i believe that anything between my ears and the world out there is a breakdown in my "defense" as in defensive driving.

It's bad enough in the winter when i need to cover my ears because it does muffle sounds.

But to actually add noise; music, whatever.. that i could never do.

Case in point, we share some of our trails with people on foot.. Some people do not hear my bell, do not hear my horn... sometimes we have to almost stop the bike to get around some folks with their headsets.