Mp3 player with Autocom and earplugs, low volume issues.

[Arizona_oldguy]

Hi people,

So I installed the Autocom. It is working well, I can hear my wife clearly, and she can hear me, even with earplugs, at speed. But with the Autocom and MP#3 Player even at their loudest level, is too quiet on most of the songs even at maximum volume even around town. I really only get quality sound at the stoplights.

I have a Muvo Slim by Creative, which works well with earbuds, but has never had great volume.

Let me assure you that it is not the VOX because when wife speaks or tries to sing with the songs, the song pretty much goes away and comes back in a moment. I have no problem hearing the phone conversation, So I suspect it is an MP# player problem.

I would like suggestions from people who are pleased with their own player and its volume, and use earplugs and the regular autocom in helmet speakers.

 

If any of you know a way to increase the volume of the MP3 files that might also be a solution, thought I don't know if that is possible.

 

Glenn

[Mr_Ed]

Hi Glenn,

Many folks use MP3 players of all sorts with great success with their autocoms. I use a Sony MiniDisc player myself and have noticed that I have to turn it's volume level up higher with my autocom than I usually do when wearing regular headsets. Since it sounds like you've already maxed that out an inline amp of some sort should help you out. Look online for something called the Boostaroo which is available for 25-30 bucks. It's a small and simple battery powered device that should solve your problem. I'm sure that others will pipe up with ideas of other inline devices

[kcscout]

You can get a Boostaroo Portable Amplifier. I have one of these and it works well.

 

You may also want to check if there is a volume limiter on your player. It would be a menu option that will limit how loud the volume will go. It's a user settable option.

[WURTY]

I fought the same thing for years with autocom helmet speakers.

I finally bought Arizona Al's custom earplugs with speakers and it was the best farkel I ever purchased.

Now I get super sound quality and no wind noise.

As Gleno would say " buy the best and cry once ".

He also use to tell me I was a cheap bastard and I would spend lots trying to cheap charly it instead of buying the best the first time around.

Take my advice and skip anything but Al's earplugs.

[Arizona_oldguy]

Thanks for the quick response folks,

 

I am looking into both options. I was unaware of these options and can now consider them thanks to your input.

 

The earplugs would obviously be way more expensive than the in line amp, and would need two sets as well as two sets of wiring changes, but it certainly makes more sense then trying to defeat the effectiveness of the earplugs with greater volume.

 

Glenn

[John Bentall]

Thanks for the quick response folks,

 

I am looking into both options. I was unaware of these options and can now consider them thanks to your input.

 

The earplugs would obviously be way more expensive than the in line amp, and would need two sets as well as two sets of wiring changes, but it certainly makes more sense then trying to defeat the effectiveness of the earplugs with greater volume.

 

Glenn

 

Another less expensive option (may be 50% less in the USA) is a pair of custom earplugs with noise filters in them. I'm sure Al can make these as well. Follow the link below to see what they look like.

http://www.hearingtech.com.au/3_biopact.htm

 

and they are effective - lots of protection from wind noise frequencies but you can hear the Autocom perfectly!

[Lion_lady]

...Let me assure you that it is not the VOX because when wife speaks or tries to sing with the songs, the song pretty much goes away and comes back in a moment. I have no problem hearing the phone conversation, So I suspect it is an MP# player problem.

 

Glenn

 

You're Autocom is causing the "problem." When you speak to your wife or she to you, the control unit lowers the volume of the music so you can hear what is being said. After a few seconds of silence, the volume returns to it's original level.

 

Not sure that a modification to your MP3 can 'fix' this.

 

P

[Arizona_oldguy]

Hi Lion_lady,

The problem is not that the volume drops, I mentioned that drop in volume only to show that the VOX is set correctly.

 

The problem is that the original level is too low. When there is no input through the microphones, and the sound is at it's highest level, it is too low.

 

Glenn

[John Bentall]

I take back what I said about the earplugs with filters.

Try the simplest, least expensive solution first, namely the boostaroo as recommended by kcscout. I have to use a similar idea to feed the MP3 player into my BMW radio but it a bike-powered home-assembly headphone pre-amp.

[BMKrider]

I had the same problem with my iPod Nano and my Autocom Avi system. My solution was much quicker and cheaper. Using the iTunes s/w I simply increased the transfer volume from the iTunes library to the iPod by about 25%. works fine now.

[Arizona_oldguy]

My Muvo Slim from Creative does not have the ability to adjust transfer volume, But!! I downloaded a freeware program called MP3Gain which analyzes gain and allows you to change the volume on the tracks easily. http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/

An added bonus is it levels the volume so you don't have some too loud and some too soft tracks, they are all about the same.

 

Until I get the earplugs from AZAl I will be reasonably content with this fix.

 

It doesn't change the files, but I was easily able to adjust them by 25 % and I now have adequate volume through the Autocom.

 

Glenn

[markgoodrich]

Perhaps THIS POST will be useful to you; the Boostaroo and its clones don't appear to have friendly volume controllers.