Re: [St] Ear plugs, noise reduction and music

[John Ulizzi <jaulizzi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Todd,

Based on everything you have said, you are doing it
right right now...especially the parts about hearing
the 955 at 8k, and then hearing your kid when you get
off the bike. As a passionate motorcycle rider whose
other passion ( and profession) in life is ultra high
end audio, let me give you my two cents:

>From a motorcyclist's perspective, I have always felt
that the music would intrude on the ride, i.e. you
cant ear the engine at full song with your mp3 player
cranked way up. Meaning leave your stereo at home and
go for a ride...

>From an audiophile's perspective, you cant get rid of
enough of the background noise to have a truly
exceptional audio experience while riding a
motorcycle. And MP3 is a limited medium at best. It
has no where near the fidelity or dynamic range of the
original recording. Meaning, when you want to listen,
leave your bike parked in your garage, go into your
listening room, power everything up, clamp your head
into the sweet spot, and listen...

I have never mixed the two. Not as bad as drinking and
riding, but I have never done it. That being said, I
have always been curious, but not enough to justify
spending the jack it would take to even remotley
satisfy my ears. It would be fun to play with some
stuff though.

Here is what I do know: If you wish to go this route,
you absolutley want sealing earplugs with transducers
mounted inside them. Seal out the unwanted noise, put
what you want right in front of your ears. That by
definition has to be the best solution. Speakers
mounted inside your helmet with no seal around your
ear cannot possibly offer much fidelity, and to boot,
now you are fighting fire with fire, trying to top the
wind noise with the music, the two combining to surely
be anugly SPL. There are several high end ear bud
headsets out there, the brand names escape me, but
they start around $129 a pair, and of course, the
sky's the limit, I have seen stuff well over $600 out
there. 

There was a thread on this a year or so ago that I
really delved into, sure it is in the archives. If you
decide to get into this, I can't really make specific
product recomendations, but being in the business I
might have access to some of this stuff and would be
happy to source it...

Hope this helps,

John
--- Todd J <me_shucker@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> All this chatter about bluetooth, Tomtoms, Garmins,
> iphones, etc makes me wonder more about ear plugs
> and their ability to reduce the road noise and still
> produce quality sound. 
>  
> So, tell me folks, do you find that the ear plugs
> work for both noise reduction and work well enough
> to produce decent sound quality? 
>  
> I ride with just ear plugs to reduce road noise,
> helmet roar, etc. I have considered using my mp3
> player while riding but wonder if I am defeating the
> purpose of the ear plugs (protect my ears from
> sustained loud noise) by playing my music loud
> enough to be heard over the background noise. 
>  
> Is there a perfect match? Noise cancelling AND sound
> quality w/o sacrificing your hearing?
>  
> Personally I really like the sound of the 955 at 8K
> rpm and dont want to miss it. I also like that when
> riding I am away from all those things that distract
> me all day. And finally, I like it when I take my
> plugs out after a long day my ears arent ringing and
> I can hear my kid. 
>  
> Todd
> 
> 
>       
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