Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this: Lewis N. Clark WaterSeals standard Waterproof MP3 or IPOD pouch. I've read reviews for all of the waterproof headphones available on Amazon, and I was unsatisfied by what I could obviously see were design flaws in other headphones, even in the $50 and up range. I took a chance on these, and I'm glad I did. I'll break it down by waterproofing, comfort, and sound. The headphones come with four sets of in-ear cups. Three of those are small, medium, and large triple-sealed cups obviously for in water use. There is also a pair of regular in-ear cups for listening outside water. I used the small cups, which still seemed a little big, but they made an excellent seal. Doing things I normally did in water that might dislodge them, I was surprised to find that they stayed put and stayed sealed. Even moving my jaw, or lightly pulling on the cords, I didn't unseal them. The over-ear bendable plastic helped significantly - the phones were not pulled by drag or anything else away from my ear. I'm sure if I were to tug on them, I would dislodge them, but I try to avoid this with any waterproof headphone because doing so often compromises their waterproofing, and they can get permanently damaged in the water. Another difference between these and the standard triple-seal phones is comfort. You can't really call anything comfortable that's lodged in your ear canal, but these come close to comfort. The plastic is soft and near-malleable, and the edges are thin, instead of thick and blunt. There are slightly noticeable mold lines (where the seam of the two molds used to create the cup come together), but these did nothing to irritate my ears. By comparison, the design of the Lewis & Clark earphones is downright sadistic. There is only one size of ear cup, and the plastic is harder and excruciatingly painful in the ear. The sound, I was happy to find, is quite excellent. Because of the seal, I couldn't really find a perfect balance of highs and lows in my ear (I suspect it has something to do with the air pressure), but it's a price I'm very willing to pay for the great seal. I set my equalizer on my mp3 player, and everything sounded great. Overall, I'm very satisfied with these earphones. The value for the price is amazing. Don't waste your money on those $50 and up earphones; these ones do fine. The only thing is, they're not perfectly comfortable. I can't give five stars for something that still hurts my ear to use, as I have a pair of non-waterproof Panasonic earphones that are like wearing nothing on my ears. Comfort is a big deal to me, and these are slightly painful to wear. But I suspect that the cups are shaped the way they are in order to make a seal, which they do very well. A few words of caution: I have not taken these to any depths. I usually swim on the surface of the water, and my last pair of headphones did not respond well to being taken even three feet underwater. Because I am so satisfied with these, I didn't risk going lower than the surface. If you're a diver, or an underwater swimmer, I don't suggest listening to music underwater with any sort of earphones. Secondly, you'll want to rinse anything you use in chlorinated or seawater thoroughly with distilled water after every use, to prolong their lifespan. Make sure they are unplugged, and make sure they are fully dry before their next use.