Helmet speakers

[Motodan]

Who has mated standard radio speaker leads with helmet speakers? I would like to wire any decent helmet speakers through a 5 or 6 pin connection, but I cannot find anyone making speakers [or connecting joints] with open ended commom leads for soldering. I would be glad to purchase 5 or 6 pin connects from J&M or AutoCom, but they sell nothing with open leads. Anyone have a thought on this? Thanks.

[T__]

Who has mated standard radio speaker leads with helmet speakers? I would like to wire any decent helmet speakers through a 5 or 6 pin connection, but I cannot find anyone making speakers [or connecting joints] with open ended commom leads for soldering. I would be glad to purchase 5 or 6 pin connects from J&M or AutoCom, but they sell nothing with open leads. Anyone have a thought on this? Thanks.

 

Dan, I don’t know if this will help you-- but I have added a helmet speaker setup to my Harley dresser.. I just added a 3.5mm stereo jack to the top of the tank console with the stereo jack wired into the rear speaker output of my in dash radio.. The helmet/helmet speaker pig tail just plugs into that 3.5mm jack.. The radio has a front & rear speaker output so the in-dash speakers are on the front output & the helmet speakers are on the rear output. That way I can have both regular radio speakers & the in-helmet speakers playing at the same time then use the radio fader to control how much sound comes out of each (can have only dash speakers or only in-helmet speakers)..

 

To get the small in-helmet speakers to not overload from the radio output I had to make up a capacitor set-up to lower the radio input into the helmet speakers.. It actually works pretty good as I leave the dash radio speakers up as normal then bring up the rear channel as my vehicle speed increases so I can actually hear the radio at over 90 mph with some clarity..

 

For what it’s worth I tried ear buds instead of helmet speakers first as I though they could double as ear plugs & in-ear speakers but the in-ear volume had to be set too loud at hi-way speeds to understand the music & I thought it would damage my hearing.. The helmet speakers are not quite as clear but still work with ear plugs in & are a lot better than just the dash radio speakers..

 

Twisty

[Fugu]

To get the small in-helmet speakers to not overload from the radio output I had to make up a capacitor set-up to lower the radio input into the helmet speakers..

 

Just curious how you designed this circuit.

 

A capacitor of the correct value would block lower frequencies, allowing the speaker to not be running into its mechanical limits at high volumes but I can't figure how to set up a capacitor to limit volume without altering frequency response.

 

Did you mean resistor by chance?

[smiller]

For what it’s worth I tried ear buds instead of helmet speakers first as I though they could double as ear plugs & in-ear speakers but the in-ear volume had to be set too loud at hi-way speeds to understand the music & I thought it would damage my hearing.

If that was happening then you were using the wrong earphones. The best of these (Etymotic, etc.) can achieve a NRR in the range of 34 dB or so (nearly as good as dedicated earplugs) while allowing you to reduce the level of music to a relatively low level (since it isn't competing with wind noise and/or having to overcome earplugs.) The audio quality of the music is also be night-and-day better this way while reducing the overall sound level being delivered to your ears. I tried various helmet speaker with earplug arrangements and could never achieve what I would term decent sound quality at a low enough noise level. Isolating earplugs (meaning ones designed specifically for this purpose) produced vastly superior results, at least for me. But perhaps a helmet speaker system works better if it is assisting an external speaker system, as is the case on your bike.

[smiller]

A capacitor of the correct value would block lower frequencies, allowing the speaker to not be running into its mechanical limits at high volumes but I can't figure how to set up a capacitor to limit volume without altering frequency response.

It does alter the frequency response by rolling off the lows just as you describe, and it does prevent distortion just as you describe. The key is that it's kind of hard to hear low frequencies while underway because they tend to be masked by both external noise and that generated by bone conduction, so rolling off the low end a bit isn't all that noticeable. It's perhaps not the best way to solve the problem but it works.

[T__]

To get the small in-helmet speakers to not overload from the radio output I had to make up a capacitor set-up to lower the radio input into the helmet speakers..

 

Just curious how you designed this circuit.

 

A capacitor of the correct value would block lower frequencies, allowing the speaker to not be running into its mechanical limits at high volumes but I can't figure how to set up a capacitor to limit volume without altering frequency response.

 

Did you mean resistor by chance?

 

Fugu, I didn’t design it an EE co-worker designed it for me (took him a whole 30 seconds).. I built this up a couple of years ago per his drawing & it works just great at keeping the small speakers from getting real hot & distorting..

 

Not sure I still have the paper he drew it on but it consisted of special polarized capacitors (I think electrolytic) _does that sound right? I do remember he said ceramic wouldn’t work correctly.. Can’t remember the capacitor rating it might have been around 10 microfarad.. I was also advised to place the (+) end in one direction but not sure which way I ended up placing them but I remember it was backwards to what I thought they should be.. Never gave it much thought until now.. I guess next time I have the bike’s fairing removed I will pop the cover off my little inline box & see exactly what I put in there.. I was originally going to use resistors myself but he said not to for some reason..

 

Twisty

[T__]

For what it’s worth I tried ear buds instead of helmet speakers first as I though they could double as ear plugs & in-ear speakers but the in-ear volume had to be set too loud at hi-way speeds to understand the music & I thought it would damage my hearing.

