Headset

[tslick]

I know you ride with some sort of headset Silver for listening to your MP3 tunes :idea: (I think) and wondered what you have and do you use it without a helmet. Anyone else who does this please let us know what works best. I love to hear my bike, but on some of my longer trips it would be nice to hear a few tunes.

[Silver]

Although considered dangerous and therefore not recommended, I do indeed ride with earplug headphones - under my full face helmet. I got them from a company called ETYMOTIC, which makes high-end acoustical equipment. The earplugs I have are ER6's, which have incredible sound and cancel out almost 20 decibels as well. They're a bit pricey, about $150, but I've found them to be ten times better then all the $15 sets I've tried. :)

For an MP3 player, I use a Sony mini-disc (~$200). You can get over 12hours of music on a mini-disc and batteries last much longer than a true MP3 player. The one I have also has AM/FM and a separate volume/equalizer/ff/rwd/etc. controller that has an alligator clip. That way I can keep the mini-disc player (about half the size of a deck of cards) in my jacket pocket or luggage bag and clip the remote to my belt loop for easy access. :)

[tslick]

Thanks. I have heard that some of the better sets have the cancellation feature and that is almost a requirement, I would think, for the "not recommended" use on a bike. I'll do some checking on where to pick them up. :thumbup:

[Wind]

Silver,
I'm glad you at least note that wearing ear phones and listening to music while riding is "considered dangerous."
Thats worse than a helmet. And you do both. How can you hear anything? You can't hear emergency sirens or horns with those things in. Like wearing a helmet, it is everyone's own choise, but please do not endorse doing this. In many states it is illegal to wear headphones while driving.
Crazy. :nono:

[tslick]

wind,
I do not consider Silver's information an endorsement for earphones and would hope others see that as clearly as I do. BTW I'm pretty sure my entire bike is illegal in all 50 states.

[Silver]

While I don't necessarily endorse wearing headphones while riding, I don't necessarily condemn their use either. Wind noise across your ears at 65mph is above OHSA levels for sustained sound, and is at the same frequency band as speech and audible sirens and such. Wind noise is also multi-frequency (i.e. white noise), which masks other noises. So, technically, riding with good ear plugs and/or a helmet that cancels out wind and 'white' noise can actually heighten ones awareness to surroundings. In short, it enhances the signal-to-noise ratio - depending on volume, of course. :2cents

On a practical level, listening to music while I ride is personally far less distracting to me than riding in my mini-van with the radio on, my kids jabbering, and my wife asking me questions. :)

Again, I said it was not recommended. :)