not if you have Bose open ear earbuds my wife and I can talk to each other on the tandem while using them and she usually has a hard time hearing me. . they don't block your ears. they are pretty amazing.

What I mean is that if there is a lot of bass or treble, I lose more ambient sound. I prefer sound that stresses the midrange. For that reason, I don't listen to music on the bike much, mostly spoken word, because music has more frequency range.

same here. my wife on the back of the tandem listens to music. but now I can have sound in both ears but I can still hear with the wind and all but the loudest freeways. I used to use different earbuds a single one. but only the Bose quiet comfort really worked but you could not hear much in that ear. I can listen in stereo or Spacial audio with me I have ADHD and listening to books and such helps me focus on the road.