Cardo can now record your intercom chat

tojjer29

Wannabie Member
I've got a Cardo Packtalk Bold and ever since I've been videoing my rides, I've moaned about what a faff it is to record dual comms. I had it working lovely when we set off for our UK tour, but a dam good downpour put paid to the GoPro mic adapter.
I always said it would be so good if the Cardo app could just record it. Well, now it can.
A few have tried it already, but they say it's laggy and even goes quiet for a while every now and then.
Anyone got the Cardo Edge, Neo or Custom and tried it out?
Recording the audio has got to be the Holy Grail hasn't it?
 
It is definitely something we all struggle with from time to time... I use the same setup in all my helmets with the mic adaptor, but try to waterproof it all with electrical tape and Blu-Tac on the ports etc.
I've not tried recording through a comms unit, but I think @PhilTonic has done some testing
 
I tried similar to @PhilTonic with my cardo bold and insta360 one x2 but it didn't work, it would be good if cardo can work out any bugs and get this working well, also it would be even better if they could somehow roll this out to bold users as surely its a software thing rather than hardware (although I doubt this will happen) as we have 4 cardo bold units in the family that we use when out on the SxS's and ATV's and it would be good to be able to record our audio to use in video's but I'm not about to shell out for 4 new units for the pleasure as my bold's are still working fine.
 
I tried similar to @PhilTonic with my cardo bold and insta360 one x2 but it didn't work, it would be good if cardo can work out any bugs and get this working well, also it would be even better if they could somehow roll this out to bold users as surely its a software thing rather than hardware (although I doubt this will happen) as we have 4 cardo bold units in the family that we use when out on the SxS's and ATV's and it would be good to be able to record our audio to use in video's but I'm not about to shell out for 4 new units for the pleasure as my bold's are still working fine.
As long as one of them is the newer type Gen2 DMC model, then it will record all of them.
 
As long as one of them is the newer type Gen2 DMC model, then it will record all of them.
Ok didn't realise that, so maybe only need to buy one new unit then, still will wait till more people have tried / reviewed this feature before parting with my hard earned.
 
I've heard of this.....is only the new cardo units that can do this, or will the packtalk bold do it with a software update?
 
I've heard of this.....is only the new cardo units that can do this, or will the packtalk bold do it with a software update?
At the moment only the new units, as mentioned in my post above I'd guess this would only be a software thing surely but I doubt cardo will roll it out to there older units as it would likely hamper sales of the newer units if they are marketing this a stand out feature of the new ones.
 
Unfortunately I have not worked out a pattern as of which units will pair and produce good audio with the X2. I can confirm that the Spirit HD will work. I found one indian(?) guy who said Bluetooth 5.0 is required, but some recent models with 5.0 don't seem to connect either. It's not very practical to buy and test a load of bluetooth intercoms...

You can now record bluetooth audio with the cardo app with the recent models, but it will only work in mesh mode OR during a regular 1:1 conversation but it can only record ONE audio source. So you will have to choose to record yourself or your conversational partner. Sounds to me like it wouldn't record music or GPS instructions though. Needs someone to test it.

Personally I have decided to solder a cable to record intercom audio from my Spirit HD and regular lav mic in my helmet. Elminates the need to sync audio in post, too. With the new cardo recorder function you will definitely have to figure out a way to sync audio. Good luck your marker gets picked up by the GoPro/etc. when you decide to turn on your camera doing 100 km/h and your only option is to shout in your helmet or beep the horn.
 
Well, I've had a bit of a play with a 3.5mm jack splitter and another mic right next to the cardo ear speaker connected into my drift xl pro on a ride out with some of the Usual Suspects and I have comms recorded:). I've only checked a few minutes of footage, but this might be a simple solution.

I do need to watch the rest of the ride to check if it works at higher speeds.
 
