Wireless earbuds

Craiger

Registered
A lot of earbud threads are old now and tech has changed alot in the last couple of years. I'm going to wireless earbuds and there are many to choose from now so I want some input from people using these buds under their helmet. It's hard to tell from pictures if the buds are flush enough to stay in place while pulling on your helmet.
 
I don't think any of the com systems support BT earbuds. Also, general-purpose earbuds don't give you the isolation you need for ear protection.
 
A lot of earbud threads are old now and tech has changed alot in the last couple of years. I'm going to wireless earbuds and there are many to choose from now so I want some input from people using these buds under their helmet. It's hard to tell from pictures if the buds are flush enough to stay in place while pulling on your helmet.
I've got a buddy that uses airpods but occasionally he will have one come loose even when wearing his balaclava and as Willie pointed out none of them really work well for ear protection. I've tried both wired and wireless and could never get them to stay right while putting the helmet on or they kept coming loose and was very annoying. I say the best option is something like a sena and if your in a budget there are some cheap options on Amazon that I've seen people using they said weren't too bad for listening to music.
 
You will find this can be a fairly expensive issue. If you want to listen to decent quality music on the bike, you have to reduce wind/bike noise. Your typical earbuds are not isolating, so you won't get much quality on a bike as the environment is so noisy. There are some fairly economical isolating earbuds with good sound, like the Bose isolation ones for about $99. Your helmet can also impact noise, so get one that is as quiet as possible.

If you want very good quality, you would need earbuds molded for your ear by an Audiologist. Sounds complicated but it's not too bad. An Audiologist injects wax into your ear to produce a mold and the earbuds are molded to fit your ears exactly. Usually, the lower-end products have a low and mid/high driver, but so more expensive ones can have 3-4 drivers. You can get into this range for about $250 up to thousands!

Mose of these are going to be wired. I don't find this objectionable but that is a personal preference. I don't know of any of the communication manufacturers who support BT earbuds (SENA, Cardo, etc.), so that's a consideration if you go wireless.

Mine are TUNZ earbuds molded to my ear. They provide audiophile quality music on the Bike, pretty remarkable and super expensive. I only got them because of the super deal I got with my hearing aids,

TUNZ 01.jpg
 
The helmets with the best ventilation have the most wind noise.
A Nolan Quiet Rider fits into the bottom of any helmet. It cuts out wind noise, but is better suited for cool weather(I use one with a snowmobile balaclava).
You'll need a Pinlock sheild to prevent fogging with it though.
 
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