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good headphones

Old 08-07-09, 08:25 AM
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good headphones

Ok... ok. I probably gonna get some grief for this. But my commute is in large part on a bike trail next to a busy road. And with the wind and car noise from the road, I have a hard time hearing my radio shows (podcasts) on my ipod. Has anybody experienced the same problems. I think better headphone might help, but I want to be sure before I buy some (I currently use the Apple stock headphones).
Anybody with the same problems?

Thanks
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Old 08-07-09, 08:28 AM
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I use an iHome unit that looks like a waterbottle. It fits in a special cage on my bike and has a wireless remote on the handlebar stem. Sounds great, and leaves both of my ears wide open.
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Old 08-07-09, 08:34 AM
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you mean something like this?

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Old 08-07-09, 08:45 AM
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no this: https://blog.greaterbayshell.com/2007...-for-bicycles/
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Old 08-07-09, 09:17 AM
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Check EarphoneSolutions for noise-cancelling earphones. I like the Westone UM1. I ride with them, but also do some running around a lake that is close to the airport. They pretty much seal out the noise from the planes taking off and landing, so would take care of your road noise issues with no problem.
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Old 08-07-09, 09:24 AM
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If you are looking to actually block the wind noise, you need to go from an earbud to an actual in-ear system.
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Old 08-07-09, 09:27 AM
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I like these a lot.
https://cgi.ebay.com/T54-Sony-MDR-AS3...d=p3286.c0.m14
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Old 08-07-09, 09:37 AM
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I use these sports headphones.

https://www.jr.com/sony/pe/SON_MDRA35G/
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Old 08-07-09, 10:01 AM
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thanks for the responses. So I need to look for in-ear and noise-canceling.
(it's actually kinda scary, if I use the ear-phones in the office at the same *high* setting, it's really loud)
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Old 08-07-09, 12:41 PM
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I wanted to cancel out noise AND I like strong bass so I went with these:

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Mdrnc22-N...xp_grid_pt_2_0

Really awesome headphones - couldn't believe it until I actually wore them. Great for flights & train rides too.

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Old 08-07-09, 01:04 PM
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I use in-ear buds, with foam inserts. I only listen to NPR and audiobooks, so I only use one in the right ear, leaving my left ear open for traffic noise. I imagine they'd work fine in both ears too.

I find that with the closed earbud, I can actually hear better, because it blocks out a ton of wind noise and I can run the player at a much lower volume. I don't know if this would hold true for both ears, let us know.
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Old 08-07-09, 01:10 PM
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I only listen to NPR and audiobooks
Yeah, same here
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Old 08-07-09, 04:32 PM
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I use in-ear buds, with foam inserts. I only listen to NPR and audiobooks, so I only use one in the right ear, leaving my left ear open for traffic noise. I imagine they'd work fine in both ears too.
I do the same thing as well worked out pretty well so far.

But as for the main question After the stock earplugs on my player got worn out I invested in some plugs from skull candy they are the "ink'd" model that i picked up from target on sale for $15 and they have worked very well. if you shove them in your ear well enough you can't hear anything but your program / music.
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Old 08-07-09, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Gilla Gorilla
I do the same thing as well worked out pretty well so far.

But as for the main question After the stock earplugs on my player got worn out I invested in some plugs from skull candy they are the "ink'd" model that i picked up from target on sale for $15 and they have worked very well. if you shove them in your ear well enough you can't hear anything but your program / music.
+1...The Skullcandy Ink'd earbuds are great! If you have the "FYE" store at your local mall, take a look for them there. I found them for $9.98.
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Old 08-07-09, 07:06 PM
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another vote for Skull Candy...good cheap earbuds with 3 different size tips for a semi custom fit.

Here's a tip, to avoid the sound of a rubbing cord that comes along with ear buds, wrap the cord over the top of your ears.
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Old 08-07-09, 08:46 PM
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I pick up earphones from DealExtreme. They have some pretty bad earphones for $3, but also some pretty good ones for $5. The good ones I got last time (lost them at a football game) are no longer in stock. I have some others coming that should be here any day now.
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Old 08-07-09, 08:58 PM
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The Soundmagic PL30 IEMs get great reviews by audiophiles for it's bass and comfort when it's in your ear. they say they fit very well and don't have any microphonics (noise from rubbing the cord) since the cord goes over your ear. You can buy them for $30 on ebay https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tab%3DWatching
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Old 08-10-09, 08:37 AM
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I don't condone riding with headphones/earbuds anymore, but back when I briefly did, these were great:



Etymotic ER-6i

You can find them online pretty easily for around $90. 20 dBs of isolation, which is enough that when I'm sitting on a crowded bus in heavy traffic and have any music at all coming through the audible world outside of my music just disappears. Also great for chilling in cafes and whatnot while listening to music.
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Old 08-10-09, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by vaticdart
I don't condone riding with headphones/earbuds anymore
what happened to change your mind?
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Old 08-10-09, 09:50 AM
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I'm so low rent. I have a dollarstore radio that automatically scans and upgraded the terrible headphones that come with it to $5 Family Dollar headphones. The top of my headlight is flat and I just use a thick rubberband, doubles to attach the radio. Sound is pretty good and i never have to take the set up with me. What am I out? $6 plus a half buck for the batteries if someone steals it? Actually, someone DID go to the trouble to steal the batts, but LEFT the phones & radio.
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Old 08-10-09, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by daredevil
what happened to change your mind?
My first encounter with almost getting doored. You can often times hear the door click before you see it actually start to open. You don't get that warning even with cheapo earbuds.

Other than that, I think reducing your capacity for situational awareness is just a bad idea.
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Old 08-10-09, 10:39 AM
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Originally Posted by vaticdart
My first encounter with almost getting doored. You can often times hear the door click before you see it actually start to open. You don't get that warning even with cheapo earbuds
The proper solution to that is to not ride in the door zone. You can't always count on hearing or seeing the door.
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Old 08-10-09, 10:54 AM
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Like vaticdart mentioned, Etymotic IEMs are great. I personally have a pair of Shure E4Pros, but while searching for the perfect IEM, I tried out the Etymotic ER-4 series, and quite liked it too.

But be warned, getting a decent pair of IEMs is just going to highlight how bad mp3s sound.
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Old 08-10-09, 12:01 PM
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Lately, I've used headphones from Nike: flight and flow.

My first pair of flight headphones worked great until my sweat started to destroy them. Then, I got another pair and for whatever reason they can't seem to stay in my ears. I am now using the "flow" headphones and they fit perfectly and claim to be sweat resistant.

I found that for athletic activities it is better to behind-the-neck or some type of ear-bud w/ around-the-ear clasp. Bud and over-the-top headphones just have too many problems when you're moving around a lot.
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Old 08-10-09, 06:55 PM
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i recently ordered some in the ear earbuds as well, we always have headwind here and to be honest it really gets to irritating me in my commute. i actually rode a few days with solid earplus in to see if it was any better and it was but not too much i could still hear the wind, so my option is to get the in ear earbuds. to have to sound cancelling plus the music to drown out the noise a bit. i realize its not the safest but with the wind in my ear i cant hear anything anyways.
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