Sony MDR-NC11 Consumer Headphones

Pros: One of the few noise-canceling earbuds, light, comfortable, durable
Cons: Overpriced, clunky

Adjacent to each 9mm earbud is a tiny microphone. They allegedly determine the trough and crest of the noise present and tell the headphones which frequency to emit. By releasing a sound with the opposite trough and crest, noise-canceling headphones are ...

Pros: Great for those looking for a truly portable noise-canceling solution.
Cons: With earbuds, you always sacrifice some performance. Might not fit you.

Are you confused by the polar opposite reviews you see everywhere about these little earbuds? Some people say they sound tinny with weak bass, while others say they have overpowering bass and weak highs. Some people say these earbuds don't do any ...

Pros: Good sound quality, impressive bass for earbuds, comfortable.
Cons: Noise cancelling is not what I thought it would be; silicon earbuds can be lost.

I purchased a set of Sony's MDR-NC11 noise-cancelling earbuds approximately four months ago, and have been using them extensively ever since. I purchased them because I was looking for small yet high-quality headphones that I could easily carry ...

Pros: Helps you cope with mid-range "drone" that you'd find on trains and busses. Very portable.
Cons: Small ear-bud design lacks "oomph" to cancel very-low-frequency noise. NC adds extra noise.

About six years ago, when the first of the NoiseBuster headphones came out in specialty catalogs (Brookstones, ShaperImage), I bought a pair as a gift for my mother who flew over a dozen times a year to Asia. After only a few uses, she gave them back to...

Pros: Very comfortable earbuds
Cons: Poor bass output Max volume limited

I bought the new Sony MDR-NC11 earbuds in Hong Kong the day they were released without checking any research or reviews. I've always been nothing than impressed with Sony's design and quality standards, so didn't think twice about buying these without...

Pros: Compact, volume control, carrying case, comfortable in your ears, mutes noise
Cons: Noise canceling circuits not very effective, audio reproduction not as good as it should be

I’ve been eyeing these things since I saw them for sale in Tokyo back in 2000. A few years ago I broke down and purchased $50 Aiwa noise-canceling earphones, and then recently, decided to buy these instead for the following reasons: - I wanted very ...

Pros: Very portable, comes with little carry-bag and plane adapter jack
Cons: Don't work nearly as well as their predecessor the NC-10

As a frequent traveler of many years I grew to rely on my old Sony NC-10 noise-canceling earphones. They really work superbly and reduce the rumbling on a long-haul flight to manageable levels, with the big plus that plugging them in to listen to an...

Pros: Lightweight, comfortable, adapters for different aircraft jacks.
Cons: Noise cancellation over limited frequencies - effectiveness will vary by listening environment.

I average more than 3 flights per week. On some long-haul flights the airlines hand out Bose noise cancelling headsets, my experience with those led me to purchase the Sony MDR NC11. The small size of these allows me to carry them in my briefcase, and...

Pros: small, lightweight, work for the average train commuter (for a while)
Cons: noise-cancelling is VERY bogus

I bought my set of earbuds to go with my iPod on my morning commute on the train (and a 10-15 minute walk on either side of the train). They work decent for me in my situation. I'm just looking to drown out the ambient noise of the commuters around me ...

Pros: small....um, nice bag? Good battery life
Cons: add noise, fall out, expensive, bad design

AVOID AVOID AVOID.

Expensive, they fall out of your ears (even after trying all 3 sizes of bud choices), they do reduce really loud droning noise like airplanes, but not as much as the $15 maxell's I had before ($50 list, discontinued, so don't look for 'em). And they ADD noise in anything but the worst conditions. Annoying mid-cord dongle that is too short to clip onto belt or shirt so always gets in the way

Replaced which Bose QuietComfort2, which are much larger but actually work.

Pros: Small, excellent clarity, good ANC
Cons: a bit skimpy on the bass but not that bad.

I am a musician (professional) and I travel by air a great deal of the time. I have had the Bose, Etymotics, and Senn. earphones. While I enjoy my Etymotics a great deal- on occasion they don't block out everything. I have found the Sony to be small, and what it lacks in the bass range it more than makes up for by the dampening of the airline engines or the train. Its clarity is quite good- even when hunting for parts of the music that are nestled away in a huge orchestral movement. Compared to the price of the Bose and the Etys- I'd much rather have these on the airplane- for $90.00, they're a great deal.

Pros: Nice idea: small, compact noise canceling headphones. Sony name. Come with neat little pouch.
Cons: Poor design, poor fit, noise cancellation doesn't really work.

Avoid these. Touted as noise canceling, they do no better than any well-sealing earbud, and they fit poorly for most people to boot. Sony engineers seem to have missed the point that the human ear canal faces rearward. The way these turkeys are designed, the L shaped boom gets in the way of the external ear making them fit better if you reverse sides (wear the left earbud in the right ear and vice versa). But the bottom line is that their noise cancellation just doesn't work. Turning it on boosts volume a bit, but doesn't diminish external noise to any discernable degree. Pity, one usually can depend on Sony.

Pros: Seal out noise, have great bass response, lightweight, comfortable for very long periods of time.
Cons: I wish the electronic noise canceling was a little stronger. Expensive.

I don't know what everyone is complaining about. These Sony ear buds are the greatest thing to ever come along for me. Perhaps these people are not getting the correct fit for their ears.

For me, they seal in my ears perfectly and have full, rich dynamic sound. They have great bass with frequency response as low as 10 Hz.

They are extremely comfortable to wear for long air trips and your ears don't get hot like with conventional earphones.

I love them. In fact, I just bought my second pair.

Lee Foster Fuqua
Dallas, Texas U.S.A.

Pros: do reduce external noise. sound is OK
Cons: terrible noise distortion as rigid wires touch you while you move. v poorly fitting buds.

I was excited to buy these. I was wrong. I am normally a fan of sony, but these are a real let down. I was initially unsure about them and the experience got worse and worse. I never use them now.
The ear buds don't fit my ears well. I mean they do, kinda, if i spend minutes putting them in and NEVER move my head! Other wise they just work themselves out, particularly as the wires are so rigid and transmit so much "torque" to the buds. Maybe others have a better experience fit wise, though.

My main problem is that the wiring is rigid and as you move it touches your clothing and transfer maddening clanking noises to the phones. It just drove me mad. I cant use them even walking or if I plan on turning my head. Dont even think about using them at the gym or running. Now I almost never use them.

They do deaden external sound, but that seems like it has more to do with the physical ear plug shape than the technology.

What a really bad deal. And for the money, what a REALLY BAD deal! dont bother.