Sat Nav Voice Prompts : Blue tooth or wired ear-piece?

[John I. Stephen]

In a previous thread I received advice on how to fit my Garmin SatNav to my R1150R (thanks!) However, the mini-jack-style audio outlet from the adapter requires a connection to some earphones. Clearly a simple single (mono) "ear-phone" should work. However, to avoid the wires, a wireless device may offer advantages e.g. a battery operated blue-tooth transmitter / ear-piece receiver?

Thoughts?

John

[elmandarino]

In addition I am interested in hearing how/if these work when you use earplugs. I always use plugs unless I travelling very locally at slowish speeds. The time when I need satnav is exactly when I would use ear plugs and I don't want to have to keep looking down at a screen.

[TonyT607]

Etymotic ER-6i Isolators with the foam plug insert (in black).

They function as good foam earplugs and when I'm on the open road and turn on the XM, Radar, and my Garmin Quest they work very well.

[Jonny_L]

I was trying to figure this out when I got my sat nav.
At first I looked at TomTom riders, which have a bluetooth headset for the helmet, but decided against it since nobody could give me an answer as to what to do when it runs out of battery. Not good when your camping out 2 days away from a charger!

I bit the bullet in the end and got a garmin 2610 and an autocom system. It's really good as I can talk to a pillion, have sat nav on, and even have some tunes on quietly on long journeys. You can also get a mobile phone attachement and plug into a bike to bike radio if you wanted. Just have to remember that your riding a motorcycle
If you're willing to spend the money, it's well worth it. Oh and you can wear earplugs too, they go LOUD.

[John I. Stephen]

Thanks for the thoughts so far.
Tony, your solution (wired) is rather pricey if all you want is to hear your sat nav. Having said that another biker friend suggested 'made to measure' ear plugs which also incorporate a small speaker for just this purpose. Take a look at http://www.greenleopard.co.uk/osb/showi ... ategory/68
Do any of you have experience of these?

Johnny_L (in Surrey - a short ride from Kent !), I have the Garmin 2720 which is almost the same as yours! However, I am not sure what you are proposing as I am not familiar with the Autocom system but again would ask how this transmits from the Sat Nav to an ear piece and whether this ear piece is also an effective ear plug to protect you from those dbs !

Thanks

John

[Boris Badenov]

John,
I am using Sony-MDR-EX71SLB

have ER6 as well and they do offer better noise isolation but don’t like how they fit under my helmet.

[Jonny_L]

Ah I think it's the newer version of mine, maybe one better too, nice!
Not sure if it's the same with yours, but I had to get a cable from garmin which doubles up as a power cable. you connect one end to the battery, then plug it into the satnav, then you have a small jack socket on the same cable. It's actually a 2.5mm socket, one smaller than standard headphones.

That cable was really difficult to get hold of too, had to get it on ebay as garmin didn't make enough at first! I then had to get the 2.5mm - standard 3.5mm cable from autocom. As I say though, it might be different with yours.

Autocom is pretty much a pre-amp with multiple connections. http://www.autocom.co.uk
It doesn't use earphones, they're more like helmet speakers. Much safer as you can still hear what's going on around you. Hope that helps.

P.S. Isn't it annoying when you spend the best part of £700 on a setup, then less than a year later find you can get EXACTLY the same thing in a nice little bundle for £399 from autocom!
That doesn't include the autocom unit actually, but it still makes it on the happy side of £500

P.P.S. My cousin got married at high rocks in Tunbridge Wells, Lovely place.

[NoRRmad]

Interesting question. There are all sorts of bluetooth receivers designed for cell phones, and it should be possible to set the ID on them to link both to a phone and a bluetooth-transmitting GPS. But. They are all designed to hang over your ear with a plastic hook, and I cant see how you could put a tight-fitting helmet on over them without squeezing the hook between your head and your ear. That's painful even thinking about it. And, you probably can't wear earplugs with them on. That's a deal-breaker for me. What we need is a small bluetooth rechargable battery-powered receiver that can be velcroed into the liner of a helmet, probably into the chinbar somewhere, where a microphone would be most useful, with wired earplugs. You'd have to pull the plugs out of the helmet, insert them, and put the helmet on, putting the wires back where they'd interfere the least. Or, they could make helmets so you don't need earplugs. I wonder why they can't seem to do that.

