Earphones

[Mudslide Miller]

Jason,

Regular ol' SKULLS from Cycle Gear will do the trick without breaking the bank. They're inexpensive and when they wear out or break, easily replaceable. They have a fair amount of bass and sound good enough for me. I went the Etymotic route once and was extremely disappointed in the sound considering the dough I forked out. They sounded better than most cheap sets, but not enough to justify the cash, IMO. They broke twice. First time they replaced them, second time they wouldn't. So I was done with them.

Like others, I just tuck the extra earbud wire length inside my jacket. No issues thus far.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

If you're going to buy cheap earbuds, buy these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003EM8008/ref=psdc_12097478011_t1_B00E4LGVUO

Amazing bass and good overall earbud. I like these because they're in-ear earbuds and don't interfere with helmets. Panasonic did a good job with these. I own a pair and would recommend them. Check out the reviews on Amazon. They have to be in your ears correctly to hear the quality bass. Don't leave them on the outside of your ears, they go in the ear canal and work well. I just bought a pair of Sena 20S's. I'll post my review when I hook them up to the Sena's later in this week.

 

[Mudslide Miller]

Wow. Great find. I'll have to try a pair of those myself. At that price you can't go wrong giving them a try. And I'm always looking for ones that fit good inside a helmet, especially now that I have Sena speakers in my helmet. Like others, I use the helmet speakers for around town and the earbuds for any trips or long day rides.

Edit: Just ordered a set. Without Amazon Prime, the shipping and tax cost slightly more than the buds themselves, but still worth the money if they sound decent.

 

[TomInPA]

I hate it when the ear bud rolls out of my ear during a ride and I'm listening in mono. FWIW, most cheap earbuds do this to me. Also, the ones that stick out too far can be painful as they press into your ear on a long ride. Learned this when changing from the Klipsh S4i to the R6i which is much longer.

At $8.79, I might try the Panasonics, although Amazon reports an update for $16.91 https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Headphones-Controller-RP-TCM125-K-Compatible/dp/B00E4LGVUO/ref=dp_ob_title_ce .

 

[gixxerjasen]

I wonder if these would help the average earbud to stay in better...

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Large-Replacement-Ear-Information/dp/B004CN91Q0/ref=pd_sim_23_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41mLhvgISSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=RSMVY7N073V6NM943YV4

Curious, even though you won't use it, is there any issues using earphones with built in mic with the Sena?

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

I hate it when the ear bud rolls out of my ear during a ride and I'm listening in mono. FWIW, most cheap earbuds do this to me. Also, the ones that stick out too far can be painful as they press into your ear on a long ride. Learned this when changing from the Klipsh S4i to the R6i which is much longer.
At $8.79, I might try the Panasonics, although Amazon reports an update for $16.91 https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Headphones-Controller-RP-TCM125-K-Compatible/dp/B00E4LGVUO/ref=dp_ob_title_ce .

Tom, the Panasonic earbuds you are referring to have a microphone also. No need for the $16 model. I would buy the ones without the mic. The model I referred to will not pop out of your ears. When they're inserted into your ears, they don't stick out and your helmet will not interfere.

My son Trevor swiped my Panasonics and said they worked well with his iPhone on his Ninja 650. I still haven't tested them with the Senas as I haven't received them yet. We shall see.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

I wonder if these would help the average earbud to stay in better...
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Large-Replacement-Ear-Information/dp/B004CN91Q0/ref=pd_sim_23_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41mLhvgISSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=RSMVY7N073V6NM943YV4

Curious, even though you won't use it, is there any issues using earphones with built in mic with the Sena?

Nice find Jasen. I can't confirm whether or not they'll fit on the Panasonic in-ear earbuds I recommended. At $7, it would certainly be an interesting experiment. The insulation from outside noise is fairly good with the silicone tips that come with the earbuds. The tips Jasen found may be better. If someone gives them a try, please post up.

 

[jmdaniel]

Nothing useful to offer, but I can't pass up a chance to bitch about something. I was looking recently for some new earplugs or buds or whatever they're called--some types won't stay tight in my apparently oddly-shaped ear holes. But how can you know what you're looking at or buying when they're hermetically sealed into a tamper-proof space-age plastic package that needs specialized tools to get open to even get your hands on them??

OK, I'm done. Feeling much better now.

I'm okay with them being sealed. Who the hell would want buds that someone else had tried?

 

[TomInPA]

I hate it when the ear bud rolls out of my ear during a ride and I'm listening in mono. FWIW, most cheap earbuds do this to me. Also, the ones that stick out too far can be painful as they press into your ear on a long ride. Learned this when changing from the Klipsh S4i to the R6i which is much longer.
At $8.79, I might try the Panasonics, although Amazon reports an update for $16.91 https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Headphones-Controller-RP-TCM125-K-Compatible/dp/B00E4LGVUO/ref=dp_ob_title_ce .

Tom, the Panasonic earbuds you are referring to have a microphone also. No need for the $16 model. I would buy the ones without the mic. The model I referred to will not pop out of your ears. When they're inserted into your ears, they don't stick out and your helmet will not interfere.

My son Trevor swiped my Panasonics and said they worked well with his iPhone on his Ninja 650. I still haven't tested them with the Senas as I haven't received them yet. We shall see.

Thanks for the reply. I'll try the cheap set and save $8.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

These are the best cheap earbuds I've ever owned. Amazing sound for cheap. If they don't work out for you, you could cut the cord into 6 equal lengths and use the cuttings to tie a half dozen tomato plants to their stakes.

 

[Mr_Canoehead]

I don't know about on the SM-20 but on my SMH-10 using a 4 pole plug (the one with microphone) sometimes gave bad results. You could fiddle with it and get it to work but it had to be just so. Better to stick to the 3 pole type.

