Freestyle Audio's waterproof Soundwave DAP gets reviewed

We've been impatiently awaiting the red carpet arrival of Freestyle Audio's Soundwave for a few seasons now, and at long last, it appears the units are shipping out -- or, at least one made its way over to cousin site Gadling for a review. The Soundwave is pretty much exactly what you'd expect: a ho hum MP3 player with a rather unsightly design, a disgraceful user interface and the ability to operate where the vast majority of rivals cannot. The reviewer noted that controlling the action was a pain, though the internal battery could keep the jams flowing for well over a day. Of course, the biggest boon is its ability to keep on truckin' while submerged in the pool (or the tub, whatever), and the included waterproof headphones were said to be surprisingly tolerable. Now, if only brown bags were waterproof...

[vvtopkar Posted Nov 9th 2008 12:27AM]

Finally, Engadget makes a post about practical technology.

[gemcosta Posted Nov 9th 2008 12:44AM]

Too bad that's an ugly-ass mp3 player.

[Zinger314 Posted Nov 9th 2008 1:34AM]

As opposed to a beautiful-ass MP3 player?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 7:44AM]

without a doubt, it is ugly!
thats why i was super happy when i got mine from h2oaudio.com. they have waterproof skins for your favorite mp3 players. perfect for swimmers like me!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 1:11AM]

Hey what ever happened to that process that was reported....here? a few months back. It was some sort of process that an electronic device could be coated both inside and out making it virtually waterproof. In the example an iPhone and several other phones ended up being submerged while turned on and playing. they were saying that this process could be applied to any electronic device and that it was going to go public in spring...since then natta in terms of news on this.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 1:23AM]

you're talking about this ? http://golden-shellback.com/

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 1:23AM]

Ahh, you are only hating it because it is not an Apple product.

Get real, this is sub-100$. I'm sure it does what it's supposed to do and doesn't have shitty software.

[ROFL Posted Nov 9th 2008 2:24AM]

You need to lay off the weed, just isn't working for ya. Other than that, it's been a slow news day.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 11:01AM]

Welp, not every jokepost is destined for "Highest Rank." I ponder my personal failings.

[Valicore Posted Nov 9th 2008 1:53AM]

Ugly as sin it is, but BobFromVegas has a point: for $90 it ain't killing my wallet and it is, well, WATERPROOF.

[jakey Posted Nov 9th 2008 2:31AM]

Looks cheap and for $90 you can get other 2gb players that are a lot better.

I suppose if you really need the waterproof part then you might get this.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 4:44AM]

What about the design? I wish for an waterproof iPod.

my comments at http://www.commentino.com/orim

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 4:59AM]

They actually have a site that keeps a running record of blog comments? Personally I think this information is a hell-of-a-lot more interesting than that fugly thing up top. I think I've seen everything now.

[aerodynamics Posted Nov 9th 2008 5:21AM]

Thanks but no thanks. I was expecting the Transformers character.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 6:51AM]

Reminds me of Panasonic's ShockWave (by name and appearance):
http://www2.panasonic.com/consumer-electronics/shop/Audio/Portable-Audio/Portable-Radio/Cassette-Players/model.RF-SW50_11002_7000000000000005702

More waterproof devices please.
With FLAC support and removable batteries and flash media, thanks.

[MarbleMind Posted Nov 11th 2008 11:22AM]

People, people, people, it's not (F)UGLY, it is RETRO! Freestyle Audio clearly tries to pay hommage to the illustrious pre-millenium ages, when the immaculate genius of PMP designers concocted such unutterably wonderful features such as large rubber handles and turquoise plastic shells with glitter powder!

On the other hand, scratch that, this thing perfectly matches all the other abominable neon-colored plastic/rubber diving equipment out there.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 8:31AM]

Why bother with a crap player, when you can get a waterproof case and headphones for your existing player. There's even a model you can do scuba diving with. http://www.h2oaudio.com/

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 12:16PM]

looks like shit

[yada88 Posted Nov 9th 2008 3:44PM]

I bought one of these to use while I swim. First off let me say this thing is a piece of crap. It would reset often, for any reason. I'd change songs, it'd reset. I'd adjust volume, it'd reset. That was before I took it into the pool. In the water, the device is just as glitchy and frustrating as out. The worst part was I couldn't find any position in which the headphones would stay in. This included using the strap from my goggles (I don't wear a swimming cap). Fortunately, I bought this from Target, so I was able to return it when I was done being unsatisfied.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 9th 2008 10:11PM]

Kinda makes you wish it wasn't waterproof so you could submerge it in water and break it.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 10th 2008 12:56AM]

this would have been cool if it came out 6 years ago.

[xkmasada Posted Nov 12th 2008 4:45PM]

The Swimp3 works just fine for my uses (swimming laps).