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Hearing protection


DerekH

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  • Area Representative

I've noticed over several blats locally that lots of driver are using hearing protection.

I have some Alpine ear plugs designed for motorcycle use that are supposed to cut the noise by 23dB

After 8 hours in the car yesterday doing the West Herts. Prostate 150 blat I felt like I needed something more.  Are noise canceling systems like those from JAL or Zero Noise ( Demon Tweeks) worth the money.  Interested in your experiences please.

DerekH

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Hi Derek, I have an intercom with headsets and they dampen down the noise quite a bit. For solo driving I have made to measure earplugs from a Boots with a hearing centre in it. They are tremendous but you can still hear the birds. Compound injected into the ears, when set they are removed and used as moulds for making the plugs. They also have interchangeable filters to remove more or less noise. £110 at the time a few years ago but perfect.

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  • Area Representative

Hi Derek, it was great to meet you yesterday.

I use some Puretone custom moulded earphones but I don't think they offer as much reduction as that. The reduction is better using a gel.

A 23dB reduction is pretty good. If you need more, the first step would be to ADD a sime pair of work H&S circumaural ear defenders. Circumaurals, get rid of wind noise which I notice with in-ear solutions.

If you want to replace what you use, I suggest you look at something (still circumaural) with noise reduction technology (I'll comment more on that later). I bought a pair of Lindy headphones from Richer Sounds - see:- https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/headphones/best-noise-cancelling-headphones

These are for occasional use by pasengers, I would probably have spent more if they were for my everyday use.

Active noise cancelling works most effectively with long wavelength/low frequency sounds, particularly those with a pattern (most effective in airliners where a continual drone is easy to canel). This is the objective, they represent background noise. Short frequency, transient sounds are much more difficult as the electronics need to work much faster and should not completely exclude speech directed at you.  The highly variable noise from a Seven engine is much harder to address that the drone of jets, railways & the underground.

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  • Support Team

@DerekH

 

Funny, I was thinking exactly the same thing after yesterday - I ended up putting in my Sony in ear headphones that have active noise cancelling as my ear plugs weren't up to the job for such a long period!

 

Off to read Stephen's reply and Jonathan's links....

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I've been using my Apple AirPod pro noise canceling earphones while driving on long trips and they are perfect for the job. I don't listen to music or anything, jut put the noise reduction on but you can still hear all the things you want to, the buffeting effect of the wind is reduced and long trips on motorways/dual carriageways far less tiring.

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  • Leadership Team

I use hearing protection daily in my work life so have tried all and sundry including custom fit earplugs, to be honest as far as "basic" protection goes the foam type work best.

However in the Caterham this year I decided to try a set of noise cancelling in-ear headphones, specifically the Shure units (Shure SE215-CL-BT1-EFS) and the difference over basic earplugs is phenomenal. They virtually eliminate all windnoise and my diff has never been so quite! Also on longer journeys I can receive nav instructions, listen to music, and make phone calls via the Bluetooth.

These are great for solo driving, I've yet to work out how to incorporate the noise cancelling into driver-passenger comms or even a car to car radio setup but I'll be working on it!

Stu.

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"However in the Caterham this year I decided to try a set of noise cancelling in-ear headphones, specifically the Shure units (Shure SE215-CL-BT1-EFS)"

Those appear to be noise isolating rather than noise canceling.

Personally I'm unconvinced by the benefits of active noise cancellation when driving. I use something similar to those but cheaper and lower quality with a separate Bluetooth receiver. Fine for nav and audiobooks, not brilliant for music.

 

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Ive looked at solving this hearing protection/comms issue myself and have seen these from another thread ..

https://sena-industrial.eu/collections/communication-headsets-with-hearing-protection/products/tufftalk-lite?variant=37545784246441

These seem to be able to do the lot, including bluetooth and comms with another similar headset.  Granted this is not a cheap solution, however seems that it will cover all angles if you are ok with wearing 'On ear' protection.  An added benefit of the bluetooth design is that there is no wiring for the intercom and it will double up as a link to the phone or music at the same time. 

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  • Area Representative

A pair of Peltor Opitime 3 ear defenders with 35db noise reduction arrived yesterday, £22 delivered. 

Quickly tried them, starting the car, can hear the exhaust but much quieter.

Will do a driving test later today.  Will consider pairing with some wireless Bluetooth buds if I need navigation.

Can lift the left one off to talk with the passenger when needed.

No need to use a telephone in the 7, I go there to get away from it!

I'll let you know how it goes

Derek

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Derek, I fitted a Freed comm t8 set which cost about £30 off ebay and gives intercomm upto 800ft of free air, less when building in the way. About an hour to fit to the Peltors. Can also pick up bluetooth gadgets so music, phone, radio also accessible if frowned upon in the seven

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