Blackbox M16
Well-made and good at killing outside noise, but they could do with a little more excitement in their sound
Write your own reviewFor
- Good noise cancelling
- Apple remote and mic
- smooth, tonally balanced audio
- useful accessories
Against
- Sound weak in passive mode
- rather cluttered delivery
Blackbox, created by Phitek Systems, a company that came out of nowhere with the impressive noise-cancelling i10 in-ears, is back with the M16 on-ears.
Oddly, they sound different depending on whether you have noise-cancelling on or off.
With it off, they sound distant and a bit cluttered, with treble sticking out a little more than it should. Vocals, meanwhile, are a little recessed.
Odd bassy wobble
There’s an odd bassy wobble when you activate the noise cancelling, but the balance is better this way. There’s still a lack of separation in the soundstage, though, with vocals and midrange parts arriving as a lump when tracks get busy.
But they are smooth, and stripped-down music shows a nice overall balance.
It’s nice to see a mic and three-button control unit attached, and the bundled adaptor lets you use the headphones as a computer headset for Skype calls.
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