Anyone listen to music whilst doing a long trip?

loobster

I see guys with headphones in out on the roads sometimes, does anyone here do it?

I personally would love to but the problem of not being able to hear the traffic and what's going on around me scares me somewhat. I think it's dangerous in a way, but having some appropriate tunes playing whilst you ride would be cool. Some epic Pink Floyd whilst you cruise around some beautiful hills or something...magic.

I'd also need to find the right headphones.

Lagavulin

I do.

I use my Ipod Nano. Treated myself to some nice Sennheiser in-ear plugs as those supplied with ipods are sh!te.

Just use the one plug in the left ear. Couldn't possible use both as they're base-driven and you basically can't hear anything when you've got some banging tunes on.

Nice pinging along to a bit of Rob Dougan, Armin van Buuren etc. 8)

When my legs are shot I put a bit of Green Day on and crawl home. :roll:

spasypaddy

i listen to music whilst i cycle as long as i'm not on a dual carriageway or its dark. As soon as i hit a dual carriage way i take BOTH earphones out and as soon as its dark the earphones get removed from my person as i dont even want the thought of putting them in

loobster

Cool! That gives me some reassurance. I'm getting a new ipod this week so I'll probably use it on my long ride.

Can you guys recommend any headphones? Obviously a lot would fall out...

spasypaddy

ive found most earphones are pretty decent, i have these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-MDR-ED21LP ... 49-2397257
and they stay in incredibly well, but they are so unbelievably damaged that im waiting on a new pair, and im getting these to replace them:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shure-E2C-In-Ea ... 49-2397257
not sure what they are like but my mate says they are incredible but im worried that they will be too sound resistant

Lagavulin

I use these.
Some people don't like in-ear phones but I've found them the only type that'll stay in when on the bike.

loobster

Cheers mate, I'll look into them.

Like you say, you don't want something that blocks out every single bit of outside noise, that could be dangerous.

Do you cycle around London with them in, or in the country/quieter roads?

spasypaddy

i cycle round both, not central london but live in north london and commute around north london with them in, go out on a sunday with them in as well.

As long as its not too loud you will be alright, also sometimes only having the left ear in is a good idea. But NEVER at night! You lose the ability to see brilliantly at night so i dont want to lose the ability to hear perfectly!

loobster

Gotcha, sounds good. I can't wait to get my new iPod classic, gonna be awesome getting out on the lanes next weekend with some good tunes pumping out.

spasypaddy

haha i just got my ipod classic, 160gb of space about 20 of it used!

loobster

Wow, the 160 gig.

I'm gonna go for the 80gig. 160 gigs is a lot of music, although I could probably fill it if I ripped hundreds of cds.

windbreaker

I bought the Shure E2C and don't find them much good.:( I obviously don't have the right shape of ears, cos they just don't stay in. i seem to have a narrow ear channel. My advice would be try someone else's for size before buying :?

Lagavulin

For what its worth the Sennheiser's I bought come with three different sizes of adaptors for in-ear fitting.

loobster

Lagavulin wrote:

I use these.
Some people don't like in-ear phones but I've found them the only type that'll stay in when on the bike.

They look perfect.

Do they sound good? I'm a real music lover and very snobby about sound quality?

Also, where do you keep your ipod? In the back pockets of your jersey or what?

Lagavulin

I've just switched to these recently but I think they're excellent for earphones for an ipod/mp3 player - but then I did tolerate the rubbish Apple give you for almost a year.

Its not like listening to the stuff in the house (I've got a decent speaker setup at home) but I've found myself thinking "yeah, this is what its supposed to sound like" when comparing it to what I used before when on the move. I've not had a plug com out whilst on the bike which is not soemthing I could of the previous set.

I only ever put the left plug in when on the bike but you still get decent quality.

Stick both in and I find myself surrounded by mime artists. I use the bus to get to work and I find they're brilliant for cutting yourself off from conversations you really don't give a toss about (do you care how Betty did at the Bingo last Wednesday?)

Normally just goes in jersey pocket with leads fed up inside or if I've got a waterproof on it goes in one of their many pockets.

loobster

Cool man. I can't stand the 'one earphone' thing, I like to listen to albums in stereo, ponsey I know, but fuck it.

I can't wait to get my new ipod. Gonna be an expensive week what with buying a new guitar amp too...for £800.... :?

bobtravers

Isn't there on the market some earphones that are mono?? That in the same ear, you have both R and L side of speaker sound??

Could be a good idea for cyclist who don't want to put both earphones for security

bahzob

I listen to trance music on a Sony mp3.

