Sony MDRNC11 Fontopia In-Ear Noise Canceling Portable Headphones (Black)

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing - a waste of money
Review: As other reviewers have pointed out here (see E.K.Clark's detailed appraisal), these earphones hardly offer any more noise reduction than you would get with much cheaper soft 'earbuds'. Frankly the noise cancelling effect is so slight that it's difficult to tell whether the unit is switched on or off. I've tried them on planes and trains, and they fail to significantly reduce engine noise, voices or air conditioning noise.

This is the first time I've been disappointed by a Sony product, and I felt quite betrayed after believing the claims for noise reduction on the package. Claims of 'reducing noise by 70%', and 'peace and quiet wherever you go' are extremely misleading. Sony should be ashamed of themselves.

To make matters worse, the wires are stiff and far too long to make them comfortable to use even as ordinary earphones.

I can't understand the positive reviews posted here. I can only assume that the reviewers have never tried the 'ordinary' soft rubber earbud phones (Sony MDR-EX70LP), which do as good a job of sealing out noise, at a third of the price.

Sony, I want my money back.

Rating:
Summary: Great for the Mini iPod
Review: I travel via air almost every week, and I've tried just about every headphone, earbud, you name it for my Mini iPod. I've returned them all. This is the first product that I have been satified with. I have my Mini set in Acoustic mode and it plays all genre of music cleanly across these earbuds. They pack very crisp bass for such small speakers. The noise canceling feature does buzz a little when no music is playing, but is not noticeable once it starts. I would not recommend them for just wearing as a noise filter. They are much better when both playing music and filtering noise is combined. I did try them while just listening to music on my computer, and was greatly disappointed. The sound quality just wasn't there. More likely the file playback on the computer than the quality of the earbud. Overall I believe that are an excellent value if you are an iPod junky like myself.

Rating:
Summary: tone down your expectations significantly.
Review: When you read the specification of how these are meant to work, they do 'make sense'. However this is probably not what most people - myself included - are/were expecting when they read noise cancellation.
1)These are in-ear. Sitting at home with these in, there is no difference with NC on or off. The fact that they are tight in-ear plugs blocks out the majority of the noise!!!
2)NC: 70Hz - 1000Hz. Haha! If I knew this when I asked Santa, I would have changed my order. This is basically low-level background noise - walking along a street there is reduction in transport and background noise, everything else gets through - people speaking.(But the plugs do reduce the majority of this).
3)Used them on the commute in by train (not bad - a definite improvement).
But now for the science - it is not the noise cancellation that causes this improvement. It is actually the low-level hiss!! This hiss is not anti-noise - I would guess that it is (10db) white noise. Which if anyone who understands audio knows the ear/brain will start to ignore after a while.
The audio signal is amplified and you get a ~10db (70Hz-1000Hz) white-noise overlay. With the earplugs blocking the majority of the noise.
Very clever, a practical engineer's solution.
Noise reduction yes but not noise cancellation.
There is no hiss in proper-noise cancellation - period! Feedback problems perhaps, but not a continuous background hiss.
So they do allow you to hear your music better by blocking most of the external noise and then tricking your ear into ignoring the lower-level frequencies. This will be an improvement in a few situations.
Also, the wires suck - absolutely - poor design. Someone will strangle themselves one day. They suck so bad that my next headphones will be wireless (bluetooth).
2 stars for marketing - none for technology!

Rating:
Summary: Okay if you're sitting still
Review: I received these last Christmas as a gift. I had requested these as I travel for work alot and have always had confidence in Sony products.

The sound isolation and noise cancellation work well on planes, trains and automobiles but not well if you're doing anything that requires movement. The cords when rubbed make a scratching sound. Very annoying! The other complaint is that they're too quiet. I would have the volume on my MP3 and the headphones all the way up and it wasn't very loud at all. I began using my cheap Sonys instead as they were much louder.

For the money, not worth it. I recently purchased a set of Shure E3's and they're AWESOME! (I have reviewed them as well)

Again, isolation and noise cancellation were okay. The 'scratching' of the cord and the volume left alot to be desired.

