V1 versus iPod -- Can There Be Peace?

[Jack Olsen]

Yes, I know it's technically illegal. But oddly, they encourage you to put an earphone in to make telephone conversations while you're driving.

I wear regular earbud type earphones most of the time, and the big noise-cancelling guys at night on long drives. Neither completely eliminates outside noise. If someone honks, I can still hear it.

Is it still illegal? Yes. Will I probably get a ticket? No.

And the hearing loss thing... with the motor running at 4000 rpm for six hours straight? There's no 'if' or 'probably' about it. My ears will be damaged. Hearing loss is gradual, cumulative and largley irreversible.

I'll take the ticket if I need to.

Oh, and if anyone wants to follow me down the outlaw road... I've experimented with a handful of different 'earbud' type headphones. The Sony ones with the black rubber inserts are garbage. Two very expensive sets still sit in a box on my shelf, both non-functioning, and out of their short warranty. The best I've found are made by Koss, and only cost about $15. They fill up your year canal as they expand, and stay in for hours, comfortable and muting the noise. Like I said, they don't eliminate everything, but they do a better job than any other in-the-ear models I've tried.

The Bose noise-cancelling ones are great. But they're very visible, in the city or the daylight.

[Yargk]

Originally posted by stealthn
Get the FM transmitter and play the ipod through your stereo (if you have one) then you can hear the V1 going off and the siren coming up behind you

He doesn't have a stereo.

Jack, I like the noise canceling headphone idea to protect your hearing. When I was working on a pilot's license I first heard about it, but it also makes sense that lots of time spent in cars that aren't exactly quiet could pose the same hearing risks. Aren't headphones illegal though?

Edit: oops forgot to keep reading, nevermind.

Second edit: So for a different question. Do you wear ear plugs when on the track?

[greglepore]

Jack, you don't like the Sony ex-71's? Maybe its a fit thing, as I love mine, but they have to be inserted pretty firmly to get a seal and the appropriate bass response. My only complaint is the lack of availability of the rubber pieces, -mine have popped off and disappeared after snaging the cable and having the phones pop out of my ear-I'm down to my last set.

I'll have to try the Koss-these are available at Walmart etc?

[MJHanna]

Jack, Bikers deal with your issue all the time
http://www.cyclegadgets.com/Products/product.asp?Item=MIXIT

[dickster]

Jack,

Apart from the illegal aspect of driving with them, is your car really THAT loud?

How about making it quieter? I assume its the muffler setup?

I wear earplugs to protect my ears on my m/bike but then i don't listen to music......

[Jack Olsen]

My car is not all that loud. It's quieter than most of the 911's I drive in, certainly. Ask an ear doctor about hearing loss some time, though. It's sobering.

I figure minimizing the damage on the 2-5 hour trips is a good start.

Greg, I had the Sony MDR-NC11's, with the rubber pieces on the end. In spite of trying different sizes, they were constantly falling out in driving use. And then I lost one side on each set -- again, right after the warranty was finished.

The Koss's are available at Good Guys and the like. I have this model.

[stealthn]

Jack, regarding your comment on ear/hering doctor, mine told me the worst thing ever invented was the ear phones, direct noise power right into the ear canal. The biggest contributor to hearng loss...according to him.

Yeah right try front row at a who concert.....

[Rufblackbird]

Sales figures for the Koss earphones Jack linked to will now all of a sudden spike up

Hmm...I think I'll try those noise cancelling headphones one day. But then again, where am I gonna drive for 4-6 hours?

[thomschoon]

I did 160 flights last year and wear headphones to reduce the noise as well as use them for long drives as I had some hearing loss. I have a set of the Bose which I quit wearing because they actually create gray noise to muffle and were not really helping. I switched over to these because they work like ear plugs and isolate the noise:

http://www.customearsets.com/Models___Prices/Etymotic/etymotic.html

I also found that I run my Ipod at a much lower setting and my last hearing test showed improvement. I also went with these because they have nice HD daily use cords as well as a 2 year warranty.

Lastly, I would gladly take a ticket because I too would love to hear the logic behind requiring me to wear one when talking on the phone.

[Kraftwerk]

You could go ultra low-tech with a piece of tubing from speaker hole on the radar unit to your head phones, zip-tied just outside the head phones, bet you'll hear it fine. Tubing could follow roll cage and V-1 could stay put on cage. But really, if it just mounted it right infront of you, you won't miss the lights, at night anyway.

[Jack Olsen]

An update: using the iPod, Valentine 1, external audio control box for the V1, passive mixer and noise suppressing line, it all works perfectly together, now. My local track drives are between 1 and 9 hours, and this setup allows me to not damage my hearing, listen to music the whole way (without repeating a song), and never missing the V1 when it goes off. As a bonus, the V1's speaker still goes off independently of the signal from the external audio box, so there's nothing I need to remember to disconnect when I'm not wearing earphones.

A pain in the neck to put it all together, but it does what I want, now.

Of course, it wasn't enough to save me, or any other members of the 'R Gruppe Eight,' from Santa Barbara's aircraft enforcement. But you can never eliminate all risks.

[RickM]

Now to tie your Cell phone into the mix.....

[mjshira]

Jack

can you please post a detailed listing of parts and vendors so those of us with V1's and ipods can replicate your set up?

Thanks man,

[Jack Olsen]

Let's see. iPod from Apple. V1 from Mike Valentine.

Then:

V1 Remote Audio Adapter, Item 20200, $49
Passive Mixer by Accessory Workshop, $39
Shielded 3' Mono 3.5mm Patch Cable with Integrated Isolation by Accessory Workshop, $19
Stereo patch cable, from anywhere, $5

All told, it's an extra $115. Ouch! But on long trips, for me, there's just no beating it.

[mjshira]

I am in!

what are the best head phones?

I will move the killer audio in Scruffy to my daily beater truck.

thanks pal

[Hayabusa]

Jack, why not just use the 'Screamer'?

http://www.radarbusters.com/products/accessories/motorcyles/screamer.asp

Problem solved! Money saved.

[Jack Olsen]

I experimented with a bunch of different headphones. The best, so far, were the Bose full-cover ones. You can actually still make out most of the outside world with them, just not the volume/frequency of the motor. Unfortunately, they look like you're wearing headphones, which is an invitation to tickets and angry looks from other drivers.

The ones I didn't like were the Sony noise-cancelling earbuds. I had two different sets. Both broke. The earpieces would constantly work their way out when I wore them, no matter which size of earpiece I used.

The ones I use the most often are also the cheapest. They're made by Koss. I got them for $15 at a local store. Here they are for $20 online. They dont' have a noise cancellation circuit, but they fill your ear so well that it doesn't matter.

My fancier pair is the Etymotic ER-6's, which I use when I remember to put them in the car. They actually cancel noise, like the Bose set. They were over a hundred bucks, though.

[mjshira]

thanks. I think the extra cash is worth it. with Tyson being a nutt about getting lbs out of the car I have no sound reduction barrier at any point in the interior. (nope, I don't think RS carpet counts) this seems like the best way to go.