Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Product => Short Review
Review: 1. They really do work well. You must realize they don't cancel *all* noise out, but for airplane/bus/lawnmower/etc... noise they do a great job.2. They fit very well, and are comfortable for long plane flights (i.e. Japan to USA, 12 hours) 3. Being a classical musician for over 12 years, I can tell you that the sound quality on these is excellent... 4. ...Plus, they have the short cord style which works so well with MiniDisk playersP>And that's all I have to say about that.
Rating: 
Summary: Painful
Review: A few years ago I was travelling about 130k miles a year so I was constantly on airplanes. I got a gift certificate as a present and used it to purchase these. I'm glad I did not "pay" for these.
I was mostly into the ANR on flights. Sound quality was important but having a turbine 96000 lbs of thrust 15 feet away kind of reduced this to "can I roughly hear what I'm trying to hear without blasting the volume" as I knew removing all background noise was impossible.
So how are they? They are ok but I'd rather have gotten a really good Passive NR set than these ANR headset. I just don't think they justify the price.
Pros: 1 - sufficient ANR for airplanes
2 - roll up into a ball
Cons: 1 - brutally painful as the padding is about 3 millimeters thick
2 - painful after an hour
3 - lots of plastic construction so you really have to baby them
4 - not able to find thicker replacement ear pads
5 - painful after an hour
I haven't tried the Bose standard headset. I've used their $1000 aviation headset a few times and they were excellent for ATC but no idea how they are for music though (I didn't have an iPOD to plug into the Cirrus at the time). I'm sure their standard headsets are excellent but also very pricey.
Gerald
Rating:
Summary: Comfortable, Good Sounds, ANR works
Review: Best pair of headphones I have ever owned (comparing to ear buds and large phones like this). This is a pair of head phones that you can actually enjoy the music and not just listen to it.
Summary: 10dB reduction of low tones is all you need...they work great and are easy on the head. If you are looking for a pair of ANR headphones, it will be difficult to go wrong with these.
Pros:
1) Cancels out the ambient low tones: this is the range that typically masks the sounds of you music. In a loud environment? No problem. You can still here the background noises, but you can appreciate the full range of music. You can use them without the music to reduce the background noise. Better than earplugs because you can still have a conversation if needed.
2) Sounds it eliminates: the air-conditioner, most of the engine noise of a car, the growl of a busy city (i.e. Singapore)
3) Reasonably priced
4) Very comfortable: I have worn them for about 5 hours a day the past two weeks. Best headphones I have ever worn
5) No need to crank the volume up: Even in the loud environment of a city street, I have the volume turned up to only half, instead of FULL using my other headphones.
6) Battery life is fine: haven't timed it, but they have outlasted my mp3 player batteries twice (mp3 get about 15-20hrs).
Cons:
1) If it is windy outside, expect to hear the wind in the phones (the microphone picks up the wind noise like a video camera). However, the wind noise is pretty soft and doesn't really impact he enjoyment of the music.
2) When using them in s Singapore taxi, I will occasionally get a subtle "beat" effect or a warble in the music. This is faint and typically only last for a moment. This is a case where the active noise canceling just can't match the frequency of the diesel and the canceling waves get a little out of sync. A very minor issue that I would think is not specific to just the Sony headphones.
3) If you are an audiophile, you might complain about the very faint static noise generated by these things, but it can only be heard when the music is very, very quite. Once music begins, even at a low volume, this noise goes away. I do not view this as a very notable draw back.
I have used these things in every loud environment ( manufacturing floors, airplanes, cars, streets, hotels, empty rooms, shopping malls) They work great. Definitely try them out. I sometimes use them without any music just to reduce the outside noise.
Rating:
Summary: These are great for the long plane ride!
Review: I bought a pair of these several years ago in Akihabara. Since then, they are on every plane ride with me. These make the movies on planes listenable. They make listening to music on the plane enjoyable, which is hard otherwise. Everytime I show these to friends, they then purchase their own pair.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't leave home without them!