Reason for former is that I find it helps with keeping tempo, especially on TTs and long Alpine climbs. Plus I get a buzz when the song seques with the situation (favourite so far hearing "You fly like an angel" belting out as I went round the last Huez hairpin)

Reason for latter is that while its not huge in capacity (512MB) it has rechargeable USB batteries that last 70hours and it's bomb proof, surviving 2 years of rain, snow and sweat in my back pocket.

spasypaddy

something i found on the ipod classic is you can set a maximum volume so that even if you jog the dial it doesnt go above it, this is quite useful when cycling.

I have an armband for my ipod that is very very useful as it means it is easily accessible to change tracks.

loobster

I can't wait to get it.

I'm checking my bank account every day for that student loan.

Should be tomorrow.

babelover

I bought my ear phones from Tesco. Less than a fiver but they're the proper sports ones with the hooks that go around the ear so they don't fall off. Ideal if like me you're on a tight budget.

They're called Technika and they're white.

I still hear the traffic no problem. Like many other people I thought it could be dangerous but really it's not, as long as the volume is not blaring.

It does make the journey a little less boring!

Eurostar

I have custom-moulded ACS T2 in ear monitors http://www.hearingprotection.co.uk/musi ... nitors.htm which block out all external noise and sound as good as a very serious hi-fi. As used by Mick Jagger, F1 drivers and so on. No long distance ride is complete without them. They cost £499 but are well worth it. I'm sure there will be a chorus of voices saying 'what a waste of money', to which I would say 'don't knock it til you've tried it.' You do need a good quality player with decent files to make the most of the T2s. I use a Cowon iAudio which sounds significantly better than an iPod, a Creative or an Archos.

Safety-wise I rely on a mirror. It's the best way to know whether a car is going to pass too close. You don't want to be looking over your shoulder whenever you hear a car behind you anyway. In heavy traffic you would spend so much time looking over your shoulder you'd have to slow right down because you'd never have enough time to look ahead. With a good mirror you can have a good idea what's going on at all times, plan ahead and stay in control, without needing to use your sense of hearing at all. In other words, you operate much like a car driver or motorcyclist. They rely on mirrors and much of the time can hear very little because of their phone, radio, intercom or what have you.

The big problem is getting a good mirror mounted in the optimum position. The only decent one is the old Mirrycle designed for non-aero brake levers. It's still available. But you have to bodge it to fit it to aero/STI levers. I'm about to fit non-aero levers anyway.

ajohn9

^^^christ they are WELL expensive!

chrisjsmith

Snake oil. It's the typical audiophile argument.

There is probably about 5-10% difference between a £20 pair and a £499 pair for a 2500% increase in price, which is most likely inaudible due to road noise.

I use standard iPod ones which came with my shuffle (which incidentally clips to anything conveniently). Cheap and cheerful. You can hear the music ok and whats happening on the road if you keep it down. They rarely fall out.

If you knacker them, buy some more, not cry for days.

Eurostar

chrisjsmith wrote:

Snake oil. It's the typical audiophile argument.

There is probably about 5-10% difference between a £20 pair and a £499 pair for a 2500% increase in price, which is most likely inaudible due to road noise.

I use standard iPod ones which came with my shuffle (which incidentally clips to anything conveniently). Cheap and cheerful. You can hear the music ok and whats happening on the road if you keep it down. They rarely fall out.

If you knacker them, buy some more, not cry for days.

"probably" and "most likely" are the giveaways that you are just guessing. And 'hear the music OK' and 'keep it down' indicate that music is just background noise to you. To me it's an art form which can transform a journey into a magical experience. Perhaps the pleasure I get from music is 2500% greater? You'll never find out because your iPod ones are junk, with a manufacturing cost of $2. (I checked.) I was paid by a newspaper to test the iPod ones and the ACS ones, two sets of Shures and some cheapies at the same price point as the iPod ones. Then I bought the ACS ones with my own money. After listening to them, and hearing music the way it was recorded, I couldn't go back to the rubbish stuff. But if you want to listen to a transistor radio instead of a proper hi-fi, go ahead. Of course, with a Shuffle and highly compressed files stripped of most of the music, it's rather pointless buying decent earphones, so stick with what you've got. Ignorance is bliss.

There is no road noise - that's right, NO road noise - because the ACS ones are custom moulded to block your ear canal. They also position the speakers past the second bend at the optimum distance from your eardrum.

If you knacker them, send them back to the factory for repair. For your £499 you also get something called 'service'.

loobster

Do you ride with both in?

gkerr4

Eurostar wrote:

chrisjsmith wrote:

Snake oil. It's the typical audiophile argument.

There is probably about 5-10% difference between a £20 pair and a £499 pair for a 2500% increase in price, which is most likely inaudible due to road noise.

I use standard iPod ones which came with my shuffle (which incidentally clips to anything conveniently). Cheap and cheerful. You can hear the music ok and whats happening on the road if you keep it down. They rarely fall out.

If you knacker them, buy some more, not cry for days.

