Cracking sound with TomTom Rider 550 through headset

nikos73

I've seen a similar discussion to this one relating to the TomTom Rider 450 but I thought I would add some additional tech to the subject. I have just bought a Rider 550 and on the whole I am very impressed although not as fast as the adverts would have you believe. My main issue though is I have paired the device to my phone and to my Cardo SHO-1 headset. When I get directions through the headset it sounds like a darlek. For those that never watched Dr Who or have no idea what I am talking about, it sounds crackly like there is a form interference. I have seen the comments about repairing and I have to say, coming from a very techie background, that that's a cop out. That's like something we used to say years ago about rebooting your computer and whilst sometimes both of those have merits, I would say not in this case. I say that because the device is new and my iPhone 8 plus is also pretty new. My TT 400 was actually much clearer. Google maps from my phone to headset is crackle free so the issue has to lie with the TomTom.

I have to also point out that it's not just traffic that I get the crackle but directions and also the new read aloud SMS feature. The latter was so poor that it was an utter waste of time trying to hear.

Come on TomTom please surprise us with a valid response and not a repair suggestion which is total pants.

Ste7ios

Just for testing purposes, don’t enable the tethering and see how it sounds. Is it better?

nikos73

The 550 doesn’t work through tethering anymore. The data side of the connection for things like traffic and real time updates works through the MyDrive app and no disconnecting that doesn’t help. I know this because for most of a journey yesterday it was failing to connect and still sounded terrible.

Ste7ios

Yes, the preferred way is through the app to have the SMS messaging, and it also works as a proxy (as always) for the Internet connection, but you can still use tethering / PAN if you want.

The logic is the same. Turn off the Bluetooth connection on the phone and check the voice quality. Let us know...

nikos73

I did a good run out and through London yesterday and can report that with Bluetooth and data switched off, in fact the pairing removed, it sounds exactly the same. I would err on the side of it being my headset of I hadn't read that others have had similar issues with other headset manufacturers and models. The sound quality is really substandard and TT should be ashamed. On a separate note when I do want to connect the phone to utilise data for things like traffic, it rarely connects first and in some cases not at all. I am contemplating returning the 550 and going back to my 400.

I would have to say buyer beware with this product.

lemagus

I had this issue as well initially. Music from my phone sounded fine but all directions via TT 550 sounded horrible. This was fixed when I chose the higher end audio option on the TT 550 bt menu. Now the sound from the TT unit is fine.

There is a different issue now however: if I am listening to music and street directions interrupt the music, the music will often not return to playing at all. There is a warning about this when you select the higher-end audio option from TT but it is a real annoyance nonetheless and not sure why this is still an issue.