I'd drop the few extra bucks and get the Shures. You'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: buy earplugs or a different product
Review: These noise-canceling headphones are just glorified earplugs with the option of playing music through them. Small sounds easily irritate and distract me, along with other sounds. Since the headphones fit in your ear, they work at least as well as earplugs, but that's about the limit of the noise-canceling technology. There are _very_ slight reductions of (parts of) some noises because of the electronic noise-canceling, but hardly noticeable and not worth paying any money for. The headphones are only worth a tenth of what I paid, and not because of the noise-canceling features; it's only because they are earplugs that block outside noise (whether ON or OFF) and they let me hear my music better than without the earplug feature. I'm sending mine back. I'm much better off trying another brand; it's either that, or decide whether I'd rather listen to music or use earplugs.

Rating:
Summary: What's All The Noise About?
Review: I was very disappointed with the functionality of the noise-canceling feature of these head (ear) phones. The noise-canceling feature seems to feed the sound back into itself causing a hissing noise. The set seems more like a noise-adding system than a noise-canceling system.
The tight fit of the ear pieces isolates the sound going into your ears and it seems that's the benefit to these. When the noise-canceling function is turned on, you hear a constant hissing sound.
I think you're better off buying a noise-isolating set than this set. Not at all what I'd hoped they'd be.

Rating:
Summary: Great quality, but doesn't last
Review: I travel domestically and internationally a great deal, for work and pleasure, and having a set of effective and comfortable headphones is important to me. The advantage of these "in-your-ear" phones is that there is no pressure on your ears from headphones and it's easy to turn your head for sleeping purposes. The noise cancellation is also great; battery life can be up to 20 hours or more. What's bad is that first, there are too many wires and they tangle way too easily, and second, these are not strong phones and within a few months the right hand side was broken because the wiring was loose. Travellers need sturdy equipment. I am currently thinking of getting a new pair but hesitate to spend another $90 on a Sony product that may not last long.

Rating:
Summary: Foolish Purchase
Review: I was reserved about spending $150 on these. They look a bit too dinky to be worth it. I did, however, and since then I've been so disapppointed with myself.

The noise canceling was good enough to drown out airplane engines, which I thought merited the slight pain in my ears. None of the three sizes of replaceable earbud dealies fit me comfortably.

The cable is too long and awkward (with the volume control box) for upright iPod use, let alone jogging, unless you're taller than 6'8". Also, they are desiged to be worn on the left side, so they're irritatingly asymmetrical and pull out of the left ear quite often.

I bought these on a Thursday, and on Sunday the right earbud just quit working. After two hours on the phone with Sony I was given a work order number. I got replacement set about a week later. Those worked for about six days before the left earbud quit working.

I guess if you get lucky and yours don't break, then these are good headphones for use while sitting. Still, don't pay full price.

Rating:
Summary: Like turning off the world
Review: I tried these at Brookstone in the JFK Terminal 8 departures hall. Switching these on was almost spooky. The background chatter from hundreds of people, and the sound of footsteps just faded away. You could still hear it faintly, but it was amazing.

I bought them on the spot and used them both ways across the pond. 90% of engine sound and that characteristic "whoosh" goes away, and you can listen to the movie or music at a much lower volume (no need to drown out the plane) while the sound is much richer. Very restful.

I really don't know what I did without these. Love them!

Rating:
Summary: really not bad
Review: I was keen for a long time to buy this product but read some bad reviews and found the price deterring. But now that I bought one, I must say I do not regret. I fly a lot and there is nothing better on the plane (that I know of). I also own a Sony MDR-NC5 (noise reduction headphones), so I can compare. The headphones always caused me headache on long flights (I wear glasses), no such problems with earphones. Portability is a big issue since my only carry-on is a notebook bag - earphones are again the winner. Sound I have not compared one-to-one and I saw some discussion on the net whether MDR-NC11 is active or passive noise reduction (they do have built-in mics to record environment), but theoretical and audiophile arguments apart, they sound great on the plane and I know of nothing better. Final verdict: If you fly a lot, buy these!