06/11/09
Text: Nik Mercer
Especially when you're having a boozy one with friends, you find yourself getting deep into a wouldn't-it-be-cool-if sort of logic. "Wouldn't it be cool if French fries came injected with ketchup so you would never have to dip?" "Wouldn't it be the raddest if laundromats had bars in them because, come on... what else do you want to do while you're waiting for the spin cycle to end?" We all can relate, right?
Well, H2O Audio has just realized one such series of what-if inventions that all revolve around, you guessed it, audio and aqua. Every product, in short, is designed to be used either in wet conditions (say, sipping a martini poolside while your kids do cannonballs) or submerged under water. Yup, you can finally listen to music and even friggin' check out what's on the small screen while doing dolphin kicks or hunting for pearls deep down.
The friendly folks at H2O hooked us up with an Amphibix armband for iPods and MP3 players and a pair of the Laird Hamilton Signature Series waterproof headphones for testing purposes, and boy were they fun. This Associate Editor is leaving the West Coast next week, so, even while the beach isn't a favorite destination, one final farewell to Santa Monica was in order. What better a location to try the equipment out at!?
The Surge technology headphones do indeed work well and don't sound like, well, music underwater at all. The only problem (and this is really only an issue for deep-sea divers) is that they have the potential to bust at 12 feet beneath the surface. The armband is, as one would expect, a great accessory to have: never again will you have to worry about the contents of your trunks pockets drifting away to sea; and never again will you have to reach over to your MP3 player's dry sanctuary to skip on to the next track!
We've yet to mess around with the Deep Dive waterproof case and speakers, but it sounds like a doozy for the whole family, and considering the quality of the products we did receive, we can imagine it doesn't lack in that arena.
