I use these as well both in winter on snowmobile and summer on bike. IIRC I have the filters with the most attenuation installed.
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Ear plug recommendations?
- Thread starter KLR Junkie
- Start date
How much were they?
It was a few years ago and I don't remember but I still use them. The fact that they're still in use tells you that the cost per use is very low and there's no waste to the environment like disposables. I do remember that with some companies you could claim the cost or part of it as hearing protection. I used the Costco in Ajax and had very good personalized service.
ScorpionT16
Well-known member
Has anyone tried the airpods pro?
hooshmand.net
I use 3M ear plugs now, and have been for 3yrs+, I love them, sleep with them, they never hurt or bother me, I can go days with them in. Though, I can barely hear music through the intercom in the helmet, and on the hwy, can't hear any music/gps directions or calls, so debating the airpods pro. The reviewer said its equivalent to a 3M earplug, 31 decibels
Using AirPods Pro on Motorcycles (for Wind/Engine noise)
AirPods Pro's noise cancellation is great for blocking motorcycle wind and engine noise, great news if you suffer from ear pain or tinnitus.
hooshmand.net
I use 3M ear plugs now, and have been for 3yrs+, I love them, sleep with them, they never hurt or bother me, I can go days with them in. Though, I can barely hear music through the intercom in the helmet, and on the hwy, can't hear any music/gps directions or calls, so debating the airpods pro. The reviewer said its equivalent to a 3M earplug, 31 decibels
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No way they are NRR 31 with that little seal. That's either the reviewer pulling something out of their ass or some composite number that is factoring in ANC (which you cant count on if external noise is not constant or high frequency or . . .).Has anyone tried the airpods pro?
Using AirPods Pro on Motorcycles (for Wind/Engine noise)
AirPods Pro's noise cancellation is great for blocking motorcycle wind and engine noise, great news if you suffer from ear pain or tinnitus.
I use 3M ear plugs now, and have been for 3yrs+, I love them, sleep with them, they never hurt or bother me, I can go days with them in. Though, I can barely hear music through the intercom in the helmet, and on the hwy, can't hear any music/gps directions or calls, so debating the airpods pro. The reviewer said its equivalent to a 3M earplug, 31 decibels
ScorpionT16
Well-known member
That's what I was thinking, it's not a scientific comparison, just a subjective one, so was wondering if anyone here has an unbiased use case of them. The com unit I have now is an el chepo one of Amazon, been working great for 3 years, though the battery is starting to go and I'm wondering if maybe the Cardo units with JBL speakers are loud enough to play music past the 3M ear plugs.
I tried the high fidelity silicone things, uncomfortable, and didn't block anything imo
I'll stick with my recommendation not to play music on the quiet side of ear protection. It makes it much harder to hear what is going on in the world around you. Obviously, we are all adults here so people can make their own decisions.
As for speakers being loud enough, wind noise at the outside of your ear is ~90 to 100 dBA, you want speakers that can comfortably play at similar levels. On the upside you want 100 dBA 1" from the speaker instead of ~24" from the speaker if you are using an on-bike system so it is much easier.
I recently got a Sena SRL2 unit and also use the Big Ear custom ear plugs.
I tried it with music recently and it works well. Phone also work well.
It is not loud enough to cause hearing damage or to really make you unaware of anything on the road.
I have also heard from a few different people that the music sounds better with ear plugs.
I have not tried both methods long enough to be able to confirm or deny. But it did sound pretty good to me.
Navigating the functions of the SRL2 with only 3 buttons is another thing. I am trying to remember the different sequence to turn on or off a certain feature.
I tried it with music recently and it works well. Phone also work well.
It is not loud enough to cause hearing damage or to really make you unaware of anything on the road.
I have also heard from a few different people that the music sounds better with ear plugs.
I have not tried both methods long enough to be able to confirm or deny. But it did sound pretty good to me.
Navigating the functions of the SRL2 with only 3 buttons is another thing. I am trying to remember the different sequence to turn on or off a certain feature.
Yea I have these too. After alot of research, I settled on these (I use the black filter when riding) and they work awesome. Cut down on the wind while still being able to hear the surroundings. Way better then regular foamies.
GreenPlane
Well-known member
It looks like I'm a little bit late to the discussion.. anyway, couple of years back I've got nonoise motorsport earplugs (https://fortnine.ca/en/nonoise-motorsport-noise-filter-ear-protection) and still love them. Had to learn how to insert them correctly to get a good seal (it took a few attempts). I guess they are similar to EarPeace mentioned before. Nice noise reduction while riding and you still can talk with other people without taking them off.
Nowadays, I'm actually very curious about earbuds (with or without noise cancellation). Don't want to move com unit to the new helmet and thinking about replacing it with some earbuds. Did anyone try Sony/Sennheiser units?
