Wiring helmet for sound

[Geezer]

I've decided to catch up with the est of the world and get an MP3 player. I've never ridden with tunes so this will be a first for me.

What I'm wondering is a set of ear buds going to make enough sound to hear at freeway speed? I have a Bell king sized helmet and even with my big head, I have a little room to spare so I was planning to put the speakers behind the ear foam. My next option would be to cut up a set of head phones and install them the same way.

Any ideas along this line would be appreciated...

Tony

[egleaves]

SWMBO listens to her MP3 player while riding behind me pretty much every time we go out. She wears a 3/4 helmet that covers her ears just a little and she swears she can hear it just fine with her earbuds, even at freeway speeds. It may be because she is behind me and not getting much wind noise, but I also suspect she is mildly tone deaf.

I'd like to have sound in my helmet too, but it gets loud in there. Sometimes just the wind noise makes my ears hurt. I'm thinking the key would be a good helmet that keeps the noise out, or a windshield.

[CatatonicBug]

There are kits that are specifically designed for that purpose (Chatterbox does that, I think). You can either mount them in the helmet, or just wear the earbuds. If and when I ever get to that point, I'm just going to buy a helmet with Bluetooth built into it, and stream the tunes from the media player in my phone. I'll then be able to answer the phone at the same time.

[psycoreefer]

I've got a set of ear buds that are kind of like ear plugs. They've got foam on them and you roll the foam in your fingers to compress it then stick em in your ears. When the foam expands back out they do an excellent job of blocking out side noise and makes it easy to hear your music at a reasonable volume. I just put them in my ears and then pull my helmet on over the top....

[wa407mpp]

Instead of cutting up a set of ear phones which will work marginally at best, you can buy a set of ready made headset speakers from Dennis Kirk for around $25.00. Less work and a lot better results.

[Ivan]

I use the JVC Marshmallow ear buds. They have memory foam and fit comfortably in the ear for extended periods of time. They also seal out a lot of the road noise, which is a big help on long trips. I posted a thread about ear buds and got all kinds of flack for even suggesting that they could be used while riding. It was supposed that blocking out sound is a bad thing while riding as far as safety is concerned. I have found that they lower the outside noise to a comfortable level, not eliminating it completely. I think they are pretty safe.

All that does lead to a point. They are cheap, have great sound, and would be easy to use as a trial setup. They are kind of a pain to get installed and then the brain bucket over it, but once they are in, they do great. Makes a long ride much more bearable.

[Yahman]

I can't get my helmet on with my ear buds in place, it pulls them out every time. I have also tried speakers but you can still hear the wind noise, so it just adds to the overall noise level in my Scorpion EXO-700 helmet.

Larry

[XJOK2PLAY]

Hey, Tony...

I had a Bell until recently myself... plus I wear glasses. Those stinkin' Bell designs are so tight fitting, I couldn't stand it for more than an hour at a time... made my head hurt!

But, I use a little Sansa Mp3 player I bought at WalMart... great little player. I did buy the upgraded JVC earbuds Ivan's talking about though. They turn down close, so they clear even in a tight fitting Bell just fine. I fastened my player to my left handle bar.

I would like to upgrade to bluetooth, though. That's the only way to go.
They make a GPS just for bikes w/ blutooth. You can use it as a hub, route a radar detector, Mp3, cell phone... whatever through it. Calls will interupt the music from the cell, detactor will interupt... pretty cool, if you've got the bucks. (Unfortunately, I don't.) But wireless would be nice.

As far as loud enough? No problem. Bass response is a little thin though, but still sounds ok. For $50 bucks it works well for me. Even w/ a Bell helmet.

[Crazcnuk]

I have noise cancelling ear buds, and they work ok.

I take all these people that can hear 'just fine' on a bike with a grain of salt. I have freinds, with Ultra Classics that claim they can hear thier on bike stereo, at highway speeds, just fine w/o using headsets. I think, if thier fav place to listen to music is in a hurricane, then they are right.

Even with noise cancelling and stuffed in my ears I still don't think the listening quaility is all that great because of bike noise, wind noise, traffic etc. . I think some people are just so addicted to their tunes that they are willing to fill in the blanks from memory.

