MP3 Player?

[Tegg]

While floating through the caves and doing safety stops, it occurred to me that it would be cool to have an underwater MP3 player.... not for the caves (being it may get in the way in a siltout/real problem) but in OW it might be cool. Does anyone know of any? I figured that if there was ANY underwater music items, it would be an MP3 player due to the enclosed nature of them.

[PurduEE]

Steve Berman (caver in FL) used to make a device called a Diveman which was a walkman in a sealed canister with earphones from underwater metal detectors. I can't find anything via google, but I didn't work at it long. It should be easy enough to put a NetMD minidisc player in a canister on random playing MP3s (cheap, runs on 1AA). The hard part would be the earphones. If you didn't mind mono, you could probably just get a replacement earphone from a metal detector retailer - stereo will be much harder. Like a camera though, you'll eventually flood it. Alternatively, you could make an underwater boom box by attaching the speakers to the inside of the canister so that they reverberate through the water. Downside would be that everyone else gets to hear it...

Let me know what you come up with, I'm interested to see if you find anything. Good luck.

[TheDecoStop]

http://www.desdiver.com/Products/

I had to check it out when I read about it. Pretty wild. I don't think I would want one though... the silence of being under water is one of my favorite things. Then again, on some of those long deco stops I do get a bit bored. But I usually find something to do.

T.D.S

[Tegg]

$400 for a 64MB player...??

Nope. Looks like this will be a DIY project. I will keep everyone updated. :D =-)

[Spectre]

That's exactly what I said to the guy when I saw that thing at Beneath the Sea.

I was trying to find out if they had any plans for splitting it up and starting to supply housings for other things. He said no.

I've got a NetMD player, which has a remote that plugs directly into the unit. Because of that I imagine mapping buttons to the unit would be incredibly easy [well, for people that know what they are doing that is].

I tried to convince him that they'd probably make a fortune selling the earphones and housings for some of the more popular digital players out there... but he didn't seem to interested.

Oh well, it's just a matter of time.

[PurduEE]

http://www.detectorpro.com/grayghost-underwater.htm

As I said, headphones can be probably purchased separately from a metal detector manufacturer. You may have to do some conversion from their connector to a standard stereo plug, but...

This is just the first thing that google popped up. It's pretty big and I'm concerned that there is no max depth listed.

No matter how you slice it, this project will probably be expensive. Looking around, I believe that you'll spend around $150 or so just on headphones.

The MP3 player shown seems to have some expandablility (via SmartMedia apparently), so the situation is a little better.

EDIT: Just found this...
http://www.chilembwe.net/anyboard/anyboard9/forum/posts/30.html

Sounds like you might be able to seal some mini-earphones with neoprene cement. Judging from this, the headphone's jacket/insulation over the wiring doesn't leak (in this case), so as long as the headphones and player are well sealed, it will work...

[ScubaToneDog]

Go to the drugstore and buy some finger cots (those mini condoms) and pull them over the each side of the ear pieces. You can double bag them if you want and either use a small piece of duct tape or even a twist tie to anchor them in place. Then dip them in that liquid rubber stuff you use for shop tool handles and your ready to go. You can use the headset style or the little ear buds that would tuck in nicely under your hood. The wires are allready water proof (its a small ribbon wire that is dipped in the encasement at the factory.

As far as a case goes your on your own.

[samyung]

Speedo is coming out a MP3 player (64MB). It should hit the market new month or soon. However, I am not sure about the depth. It is design form swimming or Lap swim. check it out. I post the link as soon as I find it myself. I saw it in some fitness convention.

[pwfletcher]

Now if someone made a housing for my ipod (need 200ft + rating), I would buy one in a heart beat whatever the price was. However, I wouldn't use it during the dive. Only during the hang. It would be great to listen to some audiobooks that I have in MP3 format.

[BIGSAGE136]

check out diveoz.com..query google for swimman:)

[thardin]

I found an Underwater Walkman a three years ago or so. I forget the brand name. Made by a guy in New Jersey as I recall. Contains an old Realistic (Radio Shack's el-cheapo brand) walkman that has been hacked into a little.

I think I paid $400 for that at the time (I had just cashed in on some computer stocks back then)

Has Forward, Reverse, and volume contral.

It is pretty clunky I must admit, but definitely wins me the "SCUBA Gadget" contest on every trip!

Intended audience was mostly commercial divers and other extended range divers doing long deco stops.

Rather than a speaker it uses a small "puck" that vibrates and you "hear" through bone conduction. You place the puck against your skull.

When I first recieved it (with no instructions) I hoped in the pool with my snorkel (Arizona in the Summer - 110 F). I could not figure out what the deal was with the puck and why I had to turn it up to full to hear anything (I claim the heat, and possibly the bear, clouded my intelect that day). I called the guy that made it and qucikly figured out that it used conduction and needed to be placed against the skull. I asked the guy how I was supposed to do that and he replied, "just stick it under your hood.". Ah, you see I have a preference for warm water diving. I eventually found that by using a mask strap cover ("slap strap") I could get the 2 inch diameter (.5 inch thick) puck to fit behind my head under the mask strap. Not as good for sound as on the side of my head, but good enough.

