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Ear Buds on the RT WetHeads

Mike05

New member
How to get sound to ear buds on the RT WETHEADS?

Is there a rear speaker plugin near the steering head like on previous RT's?

Would like to be able to listen/integrate radio, XM/Sirius and GPS sound to ear buds. On the '11 RT, using the rear speaker plugin & setting the radio to play sound only thru the rear speaker(s) worked fine but I can't seem to find it on this bike.

Any ideas/comments appreciated.
 
I haven't crashed my bike in ~30 years, but I still wear ATGATT.

I recently even upgraded to "racer spec" gloves ... knuckle protection, tied together fingers, etc.

I'm ecstatic that I now can ride with my helmet/head NOT attached to the bike via wiring, risking a broken neck or whatever.

Go Bluetooth

With BMW Communicators, rider and passenger can even have wireless intercom.
 
How to get sound to ear buds on the RT WETHEADS?

Is there a rear speaker plugin near the steering head like on previous RT's?

Would like to be able to listen/integrate radio, XM/Sirius and GPS sound to ear buds. On the '11 RT, using the rear speaker plugin & setting the radio to play sound only thru the rear speaker(s) worked fine but I can't seem to find it on this bike.

Any ideas/comments appreciated.
Can't help on your question but...Welcome to the forum!
Gary
 
How to get sound to ear buds on the RT WETHEADS?

Is there a rear speaker plugin near the steering head like on previous RT's?

Would like to be able to listen/integrate radio, XM/Sirius and GPS sound to ear buds. On the '11 RT, using the rear speaker plugin & setting the radio to play sound only thru the rear speaker(s) worked fine but I can't seem to find it on this bike.

Any ideas/comments appreciated.

Found this on another forum ... Looks pretty straight forward and I think this is my solution when I pickup my Wethead next Saturday. I have a Cardio G4 with and earbud mod, so I can have speakers or earbuds thru the cardio. So I will keep my iPhone paired thru the Cardio with speakers plugged in to have connected phone. I will then use my earbud / monitors for all bike audio. I can also use a dual male pin source line and run bike audio directly into the Cardio Mini Pin Jack with my helmet speakers plugin and have all my bike audio thru speakers. Lots of good options here for my riding style. Hope this helps.

I picked up my Quartz Blue Metallic today. I really like the color. I looks like a bluish gray. Pictures on the internet make it looks lighter in color than it is in person. As soon as I got it home I went to work hard wiring the audio.

I tapped into the output from the Alpine headed back to the speakers. The Alpine is located under the passenger seat. I bought a audio extension cable from Radio Shack and cut off the male end leaving about a 20 inch length (I know, cutting off the male end does not paint a pleasant picture). I peeled back some of the sheath freeing up about 2 or three inches of wire. There is a red, black, and uncovered ground. Ignore the shielding. remove about a quarter inch of insulation from the red and black wires. I added white shrink wrap to the ground wire.

Color codes: red goes to right speaker
black goes to left speaker
white goes to ground (it is uninsulated until I make it white)

Color codes for the wires coming out of the Alpine unit:
Left spkr + =yellow w/ brown stripe. Connect to black wire of audio cable
Left spkr - = yellow w/ red stripe. Connect to white gnd of audio cable
Right spkr + =blue w/ brown stripe. Connect to red wire of audio cable
Right spkr - = blue w/ red stripe. Connect to white gnd of audio cable

The ground wire in the audio gets connected in a Y configuration branching into two positaps that go to yellow w/red and blue w/red.

That's it!

It is easier to connect the positaps if you unscrew the gray end and come up from the bottom of the Alpine plug inserting the plug wire into the slit in the positap cap then screw the barrel on to pierce the wire. Do this for each plug wire before connecting the audio cable wires into the other end. Push the audio wires into the positap screw on cap at the other end of the barrel and make sure that all of the wires are snug. One positap will have two ground wires going into itso that it can split out to both speaker ground wires. Rout the audio wire to wherever you want it to exit.

Remember the speakers are still connected when you are using your earbuds. Turn the volume way down so you do not blow out your ears. You won't even hear the speakers. You only need a couple of clicks on the volume control. If you want to you can put an extension with an inline volume control in so that you can use more of the volume range of the wonder wheel. I did not because that has other side effects like raising the speaker volume when you dial up the volume for your earbuds.
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Sound Quality with bluetooth

I have hooked up my Cardo via bluetooth but the sound quality it terrible from the built in radio. How is the quality using the Sony receiver? I would imagine a direct connection to the speaker leads would solve the distortion problem and may be the best way to go. But then your iPhone and GPS won't work through that, will it?

Thanks.
 
I haven't crashed my bike in ~30 years, but I still wear ATGATT.

I recently even upgraded to "racer spec" gloves ... knuckle protection, tied together fingers, etc.

I'm ecstatic that I now can ride with my helmet/head NOT attached to the bike via wiring, risking a broken neck or whatever.

Go Bluetooth

With BMW Communicators, rider and passenger can even have wireless intercom.

Chris:

Seriously? You think that little cord will break you neck? My guess, worse case, is that it will scratch your ear before the wire pulls out of the ear plug/bud.

I have not been happy with the fidelity of wireless when I tried it. Have hopes that it will be better on these great new bikes. Molded ear plugs plus iPod make some very happy sounds for me. I may be too spoiled by now to sacrifice fidelity over convenience, especially on longer rides.

BTW, I only use molded ear plugs for music. Never for route directions, radar, cell phone calls, weather channel, or conversations with other riders or passengers. I use a Legal Speeding LED for radar. GPS is visual only. Cell phone can wait for a stop. Just want my tunes while riding.
 
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