Now hear this: how to enhance music

Portable entertainment has become a staple of everyday life, as new iPods, headphones and other media-playing gadgets are continually introduced. Some are useful, some are practical, some are simply fun.

Today, I bring you three music gadgets that meet the above criteria — with an emphasis on fun. I start off with the most practical of the three.

Headphones for kids

If you want to share music with children, something I do with my Clash-loving 5-year-old son, be aware of the volume. A big concern with portable music is that people often listen too loudly with headphones, which is increasingly leading to hearing loss problems.

A company called iHearSafe created a line of headphones specifically for young, developing ears. The headphones cannot go louder than 85 decibels.

According to the Academy of Pediatrics and the National Campaign for Hearing Health, 85 dB is considered the threshold for dangerous levels of noise. Also, the length of time one listens to music is a concern, so children should not listen continuously for long stretches, no matter the volume level.

For several years, Apple has included software controls to limit the volume on iPods. But not all music players have such a feature, and with the iHearSafe headphones, parents don’t need to do a thing but plug and play.

The headphones work with any device, such as a video-gaming console or portable DVD player, that has a standard headphone jack. The $25 headphones come in three styles: earbuds, ear clips and ear cup. You can find them at iHearSafe.com.

I liked the ear cups — referred to as headphones on the site — because they best fit my son. He preferred the ear clip style — they look cooler — but had trouble keeping them on his ears.

The i2i Stream

We all love to share music discoveries, and the i2i Stream does that in ways both modern and old school.

The product, which ships in a pack of two, uses one i2i Stream to broadcast music from any MP3 player to the second i2i Stream unit. You can broadcast a signal to several “receivers” as well — I’ve streamed music to three units at the same time.

Here’s how it works: You attach a music player to one i2i Stream unit through the headphone jack. Then you put your headphones into that stream unit and hit the “send” button. The person with the other stream unit — the receiver — attaches headphones and hits the receive button. The music streams through.

Both units can act as the sending or receiving device.

The i2i Stream will appeal to teenagers who like to share music, and to families and friends who are traveling together. The units have a range of about 30 feet before the signal starts to fade.

Here’s where the old-school approach kicks in: You can attach the i2i Stream to other items — a home entertainment system, a computer, a TV or a gaming system — and share the sound through speakers. Or you can stream the music from your home stereo to a pair of headphones.

The sound quality sent via the tiny streaming unit — about the size of two packs of gum — is impressive. I could detect no sound degradation between the iPod I attached to the broadcast unit and the one I used as a receiver.

You can find the i2i Stream online at Amazon.com or Buy.com for about $90. The company behind it, Aerielle Technologies, sells the device, portable speakers and other accessories at i2igear.com.

Waterproof MP3 player

Here’s something I wouldn’t recommend you do with just any headphones and player: take them into the shower.

But you can do that with the in-ear style headphones that ship with the waterproof Soundwave MP3 player. If this music player were reviewed in July, I would have gone swimming.

You can use this shockproof player on the ski slopes or during a canoe trip or while shoveling as the snow is falling. And it floats!

This 2 gigabyte player, which sells for $90 at freestyleaudio.com, is light and portable. I used it with the included armband, and it felt as if I were wearing nothing.

It works with both PCs and Macs. I tested it with a PC, and the Soundwave was easily recognized by the Windows Media Player software. From there, I dragged the songs into the player and hit Sync. The player includes an FM tuner.

A key drawback: The Soundwave is difficult to navigate. I had to go through the guidebook a few times before I became comfortable with the controls. Most of the five buttons have multiple functions.

So, to select a playlist, you have to “short-press” Play (there’s a long press, too), then short-press Menu to get the playlist submenu. From there, you scroll through the playlists to find what you want. The process can be cumbersome.

Because this player goes where others can’t, the trade-off is worthwhile, particularly if you want to listen in the rain.

XEric Benderoff writes about technology for the Chicago Tribune. Contact him at ebenderofftribune.com.

2009 Chicago Tribune