I used to have a similar set up and it recorded well . What I did was had a splitter from the cardo. One went to my earbuds, the other to a set of phone earphones. I had a mic shoved into one of those earphones and it worked. I did try writing about the rest of the wiring , mic adapter, stereo breakout cable and an extra mic, but it confused me reading it and I knew what I was on about.

Basically, It had 3 mics, the cardo's just for the intercom, one lavalier from the earphone to record the others speech, and another lavalier to record me.
Confused?
 
That sounds similar to how I'm running.
The cardo (mic, speaker) is one unit.
I then have a Rode II lav as my vlogging mic. I then have a Rode Go lav tucked next to a cardo speaker and both Rode mics plug into a 3.5mm jack splitter which plugs into the Drift cam.
 
I heard the cardo audio record option, and consdering how much the gopro stops recording the mic (maybe the media mod is just defect) it is almost worth just buying the cardo for.
Always record the audio, just in case the gopro kicks the mic out again, so you have backup audio.

Easier then using the Zoom, as that one just eats batteries and is always empty when I really need it.
 
I used my android voice recorder a few times, it's not bad. The benefit of this new Cardo function is that it will record your mates in the group as well.
The added bonus is, that you don't have to leave the side door off of the camera so you can keep it waterproof again.
I'm gonna sell my two Cardo Packtalk Bolds (JBL) and use whatever I get to get the newer Edge I think. I watched CrazyLegs on a bike last night and his sounded pretty good. If it records the others that well, I'll be well happy. I just like the idea of not having a helmet full of cables and splitters.
This record facility relies on having a good bluetooth connection with your phone, and in reality they shouldn't ever be far from each other when on the bike.
Only one way to find out.
 
Hey there,

I am new to the site and not a true vlogger.
I built an app called Crew Relay Chat, which does a couple of things for us riders, and runs on Android and iOS.

#1 a voice chat via your phone, no pairing required, and uses any bluetooth headset.
Inviting friends to join is simple (QRCode, airdrop/nearby share, bluetooth,...)

#2 see where your group is on the map (with breadcrumbs so you also see how they got where they are)

#3 use phone wifi/bluetooth to work offline (very limited without additional hardware)



Cardo beat me to it, but I am adding the feature to record audio from the voice chat directly on your phone. It captures your group audio, assuming everyone is running the app. So today it won't work if you do not have any cell coverage. The app also records any ride as a GPX file.

Do you guys care about the audio codec?
I currently use opus/ogg (which is how I wrote the voice comm) and the quality is better than mp3, but still quality is limited to what audio you can get from the Bluetooth microphone (HFP) which is what Cardo uses anyway.

I save both the local microphone and remote speakers in a single file. Since the original goal was voice chat, the audio mic input is filtered to extract only the voice when speaking. I can either record that OR the full mic input which will have much more noise.
Would you rather have the filtered version, the unfiltered version, or an option to choose?

Also, when a user starts recording, the app will notify all riders about the recording, with a flashing red dot on screen (for the updated versions), and an audio notification ("This ride is being recorded by XXX"), either when recording starts, or when joining the ride, for all versions.

What else would make it easy for motovlogging?

Voice commands are not available today. Would that help?
Curious about your input.

I can share links to the beta version once recording is available.

thx
Christophe
 
Hi Christophe,

sounds great! Couple of questions/recommendations:

- Can riders over great distances join a ride someone created? I.e. someone in the north is riding with someone in the south of Germany.
- Filtered voice or full mic audio in recordings must be an option to choose from. It's personal preference to every motovlogger.
- I guess OGG is fine, but MP3 is probably more compatible. Maybe make it optional?
- VERY important: your own audio and group audio from the speakers must be on different channels. Or if that's not possible, in different files. Otherwise you cannot adjust own audio/group audio levels or mute one or the other in post if required.
- Voice commands would be helpful for people who don't mount their phone on the handlebar.

Please share links to the beta when available. My friend Rhönschrat would probably try this too. He is very much into testing riding Apps.

Thank you
 

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