molded ear plugs. intercoms

[Elfmaze]

I've been running a starcom since last year.  And though it does the job i feel there is room for improvement. 

My full faced helmet speakers are SCREEMING trying to overcome the wind noise and the earplugs I wear.   

I saw Ewan Mcgregor was wearing molded earplugs on his trip down to Capetown.   It makes sence.  Block the ambient sound without needing a boombox to overcome the passive noise blocking.  Very little volume would be needed to hear your passenger. 

My question is,  these things are EXPENSIVE,  are the lab created ones that much better than the ones made on site?  I see some companies offer multi driver versions.....  again cost/return?  Any sound leakage around the edges as you move?

$400 is deffinatly not in the budget for a headset,  but has anyone looked into or used these?   

[timsatx]

There is a better option for the cheap frugal folks. Get a set of decent headphones for cheap similar to these



Then get some good earplugs. I happen to like HEAROS. <clip> I found a link that describes what I was going to say but the video makes it clearer.

http://lifehacker.com/5347245/make-comfortable-noise+isolating-earbuds-for-less-than-a-dollar

[DonB]

I use a Starcom system and have their headset that uses ear buds in place of speakers and I use these

http://www.earfuze.com/

[Elfmaze]

There is a better option for the cheap frugal folks. Get a set of decent headphones for cheap similar to these

We tried doing that years ago with a set called Koss "The Plug" from walmart,  or the likes.  I can't remember the outcome much but i seem to recall it was hard to keep them in when you put your helmet on.  And if the wire got tugged by turning your head and pulled loose it was a pull off the road to fix it problem. 

I use a Starcom system and have their headset that uses ear buds in place of speakers and I use these

http://www.earfuze.com/

I like the concept of cutting out the middl eman on these!  do they stay in your ear well?   if they get bumped around do they loose the "seal"  making you have to readjust them to regain sound isolation? 

[Elfmaze]

that ear fuze thing sounds very promising!

[MAN OF BLUES]

home made customs....uber frugal
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2099196673/radians-do-it-yourself-custom-molded-ear-plug-kit-nrr-26-db-silicone
http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=415810&pdesc=Custom_Molded_Ear_Plugs

you can mold whatever "buds" you want into them, with a piece of stir-straw in place as a "port", and pull the straw out when they cure.

http://www.radians.com/main/p-282-radians-custom-molded-earplugs.aspx

[timsatx]

We tried doing that years ago with a set called Koss "The Plug" from walmart,  or the likes.  I can't remember the outcome much but i seem to recall it was hard to keep them in when you put your helmet on.  And if the wire got tugged by turning your head and pulled loose it was a pull off the road to fix it problem. 

I like the concept of cutting out the middleman on these!  do they stay in your ear well?   if they get bumped around do they loose the "seal"  making you have to readjust them to regain sound isolation?

The key is to use headphones that do not stick out a lot, like the ones I show. I have had zero problem with them. When they get dirty it is simple to replace them. I believe the Koss ones use the EAR type earplugs that were just cylindrical in shape and not very pliable. The HEAROS work great. They are very soft. What I found is that you have to use a 3mm punch. It can be a struggle getting them on but I use reverse tweezers that do a great job. I just make sure when I pull it out of my ear that I grab around the foam and not the body of the the earphone.

The one thing you have to practice with is how long to make them. If they are too short then you might have some problems. I have never used them full length so I don't know if there are any issues there but I wanted to make sure it fit under the helmet. I cut off about a quarter inch from the bottom.

Let me also just say, I have used the Radians as simple earplugs and they work pretty good, but they do not expand to you ear canal after they cure so what I found is that as I turn my head the skin and I guess tendons and muscle kinda pull the ear canal open from the earplugs and you get noise in there. Not a lot but just a little. They are great because even if you aren't using them for long rides they are easy to take in and out and to clean. I lost mine, I need to make some more. I got mine last time from Academy.

[jworth]

home made customs....uber frugal
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2099196673/radians-do-it-yourself-custom-molded-ear-plug-kit-nrr-26-db-silicone
http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=415810&pdesc=Custom_Molded_Ear_Plugs

you can mold whatever "buds" you want into them, with a piece of stir-straw in place as a "port", and pull the straw out when they cure.

http://www.radians.com/main/p-282-radians-custom-molded-earplugs.aspx

big +1

I've made two sets this way.  Get two sets of the stuff and you can make 3 sets of earphone/plugs.  Easy to insert, you can wear them all day comfortably, stays securely in place when you take your helmet on/off, oh, and did I say frugal?

