helmet speakers / headphones

what do you guys use?

I have an Ipod, and the ear buds that came with it tend to fall out on long rides (turning my head alot, ect...)
as well they are hard to get to stay in when I first put on the helmet.
and they hurt alot when I take the helmet off.

I'm looking for a set of speakers to mount inside my helmet,
anyone here do that yet?

I have an Arai Astral X helmet



Russ

 

When riding and listening to my ipod, which is rare, I have the same issue you do. You can go to http://www.helmetaudio.com and look at what they have to offer as they will more than likely have something that will work. I was also looking at some earphones that sit in the ear more, I think Sony makes them. I saw them at Wal Mart but I did'nt really wanna pay out between $14 and $20 for them. But thats just me.

 

I have to sony Earbuds and they feel great (rubber padded) and I snug them in and then put my Lid on and some time they pull out a little when you first put you lid on.. But you can reach in and snug them back in and they stay in as long as I ride after that .. It is worth the extra $$$

 

Here's a link that may help!!

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/helmetradios.html

 

i use Shure E2C earbuds, w/the foam insert (not rubber ... they come w/ both); i've got an Icon full face helmet. the E2Cs get high marks from cnet.com for audio quality and noise masking (all the Shure earbuds do). i've also used Koss earbuds, but audio quality is lower. Aerostich.com has a great selection of earbuds, etc ... you can go cheap for the Koss, but you get what you pay for; i think you have to spring for at least the low-end Shures. they are uncomfortable after a while, and sometimes when taking off your helmet, but i think any earbuds probably are. for me good tunes are worth some discomfort on a long ride, or even the daily commute.

the plus for earbuds, esp. like E2Cs that are good at noise masking, is you can listen to music at much lower db so there's less long term damage to your hearing. if you have to crank up your mp3 player, etc to hear it while riding, you're rapidly going deaf.

some folks say helmet-mounted speakers are safer because they allow you to pick up traffic noise better. i doubt it, as i think you pick up traffic threats thru continual visual scanning, not listening. and you must have to crank the helmet speakers up much further to drown out wind noise, so there goes your hearing.

hope that helps.

kevin

 

Philips

I had the same thinking as USAF, but I didn't think about buying from a genuine hearing protection company. I went to Wal-Mart and found earbuds made by Philips (I think) for around $15 (kinda pricey). The main reason for getting these was because they have a rubber piece that actually inserts into the ear canal and act as a hearing protection device. Does a pretty decent job of blocking out wind noise so therefore I don't have to turn it up as loud. Also, they don't stick out of my ears, so I don't have to worry about pressure from the helmet or knocking them out when I put it on. Just took a ride the other weekend (Highway 66 along the Ohio River Scenic Route close to Louisville) and wore real ear plugs for the first time. I really like that experience, but I did find myself riding a little faster without the wind noise.
For anyone in the Louisville area, have you ridden Highway 66, it is AWESOME. Not quite as good as the Dragon I am sure, but about 30 miles of some pretty hilly twisty stuff. Doesn't seem like you're still in Indiana. Let me know if anyone plans on riding this in the fall or next spring because I'd be game for it.

 

I use the Shure E3C earphones with the medium sized soft rubber buds. The Shures are excellent earphones, rivaling the sound quality of $10,000 home theater systems. They don't need much volume to be heard well, which gives the ambient noises such as ambulance, or horns plenty of room to be heard. Also, their design seems to let higher pitched sounds (unlike wind) to be heard, so the design works well for a bike. I use a Scorpion EXO-700 helmet, known as a pretty noisy piece, with the benefit of good ventilation. For those who would like to know the best possible way to use earphones, follow this!:

Place Shure E3C (or E3G) in ears, but insert the right into the left, and left into the right, which will allow the cord to face down, and the earbud to angle back, which will hold well in a helmet. Then, plug into iPod or whatever you are using, and set the volume. Place iPod or whatever in safe location (tankbag, on your body, wheverer), and then put on helmet. Before strapping the helmet down, put fingers in helmet and gently press on each earbud to air-lock them into your ear canal, and pull wires to each side of helmet. Then strap helmet as normal. Take a few inches of wire dangling from each side of helmet and stuff some into the helmet on each side, to protect your ear in case of a sudden wire tug (like a sudden head movement). Lastly, when you stop and need to hear again, take the earphones out of each side by reaching into the helmet and wiggling them loose, one at a time. Never rip your helmet off without removing your earphones! Ouch!

I know some of that is common sense, but it can save a lot of pain for those who haven't done it correctly before. BTW, I've tried Shure E2's, E3's, E4's, Etymotic ER4's, Sony's, and a few other no-names, before landing on the E3's. The Etymotics are fantastic, but their large shape made problems for the helmet fit, while the E3's are TINY, and their shape leads to zero problems. Eytomotic ER6's are supposed to be good, but their sound quality isn't as good. They are the ones I've never tried.

BTW, E3's come in "C" and "G" series, and the only difference is that the C comes in white, and has a little longer cord then the G type. All else is equal.

 

Make sure you have worked out how to adjust the volume - I've got GPS connected to a speaker in the helmet - I can only just hear the instructions at high (only slightly illeagal) speeds, but it deafens me in town.

 

The head phones I use has a volume control mid wire and independent of my MP3 player. I urn the MP3 player all the way up and then use the mid-wire control for fine tuning. It works out well.

 

So my buddy just got a Griffin iClick wireless remote for his iPod. Mounted the remote on his brake reservoir. Can play/pause, change tracks/volume. It's pretty slick. iPod users might wanna check it out. I spent 5 days feeling myself up through my jacket everytime I neede to change tracks. Really sucked.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/airclickdock/

 

Going to check the Mac Superstore in SLO tomorrow if I have time. I'm pretty sure they carry them.

The apple wired remotes are ok too, but are tough to control with gloves. There's enough seperation between the buttons on that Griffin remote for my gigantor buddy to use it with no problems.

 

good earphones will block the noise to the point where no adjustment is necessary, thus saving you the expense of buying volume controls. I set my Shures at 1/2 way (iPod volume), and leave em. Earphones like Shures and Etymotics that block and isolate will solve this problem entirely, as well as preserve your hearing. If it is loud when you stop, and you have to turn it up when you are riding, THAT IS HEARING DAMAGE happening right there. Overcoming noise with more noise is dangerous.

 

How dangerous do you guys think it is to ride with music on?

 

not dangerous at all as long as you can multi-task. If you aren't a good multi-tasker, might not want to try. Also, blasting your earphones will distract you, so play them quietly. I've already harped on how and what to do this with :biggrin: