S Plug Universal Earplug Speakers

[gasportrider]

I have been a user of Etymotic ER6 in ear canal earplug speakers for years and thought they were God's gift to motorcyclists.

However, I've just tried a product that I think is superior to the Etymotics.

The S plug is reportedly made by NHT, a maker of loudspeakers with a good reputation in the HIFI community.

Unlike Etymotic, I can find no published performance specifications for the S plug in ear canal earphones.

My personal comparison listening test reveals that the S plug compares well with the Etymotics for everything except very high listening levels where some base distortion occurs with the S plugs. These levels are too high for sustained listening, however.

One major benefit of the S plug is that the only thing exiting the speaker assembly is a small wire. This eliminates all concerns with pressure or impacts from the helmet lining. I have observed that on many occasions, I get the Etymotics in my ears "just right" while other times there is some pressure from the helmet lining. Then I find myself riding with ear discomfort to the next gas stop or finding myself stopping to correct the fitting problem.

A second major benefit is that the silicone eartips of the S plugs are suited to deep insertion into the ear canals which provides a comfortable but tight seal that serves to substantially reduce wind noise. This compares favorably against the Etymotics where I have used their silicone tips and their small and normal sized foam tips. In my case, the small foam tips are certainly comfortable; but are not large enough to block wind noise. With the normal sized foam plugs, I eventually develop some ear canal discomfort after a long day in the saddle.

The third major benefit of the S plugs are that the tight sealing allows sort of a "in your head" sound sense that is both crisp, distinct, and immediate.

The S plug sells for $130.00 at CycleGadgets Website

There are 3 cable length options. At the time of my purchase, I was told that I could have a 30 day use of the product and if dissatisfied, I could return them with only the purchase of replacement ear tips as my "cost". I can assure one and all that these earphones will NOT be returned as they are the absolute icing on the cake for an elaborate on bike sound system. I highly recommend this product.

 

[jekirby]

I talked to Marylin at the DC motorcycle show and she told me that she used to same manufacturer that supplied the drivers for Shure earphones. She did not say that they were the same, only had the same manufacturer. These are the same plugs as her customs, but in a universal configuration.

 

[GalaxyBlue]

I had some NHT 3.3 towers and they are indeed a good company! But EXPENSIVE!

Not many know about them.

Interesting that they make a headphone though. I think i will stick with the er6i for now since i just bought a new pair a few days ago.

 

[fhaze]

I've been struggling with various earplugs since I got my autocom and Zumo/Passport. I really like the sound suppression of foamies inserted correctly, but that means cranking up the volume on the Zumo to 100 and using autocoms headphones. I suppose that works well enough, but I am a musician so I'd like a little more fidelity as well as not having to crank it up. I purchased some DIY ear molds from wally-world. I made some molds and tried them instead of the foamies. Not the DB supression I was hoping for and Zumo still needed to be cranked. Better but not great. I then purchased 2 more boxes of DIY molds and took one of my in canal phones ripped the foam off and made a decent set of custom inear molded phones. I had to trim some of the silicone away from the sound tube. These work "OK" but I still think I can do better. Autocom sells an adapter that will allow both the use of the headphones as well as the DIY ones. I suspect that this will work very very well.

I fly alot for business, so I would really like something dual-purpose...long rides and long flights with excellent sound supression. I just may have to get some real custom molded monitors, unless you guys think that these ones work work really well with the DIY mold method. I am not really sure how to get the speaker part to sit right in the ear canal, on some of the pics it seems that the ineer ear piece is actually articulated a little bit. My DIYS just have the tube flush with the inner piece.

 

[OhioFJR1300]

I have custom molded earspeakers/plugs and I did not pay $130.00 for them , so I would say that if you are going to part with that kind of money, get some custom made ones. You will be very happy with them.

 

[gasportrider]

[quote name='fhaze' date='May 11 2008, 10:33 AM' post='416720' but that means cranking up the volume on the Zumo to 100

The S plug in ear canal sealing is so efficient and wind noise suppression so effective that I am able to run my Zumo music levels at 70% and hear everything just fine.

I have found nothing better than this earphone system for use in a motorcycling environment. They are just as effective as high quality foam ear plugs for wind noise suppression. Combined with my Cee Bailey +4+2, and Nolan N102, my head is in a Quiet Zone at 80 mph.

