Need some help with my entertainment system

[Fritz The Cat]

My former ride was a Goldwing. I used some good quality earbuds plugged into the Wings sound system and all was well. I was able to hear the music even at Interstate speeds. Not so on the Valk. Over 40mph and the music is overwhelmed by road, wind and muffler noise. I'm thinking the main culprit is wind noise. I have a windshield and a set of baker wings but still the wind hitting me (and muffling the music) is pretty intense. is there any way, short of going back to a wing, to fix this?

[jimmytee]

I have a Woody's fairing with 4 speakers up front. Does pretty well  at speeds  65 and lower.  On the interstate  at higher speeds like 70 - 80 mph,  the wind I think is the main culprit to my music beginning to muffle. I can still hear it, but softer less familiar music definitely loses presence. I bought some Road King Classic saddlebags because one, I like them, but two , there is a kit that will allow me to put 6x9 speakers in them. I wanted this for the increased bass and hoping for a more enveloping sound.
http://www.jpcycles.com/product/752-304?source=mybuys&green=BFD0A82D-B8B1-5486-0174-556687AE8482

[BF]

My former ride was a Goldwing. I used some good quality earbuds plugged into the Wings sound system and all was well. I was able to hear the music even at Interstate speeds. Not so on the Valk. Over 40mph and the music is overwhelmed by road, wind and muffler noise. I'm thinking the main culprit is wind noise. I have a windshield and a set of baker wings but still the wind hitting me (and muffling the music) is pretty intense. is there any way, short of going back to a wing, to fix this?

You ride with earbuds stuck in your ears and the wind is still overpowering them....behind a windshield and Bakers?  

Are you riding without a helmet or a half helmet that doesn't cover your ears?  Have you tried using a helmet that covers your ears to block the wind noise?  

I gotta ask......what kind of windshield are your riding with?  When I had my old OEM windshield on my Valk I could take up smoking riding behind that thing.  

To each their own and just my personal preference, but I tried riding with earbuds before.....I hated riding with ear buds.  It isolated me too much.  I felt really isolated from my surroundings and felt it dangerous to ride like that.  

Like Jimmy, I've got a Woody's fairing with 4 Alpines driven by a 300 watt Rockford Fosgate that'll blow ya away.

Absolutely no problems hearing Foghat at 75mph.  

[Fritz The Cat]

Helmet is a 3/4. Gotta wear one, it's the law. Switchblade windshield tall enough I gotta look through it. Ain't gonna add a fairing, the Wing put too much stuff out in front of me. I'd rather be as open as possible but want my music too. 

[BF]

Don't know what to offer for advice.  

I assume you're listening through an MP3 player.  Some are better quality than others.  Sony players are some of the best reviewed for audio playback quality from what I hear.

btw.....a Woody fairing with a 4" shield is pretty much directly in the wind as you can get.  I get as much air with a 4" shield as I ever did just by taking off my old OEM shield. 

The best part about a fairing such as the Woody is that you can change shields in about 2 or 3 minutes.  Losen three bolts, slide out the old shield, slide in the new shield, tighten bolts and off ya go. 

Fairings arn't for everybody, but I wouldn't be without mine.  It's simply too versatile for every riding condition. 

[Bugslayer]

  I use ear buds that seal out the wind just like ear plugs do. At highway speeds, plugged into my old MP3 player, the music is awesome and the wind noise is minimal. That's on a '97 Tour with a full face helmet. (Face shield open.)

[flcjr]

I use an ipod with sony earbuds. NO helmet ( i live in a free state) most of the time. behind a clearview shield, can hear it great. I ride 70-80mph most of the time.

[Chrisj CMA]

Its not legal to have ear buds for music here in FL.  You can (and I do) have speakers installed in the helmet (works great BTW) just not inside the ear.

I just got some of those wrap around the ear clip on headsets and pulled some padding out of the ear cup and stuck them in, ran the wires under the edge of the shell and tacked them with thead in the back and it works great.  Nice and loud at any speed and I have Cobra pipes.  I have a full face helmet now, but I did the same thing when I used a 3/4 helmet with almost as good results

[Fritz The Cat]

Hmmm, maybe I need to play around with the silicone thingys that come with most earbuds. Maybe the once I'm using aren't doing to good a job sealing. I usually select for comfort and maybe that approach doesn't work so well. I know that if they're too tight, your ears will start to hurt in short order. and if they're too loose, they'll fall out of your ears. Maybe I'm pissing in the wind on this one. 

I tried speakers when I had the Wing and was totally underwhelmed. Even the cheapest earbuds sounded way better than the speakers. I wasted a ton of money trying to find some that I could live with before I finally gave up.