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All ears
Running, rowing, weight training, pilates – all these sports have their equivalent on Peloton, where charismatic instructors give words of encouragement via remote classes. For technical reasons (mainly the fact that water blocks Bluetooth signals), less attention has been paid to swimmers, who generally have to imagine their own fitness routines to the sound of splashing.
Many are happy with that, but those who want access to motivating sounds have had to experiment (for example) with transferring MP3s to waterproof audio players connected to headphones mounted on glasses, which can open up a world of problems. This is how Zygo’s first device, presented on these pages in 2021, became popular. It could transmit audio from your phone or tablet via a small, water-penetrating transmitter placed poolside to a bone-conduction headset that was placed neatly around the back of your head. As long as you didn’t go too far underwater, Zygo was a problem-solver.
Its second version, the Z2, solves a few more problems. A battery has been built into the earbuds’ case for easy charging, as has the transmitter—just flip up the antenna and you’re good to go. The transmitter’s range has been extended (by a factor of three to four, according to the company), but, perhaps more importantly, a buffering algorithm stores a few seconds of audio for times when the earbuds might fall out of range (say, during turns), so that sound keeps getting through. And while the Zygo earbuds never had a habit of falling off, this latest version has built-in buoyancy and will float around until you retrieve it.
This isn’t an audiophile experience — you’ll hear the audio through your cheek bones and jaw. But it works. And the optional Zygo app ($4.99 a month) offers guided workouts and Strava-like leaderboards for those with a competitive spirit. So yes, its ability to connect wirelessly through water is clever, but it also adds a bit of community spirit to a hitherto solitary activity.
For future reference
When the eminent Austrian audio firm AKG (now owned by Samsung) left the country in 2017, its former employees set up their own company specialising in professional-grade equipment. This, their flagship product, is a superb example of reference headphones: they are absolutely faithful to any source material – in fact, they had me running back to music I’d been working on to fix anomalies that suddenly revealed themselves. Perhaps most notable is the experience of wearing them. The heavy case belies the lightness of the actual product (just 400g), which, together with the mesh headband, memory foam ear cushions and open design, make it possible to forget you’re wearing them. Something very special indeed.
A little night music
I wear headphones at night, usually to listen to lessons on how to program in C++ (a subject I know nothing about), which somehow allows me to sleep peacefully. Among the growing number of sleep headphones on the market are these from Anker: cheaper than most, but excellent in several ways. There’s a good selection of earplugs, some helping to keep external sound out, others letting it in; once I experimented and settled on a few, I found them comfortable and, most importantly, they stayed in place. (If one gets lost, the accompanying app can help you locate it with a remote “beep.”) A good fit ensures decent bass response, which will be appreciated by those who fall asleep to the sound of thunder.
In the boat
“Italian design meets German engineering” is a cliché that’s been applied to everything from cars to kitchen faucets. But when Romanian design meets Ukrainian engineering, you get these precision-crafted, closed-back headphones. The hardwood earcups attach to the headband with a pivoting mechanism to ensure a proper fit; the package is complete with a selection of cables (including a 4.4mm jack for high-end amps), an adapter for airplane plugs, and a hard-shell case. Hi-fi writers like to give extensive details of the music they’ve heard on each piece of equipment, and I’ll spare you that horror, but I’d say that the High Llamas’ latest album, Hello Panda (a current obsession), has never sounded better.
stay connected
Audio obsessives may be wary of wireless earbuds, and specifically Bluetooth codecs that compress audio data to deliver music over the air. IEMs (or in-ear monitors) are the trusted alternative: multiple armature drivers inside the earbud are tailored to each frequency band, all arriving via a high-quality cable. Portland-based Campfire is at the forefront of IEM technology, with devices that have an almost jewelry-like look to them, and the jet-black Fathoms are no exception. Audio perfection relies heavily on choosing earplugs that provide a perfect seal and adequate isolation (a range is provided in the box). But once that’s achieved, the connection to your sound world feels seamless and unwavering.