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Noise cancelling headsets and intercom

jbcollier

By jbcollier
in General Sevens Discussion

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jbcollier

jbcollier

Posted
Posted (edited)

My "other" car is a S1 Lotus Europa and it is very noisy inside.  It's pretty cool for about an hour or so; after that, it gets annoying.  On long trips, I run an intercom system with Bose A20s.  They're noise cancelling and it all works very well.  However, the Europa is not an open car.

 

Anyone have experience using noise cancelling headsets in a Seven?  Do they work in a draughty cockpit?  If so, I'll set up the Seven with an intercom as well.

Edited by jbcollier
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Croc

Croc

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I have tried it it with the Bose headphones - worked fine blocking out the wind noise.  I have been trialing the new in ear Bose headphones under my helmet on track and liking the result.  The killer for the intercom I found was the wind noise on the mic above 50mph.  I some times instructed on track and I could never get the intercom to work there above a certain speed - and it was inside a closed helmet.  Never went much further.  

 

One thing to be mindful of is that not all cops like seeing you driving on the road with headphones on.  Check your driving regulations.  Its banned in my home state.  Didn't stop me trying it though.  

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Croc

Croc

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3 hours ago, kayentaskier said:

Mike,

What model of Bose headphones are you using?

 

I have all of them to be honest - use them on flights to cut down on the noise.  The latest is the Quiet Comfort II ear buds.  The catch is that you only get 5-6 hours of battery life before you have to recharge.  Given I just got off 17.5 hour flight that was an issue.  Should be fine battery length for seven driving though.  

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toldfield

toldfield

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If you don't mind wires Sigtronics makes some portable systems for open cockpit airplanes that work pretty well.  They are for high ambient noise applications and have adjustable squelch for hot mic use.   The wireless aviation intercoms are pretty pricey.

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/sigtronics_spo23.php

 

Tom

Edited by toldfield
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CBuff

CBuff

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Disclaimer - I have not tried any of these products but have been doing some research to pass the time until my car arrives. 
 

I was looking at options that would protect my ears / hearing from the wind noise and allow me to take/make phone calls and also have the ability to have wireless intercom (duplex not push to talk) with a passenger. Sadly nothing was inexpensive. 
 

Here were the options I boiled down to. Again have not tried any of these to see how they perform. 
 

https://www.sampsonracing.com/Hearing-Protection-Headset-Bluetooth-High-Noise-p/h0502-oth-bt-4.0.htm

- they use these on airboats. I figured that would be in line with the wind noise experienced. 
 

sena - tuff talk. Seems to be some quality control issues with some reviews. But tuff talk and tuff talk light are for industrial applications 

https://senaindustrial.com/collections/communication-headsets-with-hearing-protection/products/tufftalk-lite?variant=32304363765811

 

A lighter duty version that is used in snowboarding etc

https://senaindustrial.com/collections/communication-headsets/products/expand-boom
 

https://www.ruggedradios.com/products/rw-h30-dt
not sure if these are duplex or just ptt

 

or a Frankenstein options with hearing protection and a motorcycle unit attached

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/cardo-systems-packtalk-headphones?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1_Xxo5iE_AIVBfrICh1Ktg5oEAQYBSABEgKAl_D_BwE&sku_id=10093699

 

Has anyone tried just some hearing protection over AirPods ?

 

I would be interest in anyone’s real world experience with this. I would likely be driving with my son and need to protect his hearing as well as communicate.  

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jbcollier

jbcollier

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I first used this intercom unit:

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/flightcom2sx.php

 

Now a unit built into the dash:

 

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/av/intercoms_sigtronics/spa4sintercom.php

 

Both work very well.

 

I started with a the SPA rally stuff.  It worked well but the sound was dull and flat.  Fine for just communications but really, really poor with music.  They cost several arms and legs but the Bose A20s are bullet proof and amazing performers.  Reading all the above posts has me thinking they will work just fine.  Now just to figure out where to store them when parked!

 

Thanks for all the comments.

Edited by jbcollier
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speedwagon

speedwagon

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Posted

I wear hearing aids. The vents have been blocked and the molds set deep and fit tight due to my hearing loss. the aids Bluetooth to my phone and auto-compress noise to protect the ears. While I do not do it on a regular basis I have fired my 8" 44 mag without hearing any loud noise. the recipient of my phone calls does get background noise because my voice is transmitted from the hearing aid mike.  I love them!

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SENC

SENC

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I have custom-molded plugs from BigEar - though there are several other similar companies.  I'm a hunter and shooter so initially had their pure noise suppression for those sports, so when I wanted a combination of exterior noise suppression and access to phone/music I used them again.  I went wired, but have a small, cheap BT transmitter with a noise suppression mic it plugs into. Telephone/music quality is perfectly acceptable, though I generally have everything off as I prefer the car sound.  On the latter, the plugs cut down the volume and the wind noise enough to protect my ears and keep me from getting road-weary... but let me hear enough to be aware of whats going on in the car and it's surroundings.

