Pros: Slick design, wears well even when sleeping, good sound
Cons: Noise cancelation should mean overall reduction. This unit ADDS white noise
The Bottom Line: If Sony delivered the noise reduction quality of much cheaper units, this one would awesome. In it's current state you can forget about the active noise reduction.
leisure_larry's Full Review: Sony MDR-NC11 MDR-NC11 Noise Canceling Headphones
This review covers the Sony MDR-NC11 Noise Canceling Headphones
So I already owned a Jensen JNC50 Noise Canceling Headset, when I won this Sony in a lottery. Cool a 150 USD set , Sony brand name, sleek design and neat earplug type headset with a seperate loudness control and a switch to turn noise canceling on or off.
Comes with: Cool design, really light weight, interchangeable earbuds (3 sizes), airline adaptor and short instructions with lots of praise for the 'advanced' noise canceling chip.
I first tried them at home and instantaneously noticed, that when switching the noise reduction on, it would actually result in a slightly audible 'white noise', which is the same you hear on radio between stations. Ahem !
A noise canceling head set that ADDS noise? A fluke of the technology? Hardly. My 50 USD Jensen doesn't add that noise.
Noise canceling works by having a microphone read out surrounding noise and then produce a phase shifted signal on the head set, which cancels out the outer sound waves to the eardrum.
BIG letdown !
So how does the set work in real life?
I took both headsets for a trip to Asia.
Impression:
I like the light weight of the Sony and the fact that you can actually sleep with your head on the pillow, without pulling the headset off your ears, such as you would do with Bose and Jensen. So two thumbs up for the earbud design.
Noise reduction: The major reduction comes from the airtight earbuds. When you plug them in (actually...) they seal quite well and seem to muffle noise more effectively then the Jensens. They also stay neatly in place when sleeping. Big PLUS !
Flip the switch and you expect the rumbling engines to disappear in a whisper: Jensen: YEP, dramatic effect, no background noise, creates a bit of pressure on your eardrums (just ever slightly)
Sony: Hohumm.. a slight reduction in engine noise, but you trade in for the white noise... Quite a letdown actually.
Combined noise reduction for both sets: I'd say equal.
The Sony gets more from the airtight earbuds, less from the electronics, the Jensen less from covering your ears and more from the actual noise canceling electronics.
Letdown for Sony: it ads noticeable white noise, that I tried every witchway to get rid off, but failed miserably .
Sound: The Sony is a tad better then the Jensens, but that is a matter of taste
Verdict: If you advertise NOISE canceling you should deliver on it. This Sony adds white noise, where other headsets don't. Even 50 USD units do better then this Sony.
As a headset alone it is solid and sounds well.
I expected more from Sony and definitely from a 150 USD unit.
Curiously, when I shielded the outer mics with my thumbs, the white noise died down, while the engine rumblings only marginally increased. If Sony had a proper filter, just letting low frequency through or an electronic filter capping the noise cancellation at lower frequencies, this unit could be awesome.
So it is just a hyped up, overpriced regular head set.
I recommend another one.
Here is my full review of the 50 USD Jensen noise cancellation headset if you are interested.
OK, well after a couple of trips I actually settled on the Sony over the Jensen for following reasons: Low weight and space, comfort of wearing while asleep (that is if you like plugs in your ears). Still don't like the white noise and the fact that the sound level goes UP when you turn noise canceling on. Seems like Sony is hiding something. But the reduction in noise is good enough to be sufficient. Still think it is more of a muffeling, then a reduction via electronics.
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