Nowadays, I'm actually very curious about earbuds (with or without noise cancellation). Don't want to move com unit to the new helmet and thinking about replacing it with some earbuds. Did anyone try Sony/Sennheiser units?
I've been using disp. plugs purchased by the 100 pr. from Home Depot for years. Supposed to be 32 db, but probably less than that and I use a Scala headset to listen to music. Works well and plugs last about 5 - 7 insertions or so. No issues with sound reduction. listening to music and hearing traffic noise.
I would be a bit concerned about noise cancellation though, this could effectively block out sounds you might want to hear..........
I would be a bit concerned about noise cancellation though, this could effectively block out sounds you might want to hear..........
Dont be too worried about that. Noise cancelling might take out something like a wheel bearing on the way out but will have very little effect on rapidly changing noises like traffic, sirens, horns, yelling, etc.
GreenPlane
Well-known member
So, I "stole" my wife's earbuds today to try them. They are Mpow M30 and they don't have active noise cancelling. I did 4 runs which include portion of Hwy. 1st run - didn't use anything. 2nd - nonoise earplugs, 3rd - earbuds, 4th - earbuds with some podcast playing.
Earplugs are much more comfortable in the helmet and reduce more noises like wind noise. I'm wondering if earbuds with ANC will be equally good at noise reduction. At the same time, I can hear other people better than when using earbuds.
Earbuds reduced wind noise significantly and made Hwy ride pretty comfortable. Sound quality is much better than earplugs + coms unit (might be an issue of the coms unit, hard to say). Now bad things, they were touching insides of the helmet and I can clearly hear/feel them when I was moving my head e.g. to check traffic in the next lane. Another thing, it was a very frustrating experience to take the helmet off. The earbuds basically stuck against the bottom part. I guess it can be mitigated with some practice..
Some conclusion for myself: it looks like the size of earbuds is very important. E.g. I think Sony WF-1000XM3 wouldn't work for me.. but I still would like to try them as their ANC is good.
One more thing, if your helmet doesn't have cutouts for speakers then it might be much less comfortable to use earbuds..
Edit: some typos.
Earplugs are much more comfortable in the helmet and reduce more noises like wind noise. I'm wondering if earbuds with ANC will be equally good at noise reduction. At the same time, I can hear other people better than when using earbuds.
Earbuds reduced wind noise significantly and made Hwy ride pretty comfortable. Sound quality is much better than earplugs + coms unit (might be an issue of the coms unit, hard to say). Now bad things, they were touching insides of the helmet and I can clearly hear/feel them when I was moving my head e.g. to check traffic in the next lane. Another thing, it was a very frustrating experience to take the helmet off. The earbuds basically stuck against the bottom part. I guess it can be mitigated with some practice..
Some conclusion for myself: it looks like the size of earbuds is very important. E.g. I think Sony WF-1000XM3 wouldn't work for me.. but I still would like to try them as their ANC is good.
One more thing, if your helmet doesn't have cutouts for speakers then it might be much less comfortable to use earbuds..
Edit: some typos.
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Yeah i used my samsung galaxy buds for awhile. If you put your lid on incorrectly or one manages to work itself lose while riding...good luck.
GreenPlane
Well-known member
Galaxy buds don't have ANC, right? they actually look very similar in size to what I tried. Did you find an easy way to take off the helmet without losing earbuds in the helmet/dropping them on the ground?
no they dont, maybe the new versions will that are coming out soon.
nope, taking them off without dropping them was a crap shoot lol.
My issue with the foam plugs is I find it difficult to get them into my ear properly in that you need to roll them up tight, reach around your head with 1 hand to pull up on your ear lobe, and then insert it with your opposite hand… all within about 1 sec before they start to unravel back to shape. And then good luck trying to push them in further into the ear canal. They just get smushed at the opening. Maybe I've got narrow ear canals.
The thing with the Earpeace/Nonoise type is they have a hard insert that goes through the middle of the plug that you can push down on and get it further into your ear. There are 2 or 3 different inserts depending on how much noise you want through them. I use the quietest version.
I've gotten a weird resonance on my left one at times if I go over bumps so still fine tuning my method of insertion.
The thing with the Earpeace/Nonoise type is they have a hard insert that goes through the middle of the plug that you can push down on and get it further into your ear. There are 2 or 3 different inserts depending on how much noise you want through them. I use the quietest version.
I've gotten a weird resonance on my left one at times if I go over bumps so still fine tuning my method of insertion.
Hard yellow foam cylinders or soft foam bullets? I can't stand the original 3M yellow cylinders for many of the reasons you state but the soft foam bullets take many seconds to expand and I have no issues. Correct, you can not reposition them once expanded, but you shouldn't need to. Push them all the way in on the first shot.
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