Music on the move - streaming, devices and other matters

[Time Waster]

Any commuters on here who listen to music on the journey in? Any recommendations?

Looking for better than BBC sounds for streaming and curating/ finding music.

Best shokz headphones for cycling leg

Other?

Thinking Spotify, the best bone conduction set they do and I'm hoping to find new and old classics that'll wake and energise me in the morning (blink 182 and white stripes yesterday) and more chill coming back.

Over to any of you who want to reply.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I've never tried bone shaker headphones, but I've used noise cancelling ones on awareness mode which are quite good. Also fill your ear gaps so keep them warmer. We have Spotify and YT music. I prefer YT but Spotify is much better for audiobooks and probably podcasts. I'm angry though because despite having Spotify family subscription, only one member can listen to audiobooks

 

[Binky]

When riding solo I almost always listen to music and I use in-ear earbuds with an ear loop to keep them in place. I just have some cheapo C16 earbuds which are perfect for me. Decent enough sound, loud enough and charge lasts a long time.

I tend to listen to Radio 2 if riding in the morning (as today as going out soonish) or various podcasts. I'm a rugby fan so tend to listen to BBC Rugby Union weekly pods and also Americast as I find American politics fascinating. I also have a biggish library of songs on my phone and so if nothing on radio I fancy, I'll listen to a very varied playlist.

I'll add I'm not a commuter, I just ride for enjoyment/exercise and I tend to ride in a quiet area so external noise usually not an issue. I'm a bit sceptical the bone conducting headphones would be loud enough hence use earbud types.

 

[ianrauk]

I'm a bit sceptical the bone conducting headphones would be loud

I tried a pair for my commute which is mainly a very busy A road. They are loud enough, no doubt. In fact I was surprised at how good the quality of sound was. However, listening to music on a cycle ride is not for me so gave up on them.

 

[Binky]

I tried a pair for my commute which is mainly a very busy A road. They are loud enough, no doubt. In fact I was surprised at how good the quality of sound was. However, listening to music on a cycle ride is not for me so gave up on them.

Even with wind noise? What about when pushing along or a fast descent, can you still hear music etc clearly?

 

[ianrauk]

Even with wind noise? What about when pushing along or a fast descent, can you still hear music etc clearly?

Yep, all good. As I said, I was very surprised at how good they work.

 

[Dan Lotus]

Shokz headphones are brilliant imho - we have 3 pairs in our household.

The best pair I have, both run time and sound quality is the Open run pros - they have just changed the charge port as well to a usb C, where as previously (the one I have) it was a magnetic thingy, which works fine, but also a pain if you happened to lose the cable.

iirc run time is something like 8 hours, and i just run them on bluetooth off my phone with a playlist from files stored on my phone, and I usually use VLC.

The only time I have struggled to hear the music, was on a fast ride with a strong wind, but 95% of the time, it's REALLY good.

I do turn it down if I am in a town with traffic and peds etc, but out on the road, combined with my varia rear radar, it really makes a ride that bit more enjoyable.

 

[Wheelspinner]

Another vote for the Shokz Open Run Pro - I have the updated Version 2 with USB-C charging. I've tried maybe a dozen brands and variations of the earbud types, and none of them ever really stay put, or even seal correctly in my ears for very long at all.

The Shokz aren't the best sound quality, although they do a pretty decent job and after the first few usage hours you forget what's missing (deep bass mostly). But, they absolutely are miles better than anything else for staying in place and general comfort, plus the safety of at least still getting some environmental feedback.

Battery life is good too - probably about 8 hours depending on what volume you set them at. They don't play as loud as in-ear (or over-ear obvs) types, which means you tend to have them running at maybe 80% max volume most of the time.

The phone microphone works really well too.

I use Apple Music, but mainly because pretty much all my tech hardware is theirs (iPhone, iPad, Apple TVs, MacMini and MacBook computers, HomePods everywhere, Watch...)

 

[si_c]

I use Spotify (mostly through inertia, but Tidal and Pandora are good alternatives), for headphones I use either my Sony XM4 headphones or the XM5 ear buds. The former have much better noise isolation for travel on trains/airplanes and better battery life - if you can find them still they're getting cheap now as there are two newer generations.

I use the earbuds mostly on the bike or when I'm out and about and don't want to carry full size headphones. Not tried Shokz or similar so can't really comment on sound quality - but the Sony's are top notch for wireless audio. Don't compare to my wired headphone setup though, but then no wireless setup can really.

 

[fossyant]

Not for me, I rely on my ears to hear cars approaching !

 

[Dan Lotus]

Not for me, I rely on my ears to hear cars approaching !

That's the beauty of the bone conduction headphones though, your ears are not obstructed, so you can still hear everything around you.

I didn't appreciate how good it was until I tried it, brilliant tech, probably one of the best bits of tech I have ever bought to be fair.
I use it for cycling, running, walking/hiking, trips into town, and also on flights as well, linked to a tablet.
The excellent battery life adds to it's usefulness, without the need for frequent recharging, and it also reliably pairs with my phone every single time.

 

[Binky]

Not for me, I rely on my ears to hear cars approaching !

Fair enough although I can see hear cars even with music playing and I have a bar end mirror.
However, what exactly are you going to do even if you know a car is approaching from behind? You never know how close it'll pass until it does and do you alter your line for every vehicle that you hear?

 

[Dan Lotus]

Fair enough although I can see hear cars even with music playing and I have a bar end mirror.
However, what exactly are you going to do even if you know a car is approaching from behind? You never know how close it'll pass until it does and do you alter your line for every vehicle that you hear?

That's where the rear radar was also a bit of a game changer for me - I really miss it when I accidentally go riding without it.
Another item where there was no way for me to appreciate quite how good it was until I actually used it.

 

[Binky]

That's where the rear radar was also a bit of a game changer for me - I really miss it when I accidentally go riding without it.
Another item where there was no way for me to appreciate quite how good it was until I actually used it.

A few I ride with have rear radar but again even though you know a car is behind I don't quite see what difference it makes. As I say I have a bar end mirror which is brilliant and unobtrusive but really useful for casual check for turning right etc.

 

[si_c]

A few I ride with have rear radar but again even though you know a car is behind I don't quite see what difference it makes. As I say I have a bar end mirror which is brilliant and unobtrusive but really useful for casual check for turning right etc.

Massive difference, you get an immediate audible notification that it's back there and can watch how close it is and roughly how fast it's travelling. It's only very close passes that surprise me now.