[chattypuma]

So I'm on my bike a lot and am not comfortable blocking out ambient sound so I've been wanting a small helmet speaker instead of a the huge handlebar setups I've seen out there.
 
I found these but what is the chance they will sound anywhere near decent?
http://www.o-tus.com/
 
Does anybody know of higher-quality open-air mini-speakers that I could mount to my helmet?

 

[wahu]

You would probably get better sound out of an iem running mono into one ear and leaving the other ear free.

 

[Hasashi]

or give earbuds like the yuin pkII a shot

 

[chattypuma]

So is the consensus that open-air mini speakers are just never going to sound very good in an active environment?

 

[wahu]

I think realistically they probably won't sound great yeh but nothing will sound all that great mixed with outside noise. There are also bone conduction headphones which don't go over your ears though I've no idea how they'd sound either.
 
I wear iems riding my motorbike and in heavy traffic i just take out one side. Just keep the volume low and stay alert and it's fine. 

 

[JK1]

Get earbuds with earhooks, as those without earhooks will fall out of your ears too easily while you are active. The JVC HA-EB75 for just $8 sounds quite decent, much better than I expected based on the price. It is very open and will allow you to hear your surroundings if you keep the volume low. It has rubber ear hooks and is very comfortable. Some places have laws that state that you can't have headphones or earphones on both ears while cycling.

 

[Angels and Air]

Lol, whenever I ride my road bike, I always wear IEM's but I'm extremely careful, looking over my shoulder every 10-15 seconds.
 
Regardless, it's still illegal to ride with earbuds in California (but the cops don't seem to care).
 
I remember that I saw a portable speaker designed for bikes, it would fit in the water bottle holder. I ended up passing on it though considering with the wind noise, you'd have to raise the volume pretty high and people around you would hear your music...
 
You could try wearing a loose fitting IEM or just wear a pair of earbuds...

 

[wahu]

This is another alternative.

 

[sunninho]

Yeah, depending on how you ride, wind noise could block a lot of that sound.  For longer rides, like 50-100 miles - listening to music/radio would definitely help.  I'd go with IEMs.