Helmet speakers ..

[tominca]

Sena 20 works pretty good for me when I want the GPS and intercom, otherwise a set of Klipsch R5 neckband Bluetooth earbuds is awesome. The sound is good, and wind/traffic noise exclusion acceptable. Comfort is first-class. This headset can take phone calls and the controls are glove friendly, and noise suppression good for phone calls. Yes, the microphone works in a helmet. I can turn turn on the Sena and hear my GPS and intercom, and still get very good music and phone on the earbuds. I have unpaired my phone from the Garmin 390 because music quality is just so bad.

[Blueridgerider]

Coming from the wired CB world on my 1800 Goldwing to the FJR I began looking for the best Bluetooth communication device out there. After reading reviews I decided on the Cardo with JBL speakers. On the Wing I had been using the Splugs earbuds for years as they were by far in my opinion the most comfortable earbuds out there. Believe me, I tried and have a drawer full of earbuds that I bought but they either were not comfortable or they had terrible sound.

I thought the JBL's might be good enough where I could ditch the buds but like a previous post stated, the Cardo with earplugs just did not have loud or good enough sound. For me there is nothing like the noise cancellation and sound of these Splugs buds right in your ear. No helmet speaker is going to come close not even the JBL's. Once you have the buds there is no going back in my opinion so I bought a 3.5mm splitter from Walmart and now have the JBL's and Splugs wired together to the Cardo in my full face helmet. I think the combination gives me better bass but the Splugs are all I really focus on. I also find the Splugs do a good job of blocking wind noise yet I can still hear enough of the outside world which of course is important. Below is the link and now see they have a Bluetooth type. They are not cheap but you get what you pay for. Hope this helps.

https://www.plugup.com/best_and_most_co ... .5-4.5.htm

[raYzerman]

A Canajan review.....
Getting kinda tired of helmet speakers myself.......new helmet's speaker pockets aren't deep enough, gotta do something different.

[FastJoyRide]

Bob, if you prefer the helmet speakers give the JBL's a try. BigJohn SD loaned me a spare Packtalk the day that I took him and Brian over to Kaslo for lunch. Stunningly clear sound and lots of volume - I wear earplugs too. YMMV

Dave

[CollingsBob]

I’ve been listening through a pair of Sennheiser earbuds, good so far!

[Hppants]

Saw something on the FJR facebook group about a set of Koss in-helmet blue tooth speakers that supposedly sound very good. Anybody try these?

Getting close to a new helmet, and this is on the radar as well.

I refuse to pay Apple a dime for "Tunes". I've got 12 GB of MP3s on my simple Sandisk player. Got to revisit how that can play tunes decently and have Sena comms. The first time I tried it, I was hugely disappointed. Thankfully, Cycle Gear took the Sena back.

[raYzerman]

Have Sena 20S, haven't found the right combination of earplugs. New AGV SportModular helmet has shallow speaker cavities.... I want to also use earbuds but retain the speakers....... Have some new things to try.....
IASUS speakers to replace Sena speakers. Currently speakers press too much, which is lessening slightly as helmet breaks in. With the larger IASUS speakers, will likely have to do a wee bit of surgery. No idea what these will do to battery life, likely not that much.
http://iasus-concepts.com/audio/xs2-1-helmet-speaker/
Based on some rave reviews, new earplugs have arrived that have changeable filters to allow music to come through. Initial review, they are available in the smaller size I need for my ear canals, easy to put in, don't stick out, very comfortable, better than foam. Have not been road tested.
https://www.earpeace.com/
Bought a set of the MEE earphones, and like the review says, the memory foam pads are the best. Must be fully inserted with good contact otherwise bass response is not optimal. Adequate bass..... not yet road tested. Need to find more memory foam pads as these will perhaps need replacing at some point. Not looking forward to dealing with cords although these are robust and can be bent to fit around your ear. Flush enough not to touch the speakers. If the speaker/earpeace thing works out, then earbuds will stay home.
https://www.meeaudio.com/

[Hppants]

Ray - great information, thanks.

