Headphones for Giro G10 helmet?

[Corey]

*** Let's please keep this discussion about the actual headphones. Start your own thread if you want to comment on the safety/intelligence/etc. of riding with music. ***

I have a Giro G10 helmet that I want to run some kind of headphones in as I ride by myself most days. I tried standard iPhone earbuds - they were way too hard to keep in my ears when using a facemask. Once they shifted even a tiny bit they hurt.

I want to keep my volume level low - in my one day trying earbuds I had conversations on the chair, and I could hear people coming behind me. Are the Giro Tune-Ups the best option? I don't need Bluetooth connectivity, although the idea of having no cords is appealing.

I have some Shure E2C in-ear headphones that would likely fit well inside the earpads/facemask, but they isolate outside noise way too much for me to be comfortable on the slopes.

Any recommendations?

[tex1230]

The tune-ups are OK but I couldn't hear them once I got up to speed. I used a pair of JVC in-ear buds - good tradeoff between being able to hear the music over the wind noise and not losing the ability to hear straightliners trying to kill you. I think the tune-ups are hit or miss depending on the shape of your head - the speakers were just slightly too far back on mine, (or my ears are too far forward)

[queequeg]

I tried out a variety of different headphone situations. I had the Shure earbuds for awhile but even with the music off, it was hard to hear people because of the in-ear design. I also found that having the E2C's in for that long got a bit uncomfortable. That said - the single button controller that you can get for the E2C's to control your music is a big winner for snowboarding: no dexterity required. They were also just kind of a pain to deal with when it came to the wiring and taking them on and off. I found that the headphones that come built into existing helmets and neckrolls were pretty substandard, so I ended up buying a nice pair of headphones, disassembling them and building them into my helment. I've got great sound now. Its a little bit of work but the results are well worth it - I could position the headphones right where I wanted in relation to my ears, they fit well and the audio quality is quite good.

I used a pair of headphones similar to these, but they were cheaper ... couldn't find the exact model on the AT site:

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/c946e97b349766d2/index.html

Those worked pretty well because they were easy to disassemble for rewiring, and the form factor of the headphones worked very well for sticking them in the helmet earpads. I replaced the stock wiring, since in my experience the wiring always seems to get damaged while snowboarding. I buried a 1/8" headphone jack in the earpad foam in my helmet, so that I plug into there, and the headphone wiring is well protected. That way, the only thing that can get damaged is the male-to-male cable that runs from my iPod to the helmet.

[Corey]

Brilliant queequeg! I had thought of doing that but not the female jack in the earpad. That's a great idea to reduce damage in that inevitable cord snag situation.

[Blue Bird]

I have the same helmet and the Motorola S805 earphones are great. The setup I have has replacement earpads that the earphones attach to. I love that they are bluetooth and I can control volume and forwarding to the next song. The ability to take answer or make phone calls has made weekday riding much easier too.

http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/XZ-EN/Consumer-Products-and-Services/Mobile+Phone+Accessories/Headsets/Bluetooth+DJ+Headphones+S805__Loc%253AXZ-EN

[snowboardworm]

I have a Louis Garneau helmet with the speakers in the ear pieces. Worked fantastic for about 1 week and then 1 speaker died. I went to the local ski shop and they had ear muffs from Skull Candy that fit as replacements. Riveted them in place and the tunes are back.

And yes i listen to them very low and can carry on conversations and can hear the snow. I only listen to them loud enough to distract me from my tinnitus.

[shawndoggy]

the tuneups really do work fine and are plug and play. I like geeking out on custom stuff as much as the next guy, but for the kind of listening you are doing you don't need anything more.

if you are using an iphone, I'm the site's official adaptunes pimp. It's well worth the buck.

I also use an inline mic/volume controller (available on ebay for under $10). Volume control really isn't necessary any more with adaptunes, but before I was using the ap it let me turn the tunes up and down without digging the phone out of my pocket. Also very nice for taking calls.

[queequeg]

the tuneups really do work fine and are plug and play. I like geeking out on custom stuff as much as the next guy, but for the kind of listening you are doing you don't need anything more.

if you are using an iphone, I'm the site's official adaptunes pimp. It's well worth the buck.

I also use an inline mic/volume controller (available on ebay for under $10). Volume control really isn't necessary any more with adaptunes, but before I was using the ap it let me turn the tunes up and down without digging the phone out of my pocket. Also very nice for taking calls.

Thanks for this reminder - I'll be giving adaptunes a shot this weekend. It would be really nice to have something that just automatically stopped playing as soon as you stop moving.

[shawndoggy]

Thanks for this reminder - I'll be giving adaptunes a shot this weekend. It would be really nice to have something that just automatically stopped playing as soon as you stop moving.

Post your thoughts once you try it. For me it's one of those "holy crap this is so awesome" aps.

[shawndoggy]

Oh and on the issue of damaging the wiring... what I did was zip tie the cable out of the helmet to one of my helmet straps with a little strain relief built in.

[Corey]

I discovered some old headphones. They're some sweet Air Canada freebies! After some disassembly (insert plastic cracking noises here) they slid right into the earpads like they were meant to be there. I wrapped the cables around the back and along the chin strap.

This setup is far from great but it'll give me a taste so I can decide if I want to spend more money. There's no volume control at the helmet with this first iteration, but I'll likely clip my iPod Shuffle on my collar or somewhere easily accessible.

[Pat Donnelly]

I have had 2 sets of Giro's "tune-ups" and they are not bad but I am going to give this a try for deeper bass

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Neckband-Headphones-SHS5200-28/dp/B003CJTR8M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[shawndoggy]

I have had 2 sets of Giro's "tune-ups" and they are not bad but I am going to give this a try for deeper bass

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Neckband-Headphones-SHS5200-28/dp/B003CJTR8M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Pat, did you try these yet? My tuneups wigged out so I went ahead and pulled the drivers out and rewired/soldered them (also hardwired in a mic, since my helmet is plugged into my iphone). I also tried putting a cheapie set of old school headphone drivers in the tuneups' ear pads (the cheap kind you used to get with a walkman in the 80s), and they fit fine but sound was inferior to the tuneups. But now that I know it can be done I'm interested to hear about an affordable upgrade, especially in the bass department.

[Pat Donnelly]

Pat, did you try these yet? My tuneups wigged out so I went ahead and pulled the drivers out and rewired/soldered them (also hardwired in a mic, since my helmet is plugged into my iphone). I also tried putting a cheapie set of old school headphone drivers in the tuneups' ear pads (the cheap kind you used to get with a walkman in the 80s), and they fit fine but sound was inferior to the tuneups. But now that I know it can be done I'm interested to hear about an affordable upgrade, especially in the bass department.

Hey Shawn, I would say the sound quality of the Phillps are better than the Giro TuneUps. The fit was a liitle snug while wearing the G9 helmet, but today I wore the Phillips with my old Leedom helmet and it was a better fit. If I use them with the Giro I may just remove the earflaps? Price was not bad, for me it was around $25 for two pair with shipping.