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Confused about ear plugs...

7K views 28 replies 23 participants last post by  Pitts 
#1 ·
Does anyone (or maybe everyone for all I know) use the foam ear plugs and still listen to their helmet speakers? Does it help and can you still communicate? I was thinking that you either used foam plugs to completely block noise, or you got custom ear buds with ear speakers. I currently wear a Shoei Neotech with the Sena smh10's. I would love to cut down on wind noise, and even made some custom plugs with ear speakers, but they make me feel like I'm underwater and cannot hear anything at all but the ear speaker. Does any of this make sense?
 
#2 ·
Wife and I do it with Sena gear and it actually improved intercom on high wind days. You feel a lot less tired on long days too. I use both Howard Leight foam and silicon molded depending on my mood with silicon being used most of the time


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#3 ·
I use custom silicone plugs with my BMW Communicator. Like it was said above, it actually improves my ability to hear the helmet speakers by blocking the excessive high and low frequency noise components from the wind and the bike. Some people get confused and suggest that you're still at risk since the speakers need to be turned up to compensate for the ear plugs but of course this isn't true. The ear plugs are attenuating the extraneous noise by 35-40dB. Of course the speakers are also attenuated so are set at a higher volume level but the music/voice actually reaching your ears is the correct level that you would hear in a normal conversation or listening to music in your living room. It's not what hit the plugs, it's what reaches your eardrums.
 
#7 ·
I have the same setup - Shoei Neotec with Sena SMH10. I find at highway speeds the wind/road noise to be irritating, so for trips over an hour, I go to my custom made BIG EARS earbuds and plug those in. They're perfect, because they are custom molded for my ears I can wear them all day, they take out 90 to 95 % of ambient road noise (they are not designed to fully seal so you can still hear a car horn or siren, etc). And if I turn the volume down, I can still hear the GPS Nav instructions or my phone ring through the Sena. For me, its the best of all world's and gives me choices on what to hear and what to isolate.
 
#8 ·
I use the cheap foam earplugs from the drugstore. Some types are more comfortable than others, some work a bit better than others, but they all work. Just need to find which ones work best. When I ride my cruiser, there's not much wind noise and I tend to not use plugs, but I can't hear the music as well either.... go figure.
 
#10 ·
I have used the foam earplugs for years but had to turn the volume up in the BMW Communicator to almost maximum in order to hear anything. At the MOA rally I bought a pair of the Nonoise Motorsport Filter and they have made a huge difference. It still eliminates most of the wind noise but I can still hear regular sounds and don't have to crank up the volume nearly as much. Check these out.
NoNoise Motorsport Noise Filter Hearing Protection - TwistedThrottle.com
 
#11 ·
I agree that using foam plugs actually improves intercom communications, especially at higher speeds. I had been using the Howard Leight 'orange' version for years, but this year I switched to the Leight 'pink/yellow.' (The latter is rated at 31dB reduction, while the orange is rated at 32.) The pink/yellows, however, are much more comfortable, especially on all-day rides, because they are made from a foam that doesn't expand with the same force as the orange plugs. No more earaches.
 
#12 ·
I started wearing custom-molded earplugs about 5 years ago. They made a huge difference in fatigue, and I didn't have any more ringing after a long ride. What I've found is that they dramatically reduce exhaust and wind noise, making traffic and music easier to hear.

That said, helmet selection makes a huge difference. I had a Shark Evoline which was like an echo chamber. The earplugs actually made the booming in the helmet worse. Not nearly as bad in my Signet-Q, and better still in my Neotech. FWIW, a half helmet is quieter still, as you don't get the resonance around your ears from the shell of the helmet.

One other thing that will help is doing the Koss speaker upgrade to the Sena. That alone makes a world of difference.
 
#20 ·
The NoNoise ear plugs are incredible. I have previously used: foam ear plugs, wax ear plugs and custom molded silicone ear plugs. The greatest benefit of the NoNoise ear plugs is that they have a ceramic filter. It allows voice frequencies to pass through the ear plug while blocking road, engine and wind noise. I use them with my helmet intercom system. I can clearly hear my helmet speakers, but the other unwanted noise is blocked out. The earplugs are made out of silicone and will last for years. At about $30, they are a bargain.
 
#14 ·
I use 29db foam ear plugs with the BMW Comms. Cuts down on wind noise and I can still here my surroundings. Music, GPS and intercom all easy to hear with the volume turned up, even at 70mph+ speeds. We're using HJC BT-Max flip-up helmets.
 
#15 ·
Yes, foam plugs + Sena in the helmet. I have "waxy" ears and custom molded earplugs or earpods don't work well. So foam plugs it is.

The audio quality of the system is not very good, but its Ok. The K16 provides the best part of the soundtrack :)
 
#18 ·
Good ear hygiene is a must for using anything you stick in your ear. A friend didn't realize that until he'd been packing wax for a while and it became visit to the doc to get it cleared out.
 
#19 ·
Lately I've been using the putty like children silicone ear plugs. They press form perfectly to my eat. I custom cut them to not cause pressure on my ears after 12 hour rides and seem to work well. The pressure from the foam caused discomfort after long rides and I have trouble getting it into my left eardrum (must be smaller a ear drum canal).

Has anyone else had experience with these?
 
#17 ·
My daughter, the audiologist, made me a set of "musicians" custom earplugs. The difference is they have replaceable filters so you can tune the amount of dampening. They work awesome with the com system and are comfortable for 8 hours or so. Longer than that I need to take them out for a break...
 
#22 ·
3M™ E-A-Rsoft™ Yellow Neons™ Part number is 312-1250

A local employer has around 600 workers who prefer these ear plugs. 99% of the female workers like these for the comfort as most others made their ear canals soar. The males are over 95%. They have tried many other plugs, including more expensive ones but ended up preferring these. The company lets them choose any plug. That is how I tried these a few years back. Everyone's ear canals are different but these are preferred by many who have tried them. I have 2 custom made pair of plugs with and without speakers. I still choose the cut off 3M plugs for riding and sometimes sleeping.

The noise reduction is ample and my solution for ease of communication is to cut off about 20% of the square end with a razor blade. Line it up square and push straight down with the blade. This allows for more wind, traffic and speaker noise. I insert the plug deep into the canal. There is just enough plug sticking out for removal. I use a leatherman tool if I push them in to far.
 
#25 ·
I have a Shoei Neotec and this year I've been using some inexpensive Sony earbuds with my SMH10R and seem to work very well at being able to hear music or audio books along with attenuating most of the road noise. When I did use helmet speakers, I always had better luck hearing the speakers with ear plugs. I figure I'm going to choose to put ear plugs in anyway so I decided to go with ear buds. I had been using S-Plugs but found the Sony ear buds give me a better sound.
 
#27 ·
I use ear buds too, for noise reduction and much, much better sound from IPhone. Considering a Sena 20S intercom system assuming I can use ear buds for that as well.
Can't hear traffic noise to good but Can't anyway.
I think you will be very pleased with the sound. I use Sensaphonics earbuds and Pandora on my iPhone. The sound quality, to me, far surpasses the Autocom/Sirius combination I have.
 
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