Give this product a trial. It'll only cost you $14 if you don't like them.

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

While at an event, I got a set of in ear molded ear plugs and a set of in ear molded stereo plugs.

I torn one of the ear plugs, but the stereo plugs are molded plastic or something like that, they are fine.

I can listen to my MP3 player or just listen to my gps while wearing them and have had to turn my gps down to 30 or 40 percent and here just fine through the star com helmet speakers.....

If I used the molded silicon plugs, I would have to turn it up tot he 60-70% range....

Big Ear was the brand.... they show up at the bike events a lot.....the stereo plugs I had to wait to get them about 3 weeks, but the hearing protection plugs they make on the spot for you and takes about 30 min....

 

[noob]

gasportrider,

looking at the pics of these, and this coming from a "hear-o" ear plug user, are they easy to get out? They look so flush with your ear that there would be nothing to grab onto to get them out?

I've tried so many options with these it is frustrating. I won't ride without ear plugs (would like to keep my hearing for awhile longer ), but most of these types of solutions, if yer not listening to music, then the plugs allow too much wind noise...

But these look promising

 

[SkooterG]

I have custom molded earspeakers/plugs and I did not pay $130.00 for them , so I would say that if you are going to part with that kind of money, get some custom made ones. You will be very happy with them.

I wasn't. And that was after 3 different trys with two different companies. They just did not attenuate enough noise to be effective for me. I know they work for some, but they don't work for everybody, and for me, it was an expensive lesson.

I have found success however with the Etymotic ER-6s. However like gasportrider, depending on how I insert them, and which helmet I am wearing, I can get discomfort. Sometimes it only takes a few hours (tight fitting Shoei X-11), or sometimes it will take days (HJC flip helmet with big ear pockets. Based on the above review, I might have to try these, though they sure are expensive.

 

[gasportrider]

gasportrider,looking at the pics of these, and this coming from a "hear-o" ear plug user, are they easy to get out? They look so flush with your ear that there would be nothing to grab onto to get them out?

I've tried so many options with these it is frustrating. I won't ride without ear plugs (would like to keep my hearing for awhile longer ), but most of these types of solutions, if yer not listening to music, then the plugs allow too much wind noise...

But these look promising

Noob,

One of the main reasons I wrote about the S plug is that I share the frustration of having tried all the approaches to sound including in helmet speakers and custom molds with Etymotic drivers installed. After riding about 500 miles with the S plugs, I am thrilled with the proven results. I have used no other product that provides as much suppression of wind noise.

Further, now that I don't have the Etymotics sticking out of my ears, I'm now able to face a long held rationalization or minimization of the likelihood of forceful contact with the helmet liner in the event of an accident and the likely potential of perforation of the tympanic membrane by the plastic tube projecting from the Etymotics.

You are correct that the S plug inserts deeply into the ear canal. In my experience, this is an element of safety and the key to the very satisfactory level of wind noise suppression. I have fairly large hands and fingers and observe that it is somewhat difficult to solely grasp the projecting silicone flange; but together with the flange and the projecting wire, they are easy to remove. Removal is further abetted by grasping the outer ear and and pulling up and back just as you do when properly inserting foam ear plugs.

Perhaps these photos will show them more clearly than the Cyclegadgets advertisement. One benefit of the short cord is that it makes for a neater connection to my Smartcom headset connectors that drop down from my helmet.

This next photo shows me grasping the silicone flange that extends from the tip for purposes of insertion and removal.

When I first saw these earphones at the Atlanta motorcycle show, they were offered with a foam tip EXACTLY like that of foam ear plugs. Now they are offered with the silicone flange tips similar to those in the Etymotic offerings. To me, the most telling example of their performance improvement is that I had to turn down the volume on Zumo to 70% from the prior 90% to 100% levels used with the Etymotics. This fact alone should provide some assurance to SkooterG to give them a try.

Please understand, I am not knocking the Etymotics, I own the ER6's and a set of ER4's which are considered audiophile quality.

All is not perfect though, now that I have better elimination of wind noise and better sound quality, I'll soon be chasing a very mild alternator hum coming through the SmartCom that may require that I wire it directly to the battery rather than using my Centech2 fused distribution and wiring harness.

