Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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120 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, but there are better, April 24, 2007
I recently compared the Bose QC2 headphones (an obscene $299) with the cheaper Sennheiser PXC-300 ($159.99) and the new Sony MDR-NC22s ($70.00). The Sennheiser's are a smaller design that does not completely cover your ear and comes in a smaller case, which is more convenient for travelling. The Sony's are an in-ear solution, and have the smallest case. All have active noise canceling.
I did my testing in the rear of an Boeing 737. The rear is generally the noisiest location in an airplane. My primary testing criteria was which headphone reduced overall noise the best. I also listened to see which headphone allowed me to listen to music and audio programs (podcasts) at the lowest volume level. I was really hoping that one of the cheaper options would be better than the Bose, but they weren't.
The Bose knocked out the most airplane noise and allowed me to listen to music at the lowest volume level and still hear it. The Sennheiser was next, and the Sony was last. The Sony also suffered from a noticeable hiss noise which you could easily hear on audio programs and music played at a low volume.
In short, if you want the best, it is still Bose. If you want to pay a little less and don't mind that you're not getting the best, the Sennheiser is a good choice. The Sony is a good choice only if you can't afford the Sennheiser and you want to play music LOUD.
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51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
does pretty much what one can expect (nothing more), August 7, 2007
My wife has one of the original Sony noise-cancelling earbuds, which were bulkier and more expensive but work quite well. I ended up borrowing them all the time for plane trips, so as we were traveling together, I got a pair of the updated version.
A few general remarks about active noise cancellation. It works quite well on monotonous low-frequency noises (read: airplane engines), but will be pretty useless against "the sound of eight crying babies" (for you Simpsons fans out there). The Sonys are in-ear, so if you can achieve a good seal in your ear canal you get passive damping in those frequency ranges.
Also, pretty much every active noise-canceller I tried introduces a bit of white noise in the treble range --- generally only noticeable if you don't play music through them.
Furthermore, don't expect active noise-cancellers to give great sound unless you're willing to pony up big bucks. I tried the $350 Bose® QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones (which cost five times as much) and while they sound as good as any ANCHs I've ever tried, they can't hold a candle for sound quality to my trusty $40 Sennheiser PX 100 Collapsible Headphones.
Engineers have a saying: "better, cheaper, faster --- pick any two". For headphones one could paraphrase it to: "good noise cancellation, hi-fi sound quality, affordable --- pick any two". Allegedly, the new Sennheiser PXC 450 NoiseGard Active Noise Canceling Headphones give you both superior cancellation and hi-fi sound, but they cost an arm and a leg.
If one keeps these remarks in mind, the Sony MDR-NC22 do pretty much what you can expect. The combination of active cancellation and passive isolation works better than either on its own --- but mine do have a pronounced hiss. Sound quality is decent but not great --- anything that has a strong, busy bass line (so forget Iron Maiden, Rush, or Dream Theater) is clearly too much for them, trebly electronic stuff sounds fairly OK. Again, expect to pay much more money if you want both active cancellation and good sound.
Unlike the bulkier original with its fixed rubber flanges, they have removable in-ear flanges (in 3 sizes), and those got stuck in my ears a couple of times. Nothing scary or dangerous, just annoying --- but this could of course happen with pretty much any in-ear earphones.
Bottom line: I'm keeping them for trips but am not going to use them as general-purpose headphone replacements. One day, I may be able to spend $500 on PXC-450s without feeling guilty...
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46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice, but other (better?) alternatives exist as well, July 13, 2007
I purchased the Sony MDRNC10s many years ago and have used the 11s as well (each of which is a predecessor to this model, with, I believe, the same specs--it's the cosmetics which have changed over time). They are nice and indeed eradicate a noticeable portion of low-sound rumble on planes and on the street. I find that I arrive at a destination from a flight less tired, with using these.
Having said that, I've also compared them in-flight to a set of Shure E2C in-ear earbuds with no noise-cancelling electronics (generally available, including at Amazon.com, for $70-$100). I've found that if I fit the Shures with the Shure triple-flange ear pieces (also available here, and which indeed can be fit onto the E2Cs with a small amount of effort, in a couple of minutes, even though not designed for the E2Cs), they exceed the "noise-cancelling" results of the Sonys. With the benefit of being smaller and even easier for travel (no separate electronics case) and no need for battery power. Plus, the Shures are well-recognized good earbud phones off a plane as well, for everyday use, and get great customer support from Shure, a leader in that area (as distinct from, unfortunately, Sony, which will leave customers high-and-dry, in my experience, and whose products, I also unfortunately have found, tend to break down over time while products from other companies will last longer). The only thing to be aware of is that the triple flanges really do go into the ear canal, more so than with the Sonys--some people may not like that, and I have found that the flanges indeed can tickle my inner ear every so often. (Note, in that regard, that the length of the triple flanges can be trimmed, as noted by Shure itself--presumably, they could be made into double flanges so as not to enter the ear as deeply (although I haven't tried that yet).)
In the end, I've found that simple can, indeed, sometimes be better. And this also has saved me from $300 for a Bose (bulkier, especially for travel) headset.
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