Cons: Noise cancellation limited to specific low frequencies, susceptible to wind noise.
The Bottom Line: Ok for a cheap entry level NC headset. I would recommend a set with over the ear cups to cut wind noise, and a more comfortable head band.
pilaar39's Full Review: Sony MDR-NC6 Consumer Headphones
I won't go into long detail here, since there are many reviews of this product already.
I just bought mine on sale at Costco for Cdn $49.
My first impression was that these headphones were simply amplifiers, and poor ones at that. They barely increase the audio volume when turned on.
Contrary to what I thought before buying them, they are only effective for noise cancellation at specific frequencies. They do come with a tightly folded 'user guide' in 11 languages! Included in this guide are the unit's specifications, which I later noticed are also on the back of the package and which I did not read before buying.
Basically, these headphones have a frequency response of 30 to 15,000 Hz, BUT when NC is turned on, the noise cancellation is only active between 40 and 1,500 Hz - with the optimum noise cancellation (10 dB) at a frequency of 300 hz. The sensitivity when NC is turned on is 106 dB/mW, vs 104 dB.mW when NC is turned off.
The bottom line is don't expect magic from these headphones.. they will cancel some background noise, but mostly effective if the noise is in the lower range of about 300 Hz.
One thing I did not like was outdoor use. They are somewhat heavy and easily fall off if you move around a lot. The headband is hard plastic, and with people like me with little hair left on top, they tend not to stay in place and are a bit uncomfortable on the top of the head. If I keep them, I will glue a more comfortable rubber strip under the headband. Also, since these on on-the-ear (and not cups over the ear), they are very susceptible to wind noise - even very minor wind noise - and this is not cancelled out at all.
The NC6 has only an off/on switch on the right ear side - no volume control, so if listening to an iPod for example, you will need to crank up the iPod volume and thus use more of your iPod's battery faster. I find I need to have my iPod at at 75% volume to get decent results, but then again, at 62, my hearing is not what it used to be in my younger years.
It would have been nice if there was an auto-off function when there is no audio detected for a minute or so. If you fall asleep and your iPod stops, your headphones remain on and drain the battery.
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