Helmet speakers

[Petemate]

As per title.

Well, that was a waste of £2.99 and some time. I should have known better, and researched more. Tried them in the helmet (Box 1, very comfy helmet) but they felt uncomfortable, presing on my ears, and I couldn't get my glasses on with them in.

So after seeing that there are quite a few helmets now on the market (and probably have been for a while) with built-in Bluetooth speakers, I now know what I want for my birthday.

Such a lot has gone on since I was on bikes 23 years ago. When I was despatching then, I did have a helmet which was quite accommodating for speakers and had a pair in with no problems. But at my age I now can't even remember what make of helmet it was. Doh.
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82 not out....1983 Honda LA250 Custom
2008 Saab 9-3 1.9 Tid 150 Vector Sport estate
2005 Stirling Eccles Topaz 2-berth

[Monkeypony]

All helmet speakers are pants.

These on the other hand, are awesome.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ORIGINAL-PLUGFONES-YELLOW-Earplugs-with-Music-Headphones-3-5mm-Jack-FREE-UK-PP-/172350931433?epid=222671422&hash=item2820ea81e9:g:LhUAAMXQC-tS~j0o
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[owl]

[goto10]

I've tried to get on with earphones, even going down the route of having some custom made ones (where they take a mould of the inside of your ear) - they were _terrible_ - I could almost feel the wind noise destroying my hearing, so I ditched those after two uses. I've gone through cheap ones, decent quality ones, the ones that come with a new phone and so on.
The most effective ones are Bose QuietComfort 20 headphones (which are f'kng superb in an office - they have active noise cancelling - the earbuds have microphones in them which means that they can play the inverted sound into your ear, effectively cancelling out the background noise) - but they're expensive and [IMO] too bulky for helmet use.

My current [and preferred] solution is to use a Sena SMH10 along with standard yellow foam earplugs. I can listen to music, take phone calls and have good protection from wind noise. I've had this setup for two years now and it's been rock solid (I use it for 2.5~3 hours a day, all year around) - in this config (with foamy earplugs) music volume is good enough, it won't blow you away but it's good enough to hear it well.

The only thing that could tempt me away is a Nuviz, but it's still quite new. (I'd want it to replace my Sena and my camera, and give me a HUD into the bargain - but it currently has feature's that are 'coming soon', so I'm just watching with interest at the moment...)
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'12 NC700S & '12 CB600F Hornet [Stolen by some dickless twat] Suzuki GT500 shed

[Monkeypony]

[WimbleHJR]

[owl]

[Petemate]

Well, many thanks guys (& gals?) for all the replies and info. I am tempted to try some of the ear-plug/speaker things, but I am a bit wary of having clearance problems when putting the helmet on. Although my current helmet is a nice fit once on, no undue noise etc., I do have to really pull the lower 'ears' of it apart to get the helmet off and it is very tight coming past my ears (which do not stick out much).

Which brings me to the question - how do other riders get on with Bluetooth helmets with built-in speakers?
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82 not out....1983 Honda LA250 Custom
2008 Saab 9-3 1.9 Tid 150 Vector Sport estate
2005 Stirling Eccles Topaz 2-berth

[ADSrox0r]

I did a jerry-rig DIY affair with my last helmet and hacked some over ear speakers into the intended recess/recepticle in the lid and used a little bluetooth receiver with a 3.5mm stereo jack. It worked pretty well, it made me giggle that I could change track or pause etc with my chin to tap the buttons. Volume was pretty shit though, it was very much useless anything over 60.

I didn't bother with the Shoei, I wasn't that impressed enough to arse about charging the receiver every day to do it again.
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Current bikes: '08 VFR 800 VTEC(yo) , '07 ZZR1400 Winter hack: '95 Aprilia 650 Pegaso Currently lusting after: RC30

[Fin]

Has anyone else used the plugphones?

The problem I find with normal earphones is that they press against the helmet and your ear so you can't actually hear the music; unless you open your mouth widely.

[Kentol750]

Sony headphones work ok. Don't want blaring music or silence. They cut wind noise down enough. Bought from airport Dixons, got a 3 year replace guarantee for a tenner. If(when) I do break them, I get a new pair until guarantee runs out....work with android phone as hands-free kit too.
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Some bikes.

[MCN]

Scala rider something and when you choose your next hat look for cut outs at the ear level to accept speakers.

Properly fitted speakers are much better than earphones.
You can phanny about with speaker angle of dangle to aim the sound straight in your lug hole. That ensure you block out other noise and get the full effect of your speaker.

What sort of sounds are you into?

West Life, Little Mix etc?
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Petemate]

For me it is mainly for use with my i phone, using the Navmii app. I am very used to the Nav as I use it frequently in the car and I like the way it comes across. Other than that, when I may be on any long familiar routes, I think maybe I could enjoy some tunes, like I used to then commuting down to LHR on the Reveres in the early nineties. I had a nice stereo unit on the fairing with my headphones plugged in. No satnavs then (at least not for me lol)
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82 not out....1983 Honda LA250 Custom
2008 Saab 9-3 1.9 Tid 150 Vector Sport estate
2005 Stirling Eccles Topaz 2-berth

[MahatmaAndhi]

Haven't tried this yet, but I plan to:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5314708
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2008 Aprilia Sportcity 250

[Tracer1234]

[ThatDippyTwat]

[Billy Balthorpe]

Got back from a long trip yesterday with my new set up.

£5 helmet speaker set up - Ebay.

£18 Rechargeable Mp3 amp - Ebay

£1 3.5mm 150mm jack to jack lead - Ebay.

Using double sided tape I attached the amp to my Mp3 player, connected the earphone out socket to the Line In on the amp, then plugged in the speakers which I fitted into my very quiet Schuberth C2 helmet. After a bit of adjustment of position of the speakers the result was perfect. The amp was only set on 4 out of 10 but was loud enough to hear at 80mph. It fits in the top pocket of my jacket and lasts about 9 hours on one charge.
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M.O.B. Successfully taking the piss since 2014.

[Aky208]

Would love to try these out, bit expensive though.

https://www.syphonsound.com/store/p1/Syphon_%C2%A0Soundwrap__%28Available_Now%21%29.html

[Landy10]

Ive got the agv voice kit fitted into an agv helmet and it works great, got the buttons on the outside of the helmet for volume control, radio station and input selection. Volume is ok into 3 figures then wind noise takes over but its still audible.