Tue Apr 21st 26...

[St-Gerard]

I have been using these for a while and they work well at reducing the Wind noise, but I can hear music and cars beside me, and when I get off the bike and finish riding my ears are not hissing, which they do if I have played with any of my loud tools

 

[SupraSabre]

...

Kinda "forced" ze GF last night to install the SENA into her new Schuberth C3 pro, by placing all on her lap...
...

Ah, thanks for reminding me to recharge my SENAs!

 

[SupraSabre]

I have been using these for a while and they work well at reducing the Wind noise, but I can hear music and cars beside me, and when I get off the bike and finish riding my ears are not hissing, which they do if I have played with any of my loud tools

I have a pair of hearing aids, but they cause issues in my ears, so I don't like anything in them and just stick with the speakers mounted in my helmets!

 

[Weaselinsuit]

Morning all! Overcast with some of the wet stuff forecast off and on. Currently 12C, the high is a predicted 18C. It sure was a nice ride home yesterday; 22C at least and sunny.

Spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon closeted with two other lawyers marking written assignments by prospective articling students. Turns out I'm a bit of a hardass when it comes to marking. Good thing about the session is that we were able to reach a consensus on all the papers marked. We get to do it all over tomorrow in order to get it all finished up.

Good luck with surgery Steve and a speedy recovery!

I use the earpeace brand of ear plugs. I can still hear the traffic around me and my music. I considered trying listening to an e-book but decided that would be too distracting. There's a time and place and to Obo's point; when riding one should be in the moment....or at least focused.

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[steve3b3]

Usually fall out / are dislodged when removing my helmet.

When I'm removing my helmet, the earplugs are coming out, anyway

Speaking for myself: Built-in speakers do nothing to block wind noise as do the in-ear plugs, requiring more volume / more hearing damage to overcome wind noise.

Our STs and the Wing have some protection against wind noise, but nothing like a set of earplugs.

Before the Wing, I rarely played music. I used to joke that my music was in my head and was the last song I heard before putting the helmet on.
I still wear earplugs on the Wing, and turn the Sena volume up to compensate. That tends to eliminate wind noise, while I can still hear my tunes.

 

[steve3b3]

I have a pair of hearing aids, but they cause issues in my ears, so I don't like anything in them and just stick with the speakers mounted in my helmets!

I'm relatively new to the hearing aids, and haven't done any long-distance travel with them.
Locally, I'm traveling at speeds where wind noise is minimized, so It's just the hearing aids and my helmet speakers. That's when I wear a helmet liner to keep the ear pieces in place while I'm putting the helmet on.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I have been using these for a while and they work well at reducing the Wind noise, but I can hear music and cars beside me, and when I get off the bike and finish riding my ears are not hissing, which they do if I have played with any of my loud tools

I have no difficulty believing that you can hear music and cars around you as these are rated at 25 NRR. I find that on the low side. I have been using 32 NRR earplugs for decades and suspect that I would find these noisy.

 

[catcher]

Buying new equipment always involves a gamble. The limb I went out on included a new Sena Impulse modular helmet, with built in mic, speakers, and battery. Only been out with it a couple of times, but so far, not disappointed. the helmet seems quieter than any I've had before. But then, the new well - faired Roadmaster may be a big contributor to the quiet. Time will provide a better assessment.

 

[St-Gerard]

If I want quite, I found London drugs sells a brand of earplugs called Hero's , 33 dbr , I use them when I'm working in the shop or when mowing my lawn.

 

[Obo]

I have no difficulty believing that you can hear music and cars around you as these are rated at 25 NRR. I find that on the low side. I have been using 32 NRR earplugs for decades and suspect that I would find these noisy.

I think the key may not be just the db reduction rating.

If the lower db MC directed units are designed to target the frequencies of offending MC wind noises (usually low to mids) while leaving the high's relatively untouched, you can get a better user experience with a lower db reducing unit.

Not necessarily more protection, but a better performance / experience.

The sounds is tailored, vs everything being lowered equally but doesn't target the offending sounds vs all the others. They're still there and bothersome like before, albeit at a lesser volume. Many of the 33db models are great at filtering high frequency sounds, but less effective with lower frequencies, like wind rumble.

So, agreed, less protection in a 25db vs 33bd plug, but perhaps a better user desired outcome/experience. Either way, it's better than pumping up the tunes louder than than the noises you want to mask.

