Our Rugged Radios Intercom Review- 6100R, First Impressions

Anything Else?

VOX

This feature used to be more prevalent, such as on the RRP 660, but is harder to find as of late. Essentially, VOX control lets you dictate the volume required to activate transmission to the driver or passenger. A higher VOX level will require a much more concentrated volume to que a transmission to the driver. A lower VOX level will be much more likely to randomly send transmissions to the driver (if set too low, it can be accidentally activated by wind , breathing levels , etc.). If using non-helmet over-the-ear headsets, this feature is a huge help. Anyhow, we believe that the RRP 6100 has more advanced voice processing capabilities than its predecessors and thus, was able to eliminate the manual VOX adjustment. We’ve tried numerous intercoms and often can’t last a single minute without reaching for the VOX control- on the 6100, however, we completely forgot that this feature wasn’t even there. It’s that good!

Side-Tone On/Off

One of the first things you’ll notice when you talk over an intercom is the slight re-iteration of your voice. It’s a nice way to ensure that your intercom is working and that your passenger is, in fact, hearing what you have to say. When your in a high-noise environment, however, the side-tone can be one extra nuisance that contributes to unnecessary noise. To create a truly serene driving environment, the 6100 lets you eliminate the side-tone as you see fit. Less noise, more focus in our opinion. For reference, this is a pretty high-end feature as none of the other Rugged intercoms have a side-tone delete. If you’re planning on trail riding or general recreation, this is more of a novel feature than anything. For racing, it’s personal preference but well desired nonetheless.

Music Listening

Absolutely imperative! Every Rugged Radios intercom unit comes music-ready. The 5100 has a front-mounted 3.5mm auxiliary port, the RRP 696 has Bluetooth capability, and the RRP 6100 has a rear-mounted AUX connection (this will require CS-MUSIC-6P-XL to convert to a 3.5mm port for your phone). We love this capability and always have a playlist ready for the day ahead with our intercoms. Again, this is only made possible with your game-changing intercom unit. It’s worth it!

Overall Opinion

Rugged Radios did a phenomenal job with the 6100- it’s sleek, advanced, and highly robust. This intercom is loaded with features that an experienced racer will appreciate combined with the simplicity that a weekend-warrior will immediately be able to operate. Coming from individuals that have had nearly every intercom that Rugged has sold over the last 5 years, we can definitively vouch for the RRP 6100. Plain and simple, it works really well: the RRP 6100 solves many of the issues that the earlier intercoms were plagued with. Without a doubt, the dual volume controls sold us on this unit. When we started with this , we were relatively indifferent on the individual volumes: after a handful of events and trails, it’s actually become pretty difficult to use the other (non-6100) intercom we have!

One last upgrade that we haven’t discussed is the DSP capability. The 6100 is the only intercom that has upgradability for DSP chips (Digital Sound Processing). Essentially, whether immediately or just down the road, you can order/install these chips (~$300 EA) into your intercom in order to assist with noise mitigation. It’s noise-cancelling technology for your race car. When racing a 4400 Unlimited truck or anything with a large engine, this is a very pleasant upgrade. We don’t have any experience with these, at the present, but will update as this changes.

As far as durability goes, dust from the races and water from our pressure washer haven’t seemed to bother it. Obviously care needs to be taken when washing the interior but you can rest easy knowing that these electronics are tough.

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