Seeking Bluetooth Earbud Alternative
 

I have a Schuberth C3 helmet and am seeking an alternative to purchasing their $400 SCR Bluetooth collar.....for one thing I need noise canceling and/or isolating earbuds. I have never had nor used any kind of communication device in a helmet, but I always use ear plugs because of industrial hearing damage suffered over a 35 year carrier as a locomotive engineer. I do not believe that a system with speakers in my helmet would be of much use to me while wearing ear plugs. From the research I have done I believe that noise canceling earbuds would best suit my needs. I'm planning a trip of approximately 12,000 miles and would like to have the option to be connected to my iPhone and a Garmin Zumo and have the capability to pair with other Bluetooth devices. Is this possible? Are there devices that can do these things available at a reasonable price? Any positive feedback will be appreciated.

Johnny

I've used something similar to this successfully, the big difference is that you will need to use the controls with a gloveless hand though, and the controls will be tucked down your top rather than on the side of your helmet.

Sony Ericsson Bluetooth MW600 - headset - In-ear ear-bud, Binaural - Black


and on a 'normal' pair of in ear corded headphones, I took the rubber ear bung off, and combined with these

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Put the stuff in the ear when setting and shove the earphone in, then pick out the goo with a pin to make a little pin hole. Custom ear plugs, a 5th of the price.

Sena SMH-10 Bluetooth headsets are probably the best you can get for quality of sound and build.


Used with Alpine Moto-safe ear plugs you cut out all the damaging wind and engine noise, but you can still hear the music, the nav instructions and phone calls crystal clearly.


I've used this setup for 20k+ miles, including motorway at speeds of 90mph+ on a bike with a loud exhaust



Forgot to add - I also use a C3


also forgot to add - I also use a Zumo

Custom in-ear monitors are by far the best in my experience. In-helmet speakers are sub-optimal. After trying many different generic headsets (plugged straight into my phone) nothing comes close to replicating the sound quality and overall noise reduction capabilities of custom in-ear monitors. Even though a bit more expensive they are well worth it (for more info see Custom in-ear monitors - ridewithtech.com). Maybe these in conjunction with the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth MW600 as suggested by Fern could be a good combination although I'm not sure how many devices you can pair simultaneously. I've got a BMW Blue tooth headset which I have modified so that I can connect my in-ear monitors rather than the supplied in-helmet speakers. This connects to the sat-nav and bike audio system and phone simultaneously - a neat but very expensive solution.

I have the SENA SMH 10. It is pretty awesome. My wife and I have a set, and it is one of the reasons we are still married :)

They consist of 2 parts. There is the bluetooth unit itself and "Clamp" or mount.

The Bluetooth device clips to the Clamp. The clamp has the mic and speakers wired to it.

They make several different clamps. One has speakers, and another has a headphone jack so you could plug in ear buds. These clamps are relativity inexpensive, so if you have 2 helmets, you can move the SMH 10 from one helmet to another in seconds.


The also have another device that is essentially a bluetooth hub... It is called the SR10.

It allows you to plugs a 2 way radio into it, and then have it work wirelessly to your bluetooth headset.

It has a PTT button that you can mount on the handle bars.

So you get the functionality of the older wired system, except it is wireless, and less money!!


I mainly use my SMH 10 for listening to music on my phone. It also works for searching for a particular place, and then navigating there. It is also easy to take phone calls, make phone calls, and believe it or not, send text messages!!!


The newest firmware, that just came out today, will let you have a 4 way conversation with other smh10's.



Hope that helps!!!

Ryan