge improvement - this
baby is GOLD! Another great feature for creature comfort is
that you can use external accessories such as a walkman, discman
or MP3 player radio -- No worries either, whenever you transmit
or someone speaks to you, the music will cut out and the communication
will supercede everything - after the talking is done, the
music comes back on. You can also choose to ignore incoming
signal with the flip of a switch, for those long stretches
of highway where you want to relax and not hear the chatter
(a great feature). Believe it or not, you can even plug in
your cell phone!! - let me tell you, this is a GREAT idea
- I can't even tell you how many times I've used this to call
for directions or make restaurant reservations on the road
- this is one of those products where I've later said to myself,
"MAN the amenities and conveniences of modern technology!"
This is an awesome product to enhance the biking experience.
Installation is a breeze - everything is nice and low profile
is fits nearly perfectly in all the helmets I've owned, from
HJC to Shoei to Arai - the Shoei and Arai have perfect little
"pockets" which let you mount to speakers in just
the right position to hear perfectly WITHOUT putting any pressure
on your ears or head - this is a great part of the speakers
and helmet together.
The radio also offers you the ability to set up chat groups
(a smaller group within a riding group) and you have the option
to set up many different chat groups which you can toggle
in and out of easily by using the simply and well laid out
buttons on the box. Lastly - the box is designed to be helmet
mounted- it is fairly lightweight, unobtrusive and makes it
a LOT easier to adjust or tweak settings like VOX level and
VOLUME without fumbling through your jacket and your tank
bag to get to other radio units which aren't helmet mounted!
This again reinforces SAFETY FIRST which is a welcome feature
in my book - since as bikers, we already accept that what
we're doing in inherently dangerous - you might as well reduce
the risks as much as possible - this radio is "heads-up"
all the way and for me, that just sealed the deal - it is
the BEST THING OUT THERE!
A tip on VOX settings, if you are having problems where the
radio won't turn-on the microphone while talking OR the mic
won't turn off after your finished (or turns on by itself)
you obviously have the VOX set wrong (either too LOW/not-sensitive
OR too HIGH/over-sensitive) so you should be aware that if
it isn't working right, YOU have the VOX level set wrong -
the unit has the best VOX control I've yet used (VOX, FYI,
is Voice-activation, meaning you don't need to push to talk,
you just start talking and the radio automatically turns itself
on to transmit, and turns itself off as soon as you are finished)
I find the VOX should be between 11 and 12 o'clock (position
wise for the VOX knob) Another TIP is to BUY THE UNIT WITH
THE BOOM-MICROPHONE SET UP...there are two versions - one
unit is meant for full-face helmets (it has a disc shaped
mic) and then there is the OPEN FACE style unit - this one
comes with a boom microphone, similar to the hands-free headsets
you may use at work on your telephone there) I recommend THE
OPEN_FACE MIC STYLE - EVEN FOR FULL FACE HELMETS - I use full
face helmets 90% of the time, and the boom microphone is actually
LOWER PROFILE and you can move it around on-the-fly to get
perfect pick-up - trust me, buy the OPEN FACE STYLE.
I've tried to pack as much information in here as possible
- if you found it very helpful, and I hope you have, PLEASE
RATE IT - I love to hear your feedback and especially take
pride in helping you guys make decisions. Try reading some
of my other reviews (mostly cigars and motorcycles, 2 GREAT
things on this planet) and add me to your web of trust, as
I write frequently. Hope this helps, and certainly check out
this great motorcycle communicator - chatterbox makes excellent
products, their service and customer support is truly the
cream of the crop and the functionality is absolutely top
notch! Thanks and enjoy your ride!
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