Active noise-cancelling earphones?

[dentheman]

Has anyone heard of noise cancelling earphones cancel out helmet wind noise? I am not talking about the noise reducing ones that block noise using the 'ear plug' principle. And I don't mean the ones that have the noise sensing mic located somewher outside the helmet, as this wouldn't detect helmet wind noise. To work properly against wind noise, the 'noise' mic would have to be located inside the helmet near the ears. This would just be to listen to music with a standard jack for mp-3 player, not to communicate with others. And of course it would have to fit inside a helmet.

In simpler terms: active noise cancelling earphones that cancel out the noise made by wind hitting the helmet and can be plugged into a standard mp-3 player. Is there such a thing?

[alanmcorcoran]

I haven't but, as an opinionated busybody - I might suggest you not try to cancel out ALL sounds. I know there's a lot of people on here that listen to mp3 players as they ride, but be aware, as a new rider you are creating:

1) another distraction - one that will occupy at least a portion of your brain.
2) blocking out other potentially useful information - such as horns, cars in your blind spots engine noise, kids playing, acceleration, braking - even potential transmission/motor/tire feedback from your own bike.
3) you may be tempted to fiddle with the controls enroute - especially if the volume gets too loud or soft, or that guilty pleasure Katy Perry song comes on when you are pulled up next to The Mongeese - a fiddling that has high potential consequences.

You might just want to go with regular good fitting earbuds, but not totally block out the outside world. Riding a motorcycle is a pretty immersive distraction by itself, you may not find it necessary to add additional distraction layers on top.

Also, if you get a good full face helmet (Arai, Shoei, etc.) they don't make much wind noise.

[music man]

As an Avid user of a mp3 player on my motorcycle (by that I mean I literally NEVER go anywhere without it) I agree with AlanC, blocking out too much noise is a bad thing, when I first started riding I would turn my headphones WAY UP, and an ambulance snuck up pretty close behind me one day and I realized that it was too much.


I keep mine where I can still hear the purr of my engine, that seems to be a pretty good scale to go by, because I can hear sirens and the like pretty good like that. On the other hand, I think people put a little too much weight on the hearing/not hearing on your bike thing, because most of those same people probably have been guilty more than once of "jamming out" in their car to the point that they wouldn't hear a gun go off in the car next to them much less a siren.

That being said, overall I still don't think it is a very good idea to purposely block out ALL the noise coming at you when you are on your bike (or your car for that matter).

[dhgeyer]

I'm going to agree with Alan, only more so. For at least the first few thousand miles, you don't need anything distracting you from the task at hand. I'm a fairly experienced rider, and I wouldn't even consider listening to music while riding. Not to criticize anyone else, as I am sure I'm in the minority in being that extreme.

[music man]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

I'm going to agree with Alan, only more so. For at least the first few thousand miles, you don't need anything distracting you from the task at hand. I'm a fairly experienced rider, and I wouldn't even consider listening to music while riding. Not to criticize anyone else, as I am sure I'm in the minority in being that extreme.

Definitely if you are a new rider you don't need to even be thinking about adding such things to your riding gear.

[dentheman]

OK, I will take all of your advice. I already have some hearing loss of real high tones from working around jets and often when sitting in a quiet environment tinnitus will act up. What I am looking for is something to protect my hearing from further damage from wind noise (but not block all sounds, that's why I mentioned wind noise specifically in my OP), and still allow me to listen to tunes (I guess when I am more experienced). Maybe the regular 'noise reducing' ear plug type earphones would work well enough.

One thing I did read on a couple sites was that prolonged wind noise would cause hearing damage with any helmet, but maybe that's not the case after all. Even when just walking my dog on a windy day, the sound of wind blowing on my ears bothers me.

[alanmcorcoran]

Try the disposable squooshy ear plugs as a start. If you are concerend about protecting your hearing, I doubt anyone is going to suggest listening to tunes through earphones as something that is going to help. There is a lot of evidence that ipod type listening contributes to hearing loss (although not as rapidly as jet engines!) and I think at one point, when attempting to defuse a class action lawsuit that alleged that very thing, Apple even released a software "upgrade" that tamped down the volume.

