Helmet Speakers / Earphones

[BretMorris]

Hi all,

I am thinking of getting some of the helmet speakers / headphones as an alternative to the ipod earphones.  Has anyone tried alternatives to earphones to listen to music while on the longer rides?  The normal ipod earphones are uncomfortable after a very short distance but I have also heard that the speakers that you "velcro" into your helmet become pretty useless once you get to 110kms!  Any help and advice would be great.

Bret

[MonsterDorf]

I was looking a various option and decided to get a good pair of "in ear" headphones. They provide 30dB attenuation of the ambient noise (like earplugs) and superb sound quality for tunes on longer rides. I also use them in place of earplugs, even when not connected to my ipod.

I have a pair of AKG K324P (ebay does good deals) but the July edition of PCUser has a review on 15 headphones of which a 10 or so are "in ear".

Cheers 

[ptooey]

those velcro speakers actually get pretty useless after 70-80km/h..

ideally best to use those in-ear phones (the ones with the round rubber seals that go into your ear), and selecting ones that are obviously slimmer on the exterior. if you manage to seat em just right so they don't pop out after slipping on the helmet, you'll even hear the bass in your tracks.. 

on my travels i actually had a comms setup using the velcro speakers, combined with in-ears for music. and after several hours and days of continuous helmet wear they both start pressing on your ears/skull pretty badly. well at least they did for me.

so always good to hunt down cables that let you use your fave in-ears with your comms if you go down that path.

[heatherp]

I have a set of 'ear moulds' custom fitted silicon earlplugs with cables attached for my iPod.   You usually find them at bike shows.  And they advertise in most bike mags.  And the iPod lives in an waterfproof otter box on my belt so I can access the controls.  The good thing is I don't have to have the iPod very loud and I can still hear the bike.

[techno]

waterfproof otter box

I gotta ask......

whats an otter box apart from the packaging you buy an otter in?

[heatherp]

I gotta ask......

whats an otter box apart from the packaging you buy an otter in?

No - it's make out of an otter! 

It's one of these http://www.pressdigital.com.au/rugged-cases-boxes-bags/otterbox-ipod-nano-armour-case-p-5451.html

I have drowned mobile phones and iPods since moving to Victoria and riding in the rain as I do so I have found some little thingymebobs to keep electronics happy in the rain.  Canoe shops are good places to look.

[Six95]

I had the plugs that Heather is talking which were purchased from the bike show.
The following year I went back to the same stand/vendor and had the speaker parts removed and filled back up with the silicone as I did not want to listen to music ever again whilst riding (now they are just plain plugs which keep out 100% wind noise).

However - I'd recommend that setup if you really need the tunes although this is the only system that I have used apart from normal earphones.

[monsta]

I use this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-SHB7100-ear-wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B000P0DGS8

in ear buds that I bluetooth to my phone and listen to music. If the phone rings you can answer because the  ear buds have a microphone that picks up ya voice via the ear canal.

I'm disapointed that it wont find a bluetooth connection to the GPS tho...

[craigo]

I've had a pair of Shure canalphones for over a year and they are good. You can get them under a helmet reasonably well enough and once they are in they generally stay in unless you give the cable a really good yank. I wear them as earplugs as well as headphones as they seem to block loads of exhaust noise as well.

[Dannog]

I've got a Cardo bluetooth headset that uses speakers. It has wireless connection to phone and pillion rider and has a micro input for a 1.5mm stereo phone plug. It also has a FM radio

Don't use the radio function any more as its too distracting. haven't tried the ipod on it yet.

Sound it fine however there is a bit of wind noise that develops around 90km because the unit is mounted on the side of the helmet.

[DosVerde]

Don't forget - If you use iTunes, rip your CD's using lossless ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec). It takes up a bit more space, but results in a much better sound then MP3 or AAC.

Oh, and the in ear type earphones are brilliant, I got some Sony ones and they are marvelous.