Modern Vespa

Does anyone ride with noise canceling ear buds? I am wondering if those would work better for canceling out wind noise than ear plugs?

I currently use disposable ear plugs but I seem to have issues getting them in really deep where they work properly so I bought some custom plugs that will be in a week or so. They are supposed to reduce the noise by 40 db and the throw away plugs only have 32 db noise reduction.

Links to noise cancelling earbuds?

Best
Miguel

WUUUT?!

I CAN"T HEAR YOU!

(oh noes! It says I am shouting! But I am shouting! I want to shout!)

I doubt they would be better, but certainly better than nothing.




EDIT: Just seen that your plugs lower noise by 40dB, if that's the case then yes, they would be better. Would be interested to know what they are.

I am getting the new Bose earbuds when they come out.

http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/headphones/noise_cancelling_headphones/quietcomfort_20/index.jsp&Variant=qc20i

I will use these for mowing the lawn and running the snowblower and thought they might work well for wind noise on the scooter plus I might know when someone is trying to call me.

There are several threads on this topic if you want to search - lots of robust discussion on this topic - lots of opinions.

Here is link to the most recent.

ear plugs when riding.

I went to audiologist so did not see a brand name but will report back when I get them. They had a model that was specifically for wind noise for riders without helmets but they did not knock down the db's very much (20?). The pair I picked claim 40 db reduction. We will see. I am also looking to get them in easily. While I can get the disposables in eventually in all the way and they work great I have struggled sometimes for 15 minutes trying to get them right and it was very frustrating struggling for that long for my 30 minute ride to or from work.

I have read all the threads on ear plugs, I am specifically looking for responses on noise cancelling ear buds.

Are you rolling the ear plugs between your figure and thumb to compress them to a smaller diameter before trying to put them in

Yes, I do roll them down to nearly toothpick size.

Like some other ear plug thread replies have stated, I must have bends in the ear canal that make this more of a challenge.

I think there may some confusion around this one. You can cancel noise via active systems that sample the enviorment and then create an inverse signal which is the fed back to the speakers. That works fine in an airplane but the tinny speakers and amps tend to become overwhelmed at the high DB levels wind noise creates on a bike. The other approach is to passively block noise by plugging the ear canal. That can work quite well on a bike but is completely dependent upon the seal & since no two ear canals are the same, you really need to find the one that fits you best & be sure to insert it properly. There are earbuds that offer good sound isolation in addition to superior sound. I've used two brands on my touring bikes (Etymotic and Westone) to good effects. They are not quite as isolating as the best foam plugs but with the right tips can be quite close. Under a full face even at 90 miles an hour they also sound better than most peoples home stereos. It you are taking active systems, however, I doubt they would work well on a bike.

My husband has very small ear canals and the bend in an almost 90 degree fashion, so typical earplugs don't work for him. He custom ordered earplugs. They work very well. Cost was about $200.

I'm a bit doubtful that noise canceling ear buds would work better, but let us know if they really do! The best way, as far as I understand, to reduce nose is a combination earplugs and earmuffs (those things you see airport folks wear on the Tarmac. If i remember from my research, ear plugs can reduce noise by 30-ish dB and ear muffs by 20-ish, so combination of both is 50-ish, Of course, muffs won't do it for those of us wearing helmets.

If it's difficult to insert ear plugs, it must also be difficult to find earbuds that fit. It is for me, anyway. Difficult enough that I quit looking.

My ear canal is fairly straight (I've never looked), it is very small. I have tried dozens of types of reusable and foam ear plugs, then recently stumbled upon some at Harbor Freight that are thinner than any other I have found. They compress smaller too, and remain small longer than most, making it easier to put them in.

I'm an earbudaholic, I have several sets - LG, Scull candy, beats and a few others.. But my all time favorites are anything Klipsch for fit, noise blocking and great sound IMHO.

http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Reference-S4i-Noise-Isolating-Headphones/dp/B005ZNHK4Q/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1371844564&sr=8-12&keywords=klipsch+earbuds

Haven't tried Bose yet... price is too prohibitive to risk a bad fit.. even if it does fit, It is still too expensive.

I spent less than $300 on my Vespa crash bars.

