I travel a great deal and have a drawer full of noise canceling headphones by Panasonic, Kensington, JVC and Sony. Each had limitations -- not enough high end, poor construction, poor noise reduction, or in the case of lesser Sony's I bought several months ago, pretty good sound, but rather inadequate ear cups and poor portability (they wouldn't fold up to occupy as little as possible space in my briefcase.)Always worried about losing or damaging something while traveling I did not go for the full kahuna and buy Bose.
So, having seen these around some local shops and taken a listen I bought the NC40 and immediately took them on a trip.
By and large they are fine. When turned on (don't even try to listen to them when off) the sound is rich and clean; lovely base and good high end, which is important to my tired ole ears. Plenty of mid-range. Nice volume. I'm not sure they are world beaters in terms of overall noise reduction, but they certainly take the edge off and from my same old seat near the rear of a Southwest jet, they provide a relaxing and easy to take listening experience. One WANTS to use this extremely comfortable headset, whether noise reduction is needed or not. I hear things I didn't know my MP3 decoder put in a file. Oh, I listen mainly to jazz and classical music.
Oh yes, they fold up neatly and I like the on-off switch/battery holder, which lives by itself on the connecting line and has an override button that works beautifully. Sony MDR-NC40 Noise Canceling Headphone (Black)
As a frequent business traveler, I was looking for some noise canceling headphones but did not want to spend the chunk of change on Bose. After reading some of the reviews on these Sony's here and other places, I decided to give them a shot. I'm glad I did! Now, I'm no audiophile, nor do I have much to compare these to from a noise canceling perspective, but they do their job well. Yes, you have to have them turned on for them to sound decent, but the battery life seems very good. I've made 3 trips to China and a few domestic trips with the original battery still in them. Probably 60 hours conservatively (I only use them on the planes). I can keep them on for a 13 hour flight with out any discomfort, and I am very pleased with the degree of noise canceling.
I find it funny when I read other people's reviews and they complain about the sound of these units with the power turned off. These units are noise canceling headphones. They were not meant to be "hi-end listen to all your music all the time type of headphones." There are tons of other headphones to choose from that will surpass the performance of the Sony MDR-NC40 for everyday use and for a lot less money.
The NC40 are a noise canceling headphones. They were meant to cut the constant drone of airplane noise or the constant sound you get when riding in a bus or a train... and they do work.
I guess what I can honestly say is if you travel 5 or 6 times a year on a plane then this is a great choice. I have not listened to the Bose models, but I can tell you this, no matter what I can afford, there is no way I could justify 3.5X the price for the Bose headphones to travel with a few times a year.
The NC20 sits on the ear, it does not cup the ear. You can still hear when people talk to you at normal levels. If you are dealing with a screaming baby behind you just crank up the volume of whatever you are listening to and it will drown out the unwanted sounds.
These are great if you use them for what they are intended. You can buy the NC40 here on Amazon and then get a set of Bose TriPort Headphones for regular every day listening and still be at less than 1/2 the price of the Quiet comfort headphones.
The bottom line is I would recommend the NC40 to anyone who travels, but not to some one who just wants headphones to use at home.
Sony Mdr-Nc40 Noise Canceling Headphone (Black)
As long time audiophile (30 years) I still find digital fiddling with music a little disconcerting, but these headphones do the job at the price point intended. Even though advertised "iPhone compatible" I was worried until the jack fit perfectly in the iPhone, a problem to date.
While some may scoff, I have never heard a set of speakers or headphones that didn't benefit from a "white noise break-in" which I will commence this evening. My initial impression bordered on 5 stars, but the extra bass bump with the noise cancelling on, dropped it down a star. I have been listening to my iPhone with the $100 in-the-ear-canal VModa earplugs and was concerned my high frequency hearing was deteriorating faster than I had thought. The VModa's must roll off at 12kHz...These Sony phones brought out crystaline delicate highs I haven't experienced for years. I suppose my old Sennheisers and Yamaha headsets were in need of replacement long ago...
I have tried the Bose noise cancelling phones and they did a very good job...of filtering out the music and feeling like a pair of socks were placed in my ears. I know there are many Bosse fans out there, but audio equipment has always been broken down into two major categories for me: Realism vs.Drama (Bose being dramatic, like the old floor standing speakers with the equalization box). I come from the Linn Sondek realism school, but that is a different story for a different time. Anyway, the Bose noise cancelling phones, were horrid, unmusical sound control devices. If I would have been forced to choose that day (at the Bose Store), I would have purchased the convential Bose headphones. I know little of the digital processing for noise cancelling save the generation of an inverse (out of phase) wave of the "detected noise" to cause cancellation. Automotive companies are/have experimented with this concept to eliminate exhaust system noise.
The Sony's are a bit bass heavy in the noise cancel mode without flattening out the highs however. Turning off the noise canceling removes the bassiness, but I can live with the fat bottom end as this is the more preferrable setting if again forced to choose. These phones image spectacularly and handle vocals with a smooth easy, effortless swweetness. You can actually understand the singer and what he/she is singing. Mind you, I still am getting used to the lossy MP3 encoding after years of analog addiction, but the Sony's for the price are a great buy. Note I am saying $100 is well spent.
After a few weeks of white nosie on these guys, I can bet they will get better. My acid test will be on my home system with a DMP label CD recording, the closest thing to analog available. To this date, no one understands digital recording and production like Tom Jung and Co. I will report back as I am fascinated to see if my $100 love affair lasts.
RCK - Sony - Headphones - Noise Canceling - Over-the-head Headphones'
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