Noise cancellation headphones have been on the market for many years and if you don’t own a pair by now then the time has come to think about getting on board. Designed to cut down background noise in active environments like airplanes, buses, subways or fitness Centres, decent noise cancellation headphones should effectively cancel out ambient sounds to allow the listener better enjoyment of the music itself without the distractions from the likes of droning engines or motor rumblings.

In essence, I believe that noise cancellation headphones primarily use some sort of audio signal to balance out certain frequencies. Active noise cancellation headsets must be powered by batteries or AC/DC in order to accomplish this task, and not all noise cancellation technologies are created equal. As one can imagine, there are various types of noise cancellation technologies available but as far as the actual headphones themselves are concerned, it  boils down to two basic styles – over the ear models – ‘Headphones’ and in ear models – ‘Earphones’.

The Blackbox C14 earphones by Phitek are the latest in the family of noise cancellation headphones from this company which includes models M14, M10, i10. The Blackbox C14 noise cancellation eardphones are an ‘in ear’ style using ‘Active Noise Rejection’ (ANR) and are powered by a AAA battery.

ANR technology is the system developed by Phitek to reduce ambient noise. From my experience, the technology works. Having brought the C14 headphones with me on international flight in order to experience first hand, the noise cancellation effect, I am happy to report that ANR does block out ambient noise of the airplane engine. Most of the audio interference one would want to eliminate would be sounds such as engine rumblings or the whirling of a treadmill motor for example. These frequencies are on the low of the audio spectrum and ANR makes listening to audio a much more pleasant experience.

The C14 comes with a number of handy accessories and adapters to provide connectivity to many audio devices – 3.5mm stereo connector (mini), 6.5mm audio adapter (stereo quarter inch) and the 3.5mm dual-pin for use on an aircraft. A single AAA battery  provides 40 hours of sound satisfaction is also included. All these items fit into a zip up Black Box travel case, for storage and mobile convenience.

The Lanyard (neck strap) that is included with the C14 however, is difficult to attach to the Blackbox compartment and the battery compartment is a little too well hidden. Better documentation would be helpful dealing with these two issues. Basically, the front panel of the ‘BlackBOX’ slides over to reveal the AAA battery compartment – easy when you know how. The photo here shows the front battery panel half open revealing a look at the battery compartment, as well as an attached lanyard – good luck!

For clarification, a description of the Blackbox C14 Earbuds would go like this: The C14 as you can see from the photo, is a regular looking set of ‘in ear’ headphones (a tad larger than normal with a definite angled design). Somewhere along the wire, about half way between the earbuds and the ‘plug in jack’ there is a plastic box about 1 inch Wide x 1.75 inches High x 3/8th inch thick with BLACKBOX printed on the cover. This plastic box houses the AAA battery and probably has some circuitry contained in it. Slide open this cover to reveal or change the AAA battery. On the top of this box there is a small green indicator light and on the side of the box there is a volume slider a s well as an ON/OFF slider. The lanyard mentioned is an included accessory which can be optionally attached for convenience to the tiniest possible little receptacle hole.

The Backbox C14 deals effectively with ambient noise and the C14’s also sound great! Providing quality sounding audio these C14 ‘in ear” earphones come with a 30 day money back guarantee. If you have been waiting to try out a pair of noise cancellation headphones, there is now, no excuse, no barrier – get a hold of a pair of C14 to find out what you’ve been missing all these years!

C14 ANR™ in ear Earphones

$99.00 CDN

Technical Specifications:
Active noise cancellation
Phitek Systems ANRTM
Up to 18dB under 1kHz
Up to 25dB from 1kHz
Audio frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz +/-3dB
Driver unit: 9mm diameter, dome type
Magnet type: Neodymium
Speaker impedance: 50 Ohm
Medallion Dimensions (mm): 53 x 33 x 15 (LxWxH)
Weight: 60g






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