I have some Sennheiser CX500's which I love, but when I read the Klipsch reviews I can't help feeling I'm missing something. I've been considering shelling out but tbh I've been put off after trying on some Bose earphones which were on sale for almost £300 ($460?). I was thoroughly underwhelmed, far preferred my CX500's. Do you have any experience with Sennheisers? Is it worth the extra dough for the Klipsch ear buds?

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Klipsch-Image-X10i/

I have always wondered about the Sennheiser, read great things about them! and would love to try them.
The Klipsch have a great sound but what I am thrilled with Klipsch that no other earbuds I have tried on is, A great fit!
The oval shape has a specific line up mark on the buds and ear piece that "for me" creates great noise canceling fit.

At the gym I go to, the music is either 80'S hair band or Taylor Swift The Klipsch is the only buds I have that cancels about 95%+ of the incoming sounds... The new style X10i in your link is much smaller than my S4i... May need to have them for the collection

This will be gross to some...

Roll them down, stick the end into your mouth to get them wet and they slide right in.

Chapstick will work too.

Would love to get my hands on some of the noise cancelers, for a tryout. Doubt I would use the spit trick on them...

R

Rider 33 is right about noise canceling. Webbikeworld found that noise canceling earbuds did not work well for helmet wind noise.

The Etymotic ER6i buds were the bomb...but now discontinued.

I have been using Shure SE 215 style noise isolating for quite a few years now and they are great. Good fit under a FF helmet, good isolation and good sound.

http://www.shure.com/americas/products/earphones-headphones/se-earphones/se215-sound-isolating-earphones

Overkill, I think.

Get some Etymotic ETY earplugs and be done with it.
Inexpensive, washable, comfortable, and they get the job done.

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

I noticed though, that they have a new disclaimer on their site:

ETYPlugs are reusable, but with repeated use, the eartips may lose elasticity. For best performance and retention, if you use your ETYPlugs constantly, consider replacing them every 3-6 months.

Unless they've changed the material they've been using, I've experienced absolutely problems with my ETY's, and I've been using them for years.

omg!!!! $299 for an ear plug????? omfg i will just squeeze one cotton ball and slap it inside my eardrum. it'll cost me 2¢....

i am not looking to get the Bose specifically for riding. I am getting them so I can use them when mowing the lawn and running the snowblower as well as listening to music in other high ambient noise situations and thought maybe riding would be one more place to use them. I have a custom pair of ear plugs coming in a week or so but was just seeing if anyone used noise cancelling headphones while scootering to see how they worked. I don't think I would be using them for listening to music while riding and i think you can use them just to kill noise without playing music. It would be nice to know when someone is trying to contact me as i will be connecting these to an iPhone.

[/quote]i am not looking to get the Bose specifically for riding. I am getting them so I can use them when mowing the lawn and running the snowblower as well as listening to music in other high ambient noise situations .[/quote]

Its a question of the sound threshold they have to overcome. The higher it is, the less effective active systems will be. The absence or presence of a music signal in that reverse wave won't really matter. It just needs to be loud enough to cancel out the incoming sound wave. In high noise situations (like on a bike or running heavy equipment) sound blocking works better than sound cancelation.

As soon as I heard that they were discontinued, I bought a couple of spares on Amazon plus extra filters and flanges. You can still find them once in awhile one eBay.

NOTHING I have tried comes close.

[/quote]NOTHING I have tried comes close.[/quote]

True. Sadly, none of their current models seem to fit under a helmet nearly as well. Generally speaking, over the ear designs work much better than most in helmet applications as they don't stick out as much. Westone's work quite well as they basically are made for musicians on stage and thus are low profile. Some of their high-end models are quite good too.

At a trade show several years ago, I was sharing a hotel room with my editor, who is a high-decibel snorer. After one sleepless night, I found the E.A.R. booth at the show, where they were custom-molding ear plugs for, as I recall, $50. Worth every penny. They inject some sort of soft plastic into your ears, and the world just goes away. You could be sleeping next to a punch press and be just dimly aware that there was something going on.

Those look sweet! I just bought the Bose IE2s and I LOVE them. I have small ears and so most earbuds are too big and impossible to wear/keep in in my helmet. The Bose are so comfortable they almost feel like they're not there.

When my hubby and I ride together, I wear my music in one ear, since we are usually chatting on the Scala comm system we have. It works out nicely.