Excellent noise cancellation, good sound reproduction -- unwieldy wires
Written: Jan 21 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: Very good noise cancellation, lightweight, compact and good sound reproduction
Cons: Wires are unwieldy Small silicon bud replacements are expensive but worth it
The Bottom Line: These are lightweight, compact headphones with excellent noise cancellation and very good sound reproduction. Highly recommended. A better method for storing the wires would make them completely perfect.
louise250's Full Review: Sony MDR-NC11 MDR-NC11 Noise Canceling Headphones
I purchased these ear bud headphones to help reduce the exhausting noise levels on long cross country plane rides. I also hoped to be able to listen to music on my laptop and/or the movie shown, without having to turn up the volume to try to compensate for the noise around me.
These headphones performed beautifully on what turned out to be a very long plane ride which included sitting on the runway for almost two hours. Although aware of the noise around me, it was reduced so much that I experienced a sense of being safely enclosed in my own space and somewhat removed from the hubbub around me.
This is an ear bud model with three sizes of silicon inserts to choose from so that they can make a good and comfortable seal in your ear. This seal further reduces the noise level and even without the noise canceling turned on, overall ambient noise was reduced as soon as they were put in my ear. Since the silicon buds are removable, it seemed to me that they could be easily lost or get pulled off and lost that way. I telephoned Sony to purchase some spares and discovered that each bud (not a pair, but a single bud), costs $4. I know that silicon is expensive, but with shipping, an extra pair cost me $13 which is kind of expensive for something that it seems inevitable that you will need.
I was also able to listen to music and watch the movie without having to strain to hear over the din. Sound reproduction on music and on voice was quite good.
I arrived at my destination without the usual sense of total exhaustion and am very sure that these headphones were responsible. The one AAA battery needed, has lasted me almost 20 hours and is still going strong.
Being very excited by them, I then tried them in the subways of New York and San Francisco. Once again, noise was noticeably reduced and there was that delightful sense of being somewhat enclosed in my own space which included being able to really hear and enjoy music.
The only real objection I have is that there is no way to store the wires without finding them quite tangled when you take the unit back out of its case. I wish that Sony had provided a clothing clip and some kind of mechanism for winding the wires more comfortably. As noted above, replacement buds are expensive but after using these headphones, I am more than willing to pay that price.
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