Anyone who disagrees, can you listen to talk radio, comfortably while riding?

By comfortably, I mean can you hear the conversation without missing anything, and withouth having the volume so high it gives you a headache?

[CatatonicBug]

I have noise cancelling ear buds, and they work ok.

I take all these people that can hear 'just fine' on a bike with a grain of salt. I have freinds, with Ultra Classics that claim they can hear thier on bike stereo, at highway speeds, just fine w/o using headsets. I think, if thier fav place to listen to music is in a hurricane, then they are right.

Even with noise cancelling and stuffed in my ears I still don't think the listening quaility is all that great because of bike noise, wind noise, traffic etc. . I think some people are just so addicted to their tunes that they are willing to fill in the blanks from memory.

Anyone who disagrees, can you listen to talk radio, comfortably while riding?

By comfortably, I mean can you hear the conversation without missing anything, and withouth having the volume so high it gives you a headache?

I have to agree on that one. All I really care is that I can hear the melody of the music, and most of the words. I know I can't understand the commercials when all they are doing is talking. For me, it's a matter of having some foot-tapping encouragement, and something to hum along with.

[Geezer]

I bought a discontinued Sansa Connect MP3 player but it doesn't have any wireless capability but for $37, I don't care. So far it looks great and I can also put pix of my grandkids on it...

Anyway I looked at the helmet wiring kit at Denis Kirk and I don't think it's worth $25. I'll try rigging something up first and see how it goes.

This Bell King size is the first helmet that I've had that hasn't been too tight. I can't find a helmet at any bike shop that I can get on much less fits...

Geezer

[Bigfoot]

I use a set of earbuds that I bought at best buy. The brand is skullcandy. They are great. They come with 3 different sizes of soft rubber end pieces and they are great at noise cancelling. At times I kill the music and just use them as earplugs to kill the wind noise. They are small enough and fit into the ear deep enough that I have not had a problem taking the helmet on or off. They are plenty loud enough, In fact, this is the first set that I actually have to turn my mp3 player down (from full volume) even at highway speeds. They were a little spendy, but they are the best ones that I have had.

[mstic2000]

I use a set of earbuds that I bought at best buy. The brand is skullcandy. They are great. They come with 3 different sizes of soft rubber end pieces and they are great at noise cancelling. At times I kill the music and just use them as earplugs to kill the wind noise. They are small enough and fit into the ear deep enough that I have not had a problem taking the helmet on or off. They are plenty loud enough, In fact, this is the first set that I actually have to turn my mp3 player down (from full volume) even at highway speeds. They were a little spendy, but they are the best ones that I have had.

I picked up a couple pair of Sentry noise cancelling earbuds with the soft rubber end pieces at biglots for $2 each set and they are the same thing walmart sells as ipod earbuds for $19! Works great on my motocikle

[Crazcnuk]

"I have to agree on that one. All I really care is that I can hear the melody of the music, and most of the words"

And that's fine, it's just that others get really disappointed when they run out and buy stuff, and find it's not up to their expectations.


I personally don't listen to music much, unless there is nothing else. Even then, I will often not use my MP3, onboard stereo or Sat radio but just cruise, as I have for the last 30 years with nothing.

I like talk radio, but there are very few stations. Rather than listen to the same mindless drivel I've heard for most my life, I prefer to learn something.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Tony,
I recently picked up a Scorpion EXO 1000 Large size from a buddy of mine.

He had it wired inside, and set up to bluetooth... (he's got all the cool GPS setup I mentioned earlier...) Everything just ran in behind the liner, with some speakers at the ear locations velcroed to the helmet. It all hid nicely and looked factory, & worked well.

The thing I liked about this helmet over the Bell was the extra room it has in the ear areas... now I can wear my glasses, have my earbuds in, and still have plenty of comfort room! Much better.

Bell needs to rethink the way they pad the ear locations in their helmets, IMHO.
I know mine made me suffer way too much!

That's cool you got a Sansa! I really like mine. It also has the built in radio, as well as the pic loading capability. Mine's the 8gb. Battery life is great as well. I understand what some are saying about not being able to hear their talk or tunes... but I like mine. My only complaint is wishing I had better bass response from the ear buds. Kinda tinny.
L8R