At this point, I just wish someone had offered me this opportunity to spend a $130 and be done rather than the $800+ spent on failed experiments. If you are interested in on bike sound, spend the $130 happily. If you aren't satisfied, the replacement tips are $13.50 if the S plugs are returned within 30 days. At least that was the offer I received when I stopped in to visit the folks at CycleGadgets at their new store and warehouse in Eureka Springs, AR.

 

[Ramblin Man]

I'm going to post this again as it's been a while.

I bought a set of the koss ear buds that had the interchangeable tips. I took some clear vinyl tubing and attached it to the drivers and on the other end I attached ear plugs with holes in the center to allow for air movement.

So it's like wearing my favorite style of earplugs with music. You can make the tubes as long or as short as you want so you can place the drivers anywhere you want.

I just bought a set of phillips "turbo base" ear buds model SHE9500 at Target in the 30 dollar range. 6-23,500 hertz. They also act like ear plugs and come with three different size "plugs". With my head skin (not to be confused with a foreskin) they fit just fine inside my X-Eleven. I havent had a chance to ride with them yet, but if I need to I can just go back to the tubes above.

 

[noob]

gasportrider...

that's some good sheeeet man, thnx for the effort, sounds like we've both done about the same in trying to find a solution to this problem. I'd add for the sake of others that may not have thought about it, finding a solution of this type eliminates the problems with hearing the radar detector (just patch it in)... the visual thing, the screamer thing, etc etc.

Thnx again bro, looks to be well worth checking out!

 

[SkooterG]

I'm going to post this again as it's been a while.
I bought a set of the koss ear buds that had the interchangeable tips. I took some clear vinyl tubing and attached it to the drivers and on the other end I attached ear plugs with holes in the center to allow for air movement.

Your weird. You smell funny. And you never ride your FJR anyways knuter valve boy!

Perhaps these photos will show them more clearly than the Cyclegadgets advertisement.

gasportrider - thanks for posting the photos. I was going to ask that you do so as the cyclegadgets photo wasn't all that good. Much appreciated.

One more favor to ask - could you post a photo with the S plug and ER-6's side by side for comparison purposes?

 

[vol210]

I wasn't. And that was after 3 different trys with two different companies. They just did not attenuate enough noise to be effective for me. I know they work for some, but they don't work for everybody, and for me, it was an expensive lesson.
I have found success however with the Etymotic ER-6s. However like gasportrider, depending on how I insert them, and which helmet I am wearing, I can get discomfort. Sometimes it only takes a few hours (tight fitting Shoei X-11), or sometimes it will take days (HJC flip helmet with big ear pockets. Based on the above review, I might have to try these, though they sure are expensive.

Gunny. That sounds like my experience exactly. Ety's have worked the best, but still some discomfort after a couple days. You can use the Ety 4 foam plugs on the 6i model, but not on the 6. The small dark foam sets work best for me.

Two sets of custom molded plugs with transducers sounded good, but painful much too soon.

These look interesting, but I have just set up helmet speakers for commuting that are working better than any other I've tried. Sennheiser PX100 headphones modified to the helmet. These are sounding better than the Iasus Xsound2's.

 

[cpsfjr]

Purchased and proven. The S Plug speakers are great! Just used them on a week-long tour of the Colorado Rockies and Utah's red rock country. They're as quiet as my best earplugs and provide better sound than my Etymotic ER6s.

Thanks Gasportrider!

 

[gasportrider]

Purchased and proven. The S Plug speakers are great! Just used them on a week-long tour of the Colorado Rockies and Utah's red rock country. They're as quiet as my best earplugs and provide better sound than my Etymotic ER6s.
Thanks Gasportrider!

cpsfjr,

I'm glad you like them. I've used mine for about two months now and am always amazed by how much they block wind noise. Volume levels from my Zumo are now reduced and the music quality is superb. Spread the word!

Like you, long term use of them is very comfortable for my ears.

 

[2006FJR]

I know this is an old thread but I wanted ot see if I could get some feedback on the S plugs that some of you might have purchased? I think this is a great solution and I like the very short cord that would plug right into the Autocom.

 

[Fairlaner]

I just ordered some so i will let you know.

R

 

[2006FJR]

I just ordered 2 sets of the S plug too and for less than a set of the BigEars (and I think they are a better overall fit-pun intended). I know this is exactly what I was looking for.... I love the short cord that goes into the Autocom.