Taking MP3 players in the water is not a new concept. First, we saw underwater cases -- initially aimed at scuba divers -- for iRivers and iPods. And then came the standalone underwater MP3 players for surfers and swimmers.

Nu Technology's Dolphin DAP MP3 player straddles the line between the last two, offering a compact device that can be strapped onto goggles for swimming laps or secured in an armband for hitting the surf.

Design

The Dolphin DAP is perhaps the most unassuming MP3 player we've ever seen. It's a small -- 61mm long and 20mm in diameter -- simple cylinder that looks more like a pill case than an audio device.

The player is wrapped in a smooth, brushed metallic casing that is seamless and unsurprisingly offers no place for a screen. The giveaways that this is indeed an MP3 player can be found on either end of the device.

One side features a recessed, 2.5mm headphone jack that has some ridging along the opening that allows you to screw in the included headphones for a watertight fit. This is a pretty neat feature, actually, because it allows the unit to keep water out while not using any sort of rubber flaps or seals, which would take away from the sleek feel of the device.

However, we're not so thrilled with the non-standard headphone jack as it means that you'll need an adaptor to use regular headphones while outside the water -- something we definitely recommend.

The other end of the Dolphin DAP features a tactile, rubberised control pad with five raised buttons: track forward and reverse, volume up and down, and play/pause/power. The raised keys coupled with their orientation -- track and volume buttons surrounding the slightly lower, rounded play/pause/power key -- make them all easy to activate, even by water-numbed fingers. It's a small design detail but it makes a difference.


Features

For music playback, you get one option: alphabetical (or numerical) order. Any special ordering you want will have to be done in the Dolphin DAP's open window on the computer -- appending numbers, for example.

On the plus side, the player is compatible with both Windows and Mac operating systems, and you're not limited to drag-and-drop transferring. We found that Windows Media Player worked a treat in filling up the device. Just click "shuffle to device" and voila! -- you've got a gig's worth of random tracks. Note that the player only supports MP3 and unprotected WMA.

The Dolphin DAP offers a few notable extras, both in the box and optional. Of note in the package are two rubberised rings, which on first glance look like nothing more than odd accoutrements. However, these orange pieces in fact are quite useful, allowing you to attach the player to a pair of goggles.

Also, as mentioned earlier, Nu Technology includes waterproof earbuds, which also have clips for fastening the cables to goggles. For surfers and other water frolickers, there's an optional armband. A sport pack -- which includes a hard plastic case (with lanyard), standard earbuds, a headphone splitter/adaptor and a thermometer attachment -- is also available.

Performance

It's tough to get good sound quality with a waterproof MP3 player, due to the fact that unless the unit uses bone conduction to relay sound, as with the Finis SwiMP3, you're probably going to get some water in your ears while swimming laps or getting pounded by waves. The Dolphin DAP attempts to solve this with graduated, earplug-like earbuds but we found that the seal wasn't complete and some water could get in.

Even above the water, the waterproof earbuds gave a slightly muffled quality to music. It sounded OK but certainly not stellar. However, if you decide to swap in some quality earbuds for out-of-water use, the DAP is quite capable of providing good sounding audio. The rated battery life of eight hours should be sufficient for most water play, though it's not great in the scheme of MP3 players.

Conclusion

The 1GB Dolphin DAP is far from perfect with the main concern being the security of the earbuds during vigorous water activity but with its reasonable £56 price tag, it's a step in the right direction for waterproof MP3 players.