If that was happening then you were using the wrong earphones. The best of these (Etymotic, etc.) can achieve a NRR in the range of 34 dB or so (nearly as good as dedicated earplugs) while allowing you to reduce the level of music to a relatively low level (since it isn't competing with wind noise and/or having to overcome earplugs.) The audio quality of the music is also be night-and-day better this way while reducing the overall sound level being delivered to your ears. I tried various helmet speaker with earplug arrangements and could never achieve what I would term decent sound quality at a low enough noise level. Isolating earplugs (meaning ones designed specifically for this purpose) produced vastly superior results, at least for me. But perhaps a helmet speaker system works better if it is assisting an external speaker system, as is the case on your bike.

 

Seth, they were Sure something or other (about $80.00 list price).. They worked but sounded way too loud in my ears when I set the volume so I could understand the words in a song.. You might be correct in that they weren’t good enough ear plugs to stop the air rush noise so I turned them up too far.. I didn’t like them so went to in-helmet speakers.. Actually to me the helmet speakers sound pretty decent but I also use the dash speakers in conjunction with the helmet speakers.. What do I know? my hearing is pretty bad anyhow so anything that allows me to hear music at speed on a motorcycle is good in my book..

 

The darndest thing is once I got the system up & working to my satisfaction I hardly use it anymore.. Pulled the radio out of my GoldWing 2 years ago for winter storage & never put it back in.. Don’t even have radio in my BMW or Duc.. I guess I like riding with road, wind, & traffic noise better..

 

Twisty

[RedMac]

You need a line level converter. I've used this and it works great for headphones. Not sure if helmet speakers need more output... The output for mine goes into a Mixit2 along with my GPS output so I get both audio and GPS in my headphones. iPod is hooked up to the Radio/CD with an iPod adapter so I can get it all on my headphones.

 

http://www.audiooutfitter.com/loc80/scosche/p74958.html

[Fugu]

Fugu, I didn’t design it an EE co-worker designed it for me (took him a whole 30 seconds)..

 

From what you're describing my best semi-uneducated guess is that what it really is is a high pass filter. By blocking the lowest frequencies (say below 80hz) from the tiny speakers, you lessen the load on them. Since those little speakers really struggle with their limited excursion and lack of an enclosure to reproduce those frequencies, the result of trying to make them produce the lowest tones is a decrease in overall fidelity as they reach their limits of mechanical excursion and power handling. A very, um, sound approach to the problem.

 

The reason this issue is diminished with earplugs like the Etymotic ER6i is that they do not use speakers with little cones like helmet speakers, they use balanced armatures (sort of like a linear motor) to reproduce the sound, and these don't have the same response or limitations as tiny cones do.

 

edit just saw Smiller's reply and I agree.

[Motodan]

I appreciate all the input thus far, but still doesn't answer the question. I'm a poor problem poser. The problem is...radio has pigtail wires that go to speakers. Any headset I buy from J&M and/or Autocom [or any others I know of] comes with a DIN plug. How do I mate the speaker headset DIN plug with radio speaker pigtail wires? I have called both Autocom and J&M [sorry I bothered J&M, I think I offended them with my call] and neither carries a pigtail to DIN connector. So do I cut the DIN plug off and try to do custom wiring to [radio] speaker pigtails...is that the only option?

[realshelby]

Motodan, give a call to Edsets.com. I think he kind of works out of his house. I bought his cable, helmet connectiion, helmet speakers for the Zumo. As in every case before I could not get the speakers to do the job. I cut off the speakers and wired in a jack to connect my Shure earbuds to. I understand you are wanting to have a cable that would normally connect to a Zumo or Autocomm that would instead just come with bare wires sticking out the end. Should be no problem. BTW, his helmet to cable connector has worked great for me.

[T__]

I appreciate all the input thus far, but still doesn't answer the question. I'm a poor problem poser. The problem is...radio has pigtail wires that go to speakers. Any headset I buy from J&M and/or Autocom [or any others I know of] comes with a DIN plug. How do I mate the speaker headset DIN plug with radio speaker pigtail wires? I have called both Autocom and J&M [sorry I bothered J&M, I think I offended them with my call] and neither carries a pigtail to DIN connector. So do I cut the DIN plug off and try to do custom wiring to [radio] speaker pigtails...is that the only option?

Dan, there must be a DIN suitable connector somewhere.. How about a local car radio installation place..

 

If not then maybe a DIN to 3.5mm stereo adapter of some sort..

 

Or use a 3.5mm stereo socket on the bike & cut the DIN off your headset & install a 3.5mm male on the headset wire..

 

Twisty

[Todd_Z1]

Personally I would not bother with in helmet speakers. You will be dissapointed with the quality of the audio. I have experimented with various in helmet speakers setups using foam ear plugs and without ear plugs. The sound quality and volume are horrible. I would strongly suggest you consider Etymotics ER6 in ear plugs as they provide excellent sound quality and hearing protection. Also ArizonaAL, on this board, makes custom ear plugs with many satisfied customers.

 

Cheers!

[marcopolo]

Personally I would not bother with in helmet speakers. You will be dissapointed with the quality of the audio. I have experimented with various in helmet speakers setups using foam ear plugs and without ear plugs. The sound quality and volume are horrible. I would strongly suggest you consider Etymotics ER6 in ear plugs as they provide excellent sound quality and hearing protection. Also ArizonaAL, on this board, makes custom ear plugs with many satisfied customers.

 

Cheers!

 

Agree completely.

 

I started out with the Autocom in-helmet speakers, but found them both uncomfortable (I wore ear plugs), and relatively poor sounding. I cut them out and tried in-ear Etymotic ER6is. I didn't like them (did not block enough ambient noise for my liking, and were a PITA when putting on/taking off the helmet). I then moved to in-ear plugs from Arizona Al. They did the trick quite nicely.