Motorbike comm's - earphones with separate (boom) mic?

roundthebend

My wife rides pillion with me and we bought a cheap and cheerful set of bluetooth comm's devices with a standard 3.5mm jack for the speakers and mic. The mic is on a short boom that can be nicely pushed into position, and the speakers are low profile things which fit under the lining of the helmet. I think the mic is fine, but the speakers are not loud enough and the can create pressure points on my skull which is unpleasant.

Also, it means not wearing ear plugs on a naked bike which is a bad idea. So, I'm wondering if I could find a set of earphones with a boom mic. The only other thing I'd need different about this setup is that I'd want to be able to put the earphones in separately while my helmet is perhaps hanging on the wall, or resting on the floor, and then when I've put the helmet on I would like to plug everything in so it's good to go. If that makes sense?

I suppose I could try soldering something together, but I hoped it might already exist. What do I need to look for?

roundthebend

OK, typing that up helped me get my head around it a bit more.
Perhaps a splitter like this would help, and then I just need to find a mic that can be attached inside my helmet, and a nice low profile set of earphones.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Splitter-POSUGEAR-Headphone-Microphone-Compatible-Black/dp/B079PJL14Y/ref=asc_df_B079PJL14Y/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309952060520&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12798917015005734044&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006984&hvtargid=pla-564770345177&psc=1

thumpingrug

Not sure this is the solution your looking for but I bought a Nolan Ncom Helmet last year specifically because the padding was shaped for fitting speakers and mics.  I haven't used their intercom, ridiculously expensive, but a relatively cheep bluetooth thing that actually works very well.  Mics pick up a bit of road noice but thats more to do with how my passenger places the mic.  Speakers and boom are buried in the lid with just a short wire that hangs out and can be easily tucked away when not in use ( not often as I put some music on when tootling around).  Ill follow this though and see what others suggest.  

roundthebend

That sounds like what I already have. My helmet doesn't have the recesses for the speakers, and I don't want to invest in another helmet. I specifically want earphones to protect my ears from wind noise and to bring the audio nearer to my ear drum. I'd even consider buying custom moulded earphones to get a good fit.

octatonic

I have a Cardo Packtalk which is excellent.
I use earplugs though, you need to protect your hearing and you can still hear voices and music with them in, I would argue better than it trying to get over the wind noise without earplugs.

I don't like 'intercoms' though on bikes.
There is nothing I need to say to anyone on a bike when I am riding.
I can listen to music or GPS instructions but I try not to participate in conversations because they are more of a distraction.
YMMV.

roundthebend

@octatonic I'm having trouble understanding your sentence about "wind noise without earplugs".

Intercom is good with a pillion rider. We can point out things of interest, she likes to know which turnings we're taking, and she might request a stop or detour for some reason. It's hard without voice communication.

TheBigDipper

I've also got a Cardo Packtalk Bold fitted to an AGV K6 helmet. I agree with octatonic - it's very good indeed. Expensive intercoms deliver in a way that cheaper ones just do not. I don't take pillions, but I do listen to directions from a Satnav and talk to people on other bikes when I'm tutoring them as a trainer. It's a lot smaller and simpler than the very expensive Autocom radio-based systems I used to own. A fully-charged Packtalk lasts all day, so it doesn't need power from the bike. 

I don't listen to music and I don't make phone calls. The "mesh" system Cardo uses is great and even connecting to another non-Cardo product using standard Bluetooth works well enough at 500m or less. The intercoms come with speakers and a boom mic that has some form of noise cancellation tech somewhere to remove wind noise from what you're saying. People hearing your voice can't hear much background noise at all. 

I wear earplugs when riding, and use the Cardo-supplied speakers fitted in the helmet, not earphones. That means the volume on the intercom is set quite high but it can be heard well enough at high speed to follow directions. At 30-40mph, it's clear as a bell. I think that would work well if you're not going like the clappers everywhere. I guess you won't be if you're using open face helmets. 

The Packtalk unit has a mini jack socket to connect to the speakers in the helmet. One of my Packtalk-using riding buddies has earplugs with speakers fitted inside and says they're great for music. He has to plug them in every time he puts his helmet on, of course. Not for me. 

Just to clarify - the speakers (or headphones) are connected with a standard minijack. The mic is connected with a separate connector that I've not removed since I changed helmets a few months ago. Don't recall what it looks like, TBH. 

octatonic

roundthebend said:

@octatonic I'm having trouble understanding your sentence about "wind noise without earplugs".

Intercom is good with a pillion rider. We can point out things of interest, she likes to know which turnings we're taking, and she might request a stop or detour for some reason. It's hard without voice communication.

You wear ear plugs to protect yourself from the damage wind noise causes.

To the second point, yes I know what they are for. I’m saying I think the level of distraction is unacceptably high for me, so I don’t do it. YMMV.

guitargeek62

I’ve got an older Cardo intercomm set for my wife and I, though the range is pretty limited so we have to stay within ~400m or so of each other’s bikes. I replaced the speakers with a JBL set which are much better both tonally and volume-wise - highly recommended! They’re plug-and-play for a lot of setups too

https://www.infinitymotorcycles.com/product/cardo-jbl-45mm-audio-speakers

I lucked out and paid half that price on a set off ebay a while back.

roundthebend

octatonic said:

roundthebend said:

@octatonic I'm having trouble understanding your sentence about "wind noise without earplugs".

Intercom is good with a pillion rider. We can point out things of interest, she likes to know which turnings we're taking, and she might request a stop or detour for some reason. It's hard without voice communication.

You wear ear plugs to protect yourself from the damage wind noise causes.

To the second point, yes I know what they are for. I’m saying I think the level of distraction is unacceptably high for me, so I don’t do it. YMMV.

I think I get what you're saying now - if you didn't have earplugs in then the wind noise would prevent you hearing the speakers (as well as damage your ears) but with the plugs in it seems to work better. Cool, maybe good earplugs are part of the solution here. And better speakers because my system cost about 12p on ebay vs the £90 JBL ones that @guitargeek62 recommended!

I hear you about the distraction of conversation. I don't ride enough with pillion to have come to that conclusion yet. My wife is quite an anxious person and "needs" to know certain things. Without an intercom I'd hear her shouting stuff into my ear which would be more distracting.

octatonic

roundthebend said:

octatonic said:

roundthebend said:

@octatonic I'm having trouble understanding your sentence about "wind noise without earplugs".

Intercom is good with a pillion rider. We can point out things of interest, she likes to know which turnings we're taking, and she might request a stop or detour for some reason. It's hard without voice communication.

You wear ear plugs to protect yourself from the damage wind noise causes.

To the second point, yes I know what they are for. I’m saying I think the level of distraction is unacceptably high for me, so I don’t do it. YMMV.

I think I get what you're saying now - if you didn't have earplugs in then the wind noise would prevent you hearing the speakers (as well as damage your ears) but with the plugs in it seems to work better. Cool, maybe good earplugs are part of the solution here. And better speakers because my system cost about 12p on ebay vs the £90 JBL ones that @guitargeek62 recommended!

I hear you about the distraction of conversation. I don't ride enough with pillion to have come to that conclusion yet. My wife is quite an anxious person and "needs" to know certain things. Without an intercom I'd hear her shouting stuff into my ear which would be more distracting.

Yep, earplugs are essential IMHO.

... and yes that would definitely be worse.