RX-Ben

I currently have foam earbuds for my in-car radio but have not yet used them. My car will probably be unbelievably loud. I am thinking about getting custom earbuds to block as much of the exhaust noise as possible.

If anyone has custom earbuds or has switched from foam to custom, I'd be interested in hearing how you like them, if they much quieter than the cheaper foam/otherwise worth the extra $$ and where you bought yours.

Thanks.

J.R.

I have both.

The custom I use most of the time and the earbuds are backups.

I have had the customs, which I got from Shawn at Sampson Radios, for 6 years and they have no issues. You also will not have issues with deterioration, as you get with earbuds, when you use duct tape over ear to keep them in place when you put balaclava and helmet on.

I notice the difference as the custom seals out more outside noise. As far as exact amount or decibel difference. I do not know.

You might call Shawn Sampson at Sampson radio as he may have more scientific comparison information.

If you have a car with no mufflers and a boom tube, as in my previous car, I don't know if anything will completely solve noise issues except maybe a Stilo helmet with their special communication system.

BuckeyeZ06

The custom ear buds make a significant difference over the foam "tubes." The custom made ones are much more comfortable as well.

I still struggled with both hearing my crew and ringing in my ears after an hour in my car, so I have upgraded to a Stilo helmet for 2014. I will know how that works out next month.

Back to your question: get the custom buds. It is worth the extra cost. You should also recieve the templete so you can get replacements made.

Shawn Sampson does a nice job.

RX-Ben

Thanks. I saw some reviews where people were complaining that the Stilo was too quiet, which actually sounds like a big positive.
I'm interested to hear how the Stilo works out as I saw complaints on the "wide" version that the field of view was somewhat limited.

rmackintosh

I had foam buds for years and decided to switch last year because my car is just too damn loud! So, I took the foam buds to my mom's ear doctor and he made molds and too apart the foam buds and put the tubes in the new molded ear piece.

They are NIGHT AND DAY quieter...also, no gross foam...just wipe the silicone off!

MySR71

I've been using a Stilo ST4 GT composite for the past couple of years. I really like it a lot. The ear muffs work great. My car doesn't have a muffler so it is quite loud. When the muffs are sealed around your ears, the sound protection is pretty amazing but you can still hear the car very well. I could see it maybe being overly quiet for some cars. In the paddock or when I go karting with the helmet, it is indeed hard to hear people talking to me. They basically have to yell at me.

I wear glasses, which is why I wanted the larger eyeport on the GT version. I don't notice the restricted eye view but that may be because I'm used to looking through narrow glasses. The helmet does work great with glasses.

I really like the built in radio headphones and microphone. No dangling chord to fiddle with or earbuds to slide under a helmet. Just be sure you get the right cabling for the Stilo system, or get an adapter.

The only thing that I don't like about the helmet, in addition the cost, is the ventilation system. I have mine set up with the inlet port for a blower fan on the left side of the helmet while the right side has the radio hookup. It seems like the air system only blows air at my mouth. I jokingly call is my teeth dryer as it doesn't seem to do anything else.

crease-guard

I have this same setup as well with the blower on the right. I wish I had left the top part in but it kept hitting the roof of the car and I couldn't get comfortable with it like that. I'm hoping on my new cage build I can lower the seat somewhat to get the top part back on as the one by the mouth is pretty worthless.

stevensa

I don't have any experience with them for in car comms, but I have custom molded ear plugs for work and it is a night and day difference over foam buds. Much better fit, seal, more comfort.

Hi Volts Z06

I wanted to get a set of customs made shortly before running the 13hr at VIR last October. Because the lead time was too long I purchased a set of Sampson's "Semi-Custom". They are about half the price but I have to say they are silicone, feel 1000% than foam and have far better sound quality. I've heard that the custom ones are as big a step up from these, as the step up from foam.

rfn026

I love my custom ones. Just pay the $. You won't regret it.

Richard Newton
Race Car Images

RX-Ben

Thanks. Ordered a set of the custom buds. Hoping they do the trick without resorting to a different helmet.

Hi Volts Z06

Did you get fitted for them? They usually need to make a mold of your ear.

RX-Ben

They send a mold kit and you make the ear impression, send it off and get back the finished pieces in a couple weeks.

Z06Tracker

Not only do you get better sound from custom buds, but they are much more comfortable.

Mikelly

Our Chumpcar team members just went thru this... One of our team went to his Dr. and got a referral to an audiologyst who then did a custom mold and sent the molds off. $300 later and he will have customs...

My godson and I both went with Ear Fuze DIY kits. They were $30 on Amazon and took me about 30 minutes to do both ears. I'm sure the $300 customs are better, and in Barry's case (he has really bad ringing in his ears) it made sense for him to spend the money. For me, I don't have tinitus yet and hopefully my consistent use of ear protection everywhere else has paid off... time will tell as we will be testing these out in February at Road Atlanta.

Mike