iPod on Bike

[Big Dave]

Yay! I'm really glad someone brought this up. As a total beginner, I probably won't have it on me for the first few weeks

Give yourself a bit longer than that.
These are toys for experienced players.
You should be listening to your bike and the world around you for a while longer first.
Pop in in your pocket when you have a few months up and know what gear you are in - just by the feel of the revs.

[FEINT]

I don't have an Ipod, but I have a MP3 player... hehe

I use Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia earphones. They are more like ear buds than ear phones. They don't get caught in the helmet either when you are removing the helmet and putting it on. Cuts out a fair bit of wind noise as well. Over 100km/hr I think with any brand of ear phones you will hear some wind noise.

[Biff]

Yup - use mine from time to time with an amp. The amp is a cheap Dick Smith kit that cost me $15. Works fine.

[NhuanH]

Agree with Feint, I also use the Sony EX-71 in-ear earphones. The shiz. Both in terms of sound quality (since they are so deep in the ear), and staying in place and comfy under a helmet. The standard style Apple earbuds or anything in that mould just didn't work for me.

Now they also have EX-81s with a loop to go around the ear for a more secure fit. Think these should be OK under a helmet.

[Warning: iPod junkie talk to follow]
Playlists - I only regularly use 1 Smart Playlist, with these conditions:
* 3 stars or higher, as rated by me.
* Not been played in the last month.
* On Shuffle (of course)

By virtue of listening to a song, it gets dropped out of this playlist for a month

Soooo, I always get something I'll like (having bothered to rate it), haven't heard in a bit, so retains novelty, but I won't know exactly what song it'll be. It's like a radio station especially made for you!

This playlist has anywhere between 1500 to 500 songs to select from, depending on how much I've been listening to the iPod. And it serves me on the Ninja, on a pedal bike, walking round the hood, walking at lunch from the office, in the cage, leaving the cage and pushing a supermarket trolley about, etc etc. And it's like a continuous running soundtrack for your life.....

Them Elton John -> Metallica transitions make me giggle though.

[2_SL0]

Ive been waiting for NhuanH to post as I noticed he always has that thing jammed in his ears. Im going to have to buy one of these.

[MOTOXXX]

i always liked the h340 irivers over the ipod.
its able to view pics and usb 2.0 for fast transfer.
pluss its 40gb of space and you can put anything you want on it, record from any source and dont have to use itunes etc etc.

[Lou Girardin]

How much for the amp and volume control Lou ???

From memory it was $40-$50 from Dick Smith, but it's in kit form and I had Pixie modify it to make it smaller and more weather proof. He might do it for you at a smallish cost.

[Badcat]

i always liked the h340 irivers over the ipod.
its able to view pics and usb 2.0 for fast transfer.
pluss its 40gb of space and you can put anything you want on it, record from any source and dont have to use itunes etc etc.

http://store.apple.co.nz/public/prod....php?pgid=AP12

20 gig ipod $529
photo function
colour screen
usb 2.0

60 gig ipod $709
photo function
colour screen
usb 2.0

you'd have to add a part to have line in and a mic:
http://www.macsense.co.nz:591/retail...d=34329&-find=

yep - you need to use itunes though.

and iPod has a HUGE aftermarket - so you can do heaps more with it.

k

[bugjuice]

ok, well I can't afford what Nhuan and Feint use (something like $80 or $160 can't remember..), and I do love the quality of the standard iPod earphones, but they do fall out, and they do sound better when you shove them into your brain, but then you just look stupid. So I bought these..



Earjams by Griffin Technology

Griffin f'in rock imo, they do some wicked stuff for Apple. I finally got round to giving them a road run for the first time last night from my place in Takapuna to my bro's place in Hillsborough, which involved motorway, openish road and street riding. Got up and a little over 100kph, and heard everything fine, albeit with a little wind noise. My helmet is crap, so the wind noise is bad just by itself. It helps that my iPod has the remote, so I fed that down my right sleeve so that I could/can control the volume and track so I can skip if it's a crap one or one that I'm bored of. Listening to music is very surreal if you're not used to it. I can't see me listening to the iPod on intensive rides, but definitely for motorway and the boring stuff. Like heading down to the 22. It takes me 40 minutes from home, of motorway riding. Boring as hell, especially when you're knackered from another awesome run and just want to rest and snooze. The motorway run home is hard. So the iPod would help heaps. As for doing the 22, unless I was just cruising (pah! lol, I know..), I'd find it a distraction.. The only other downside about these clipon bits to the earbuds, is taking your helmet off. Big trick to that, which I learnt the painful way. Take the earbuds out first, dislodge them in any way you can, but for the love of God and your ears, try to take the helmet off with these still in!!!!!

All in all, I reckon these are a good cheap alternative while you save for the ones mentioned above, if you're like me and a bit skint. I got mine off TradeMe for $25 which I thought was a bit of a bargain. And I listen to my iPod walking to work every morning too. Makes the earbuds sound a lot richer in quality, and you don't have to have the music as loud any more. I'd give 'em an 8.5/10..

[Jeremy]

That reminds me, I suppose I should get an mp3 player of some sort for next semester. The hour long crawl is rather boring.

Anyway just a quick bit of info, iTunes isn't the only software that can put stuff on an iPod. Winamp can do it as well with the iPod plugin.

[MrMelon]

I don't have an Ipod, but I have a MP3 player... hehe

I use Sony MDR-EX71SL Fontopia earphones. They are more like ear buds than ear phones. They don't get caught in the helmet either when you are removing the helmet and putting it on. Cuts out a fair bit of wind noise as well. Over 100km/hr I think with any brand of ear phones you will hear some wind noise.

Yeah I used these too under the helmet and they're the shit. They tend to fall apart when I'm wearing them though.. been through 4 pairs now. It's just something in the rubber the cable's made from, but hardly anyone else seems to have this problem.

[Badcat]

Yeah I used these too under the helmet and they're the shit. They tend to fall apart when I'm wearing them though.. been through 4 pairs now. It's just something in the rubber the cable's made from, but hardly anyone else seems to have this problem.

nope - mine failed at the L/R cable junction - at 10 months - replaced under waranty by sony store in newmarket.
the cables are very thin, they sound great but are very fragile IMHO.

k

[MrMelon]

Mine fail in a month or less every time.. the rubber in the cable goes sticky and swells, then whenever you touch it, it just tears. Tried white ones and black ones but they're both the same. But you're right about the cables being fragile in general.

[NhuanH]

Mine fail in a month or less every time.. the rubber in the cable goes sticky and swells, then whenever you touch it, it just tears. Tried white ones and black ones but they're both the same. But you're right about the cables being fragile in general.

damn! what kinda toxic shite you got comin' outta your ears buoy?

My only prob with them is that I tend to get the silcone ear inserts stuck in my ear after taking the helmet off and then they can just pop out...wherever.

[MrMelon]

Heh the earbuds stay fine, its just the cable that goes around the back of my neck that disintegrates. Either way it looks like theres something in my skin that fucks with the rubber in the cable. A few other people have the same problem but not many.

How the hell do the silicone bits come off in your ears?! They're hard enough to pull off as it is!