iPod Portable Amplifier

[Buckeyeman]

Does anyone know where I can get a portable amplifier without breaking the bank for my iPod so I can hear it while mowing the grass? I've tried some headphones with a volume control that I use with my scanner at the race track but not enough power. When I have the iPod at full volume you can't hear the music when the blades are engaged and engine rpm's are up there. Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[YesDeere]

Yup. Stop doing that altogether. I used to hate when people would tell me that. But now I'm feeling the effects. I'm 36.

Now it's earplugs all the time when running equipment. I'm not deaf but I do struggle alot in conversation. Sorry for the rant. I just wish I would have listened. But dam I miss loud music

 

[richamor]

Yup. Stop doing that altogether. I used to hate when people would tell me that. But now I'm feeling the effects. I'm 36.

Now it's earplugs all the time when running equipment. I'm not deaf but I do struggle alot in conversation. Sorry for the rant. I just wish I would have listened. But dam I miss loud music

Sad but true

 

[rpraymond]

I have the Bose noise cancelling headphones that I use with my ipod. You can listen to music clearly without turning the volume way up. Yes, they're a bit pricey, but I read here that John Deere makes a set that is less money. I figured with as many hours that I spend mowing my lawn, plus I like to listen to music it was money well spent.

 

[Clint S]

I throw on a pair of muffs and have ear buds in. Don't have to have the volume too high at all. I try to wear hearing protection with most all my equipment.

 

[kennyd]

I have the Bose noise cancelling headphones that I use with my ipod. You can listen to music clearly without turning the volume way up. Yes, they're a bit pricey, but I read here that John Deere makes a set that is less money. I figured with as many hours that I spend mowing my lawn, plus I like to listen to music it was money well spent.

+1 for the Bose QC2's, I love mine!

My friend has the JD ones and likes them a lot: Shop for John Deere Active Noise Canceling Headphones - GX22225 at The Home Depot

 

[Buckeyeman]

+1 for the Bose QC2's, I love mine!

My friend has the JD ones and likes them a lot: Shop for John Deere Active Noise Canceling Headphones - GX22225 at The Home Depot

Thanks everyone, I just ordered a pair of the John Deere headphones. We'll see how they work out. I cut 3 acres so it gets pretty boring with just foam earplugs.

 

[YesDeere]

Wow! If these things work and I don't have to crank it up I'm on it. Anyone know if they have them at Lowes? Didn't show on the website and HD was internet only. I have two hours of weedeating to do today. Mama is going shopping today think I'll ask her to stop by and check.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

I throw on a pair of muffs and have ear buds in. Don't have to have the volume too high at all. I try to wear hearing protection with most all my equipment.

^ This. Cheap, easy, and effective. The little in-ear buds work very well for me. No need to blast the music, or spend $$$

Z.

 

[Johndeere50d]

I used the head phones inside the ear protectors, that works pretty good or I use the radio head phones, I would go with eathier one

 

[kubotadriver4life]

Does your tractor have an FM Radio System with Speakers?? You could have ordered a FM transmitter for your Ipod. They are pretty cheap, say $40. It would sound as good as an AUX Input that you were looking for, but it would be decent.

 

[YesDeere]

No luck. Gonna order them. Then maybe we do our own review and comparison??

 

[keyman1808]

Try the home depot. The sell a set of ryobi noise canceling headphones with iPod jack. The work great. Ran about 60.00. You can even turn on the outside microphone to hear what's going on around you if you choose. They are rechargeable also.

 

[dstig1]

You said Lowes...
Shop 3M Hearing Protector with Stereo Radio at Lowes.com

They have a plug in for iPods, etc., AM/FM radio and are noise cancelling plus working just as a passive earmuff. $50.

 

[aczlan]

Get better earmuffs and put a speaker of some kind inside them. If your earmuffs dont reduce the outside sound to a level where you can hear the level of sound an iPod puts out, you need better earmuffs

I have a pair of Howard Leight Thunder 29 earmuffs ($1 at a yard sale) with the speaker portion of a pair of headphones ($3) inside them and a 1GB iPod Nano ($Free, was "Broken" when I got it) clipped onto the headband.
That works great for me year round. My brother uses a similar set of earmuffs with an earbud sitting loosely in each one and connects that to his iPod.


Aaron Z

 

[tracterorizer]

This is what I do for riding my motorcycle,

Using over the ear phones helps and they don't fall out. Cheap ones will work fine.

Then add an in-line amp called Boostaroo (just google Boostaroo)

They run about 30-35 dollars

The best part is if one isn't loud enough you can add a second one in line

Two is loud enough for mild hearing damage.

Hope that helps

 

[jwp]

I use noise canceling headphones and they work great. New to this site and have read many interesting threads. Own l3130 fel and bh 90 pull a 6th befco.

 

[BoFuller]

I have the Bose noise-cancelling headphones for air travel since I fly alot and they work really well. But when I'm on the tractor, I just want to hear the tractor and nature. No music, no nothing. It's usually the same when I'm on my motorcycle.

 

[Cutterhead]

You've got two basic options (kind of): passive and active attenuation. Passive is earplugs/muff; blocking off the sound before it comes in. Active attenuation is done with "noise canceling" products - offered in both earphones and headphones. What these do is use a microphone that measures the ambient sound waves and then introduce a reverse sine wave to the sound they're attempting to cancel. The best ones tend to have the microphone inside the earcups because it's the closest place to measure the sound that's going into your ear canal.

The "kind of" part is that you can get earphones that fit IN the ear canal that offer passive attenuation while still playing music. The earbud type that came with your ipod are useless for this - they need to fit in the ear canal not just rest outside it. More expensive earphones will often come with both silicon and foam ear tips. The foam ones (a company selling these under the Comply brand supposedly has a patent these) do a much better job at blocking off ambient sounds as they work much like earplugs - squish them down, insert them in the ear and they expand to fill the gaps (in your ear canal, not your head - sorry). Good ones will often have better attenuation - measured in dBs - than active noise cancelling.

Whatever style you use, you shouldn't need to increase the volume of your ipod much if at all when the tractor is running. If so you're at risk of hearing damage. I like the combo idea presented previously - earphones with earmuffs for extra noise blocking.

Hearing damage is a function of how loud vs. how long. Listening to music at 90dB for a short time probably isn't a problem. Listening at that level for hours riding around the tractor probably is. Cranking your ipod with the cheap earbuds that came with them to drown out the tractor will without question be a problem.

 

[zoltanthegypsy]

Well said. The idea of trying to drown out a noise that is already too loud just doesn't make sense.

At least not to this old guy (me) who obviously doesn't get enough prune juice.

In-ear-canal buds + the muff that we all *always* use is the way to go.

Z.