pablo_lie's Full Review: Sony MDR-NC11 Consumer Headphones
I will concur with those that give a more lukewarm review on these headphones.
Whether you keep them or run back to demand a refund will merely depend on how much you value the ability to have noise reducing (let's fool not anyone: these do not *cancel* noise) earbuds that are very compact and easy to travel with. Like another reviewer, I also own Aiwa's noise reducing headphones, and am torn between the fact they are bulkier, but on the other hand offer much better sound quality. I have opted to keep them both, but if you buy the Sony's, you'll go through your moment of being tempted to ask for a refund.
The sound quality is *very* flat. I don't have a single pair of headphones in the household they compare favorably against in terms of sound quality. I have nothing positive to say about the sound quality. But obviously these are thought to be paired with a compact, highly portable device at highest compression setting. In my case, the device is an irock! 860, which happens to have very good sound quality, and the Sony's are the limiting factor.
Their redeeming quality is their compact nature in combination with noise reduction. I could not drive around in my convertible with the Aiwa's, for one. Way too blatant. With the Sony, I can put the top down and simply have a very relaxing drive, everything becomes quite quiet and distant, very cool. rest assured I only do this on boring highway drives in a straight line, I am keenly aware that hearing is important for safe driving in most traffic situations.
The noise reduction certainly is very middle-of-the field. One of the reasons they are effective are because of the rubber ear adapters that shut down your ear channel. The noise reduction circuitry has some effect, but it's not as effective as others. Other noise reduction headphones also introduce comparable amounts of white noise, so I think it is a bit unfair of other reviewers to single out these headphones for that. The Sony's noise reduction seems to be engineered for plane engines, by the way, where they perform better than in other environments - so that's a cue right there of what Sony intends you to do with them [not *in* the plane engine, you know what I mean).
For business trips, these also save a few precious cubic inches in my carry on, and that's about the only reason I have not returned them. They operate on one AAA battery for very long periods of time. *Very* long.
They are comfortable to wear (pick the right size rubber mount), but the cabling could and should be a bit thinner and slicker, as it is it sticks out all over the place.
I can not truly recommend them given the poor sound quality, but if you value some of the things I have written about, and can relate why I have kept them as a frequent flier, than you understand their whole purpose for existence in Sony's product line. However, I think Sony could and should do better.
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