I eventually obtained an MP3 player that is in the form of a cassette tape that I can use in place of actual tape. I get more music and better quality that on tapes.

Drift diving with some nice tunes has been my favorite use.

-Todd Hardin
thardin1@mindspring.com

[DevilDogMech]

http://www.speedousa.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Catalog_Id=12&Section_Id=482&Product_Id=36996

I remember seeing this in one of those way too expensive gadget magazines. Now they are pretty inexpensive. I figure they will have a mp3 player coming.


Bill

[joele]

frankly, i don't see the wisdom behind mp3 underwater...
for one, it totally defeats the serenity of being underwater...

second, we just talked about, in another thread, how to get the attention of other divers underwater, and now, this one, a 180 degree shift... what if something goes wrong, like for example, your buddy gets lost and just because your ears are too preoccupied with the mp3 music, and you won't be able to hear him/her "calling" for help... accidents happen in a matter of seconds... just enough for that interval between your last buddy check and your next...

this is just my opinion...
wisdom is based only on my own intellect...
please enlighten me on this...
thank you very much...

[tingkka]

link copied and pasted from above
http://www.desdiver.com/Products/

i've tried this out before. It's a real nice system. very easy to use and configure. although it's slightly expensive...but $400 for an underwater/scuba equipment should be reasonable.

because water conducts sound a lot better, this system will just blast the full bass sound beyond belief. you can hear stuff you've not heard before. either this or other systems will be perfect.

[Sprinter]

I read a review of the underwater radio from Speedo written by a swimmier. Remember it said the concept sounded better than the product. Being designed for lane swimming, I also doubt if it can go beyond 1 atmosphere. Just my .02...

[tingkka]

i know few people who actually tried taking the above product (underwater MP3 player link i posted earlier) beyond the 200ft limit. they took it down to, i believe 240ft, and worked fine.

[scubasteve0011]

tech dark ages

[Captain Obvious]

ran across this thing H2O Audio -- Waterproof Your iPod, Waterproof Headphones, Waterproof Headphone System, Waterproof mp3, Waterproof accessories, Waterproof cover, Waterproof cases, Waterproof phone, Waterproof Armabdns & Cases, Deep Dive Waterproof Case (http://www.h2oaudio.com/waterproof_dive.php)

[EllyBell]

I have the h2o audio case for two of my ipods and love them. Haven't gotten the one rated for diving yet.

[Texasdivechick]

How about getting some rabbit ears to pipe in some music? YouTube - The Steve Zissou Dance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMoPSsn2-8)

[RonFrank]

IRiver was closing UW MP3 players out a while ago, but it was a WHILE ago. They were about $60 bucks with the player.. I think...

If you are looking in the 300+ range, I'd look for a housing. I know several folks make them for IPods, and I bet there are more out there, and the housing is generally in that price range or less.

[Codiak]

Amazon.com: FINIS SwiMP3 v2 Waterproof MP3 Player: Sports & Outdoors (http://www.amazon.com/FINIS-SwiMP3-Waterproof-MP3-Player/dp/B001GQ2BI6)

I have 2 of these, preloaded with different styles of music... turn it on and dive!

I've dove them to 125 feet without issue...

The sound quality is fantastic once your underwater!
Nothing in my ears!
I've even draped them around my neck under a wetsuit, forgot about them, and found myself in the middle of a dive wondering where that lousy music was coming from!!!@!#
Bone induction through the collarbone works too :-)

[alice45]

The E-phonic MP3 player is a free skinnable MP3 player that plays MP3 files on your website. This sound quality is an amazing..... You can download different syles of music in this player. I am also interested in it. It's features are really great and good capability in this player. There are more information of various types of MP3 players which is too best. :cool2:

[H2O Audio]

Wow, this is an old thread! I must admit in 2003, we weren't make this product, but now you can take your ipod or iphone diving up to 300 feet with the H2O Audio iDive 300. Many of the products listed in this thread are not dive products and would barely reach snorkeling depths...

Dana
H2O Audio

[Spady]

The H2O Audio product looks cool for deco stops. How does it sound?

[H2O Audio]

Yes, that's what divers love it for. We hear that you can still hear the bubbles from your regulator, etc. when you have the headphones on, but that the sound is surprisingly good! That case has internal circuitry and batteries that drive extra power to the headphones making them perform well under pressure.

~Dana
H2O Audio

[koen]

looks pretty fun to me listening music underwater would like to see how it turns out
good luck

[H2O Audio]

We do make a dive case that is waterproof up to 300ft. It's called the iDive 300. It fits ipods and iphones.

Dana
H2O Audio