Review: X-1 Audio Interval: Waterproof Headphones for Swimming

In fall of 2011, I knew I needed to spend more time in the pool in the off-season.  However, I didn’t grow up in the water and the thought of spending hours staring at the black line did not leave me too excited to swim as much as I needed to.  I like to listen to music while running, so that would probably help for swimming too, right?  At the time I heard of waterproof cases and headphones for swimming, but I was skeptical.  Would they really work?  Do they stay in place?  How do they sound?  After a reviewing the various options available, I went with the X-1 Audio Interval. 

The X-1 Interval is a waterproof plastic case that stores your iPod Shuffle, and has integrated waterproof earphones.  The earphones are special, in that they fit snugly inside your ear canal, and the kit comes with various sizes of ear pads so that you can customize the fit to keep them in place and the water sealed out.  The unit itself is pretty simple to set up:  place your iPod inside, plug in the headphone jack, close the cover, and attached to your goggle straps.  Fine-tune the earphone size and within a few minutes you are ready to swim with music.

Swimming with Music, Really?

The first time I was about to jump into the pool, I’ll admit I was a little nervous…..am I really about to jump in a pool with my iPod?  The thought of destroying my iPod made my think twice, but I dunked my head anyway and guess what?  It still worked.  Awesome!  It really is waterproof!  Next step was to start swimming.  I hit the play button, my music began and I started swimming.   Lap after lap my music played until I was done.  It worked flawlessly.  And the addition of music to my swim workouts was a nice mental break from the monotonous laps back and forth, especially during longer swim sets.  So how does the music sound?  The sound quality is good. The music sounds a little different compared to land earphones, but the sound is really good and clear; it is not muffled or distorted.  And if you want to crank it up, they can get loud….really loud!

How it Performs:

I already touched on this, but I really like being able to listen to music while swimming.  For me, this was an added incentive to get in the pool, which I desperately need.  I’ve used this unit for well over a year, and it has always performed.  It is still waterproof, the sound quality has remained good and my iPod has remained dry.  I was also curious if there were any long-term effects of chlorine, but so far, everything is as good as new.

As good as it is, there are a couple of things that need to be considered while using it.  Most importantly, the correct earphone size must be used.  If water is not sealed out and water enters the ear canal, two things will happen.  First the sound will become distorted and then eventually the sound will fade out when the ear canal is full with water.  Secondly, the water will eventually loosen the contact of the earphone with the ear and eventually pull it out of your ear.  When the earphone get wet, all it takes is to blow out the water and they are good to go.  The other key point is where you place the unit on your head.  When I have it on the back of my head (pointing towards the ceiling while swimming) and I push off the wall, the unit will slide down towards my neck.  This didn’t affect my goggles or swim in any way, it was just a bit annoying.  The fix for this is keep the goggle strap tight and place the unit slightly towards the base on your head so it is protected from the rush of water during push-offs.   However, during short and fast sets, sometimes I now take it off just to avoid the potential for it to move around. 

In conclusion, I like this product, and would recommend it to anyone looking to help pass time in the pool.  As with any product, there are a few details you need to consider to ensure it performs, but overall it is simple and effective.

For more information on the X-1 Interval check out www.x-1.com or go to www.x-1.com/store/swimming.html.