 

[jdmccright]

G'dafternoon y'all! It's been a pretty nice day here. Started out a chilly ride in to the office, but it warmed up enough for some great volleyball in the sand during lunch! Some cereal and a quick 1/2 cup for brekkie kept me from being sasquatch out there. Thanks, Martin!

Doing a little extra work as I noted the other day, the bad news I gave resulted in me needing to present an impromptu slide deck of my changes to their Change Control Board. *sheesh...aka No-Change Control Board. They can take it or leave it. Just don't come crying to me if the aft end corrodes away after 6 months (not really...generalizing for this forum).

Ball mount worked okay for the phone yesterday. The mount's spring itself is a little stiff for one-hand op, but I'll live with it. Unfortunately, I cannot find the charging cable for my El Cheapo BT helmet comm...it isn't standard AFAIK. So, I guess I'm in the market for a replacement. SENA 5R Lite is in my realm of affordability if anyone has comments for/against it.
Otherwise, take care y'all!

 

[Sadlsor]

You're just sound masking with a higher volume, which shouldn't be the goal.

OK, I'm fine with disagreeing. Everyone's ears... and hearing are different.
Have you tried the Etymotics on long rides?
I'll just say they work for me, and are the best I've found after trying many plugs - including two sets of "custom" plugs by different audiologists.

When I'm removing my helmet, the earplugs are coming out, anyway

Of course, but I prefer to remove them with my hands, AFTER removing my helmet.
As it is now, my helmet automagically (and annoyingly) removes them for me.
So I usually have to pick up one or both off the ground.

 

[Obo]

@Sadlsor I didn't mean you specifically were just masking with a higher volume. I was talking more in generalizations of folks who don't use any type of ear protection and just turn up the volume to overpower the offending noise.

As for the Etymotics, no I haven't tried. They do appear to be designed to "shape" the frequencies, and some of the kit they sell goes beyond everyday, inexpensive hearing protection.

"Performance-wise, the ER20XS matches Etymotic’s high-fidelity ER20 developed for musicians. With identical response through 4 kHz and enhanced high-frequency clarity above 4 kHz, these earplugs preserve the richness of music and clarity of speech—just quieter—with a 20-dB equal sound reduction across the spectrum of hearing."

I'm glad these work for you!

 

[Sadlsor]

And I was not offended, in either case.
We can (most of us) find something out there that works for us.
It's good to have choices!

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I think the key may not be just the db reduction rating.

If the lower db MC directed units are designed to target the frequencies of offending MC wind noises (usually low to mids) while leaving the high's relatively untouched, you can get a better user experience with a lower db reducing unit.

Not necessarily more protection, but a better performance / experience.

The sounds is tailored, vs everything being lowered equally but doesn't target the offending sounds vs all the others. They're still there and bothersome like before, albeit at a lesser volume. Many of the 33db models are great at filtering high frequency sounds, but less effective with lower frequencies, like wind rumble.

So, agreed, less protection in a 25db vs 33bd plug, but perhaps a better user desired outcome/experience. Either way, it's better than pumping up the tunes louder than than the noises you want to mask.

In my experience only the higher quality ear plugs having filter capabilities achieve this effectively. None at the price point of these did this effectively. I write this with the admission that I haven't tried any in many years. I acknowledge that technology improves and prices come down so not having tried any in years I can't dispute anything that you wrote. If they do achieve this it is a nice option.

With regard to custom made ear plugs. Where I previously worked we had a large trial of these made by a specialized company. These were the rather rigid custom fit plugs made specifically for each person in the trial. The result was not to proceed with them. People's ear canals constantly change over time rendering the tight fit required of a custom molded ear plug impossible much of the time and therefore their effectiveness was greatly reduced.

 

[Obo]

@Andrew Shadow I always appreciate your well thought out replies, real world experience, opinions & views on a topic. Hopefully my armchair musings and opinions don't water down the topic too much for everyone.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

@Andrew Shadow I always appreciate your well thought out replies, real world experience, opinions & views on a topic. Hopefully my armchair musings and opinions don't water down the topic too much for everyone.

Thanks, and no they don't. Varying views expands the knowledge base, and a chuckle every now and again is always good.

 

[Weaselinsuit]

I use Earpeace and while they help, I find I still get a fair bit of wind noise. Not sure if it's excessive or what one could expect while using well functioning earplugs.