Review: I bought the Sonys when the gym installed a new music system which blared out pop music--obviously the worst CDs in the customers' collection, to get rid of which they donated to the gym. For this purpose, they proved okay, not great, but at least good enough that I renewed my membership. Where they really shine is on an airplane. The drone of the jet engines is cut by half or two-thirds, and you don't know how tiring that sound is until you've switched it on and off with a pair of noise-canceling headphones. Much the same is true in a bus or automobile, and I never travel without them. The Sonys come with an adapter plug for the airliners' audio system, so there's never any question of buying or renting airline phones. Shucks, I've probably paid for the Sonys in that alone. Note that the phones work best on steady background noise, so they're great with turbojets but only fair with conversation. This has nothing to do with Sony and everything to do with acoustics. So the crying kid in the seat behind you is going to sound about the same whether you have the noise-canceling turned on or off. (He will be quieter simply because you have these earphones snug over your ears.) For severe situations, like the MTV music in the gym, I've seriously considered using wax earplugs and turning up the volume on the Sonys, but most of the time they suffice, and so I've never gotten around to it. An excellent investment in your hearing and in your sanity.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Design, Great NC, but Sound is so-so
Review: I bought these headphones when i was Japan, and have been nothing but pleased. Some things to note:
1)They're made of plastic- I expected something better.On the other hand, they fold up into a neat little ball,so they are more breakage resistant that you might expect.Also, the design is great since the noise cancelling equipment is contained within the headphones,not in a clunky external box like other, less styling models (^_^)v Very very sleek and sexy. 2)Those of you planning to use these with an MD player/etc. w/ an inline remote should note that while the headphones have a "short cord",the plug is actually a stupidly useless *proprietary* sony design-and the included 1/8th adaptor cord is *very* long; that is to say,you'll end up w/ tons of excess wire you don't know what to do with.There is a short Sony minijack-to-1/8th adaptor which works great,however,I've never seen it sold outside of Japan. I am incredibly happy with these headphones.However,as others have mentioned the sound is so-so.These are perfect for use with MD/MP3 or other compressed sound formats in noisy settings, but not so great for precise listening.But turning on the noise cancelling greatly improves the sound quality and I find that these headphones are more than adequate for all of my needs-combine this with the fantastic design,the awesome noise cancelling ability,a great-bang-for-your-buck value (except for the plastic),and I would highly recommend these to anyone looking for a good noise cancelling headphone.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I'd hoped for.
Review: I bought these thinking they were the ticket to noise-free, pleasant air travel. They fall short for two reasons. The first is that they just don't cancel that much noise. If you're not listening to music and just compare the difference between having noise cancellation on and off, it's just not that great - partly because of the technology and partly because of the fit. To quantify this, the noise canceling Sony headphones give 10dB of noise reduction whereas the passive David Clark H10-00 headphones for roughly the same price give 24dB just because of the better seal. The second problem is that they generate noise of their own. If it's not that noisy to start with they actually seem to generate a slight buzz. So I'd recommend either getting a pair of earplugs, or a set of headphones with a better seal.
Rating:
Summary: Very uncomfortable not worth the Money
Review: I have found that I can not wear this headset for any length of time (30 minutes or more)without it becoming uncomfortable. The sound reduction feature barely works and the music is only fair.
You can get better for less.
Rating:
Summary: Headphones do not hold up
Review: I have had these for almost two years and I have found that they do not hold up well. The padding in the ears has flattened totally making them very uncomfortable. The headphone cord has become stiff so that I have to bend it away from my face. The biggest problem that has developed is creakyness. The headphones creak anytime you move. The creaking is loud and unpleasant and resonates inside the headphones. If you are trying to wear them while sleeping on a plane the creaking sound is very disturbing.
The noise cancelling is good on a plane and the sound is good considering the price. However I would not buy them again because they have aged poorly.
Rating:
Summary: John
Review: I have used these units for about a year now. They work as one would expect with the noise cancelling being about as good as any in this category. They are light and fold up nicely for easy transport. This is their main adventage over the Bose units. On trips, over three hours, these Sony units can start to get a little uncomfortable on the ears, this, I think, is where the Bose units may excel (not personally confirmed). Given the significant price differential between these and the Bose units the MDRNC20's provide good value while giving the listener a good audio experience.
| 
