Headphones/earphones.....

[Hotdog]

I've recently purchased some Koss 'The Plug' earbuds.

These are described as 'maximum isolation'.

While it's very difficult to actually measure noise attenuation I can very obviously directly compare them to normal foam earplugs.

I would class the attenuation provided by them as somewhere between 'poor' and 'non-existent'.

Not really what I would class as 'maximum isolation'.

Possibly you might not be able to hear background noise if you used them for music and had it cranked right up.

Basically I need a set of earphones that cut out as much background noise (wind noise) as possible.

Any ideas anyone ?

TIA.

Hotdog.
____________________
He's a gentleman, a scholar, he's an-acrobat, he's the one and only truly original.......
Hotdog....(Defender of the weak, the poor and the innocent)
He's The Ace - He's Amazing...He's the Strongest... He's The Quickest.... He's The Best!

[mr.z]

The best are moulded to your inner ear and very expensive (£150+?)

I had great results out of my sony in ear ones, not as good as earplugs but not bad, only thing is they aren't overly comfortable with the helmet i have at the moment...
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[Hotdog]

[mr.z]

https://www.aerostich.com/product.php?productid=17095&cat=337&page=1

These are the ones i was on about, there not actually to bad compared to how much there were... theres a uk company make similar..

The sony ones... ummm. tbh i've managed to missplace mine
They look this though.. fontopia? something like that...
https://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesProducts/MoreImages/MDREX71SL_1.jpg
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[Hotdog]

The Koss ones look like this:

https://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c117/hotdog451/Koss.jpg

They sure do look comfy, don't they ?

Unfortunately they are vented, they have drillings in the back to allow the diaphragm to respond, I'm pretty sure this is why they are useless at attenuating noise.

Hotdog.
____________________
He's a gentleman, a scholar, he's an-acrobat, he's the one and only truly original.......
Hotdog....(Defender of the weak, the poor and the innocent)
He's The Ace - He's Amazing...He's the Strongest... He's The Quickest.... He's The Best!

[NicM]

Anyone know of a decent comportable pair of earphone's. I find with the in ear one's in my lid the press to hard against my ears and after about an hour of riding there just to sore to wear.

[Hotdog]

[JonB]

[Rookie]

If you really want to block out background noise, you need noise-cancelling ones. They cancel out the frequency of the background noise, I'm not going into the science of it again, because I get it wrong.

The standard Sony in-ear noise cancellers cost from about £80.

The best non-cancelling, budget earphones on the market as far as I'm concerned are the Sony in-ears. The old model was the MD-EX71, and the new model is MD-EX81. The 71s are absolutely superb, however I'm yet to try them on a bike. I can't imagine any problems, however.

[G]

I believe the earphones you have got can be 'modded' to use a standard ear plug, which may provide a bit quieter enviroment.

This place might be worth a look....
https://www.diycustomplugs.com/

They are moulded ear plugs which you can do yourself at home. They can be moulded around headphones as well, it seems.

Tempted to give them a try sometime myself.

[Hotdog]

[G]

[Hotdog]

[d8ncer]

The best are moulded to your inner ear and very expensive (£150+?)

Have a look at www.diycustomplugs.com

Link to fitting videos for the products on product pages.

[Hotdog]

[d8ncer]

Link Below

https://www.diycustomplugs.com/fitting_pod_plugs.html

[Velocifero]

Take a look at the SURE website

https://www.shure.co.uk/PersonalAudio/Products/Earphones/index.htm

[Hotdog]

[Andy C]

The headphones i used (ones Mr Z have posted) to have (sony £30 ones) good for the money but i have some and wouldnt get another pair within a month the rubber on the wire same off, still work fine but taking a helmey off near them makes it happen. a friend of mine had the same problem. They are good for 90mph though and dont let the wind in much

Heres is what mine look like now, also the wire tingles on the back of your neck and mean i needed a neck warmer on while off the bike to listen to them

https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/DSC00091.jpg

https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/DSC00092.jpg

https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/DSC00093.jpg

I now have Etymotic Research ER6 headphones and there much better, cheapest they go for is £65+ but im into my headphone so pay this much. If i could go back i would have brought the Etymotic ER6i ones, very simular but smaller ear pods and the range of aftermarket bud are wider for the smaller ear cannal. The ER6 only has foam but ER6i had foam and 2 different rubber one