"probably" and "most likely" are the giveaways that you are just guessing. And 'hear the music OK' and 'keep it down' indicate that music is just background noise to you. To me it's an art form which can transform a journey into a magical experience. Perhaps the pleasure I get from music is 2500% greater? You'll never find out because your iPod ones are junk, with a manufacturing cost of $2. (I checked.) I was paid by a newspaper to test the iPod ones and the ACS ones, two sets of Shures and some cheapies at the same price point as the iPod ones. Then I bought the ACS ones with my own money. After listening to them, and hearing music the way it was recorded, I couldn't go back to the rubbish stuff. But if you want to listen to a transistor radio instead of a proper hi-fi, go ahead. Of course, with a Shuffle and highly compressed files stripped of most of the music, it's rather pointless buying decent earphones, so stick with what you've got. Ignorance is bliss.

There is no road noise - that's right, NO road noise - because the ACS ones are custom moulded to block your ear canal. They also position the speakers past the second bend at the optimum distance from your eardrum.

If you knacker them, send them back to the factory for repair. For your £499 you also get something called 'service'.

they sound awesome - I'm most jealous and I appreciate my sounds - but I dont think I could part with that sort of brass for a set of earphones.....

Clever Pun

spasypaddy wrote:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shure-E2C-In-Ea ... 49-2397257
not sure what they are like but my mate says they are incredible but im worried that they will be too sound resistant

they really are the business, I've had a pair for quite a few years now, best earphones I've ever had... lifetime guarantee as well..

the sound quality is just excellent, they have the Pun seal of approval

Eurostar

Loobster wrote:

Do you ride with both in?

Yes. It's quite tranquil being isolated from all the traffic noise. Very de-stressing. It actually helps me to planfurther ahead - e.g. looking further up the road for potholes instead of swerving around them at the last minute, which is a bad habit of mine, especially in London where i get sucked into the dog-eat-dog mentality of charging around aggressively. With the music on I chill out, don't let things get to me and ride more sensibly. Mind you, I've always been too aggressive in London traffic - I got into some very bad habits when I was a motorycycle courier in my youth.

BUT this would all go pear-shaped if I didn't have a really good mirror.

chrisjsmith

Let's provide some more info. Hmm:

a) The repair bill I'm sure would cost more than a half-decent set of "disposable" ones.

b) The human ear isn't that great a device. There is a point at which it doesn't matter how much better the device is. This is usually around the 20 quid mark.

c) Your body transfers noise from the surroundings and through itself into your cochlea. Try sticking your fingers in your ears and stamping your feet. You'll see what I mean. There is still noise however much shit the earphone is surrounded in. It's just dampened by your watery torso and fat.

d) the AAC codec is good enough at 128kbits for the air-based acoustic couplings and the nerve signals to represent the audio as you would hear it anyway. There are a few errors here and there but you cannot hear them unless you listen carefully, which you shouldn't be doing if you're riding a bike.

I agree about the iPod headphones, but they came with the device which is "good enough" for every day use. Not only that, it's all software and the output DAC's tolerances and manufacturing quality is so good these days that the player or codec doesn't matter, unless you're downconverting it to another format later.

Please note: I wish the sodding audiophiles would understand that the pathway between the outside and the sensory parts of your brain is a noise ridden mess and then your brain still throws most of it out. It is all down to perception but i'll stick to the science bit.

Sorry. Rant over.

(PS I'm a qualified microelectronics engineer so I've been through this a million times)

Eurostar

chrisjsmith wrote:

b) The human ear isn't that great a device. There is a point at which it doesn't matter how much better the device is. This is usually around the 20 quid mark.

That remark alone is probably the most misleading I've ever read on a forum. Shame on you for using your engineering qualifications to browbeat people into missing out on the enjoyment of music. The rest of your post is also baloney.

ACS is run by Andy Schiach, a musician who qualified as an audiologist in '76. So he knows that occlusion is reduced when the monitor is past the 2nd bend of the canal where you have skin on bone rather than skin on cartilage. And he was the first IEM mfr to use silicone rather than acrylic for the earpieces because it provides less attenuation.

Everyone knows how the the law of diminishing returns in hi-fi works, as with other luxury goods. Each buyer has to decide what represents reasonable value for them. I also tried the Cowon/T2 combination with a Crystal Ultra interconnect cable (1374 euros) and a Rudistor NKK-01se amp (990 euros). I didn't think the cable was worth it but I'm saving for the amp. (By the way, even without the amp the T2s gave more pleasure than the best Grado headphones WITH the amp.) If £20 earphones and a shuffle are your idea of what's justifiable or affordable, fine. Don't presume to make this judgement for others.

I'm amazed that you can pontificate about things you haven't tried. Perhaps music is just wasted on you? Oh well.