 

[gixxerjasen]

I wonder if these would help the average earbud to stay in better...

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Large-Replacement-Ear-Information/dp/B004CN91Q0/ref=pd_sim_23_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41mLhvgISSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=RSMVY7N073V6NM943YV4

Curious, even though you won't use it, is there any issues using earphones with built in mic with the Sena?

Nice find Jasen. I can't confirm whether or not they'll fit on the Panasonic in-ear earbuds I recommended. At $7, it would certainly be an interesting experiment. The insulation from outside noise is fairly good with the silicone tips that come with the earbuds. The tips Jasen found may be better. If someone gives them a try, please post up.

I find that the ones with the roundish bud on them will often not stay in the ear, especially if there's sweat involved. Mine that I use for mowing the lawn are forever slipping out. Inside my helmet in July in Texas, it's every bit as sweaty. TMI?

Also note, I think I linked to the medium size ones, there's several sizes of those replacement buds on amazon.

 

[SigepKat]

I use similar buds on my bike and it does make a difference. They fit a little tighter, so it cancels out more sound, but the downside is they fit a little tighter and can (not every time) get uncomfortable after awhile.

 

[gixxerjasen]

I ordered up the aforementioned el cheapo Panasonic earbuds. I have Prime so shipping was free, and I'm cheap so I ordered the green ones as they were a buck or so less than the black ones. I'm not cheap enough to order the pink ones though.

I also ordered up those tips that I linked to earlier. They snapped right onto the Panasonic earbuds and feel very snug in the ear. We'll have to see how long it takes me to overcome laziness and swap the clamp on my helmet and try them out. I'll post up when I do...eventually.

 

[Mr_Canoehead]

After two emails, no response from Ear Fuze on my broken earphone - not good. I tried calling but the message said to send an email.....come on guys, do I really have to dump on you on social media to get a response?

I ordered a pair of two driver S-Plugs to try out last week. They arrived very quickly. So far, these are looking really good. They pretty much disappear into the ear canal and sound pretty good, equivalent to the ER-6i's in sound but even lower profile. I can only get them out by pulling the cord (which makes me a bit nervous). I haven't ridden far with them yet but they are looking like a winner.

Why does pulling the cord make me nervous? I previously had some Q-Jays which were super low profile, isolated well and sounded awesome; but you could only get them out by pulling on the cable and they only lasted a few months because of it. Replacements lasted about 3 months each.I finally replaced them with Er-6i's which didn't sound as good but were tough. With the ER-6i, I could get hold of the little lip and pull them out without tugging on the cord.

I see the newest Q-Jays have replaceable cords....hmmm.

 

[gixxerjasen]

An interesting find on those earbud tips. The package came with several sets in that size. I popped them onto another set of earbuds that I have (not using for the bike as they stick out too much) and they feel completely different. The Panasonics with the new tips feel very snug and secure, while my other earbuds with the same tips feel like they are less secure. Odd, wouldn't have figured that. So, in closing, as often, your results may vary.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Jasen,. It will be interesting to see how they work under your helmet on the road. Stock tips vs. your extra special tips. I would imagine the tips you found would give you a little more wind noise protection. Now get out there with your excessively sweaty ears and perform the test. Should be nice and cool in Dallas about now.

 

[gixxerjasen]

It's not that my ears are excessively sweaty, I think they are probably normal sweaty, it's just excessively hot outside. Nope, not going for a ride.

However...

Laziness and boredom won out over laziness. Huh? Yea, wasn't wanting to do what I was supposed to be doing for work so I was bored so I grabbed my allen key set and went to work on the helmet. Forgot I had to rip out the speakers for the old system which meant disassembling my nasty old helmet. Got all that sorted and the new system installed, found the piece that clips on and got it all set up...in my bedroom.

First of all...FJRPittsburgh nice find on the Panasonic earphones. They ain't Sures or Entymotics but for roughly $6 shipped to my door, they are freaking outstanding. I listen to mostly rock/alt stuff and went through several songs on the playlist on amazon prime music and was very happy with the sound quality.

I put one aftermarket tip on and left the other stock, as seen in the photos. Put my helmet on and sure enough, aftermarket stayed put and the other one slipped a little. Even after pushing back in with my finger, the seal and sound from the aftermarket was better.

At one point my son came in to ask me a question. He didn't even look at me like I was at all odd sitting on the bedroom floor with my helmet on playing with my phone. Normal day in the GJ household I suppose for him. Anyway, I turned the volume all the way down and talked to him. Not sure how these are going to work as they aren't close to my earplugs, but still blocking quite a bit of volume. On the plus side, I can tell I'll have to turn the Sena down a bit instead of having it at max volume all the time as I did with the speakers. Wonder if I'll get longer battery life that way, on lower volume driving smaller speakers. That would be nice.

No full on road test likely till Monday. My weekend is filled with my HoneyDo list and oddly enough, an HOAdo list.

 

[Mr_Canoehead]

I found that my SMH-10 was good for 12 hours with headphones and about 8 hours with speakers.

 

[FJRPittsburgh]

Sorry for the quote after my message. Tablet issue. You're welcome for the cheap earbuds recommendation. I listen to basically the same type of music you do. All I had to do was play some Rush and listen to Geddy thumping on the bass and I knew the earbuds were a good choice. Enjoy!

First of all...FJRPittsburgh nice find on the Panasonic earphones. They ain't Sures or Entymotics but for roughly $6 shipped to my door, they are freaking outstanding. I listen to mostly rock/alt stuff and went through several songs on the playlist on amazon prime music and was very happy with the sound quality.