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The purpose of this purchase was to pipe in high fidelity music into my motorcycle helmet without destroying my hearing.  I went with the concept of noise isolation versus helmet speakers + amplifiers.

I’m cheap.  Because I’m cheap, I bought a set of cheap earphones with Etymotic ER4 plugs (read about the experience here) because I wanted to test the theory of high quality noise isolation with the Earphone / Earplug combination.  The known good option is to go with custom molded earplugs with hearing aid quality speakers.  My problem was that when all is done, they are about $200.  And since I managed to lose my custom plugs within a year of ownership, that doesn’t excite me.

I decided to purchase Etymotic ER-6i earphones with noise isolating earplugs.  It was somewhat of a crap-shoot since there was NOT ONE FRIGGIN’ REVIEW ON THEIR PERFORMANCE INSIDE A MOTORCYCLE HELMET!  That said, I have read and heard good things about the company’s products.

I did the usual search for the best price and ended up at buy.com through a cnet.com search.  Lucky for me they were clearing them out and the total cost was around $80.

SIDEBAR:  Nothing pisses me off more about ebay listings than the insane shipping fees.  I know the schtick by inflating the shipping fee, they can reduce the ’selling’ cost which make them appear cheaper.  On average, these units were being sold on ebay for $110 give or take a few.  One guy had them for $49 with a $69 shipping fee.  WTF?  It’s just annoying. I see now that they are being sold for $90 or so with free shipping.  END SIDEBAR

Anyway, they came in a couple of days and all was well.

This set comes with a couple of options for ear comfort and an extra set of filters.  You can use the washable 3-flange, 2-flange, or small 2-flange rubber earplugs or the foam tip earplug ($14 / 5 pr.).  Because everyone’s ear canal is different, the foam tip is slightly more comfortable, but they have a limited life ($14 / 3 pr.).  The filters are there to protect the speakers from being waxed by your ear…literally ($15 / 3 pr.).

It was time for the helmet installation and removal trial.  My Shoei X-11 os a tight fit when it pops over my ears like all full-face helmets.  These earphones stayed perfectly inserted and required no adjustments.  I did this several times with the same result.  I have yet to knock them out of place from putting on my helmet.  Woohoo!

The second test was to check the noise isolation with the following controls:

• Shoei X-11 helmet
• Aprilia Futura with Staintunes (with baffles installed) and the H-pipe.  The bike is loud.
• Rider position is fairly in the wind.  Even though I have a Double Bubble screen, the Heli-bars put me back above the wind (albeit “clean” air).
• Volume set to pre-helmet installation comfortable volume to assure no hearing damage (about 40% max).
• P.O.S. Entempo 20Gb MP3 player.

I have to tell you how pleasantly surprised I was by the noise isolation.  Going through the gears to get to cruising speed was really the only time I could hear the engine.  Once there, here is what I found:

• 30mph (3rd-4th gear) - I could hear the engine, but the music was easily heard and not really marginalized.
• 60mph (6th gear from now on) - Couldn’t hear anything other than the Sex Pistols!
• 70mph - Could hear a little low frequency wind noise, but barely
• 80mph & 90 mph - a slight increment of wind noise, but still very good sound quality
• 130mph - the wind noise was finally starting to compete with the music audio, but the music could still be heard.

SIDEBAR #2:  When I got back from my little test, I saw an opportunity and took it.  See, we just got a new dog from the rescue league about two weeks ago - a one year old Border Collie / Austrailian Shepard mix.  When I came in from the garage in full gear and helmet still on with the MP3 player going, the dog ran around the corner to see who was at the door.  When she saw me, she got a wierd look on her face, so I lunged at her with my hands up.  OMG was that funny from my perspective (I actually teared up a little bit).  When I lunged, it scared the beJesus out of the dog.  She couldn’t get any traction on the tile floor to change directions.  I ’saw’ panicked barking and a failed retreat in slow motion, but all I could hear was Alice In Chains.  Every piece of hair was fully upright and she emitted something GOD-AWFUL…like a glandular emission.  While I cannot say that scared the crap out of her literally, I scared out something that required a bath.  Oh yeah, I got yelled at by my wife who is WAYYY too attached to that dog already.  END SIDEBAR

The isolation is SO good that I will likely turn off the music when I get to a section of twisties.  I like to use the ‘ear-ometer’ for my shifting points versus the tach, and I think it would be compromised.  Other than that, it has changed my outlook on commuting and long-distance rising.  I think it will help me keep from day-dreaming on those long straight rides that we all try to avoid, but are inevitable.

The GOOD:

• Excellent sound even at speed on a motorcycle
• Excellent noise isolation where the same level of volume at your desk is sufficient at 80mph on a motorcycle
• Easy proper installation
• Options and extra pieces and parts
• Readily available at $80-$90

The BAD:

• As expected, they are difficult to remove because they are small and hard to grip.
• I am concerned a little about the wire longevity because I have to tug on the wire a little to facilitate removal.
• Always the potential to hook a wire in your hands when removing the helmet.

The UGLY:

• I learned the purpose of the filters first hand.  While I keep the visible parts of my ears reasonably clean, I cannot always vouch for the internals.  When I shoved them in for the first time, I could only hear sound out of the right ear.  I was pretty pissed at what I thought was a quality issue right off the bat.  Not so.  When I removed the plugs, I pulled a potato out of my ear.  I then read the instructions, cleaned my ears internally with a water bulb, changed the filter, and they have been concert quality ever since.  Keep your ears clean!

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