[John I. Stephen]

John,
I am using Sony-MDR-EX71SLB

have ER6 as well and they do offer better noise isolation but don’t like how they fit under my helmet.

Hello Boris; these are doubtless excellent for music but do they also provide db reduction to protect your ears from high dbs?

I did notice however that, when using an ordinary ear phone from my Sony/Ericsson mobile phone, even with the volume set at its lowest setting (10%) it was still quite loud through such an ear piece.

OK so if Bluetooth is out (and hence I'll stick with wires), then I suppose the special devices from greeloepard might be the only) answer?

[Boris Badenov]

I can’t tell you how well Sony is going to work as ear plugs sins I am always listening to music while riding. I guess it will be better then nothing…

But, if you can use ER6, it will be a worthy investment. I always use them on airplanes and can confirm their effectiveness in blocking noise.

[TonyT607]

Tony, your solution (wired) is rather pricey if all you want is to hear your sat nav. Having said that another biker friend suggested 'made to measure' ear plugs which also incorporate a small speaker for just this purpose. Take a look at http://www.greenleopard.co.uk/osb/showi ... ategory/68
Do any of you have experience of these?

John, my ER-6i's were about $89, I've seen them for $75 or so. I know a lot of guys with the custom molded plugs (just plain plugs and also with audio output) and have heard mixed reviews. In any case that can certainly be pricey....

[John I. Stephen]

Hi Tony; yes the Etymotic ER-6i Isolators sound good (no pun intended !!) I'll research some more. I now have my Garmin 2720 nicely mounted on my bike and now have to see how to best route the wiring. However, I'll soon get it fixed!

Thanks to all who have offered their thoughts and recommendations; great forum !

[John I. Stephen]

Hi guys; something funny’s going on. I now have my Garmin 2720 fitted with the RAM mount and cradle using the Garmin power cable and headphone socket. HOWEVER, the headphone socket is non standard, so I purchased what I thought was correct – a 3.5mm to 2.5mm plug Stereo adapter. Does it work ? Well NO! In fact none of my (many) pairs of standard ear phone work at all. But here’s the strange part; I have an old ear phone from a Nokia mobile phone; and yes this WORKS?!! So, are any of you using this kit http://www.gpsw.co.uk/details/prod3334.html and, if so, what earphones are you using?
Thanks again

[Jonny_L]

I had that problem, looks like the same cable i've got, it seems that they're wired up differently to standard cables/headphones. Try putting the earphones on, keep pressing the talk button on the sat nav, and try moving the plug about, in and out of the socket, you'll find a point that works eventually. Make sure the volume's not up too high either, it'll blast your ears off if it's on 10!

It's a real pain, I tried making a cable up for it, took me a whole day trying different combinations, I got it right, but ended up with loads of interference. I ended up getting the 2.5mm - 3.5mm cable specifically for the garmin unit (might be a garmin product actually) from autocom, which works ok now. I'm sure garmin would also make an adaptor, as opposed to the cable I got.

I think it's wired up differently because it's a balanced and shielded lead to stop the interference I was getting.

[John I. Stephen]

Hello Johnny L:

Please let me know the model of the autocom earphones and I'll give them a call.

Of course the BIG problem is that I want earphones that really shield you from dbs yet allow you to hear the Sat Nav's dulcet tones (she's called Emily !). Today I road with a decent left ear plug and a silly Nokia phone ear phone; it worked. In teh garage 10% (volume) was high enough; on the road, 40% or more was required; just showed the noise levels .....

So, what ear phones do you use and do they shield you from the dbs ?!

Thanks

[Jonny_L]

Sorry I probably worded that a bit wrong. Autocom don't do seperate headphones, only the whole system, which is quite expensive (around £80 - £150) Download their latest brochure to see how it works if you're interested, it is really good if you want to communicate with a pillion or listen to music safely, though probably a bit of overkill if you just want to use the gps.
I don't work for them by the way, it seems like I'm becoming a walking advert

The cable I have is model no. 1294, though that is just a 2.5mm jack to a 3.5mm jack on the other end, so probably not what you're after really.
I just had a look around and can't see an adaptor for standard earphones, only the cable, so probably the best thing I can suggest is to get that #1294 cable and a 3.5mm jack coupler, along the lines of this one. Then plug the earphones into that.

It's all a quite complecated unfortunately, hope that helps you a bit.