MP3 Player...Yes/No...head phone suggestions

[mrfuni]

I'm all for safety and I like to be aware of my surroundings but...thinking if I go on a long trip and it's me and the highway, a little tunes to pass the time would be nice.
Do you use an MP3 player and what type of head phones work best on a bike? Clip on, in the ear, etc. curious what works for you.
Thanks...
Joe

[socwkbiker]

I use a Creative Mp3 and in the ear headphones. This allows me to keep the volume lower and still hear what is going on in my surroundings. I wear them every time I commute to work and haven't had a problem hearing anything around me. I do admit though, wearing those will make you far more vigilant because you know you have the music going.

I use the Sony in the ear head phones. Like SWB, I keep the volume down so I can hear what's around me.

[audiogooroo]

Always wear custom molded ear plugs to protect my hearing when I ride, but on a long trip if I want some tunes I use Shure E3s.

[davidjones1]

I really like having my mp3 on long rides when we are in the mountains are on the back rodes, when I'm in town are on the super slab I keep it off to here whats going on around me. I try and stay off the slab as much as I can so I all most always have the tune's going.
cheap mp3 but good gel-headphones
ride safe.

[dogdoc]

don't ride much with tunes most times but when i do it's Bose earphones.

[cactusjack]

I have a 30gb Zune that I use. Ear buds and helmet combination didn't work well for me. I bought a set of helmet speakers from www.helmetspeakers.com (http://www.helmetspeakers.com) and mounted them in the ear flaps of my Nolan helmet. They work great. I can still hear traffic, sirens, etc., but it's sure nice having tunes while you're cruising. Riding through the desert at sunrise while listening to Pink Floyd is an amazing experience.

[mikesth]

I had issues with keeping slack in my headphones, so I went the speakers on the bars route. I use a Sansa E200 with the setup from cyclesounds (http://www.cyclesounds.com//index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1) There is not a lot of volume, so I can still hear the road sounds I need to hear. I may have found a way to boost the amplication more.
In either case, it's nice having tunes on a beautiful day like yesterday as you ride through the woods with sun streaming though - *OOps, just having a flashback :)

[dui546]

I've tried using my Ipod Nano with the buds on a long trip before. It was fine but the ear buds really became annoyingly uncomfortable after a couple of hundred miles. I even took 3 different styles with me so I could change them out and it didn't matter.

I now have an mp3 player built into my gps (Zumo 550) and it is paired with the Scala Rider Head Set via blue tooth. It works extremely well and is a great combination. When navigating, the music is overridden by the gps navigation voice and then it returns to music. And...you can also use the cell phone hands free through the gps. I haven't taken a long ride with it yet but I have experimented with it around town. If you are planning on taking some long rides, it's worth the money.

Gps set aside, the bike to bike communication capability just using the Scala Rider Head Set paired to a cell phone provides incredibly clear communication with no range limitation. Of course, that is until you lose your cell phone signals..."Can you hear me now?" ???

[ringadingh]

I use an Ipod now,I have a stereo with a CD player but it wasn't as good. It skipped on bumps, and was a pain to change discs while riding. With the Ipod I use an FM tranmitter so it plays through the speakers, as earphones make my ears sore after a while. I love it , it holds a 1000 songs and isn't much larger than a credit card. Also I don't have to carry and change CD's anymore. Most of the time Im content to here only the bike , but I listen to the music on longer rides.

My tunes are from the Blaupunkt Melbourne SD27 Radio. It has a SD Drive where I've down loaded hours of tunes. It doesnt have a CD so I have no skipping of disks. They are about $250 for the unit.
http://www.blaupunkt.com/us/7647533310_main.asp

[jussmatt]

I use a mp3 player with the clip on ear buds. I like them better than the "push in" type since it doesn't restrict my sound and doesn't interfear with my brain bucket. I'm looking into the blue tooth route though...to get away from the cords all together.

[Scoot]

http://kawanow.proboards77.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1194637166&page=1#1195077102

[mlogsdon]

Anybody use some good handlebar mounted speakers they want to reccomend instead of the in-ear or in-helmet?

[mikesth]

Anybody use some good handlebar mounted speakers they want to reccomend instead of the in-ear or in-helmet?

See my earlier post> IMHO, the rumbleroads are too big. Realize no speaker is going to be like sitting in a concert hall. The ones I have are very much like listening to a radio.

[Idaho]

I mounted a Chatterbox intercom/radio on the handlebars. It has a mini jack input that I plumb an MP3 player into. The unit has headsets with VOX microphones in both helmets. Tunes from the MP3 comes over the headphones until my passenger talks then the tunes are squelched and the conversation comes through. After a few seconds of inactivity the tunes come back. I am still intriqued by the new stereo radio being offered by Ma Kaw this year.

[Heater_Guy]

I use helmet speakers/ microphone from www.edsets.com. (http://www.edsets.com.) They have a cable made to pair up with my Zumo 550 gps that gives me all my mp3's or XM radio if I want it and the ability to talk on the cell phone via bluetooth if I want that too. I've used that set up for about a year now and it works great. Volume is adjustable to low enough that I can hear surrounding noise or crank it up a little louder for highway if need be.

[donoller]

i put j&m radio on the bars. and hooked mp3 player to it .with fm tuner works with j &m headsets rather well .