If you can stand one more bit of unsolicited advice: Do your homework before you buy a helmet. There are vast differences from helmet to helmet regarding wind (and motorcycle) noise. Unfortunately, I don't think it's easy to "try before you buy." Go on-line - there are a couple of good helmet comparison/review sites out there that give you things like weight, head shape, wind noise, etc. If you get the right helmet, you will cut down a lot on your sound exposure. I like my Arai, but I've only owned three helmets to date and there's probably close to a thousand out there.

[dhgeyer]

Helmets, full face or otherwise, do little to reduce wind noise. Some of them even amplify it according to one article I read recently. It seems the helmet actually transmits the vibrations to the skull, or bones behind the ears. At highway speeds you are still at risk for permanent nerve damage, from which you have already had some loss, by your description.

There are two solutions. One is to get a windshield that is tall enough to create a quiet zone around your body and head. This can be tricky, as a windshield that big often causes turbulence on the helmet that can cause your head to get knocked around to a degree that is anywhere from mildly annoying to painful, to, I suspect, damaging. There are countermeasures for this. Slits in the shield itself to allow some upward movement of air sometimes help. Decent sized lowers often help on a cruiser style bike. It can take some fiddling around to get a good windshield setup. A rule of thumb is that you shouldn't be looking through the windshield, but just an inch or two over it in your normal riding position.

The other approach is to use a much smaller windshield, or no windshield, and use earplugs. Most experienced riders use disposable foam types. The ones I use reduce noise by 33 decibels - more than enough to protect your hearing. Even though they are disposable, they can be used multiple times. It's a cheap, easy solution. They won't interfere with your helmet in any way if inserted fully and properly. And they don't, in my experience, interfere with hearing ambient noise (traffic, horns, sirens, etc.) any more than sitting in a car with the windows closed.

Riding around town at speeds under 40 mph, the wind noise isn't really a problem unless it bothers you. It won't create enough noise to cause damage in any case.

[music man]

Originally Posted by dentheman

OK, I will take all of your advice. I already have some hearing loss of real high tones from working around jets and often when sitting in a quiet environment tinnitus will act up. What I am looking for is something to protect my hearing from further damage from wind noise (but not block all sounds, that's why I mentioned wind noise specifically in my OP), and still allow me to listen to tunes (I guess when I am more experienced). Maybe the regular 'noise reducing' ear plug type earphones would work well enough.

One thing I did read on a couple sites was that prolonged wind noise would cause hearing damage with any helmet, but maybe that's not the case after all. Even when just walking my dog on a windy day, the sound of wind blowing on my ears bothers me.

I am sorta in the same boat you are, I have tinnitus so bad I can't stand to be in a quiet room at all, I can here the ringing as I type (too many heavy metal concerts and gun shooting, not enough ear protection, read:NO EAR PROTECTION), And I use the noise cancelling ear buds that you were talking about, I have ridden a few times with just them in and no music playing and they do a fair job of blocking out wind noise and such.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by dentheman

OK, I will take all of your advice. I already have some hearing loss of real high tones from working around jets and often when sitting in a quiet environment tinnitus will act up. What I am looking for is something to protect my hearing from further damage from wind noise (but not block all sounds, that's why I mentioned wind noise specifically in my OP), and still allow me to listen to tunes (I guess when I am more experienced). Maybe the regular 'noise reducing' ear plug type earphones would work well enough.

One thing I did read on a couple sites was that prolonged wind noise would cause hearing damage with any helmet, but maybe that's not the case after all. Even when just walking my dog on a windy day, the sound of wind blowing on my ears bothers me.

My one and possibly only suggestion. Wear ear plugs when riding more than 10 minutes. Try to find some helmet mounted speakers, they will still be audible with foam ear plugs lessoning other noises. I wear ear plugs and can hear better with them in as opposed to out. I also suffer from continuous tinnitus. I can hear Lynda on the 2 -way radio better with ear plugs blocking some of the outside noises. Most helmets have room enough for a small speaker next to your ears.