My Shure 215's sound terrific, over time, they will leak some road noise. On long tours, I think my ear canals "loosen" up and that affects the noise seal. OTOH, I have a foam ear plug that I found years ago that is very comfortable and blocks ALL road noise. I wonder how those iASUS helmet speakers would sound with the foam plugs? Or maybe give the EarPeace plugs a try - but that silicone they have seems to be the same thing I'm using with the Shure ear buds - I have my doubts that stuff would perform any better over the long tour.

[Steel_Gin]

Ray - great information, thanks.

My Shure 215's sound terrific, over time, they will leak some road noise. On long tours, I think my ear canals "loosen" up and that affects the noise seal. OTOH, I have a foam ear plug that I found years ago that is very comfortable and blocks ALL road noise. I wonder how those iASUS helmet speakers would sound with the foam plugs? Or maybe give the EarPeace plugs a try - but that silicone they have seems to be the same thing I'm using with the Shure ear buds - I have my doubts that stuff would perform any better over the long tour.

In my area there is a hearing aid dealer that also works with musicians quite a bit. They were also listed as working with Shure products and will make custom molds for them. Look around there might be something similar in your area. Based on what I read, the shells for their different models is pretty much the same. If you decide to upgrade the Shures to a higher end model it's just a matter of popping them out of the mold and putting the new ones in.

The cost will be about $100 for the custom molds, I haven't jumped on it right away because of the cost but definitely something I want to do. I probably will wait until next season since I'm on the back half of the riding season up here.

[silverback]

Ray - great information, thanks.

My Shure 215's sound terrific, over time, they will leak some road noise. On long tours, I think my ear canals "loosen" up and that affects the noise seal. OTOH, I have a foam ear plug that I found years ago that is very comfortable and blocks ALL road noise. I wonder how those iASUS helmet speakers would sound with the foam plugs? Or maybe give the EarPeace plugs a try - but that silicone they have seems to be the same thing I'm using with the Shure ear buds - I have my doubts that stuff would perform any better over the long tour.

Get some triple flange silicone adapters. They are much better than the memory foam type. Much.

My Sure SE-215s fell apart the other day. I am disappointed as they only lasted 6ish years and thousands of hours of riding and workouts in the gym. So, $99/6 is $16.50 a year. Cheap pieces of crap. I should go back to the $45 skull candy earbuds that only last a month or so...

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[raYzerman]

Product reviews... Got the iAsus speakers in, Sena's removed/port covered, found out helmet had thick foam discs in ear pockets, removed those, no surgery required. Larger than Sena speakers, sound good, takes more to drive them, so volume not excessive.
Tried EarPeace small silicone type with medium (red filter = 20db), mutes sound a tad more than I'd like, swapped to the Low (clear filter = 17db), much better... I think these are a tad higher db than they say. Compared to foam, much more comfortable (foam gets tiring after all day). Need road test to see if road noises adequately blocked.... but this combo is the most comfortable I've had over other earplugs.
Also tried my MEE earbuds.... must be careful not to bump them out while putting helmet on, despite being small pads, can't get them to consistently stay in far enough to have adequate bass response (which could be better anyway). Tried two other sets of cheaper earbuds I have, meh. Not used to cords, not a fan of the fiddling required. I would need fitted custom earphones to work with it seems. For now, these stay home. Will keep an eye out for some that may work and stay in my ears.
As far as noise reduction, depends on your windshield setup and helmet. I've already got mine to the point I don't need those 30db earplugs, something like a low 20's type is good. I'm sure you'd like the EarPeace jobs, not cheap, but maybe in the long run they are very competitive.
Anybody need a boxful (originally 200) of the green medium size Howard Leights earplugs, lemme know. Or I'll just give away in handfuls wherever I go, will keep some for backup.

[Hppants]

Good feedback, Ray. Interested in learning how the EarPeace handles road noise, and music quality therein with the IAsus speakers.

[bigjohnsd]

Once you try Cardo you'll never go back.

Cardo Packtalk Bold with or without the JBL speakers is a superior product.

Coupled with the quietness of my Klim Krios Pro helmet I now ride with no earplugs and can hear when I get done with a 600-mile day.

I do have to say that the GSA seat/windscreen, when coupled with BigJohns Ass to head height and either the Neotec or Krios, provides a quieter ride than I ever had on the FJR despite years of FJR windscreen tweaking.