[ironbuttwannabe]

I was reading in a few posts about the audio quality not being so good from the Zumo 550 internal mp3 player. I want to put a gps and ipod on my bike and figured the Zumo would kill 2 birds with one stone. Anyone using the mp3 player that want to give their advice? Or how you fixed it?

 

[bmwbuyer]

I use the Zumo 550 and I definitely use the MP3 capability. I find the quality to be fine and I'm a musician if that helps give any credibility to my opinion. I would like to have a simplistic graphic equalizer capability (bass and treble controls) but its flat response is still fine for listening during a ride. I will add that I use in-ear monitors with custom ear molds so I have excellent transducers that I use but any in-ear monitor system should be fine. I use Westone UM1 ear monitors if you want to check out the specs. I don't think I would enjoy the simple speakers that mount inside a helmet for the basic intercom system since I want two things from that option: wind noise reduction and high quality audio. Having the in-ear monitors cuts out about 20db of ambient noise and that wind noise can be damaging if you don't have a good helmet and/or you get a lot of wind above your neck.

The premium audio of in-ears is not even comparable to the speaker system on the bike. I tried using the LT speakers on a ride and just turned them off since I found them annoying at best. I never listen to music in congested areas while riding but out on the road, there's nothing like it. Your ears also adapt to the reduced ambient noise and you can actually hear important sounds such as an emergency vehicle siren even better with the plugs in your ears. This was documented in an article I recently read in one of the many bike magazines I receive. Wish I could remember which one but that escapes me. I was at an intersection once and had a fire truck come at me from several blocks away and I easily heard it and was able to wait for it to pass.

That's my experience anyway so hope it helps.

Tim

 

[deputy5211]

I have a Zumo, and I also have an iPod mounted on the bike. I have Shure E4's with custom ear molds for the same reasons BMWBUYER mentioned. I'm no musician, heck, I can't even carry a tune in a wheelbarrow, but the sound quiality of music coming from the Zumo drives me nuts. It's so bad I refuse to use it. Not that the iPod has great range of EQ individualized settings, it does have a large menu of "variations" to choose from. Navigation is a lot easier, and mounted on am AMPS4 mount where the factory GPS used to be in a Pelican i1010 watertight case with pass-through and tiered mounting interior, it's handy to get to and adjust using my peripheral vision.

 

[bmwbuyer]

Hmmm, sounds like I need to try an A-B comparison between my ipod and my Zumo for audio quality. Could be that I'm not getting the best audio quality that's possible. However, I do like getting the audible directions from the Zumo in my in-ears so I would have to give that up if I only feed the ipod signal to my in-ears. Suppose I could use a Y-adapter cable and feed both signals to the in-ears but hot sure if I would induce impedance problems that would cause damage to either the Zumo or the ipod. Worth checking out though. Thanks for the ideas.

Tim

 

[GeezerBeemer66]

I'll have to admit that I'm no musician either, but I still like quality sound in my music. I'm new to the LT (1 month and counting), but not to the Zumo 550. I've been using it my Harley Ultra since the Zumo was first introduced and I couldn't ride without it. I agree, having an EQ would be nice, but let's face it... we riding a motorcycle, not sitting in a concert hall. With that in mind, I think the sound is quite excellent. I've transferred all my music from the iPod to a 4GB SD card on the Zumo. The digital sound from the Zumo is even better than what the CD player produces. That has been my experience on both the Harley and the LT. Also, I'm running the Zumo through a DICE converter (removed the 6-disc CD changer) which was designed for use with the iPod. Before hooking up the Zumo, I tested the DICE with my iPod first. The sound quality was the same. I'm like you, I wanted to kill two birds with one stone and the stone of choice is the Zumo 550!

 

[B1SR]

More Install Info?

The install info for power and auto works. I am using the standard Garmin mount that fits on the console. The mount has a second plug below the power mount. Does anyone have the wiring diagram for the 24 pin connector on the bottom of the Sumo? - SR (2nd week 2K miles)