I brought new small foam filter which were quite expensive (£10 for 4-5 pairs)

I the pic is the carry case, medium + small foam earbuds, Rubber medium bed, filter changing tool, earphones
https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/DSC00094.jpg

The foam is what i use, the rubber is how they come. easy to change over
https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/DSC00095.jpg

In my ear
https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d20/andy13_uk/DSC00096.jpg

These are my recommendation if you have the money, i know a fair about headphones so any questions that you have i try to answer
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[Hotdog]

[Andy C]

afriad these were brought after the crash so havnt used them on the bike but used the sonys a lot and think the ER6 would stand up better as go deeper into the ear.

HOWEVER, if i could buy them again i would defernetly get the ER6i, i have small ear cannals so had to get small ear buds and ER6i's have small rubber ones but ER6 dont.

The ER6i are also smaller as think they would be much better for biking . They also say on the site they have better bass response than the ER6 which will make the difference at high speed as treble is very hard to hear high speed IMO.

I would go for ER6i if i was you, i think the ER6 are excellent sound insolators so im sure the ER6i would be just as good. But remember with earbud earphones they are only good if you get them to fit into your ear really snug and well

Also, dont get them in white, black defernetly. White go off-white very quickly and just look horible

And im pritty sure the ER6i's will be great at speed
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[Hotdog]

Real-Ear-Attenuation-at-Threshold (REAT) Measurement Method
The ANSI standard method of measuring the noise attenuation of hearing protectors and earphones is to compare the quietest sound that can be heard with the earphones in place to the quietest sound that can be heard with the ears open. This Real-Ear-Attenuation-at-Threshold (REAT) method is the basis for all OSHA Noise Reduction Ratings (NRR). ER-4 and ER-6 earphones were measured with the REAT method at E-A-RCALSM Laboratory, Indianapolis, IN. Virtually identical results were obtained on these earplugs by the TNO laboratory in the Netherlands.

Probe Microphone Measurement Method
Active noise-canceling earphones cannot be measured with the REAT Method because their circuit noise interferes with the measurement. ER-4 and ER-6 earphones were compared to active noise-canceling earphones using a probe microphone method: A calibrated 84 dB SPL broad-band pink noise was generated in a reverberation room using four uncorrelated noise sources. The sound pressure developed in the ear was measured with a 2.5 mm microphone located deep in the ear canal. The noise reduction of each earphone was calculated as the difference between the noise level in the open ear and the noise level with the earphone in place.

Ok...so that's how it's measured.

But...what is the actual (or claimed) attenuation ?

ER•6i Technical Specifications
Frequency response: 50 Hz to 16 kHz
Tolerance: ±3 dB to 6 kHz, ±6 dB to 16 kHz re nominal
Transducer type: Balanced armature
1 kHz sensitivity: 108 dB @ 0.1V
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Maximum output: 120 dB SPL
Maximum continuous input: 2.5 Vrms
Weight: less than 1 oz.

No mention of attenuation in the specs ????
____________________
He's a gentleman, a scholar, he's an-acrobat, he's the one and only truly original.......
Hotdog....(Defender of the weak, the poor and the innocent)
He's The Ace - He's Amazing...He's the Strongest... He's The Quickest.... He's The Best!

[Andy C]

i dont know, all i can say if the sony ones were pritty good as keeping the music ok till 90mph. ER6's are better (as hear less when walking etc) and better fit so think they will be great. My helmet wasnt quiet so think they did a good job

The ER6i's are my recommendation. I was also close to getting the Share E2c aswell as look good.

I deferenetly think earphones that go into your ear at £50-70 price range are what work well for riding. Of course more expensive would be even better but not needed
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[Hotdog]

[Andy C]

yes this is a major problem i found but i dont have music that loud that is why i have tried so many headphones (about 6th pair). The sonys didnt need to be turned up to much at all and still hear the music at higher speeds. Though it wasnt as good quility as i wanted so invested in these headphones.

I think they wont need turning up and filter all the noise on the bus that im currently having to catch to get to college and very good sound quility, noticing parts of songs i havnt noticed before as reproduces the sound so well

It a shame you cant borrow mine for the day, if you were nearer
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99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet