Sony MDRNC10 Noise Cancelling Headphones

by Sony

Product Details

Product Manual [426kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005I9S2
• Item model number: MDRNC10
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Use these headphones to block out noise, listen to music, or do both at once! These Sony MDR-NC10 Ear bud Headphones use the Fontopia in-the-ear-design for a snug and comfortable fit behind the ear and are ideal for travel, work environments and outdoor use. They eliminate 70% sound when noise-canceling circuit is switched on, sensing outside sound with built-in microphones and sending an equal but opposite canceling signal to the headphones. A hot line switch admits outside sounds temporarily and headphones continue to function for music listening when noise canceling is off. The headphones operate on AAA alkaline batteries, which have an extended life of approximately 60 hours. It reduces noise by 70% (10dB) making it ideal for travel - it gives you peace and quiet on planes, trains, buses and cars. It is also ideal for outdoor use when you are gardening or on a noisy street. Its noise canceling circuit actually senses outside noise with built-in microphones and sends an equal-but-opposite canceling signal to the headphones; cancels noise from 50Hz to 1, 000Hz, with a maximum of 10dB noise cancellation in the critical range from 100 to 400 Hz - where the human ear is super-sensitive. Fontopia In-The-Ear Design fits snugly, yet comfortably inside the ear; eliminates the headband so you can enjoy music while exercising, skating or dancing. Hot Line Switch admits outside sounds temporarily.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good technology, interesting potential, September 29, 2001

By 

"mikefrei" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MDRNC10 Noise Cancelling Headphones (Electronics)

I bought these earphones because I am a huge fan of Minidiscs and portable Minidisc players. I like to take my music with me everywhere: walking around downtown, running, working out, on airplanes, etc... The problem I was having was that while doing all these things, I was finding that even with the volume jacked up all the way I was still not able to hear the music that well over outside noise.

Since the Amazon site does not (yet) give a good description of what these things do, I will try. Noise Cancelling earphones (or earbuds) have tiny microphones built into them that listen to OUTSIDE noise around you. The circuitry in the microphones attempts to get an approximate measure for the outside noise frequencies and then the earphone attempts to generate the approximate OPPOSITE frequency signal for your ear. This serves to "cancel out" most outside noise, and the effect is that outside noise is muted while the actual music you are listening to is not. I used the word "approximate" a lot because the circuitry cannot exactly measure the outside noise nor can it generate exactly the opposite signal. The result is that there is some (albeit a very slight) effect on the music you're listening to, meaning parts of it can be inadvertently fuzzed out a little.

So I'll get right to it. These Noise Cancelling earbuds aren't perfect, but they certainly have a lot of potential. The day I got them, I popped in a AAA battery and put them on and went for a walk down the street (no music playing) and the effect was very noticeable! As soon as you press the "ON" button all outside noise just dulls as if you're wearing earplugs. Low frequencies especially (like bass or low grumblings) are cut out well, whereas higher frequency noises (like people talking or a jackhammer) are not cut out as much, but are still muted somewhat. So far, the effect I have noticed on the music itself has not been too noticeable. My friend and I got in my car and were listening to some Arab Strap (very low, bassy music) on my car CD player. We put these on and all the bass from the car speakers and sub-woofer was almost cancelled out completely, but the singer's voice was not muted much at all. I used them walking around downtown and they were very effective in that I was able to hear my music much better without having to jack up the volume. I haven't had the opportunity to try them on an airplane yet but I think they would help out a lot considering the nature of the noise on an airplane.

If I were in my office or an otherwise quiet room, I would NOT use these earphones because their effect on the sound quality is negative compared to a regular pair of good earbuds. However, I would highly recommend them for listening to music in public places or for just giving yourself some peace and quiet from the world. I for one am very interested in seeing where this technology heads in the next couple years..

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Makes me forget I am in Milan's subway, September 13, 2002

By 

Burguet Jean Francois "www.coracom.it" (Milan, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony MDRNC10 Noise Cancelling Headphones (Electronics)

The subway here in Milan (Italy) is very noisy, especially in the Summer when windows are opened. Before getting these headphones, I just could not listen to my Audible audiobooks even with my hands on my ears. They proved to be very effective in this environment.

Do not have the wrong expectations, this device does not "create" silence. It lowers the level of ambient noise, allowing the sounds you wish to listen to from your player to come out better. Some noise remains of course.

If it was not for the quality of the rubber (the two pieces actually entering your ears), I would have given this product 5 stars. After a year of daily use, my left earplug unglued itself from its support and was difficult to glue back. It would be great if the rubber pieces were available as spare parts.

Sony could also consider making the cable shorter, or allow you to customize its lenght by adding/removing a middle cable extension.

This is thus a good product, smaller physically than others on the market. The battery life (1 AAA) is excellent.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, August 18, 2003

By 

Haszen Hazen (Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony MDRNC10 Noise Cancelling Headphones (Electronics)

I originally bought these ear phones before a plane trip with the sole intent of *SNICKER* returning them when I returned home. However, they worked SO effectively I kept them. I thought anyone would be crazy to shell out [the price] for ear phones. But after using these little guys, I was blown away.

I used them on a plane and they did an incredible job of blocking out the droaning roar of the engines. That was before turning on the noise cancelling. The noise cancelling circuitry made a slight difference. It was noticeable enough for me to keep it on. But the majority of the noise cancelling came from the ear plug type design. Watching the inflight movies with these guys was an absolute pleasure. With the engine noise significantly cut down I could clearly hear the voices in the movie.

I didn't have the slightest problem with the ear buds slipping out of my ear. The default size fit me perfectly, I didn't need to even bother trying the smaller or larger size.

If the idea of ear plugs is foreign to you, you may or may not find some discomfort with these. However, I frequently use the soft, roll up type ear plugs to help me concentrate and as a comparison, the Sony's were much more comfortable.

I can't give an honest opinion about sound quality. I am not a audiophile and my main purpose in trying these out was to block out side noise. However, they sounded great to me and I had no complaints to sound quality what so ever.