Noise cancelling headphones anyone tried them on a bike??
 

I like to listen to music on my bike but cant get decent sound from my ipod with the standard headphones or with some slightly more expensive ones either.
so does anyone have any recommendations for comfortable headphones that block out the road noise?

thanks
Iand

I use these and they work up to about 60mph. They're pretty cheap so give them a go...

Koss "Spark Plug" - In Ear Headphones: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

Anything professional will cost 10 times as much.

Interesting question.

I was highly sceptical about such things. But yesterday I used a cheap pair of such headphones (Maplins current offer GBP19) on a 4+ hour flight between homes. Certainly they reduced much of the level of the continuous background 'wooshing' noise from the engines. In fact they worked so well I am thinking of looking at better quality (price!) ones.

I certainly await hearing about such in-ear phones, used under a helmet.

I never leave home without my Etymotics ER6i headphones. I write more about it here:

Atlas Rider » Post Topic » Etymotic ER6I Headphones

Comfortable and can easily hear music up to 80MPH. After that I have to turn up the volume to levels I shouldn't (but do anyways cuz I'm stupid).

These are excellent, I am using them as well. Great sound and cancel a lot of noise. They seem very fragile though.

You jinxed me. I snapped the cord tonight. Pretty easy to repair, but if there is one thing I hate about them it is the flimsy cord. However there are not many headphones with heavy duty cords and they aren't really intended to be used in the hard conditions I put them through. On that token, a year ago when broke (my fault) I didn't think twice about buying a second pair. Riding a week without them sucked!

In ear canal headphones
 

I used some Westone UM2 in-ear canal headphones (UM2 Earphones (True-Fit Dual-Driver) :: Westone) very happily on tour.
Downside is that they can be pulled somewhat out of your ears when putting on your helmet, so you have to be a bit careful when putting one on.

This approach combines the noise reduction of earplugs with the quality of great sound.
I use them for general headphone use - you don't need a lot of volume as the sound isolation works very well.

Etymotics ER6i headphones
 

+1 for the Etymotics ER6i headphones

+1. I don't agree that they are very fragile, I have used mine for tens of thousands of miles without a problem. The cords are very thin, but so far they've held up well for me.

Have you considered an autocom?

I was having the same problem and always end up pulling the earphones out whilst Im on the move.

Don't know how much they cost in the UK, but mine was not that much over here in Oz. See if you can get an old model on sale.

I use an iPhone (for music only) plugged into the autocom, which is powered from the battery and kept under the seat. The speakers fit inside the helmet and work at pretty much any speed with earlpugs in (you do need the right earplugs though - under 22db noise reduction). Really easy to use too - just put your helmet on and plug in the wire, you can do it easily with gloves on.

I wouldnt go back to earphones after this.....

J

Etymotic MC3 - affordable at $65 USD
 

Just bought the Etymotic earphones and am very happy with them. I put them in and they are comfortable and block out noise as though they were safety earplugs. They come with 3 pairs of different eartips to suit your ear. I haven't tried them on the road yet, but already I know they will be amazing...and ten times better than my $20 cheapies.

At $65 I can save my hearing and listen to music at the same time! Worth the money, esp. after having many 40+ year olds tell me their hearing is shot from riding bikes without earplugs.

The MC3 are also iPod compatible, having a 3 button control on them to pause, skip forward/back tracks, and change volume...very handy on the road!

On a recent trip through the USA I used a pair of Shure in ear with custom moulded earpieces. Brilliant for drowning out engine noise and the ability to listen to music at low volume. Plus they are very comfortable for long durations. The down side is that they block out pretty much any other noise as well and they weren't cheap.

if money is not a problem then my set up works very well ear plugs £1 , ipod shuffle £30 ish, fiio6 headphone booster £18, and a scala rider q4 £149 this gives me music as loud as I want , sat nav , the ability to talk to others with scalas and use of my phone as well , oh and a fm radio not cheap but it really is the dogs dangly bits ....

I used a pair of Sennheiser CX300 Street for a long time. They work without music as well and your ear can breathe so they work better for me than simple earplugs. I can listen to music on low volume at motorway speeds no problem.

hey y'all, can these headphones be used as a standalone to reduce wind/tire/road noise or are they strictly for noise reduction for when listening to musak, thx.