[timsatx]

Check out this link. It has some good info for doing it yourself. And whats cool is the pic I attached earlier is the exact same headphone he uses.

http://www.howtogeek.com/57481/how-to-make-custom-silicone-ear-molds-for-your-in-ear-monitors/

[CIG4R]

Just picked these up at WalMart $5.00 http://www.cirrushealthcare.com/Tinnitex-C17.aspx
Haven't had a chance to ride with them yet, had to play with them on the way home in the truck, comfy, soft, pliable, easily shaped.
Have the Sena 10 with speakers and it does a great job, just calming some wind noise.

[AZBiker]

I use the headphones from EAR--ANSI approved, guaranteed not to get too luud.

http://www.northernsafety.com/Product/27817/3M-E-A-R-E-A-R-Buds-Ear-Plug-Headphones

[The Other Brian]

I use the headphones from EAR--ANSI approved, guaranteed not to get too luud.

http://www.northernsafety.com/Product/27817/3M-E-A-R-E-A-R-Buds-Ear-Plug-Headphones

How well do these fit under a helmet?  They look like they might stick out and rub on the helmet liner.

[AZBiker]

How well do these fit under a helmet?  They look like they might stick out and rub on the helmet liner.

They fit just fine under my Shoei X-11.  YMMV depending on your ear canals.

One tip though:  When I got my custom earplugs made by Al Schibi, he showed me how to cut some foam out of my helmet to make it more comfortable.

This is NOT the EPS that protects your head if it hits the road, this is the open-cell padding around the earholes.

Most helmets have earholes that are WAY too small, mine included.  So I removed the liner and cut away some of the foam around the earholes, a little at a time.  Huge increase in comfort from not having my ears smashed anymore.  Just that tip was worth the price of the custom plugs.   

The added benefit is that my EAR headphones fit under the helmet too.  There is no decrease in safety related to this mod.

I got my custom earplugs from Al before I had my headphones, so I don't have any before and after stories on that, sorry.

[Furbo]

I tried multiple types of discount earphone all with pretty dissappointing results. Got turned on to a set of Shure ear buds by a friend and they are absolutely terrific. They werent cheap, about $100 as I recal, but they block niose like a good foam earplug and they emphasize the high tones rather than the base which is good because that's what you can actually hear above wind/road noise. I can now listen to books, or classical music above 100mph. Additionally, I bought thme in 2005 and they're still going strong!  Think Etyomic makes similar.

[Elfmaze]

you guys with the bud style.  ever have them pull out or dislodge while riding?  I remember having to stop and remove my helmet to fix my DIY bud speakers.  something not possible when there are multiple bikes...

[timsatx]

If you mean the bud style with the foam then no I never had that problem.

[MAN OF BLUES]

you guys with the bud style.  ever have them pull out or dislodge while riding?  I remember having to stop and remove my helmet to fix my DIY bud speakers.  something not possible when there are multiple bikes...

as a matter of fact, I found these little gems for use:
http://www.earplugstore.com/eabusirutifo.html

I bought a bunch of them, as I have tons of cheapo head-buds, and they fit nicely on my bluetooth headset pod as well....
they are very soft rubber, and they stay put in the ear....


these are also worth the money, for any "skullcandy/shure/ type with a "snout"
http://www.earplugstore.com/proguard-earportz-earphone-adapters.html

I recomend going with the smallest size first, based on the comfort level you had with the original rubber doughnut type.
these shove into the ear well.....

[bikerhawk]

Been using Etymotic ER-6i for...at least 2-3 years.  I've gotten really good life with them...which is good, because they were pretty spendy.  I am kind of an audio snob, though...I use the Etymotics all the time, from listening on the iPod/phone to using them as in-ear monitors when I play bass gigs.  Fit great under the helmet too.

The ER-6i is discontinued...current comparable model is HF5:
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/hf5.html

[Uglydog56]

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/ue/ue-earphones/devices/UE200

These are what I use with my Sena and they are great.  I started with the E-A-R ones mentioned previously.  I liked them, but after an hour they started to hurt (too big).  So I tried using the cheap moldable stuff to turn them into custom molded earbuds, but I couldn't get them to stay in my ear.  Then I tried a set of Sony ones and they would clog up with wax in like an hour, and weren't noise isolating enough. I tried a set of nicer Koss ones, and they wouldn't stay in my ears if I moved at all or sweated.  I found the logitech's and bam! all problems were solved.  I should mention I have extra small ear canals and finding a pair that didn't hurt but would slide in was an issue.  These have the 5 different sizes of donuts so they will always fit.  Sound good, too.  There's nicer ones depending on your budget.  I get no kickbacks, these just really worked well and I spent a lot of time finding them.

[McJunkie]

I went to an audiologist and had custom earplugs with audio in them for $200. They are made by Westone.
I believe these are the ones I bought.
http://westonemusicproducts.com/music/index.php/products/custom-fit/cr1.html