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Gto7419

Gto7419

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Posted

I've been using isotunes pro.   They're OSHA rated at a 27db drop I believe.   They're not perfect but I can't drive my bec locost without them.  Music quality is ok but you can forget about using the mic while moving. 

 

Ive never been able to get a good fit with earbuds and I wish I could find something that worked a bit better.

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slowdude

slowdude

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I'd stay away from the motorcycle comms unless you're wearing a helmet. I have a Cardo for my offroad / adventure riding and a sena for my touring bike.

 

The Sena was fine for touring around Europe, I probably did close to 2k miles in three months and while it was louder on the bikes (BMW GS/RT), they both had pretty good wind protection which kept noises down. Honestly though, my sena setup is more quiet due to the helmet quality. Phone calls / music were pretty easy, and volume controls externally are a big plus.

 

For the Adventure bike I have a more open/enduro helmet and the Cardo does alright. I went down to Tennessee and came back up through mostly offroad at 45 mph or so and it was pretty loud. I picked up a pair of nicer earplugs off Amazon for use under this helmet which helped a lot. Again, the bike at the time was a GS with a good amount of wind protection. I was able to take calls and play music, but the speakers were at their max and did not sound as good as the Sena with the Schuberth helmet. The Cardo speakers were definitely of lesser quality than the Sena, at least when I bought 3 or 4 years ago. It may have changed.

 

Pivoting to the 7, the airflow is very different from a motorcycle - I find more side swirling in the 7 with the doors off, so road noise/air noise / car noise is more audible. To be honest I should probably test the motorcycle helmet with the comms and report back this spring. I should try a pair of over the ear headphones with a noise canceling microphone, but I think the air swirling in the cockpit may negate / tax the noise canceling microphone.

 

On my drives to work I have worn eargasm earplugs ($15 or so on amazon), so I can still hear what the car is doing (etc what's that noise in the back etc). It cuts down on the wind noise and buffering. 

 

I fear that trying to go for as close to complete silence as possible may miss some of the things that draw us to the car. That being said, a motorcycle helmet with a comms system + ear plugs may work. You have Bluetooth / wireless mesh systems for talking to passenger (Sena and Cardo sometimes do not communicate well together, so stick with one brand if you do this). 

 

Shooting muffs are also a good option, I use them for leaf blowing and it helps a lot, plus no batteries to worry about. Could couple ear plugs with this and be fine / not worry about batteries.

 

 

I hope some of this helps, as I am new to the 7 world, but perhaps the motorcycle comms may give you some direction on which way to go.

 

Edited by slowdude
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CarlB

CarlB

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On 12/17/2022 at 3:08 PM, Croc said:

I have tried it it with the Bose headphones - worked fine blocking out the wind noise.  I have been trialing the new in ear Bose headphones under my helmet on track and liking the result.  The killer for the intercom I found was the wind noise on the mic above 50mph.  I some times instructed on track and I could never get the intercom to work there above a certain speed - and it was inside a closed helmet.  Never went much further.  

 

One thing to be mindful of is that not all cops like seeing you driving on the road with headphones on.  Check your driving regulations.  Its banned in my home state.  Didn't stop me trying it though.  

I have had the same problem being instructed. The instructor turns the volume up and my ears ring for two days. I really want to get my own intercom so I can hear my instructors. What have you tried, and do you have any suggestions?

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Croc

Croc

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51 minutes ago, CarlB said:

I have had the same problem being instructed. The instructor turns the volume up and my ears ring for two days. I really want to get my own intercom so I can hear my instructors. What have you tried, and do you have any suggestions?

 

I have tried a number by borrowing from the various instructors at NJMP - Stilo, Sena, Peltor, and Cardo.  There was another brand I tried but cannot recall it.  None of them worked as the mic picked up all the wind noise.  No issues in closed cars though - all were good there. 

 

I am intrigued by skydiving mics - will be researching them.  

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jbcollier

jbcollier

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The mic can be VOX (voice operated exchanged) or PPT (push to talk). This controls when the mic turns on.  When the mic is on, it picks up everything, period.  You have to shield the mic to reduce ambient sounds in relation to voice.

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SENC

SENC

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Reading this thread reminds me I need to trial my Samsung Galaxy earbuds.  I read recently that they utilize 2 microphones, and that if exterior noise is loud that in addition to noise canceling they also flip over to an internal microphone to capture voice through the vibrations traveling up the ear (or at medium external noise they blend the inner and outer microphone pickups to provide clearer voice).

 

Do other earbuds have similar technology?  Wouldn't this solve the issue, if implemented well?

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