 Fine product |
| Review Date: November 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Ronald K. Goodenow, Northboro, MA USA |
I travel a great deal and have a drawer full of noise canceling headphones by Panasonic, Kensington, JVC and Sony. Each had limitations -- not enough high end, poor construction, poor noise reduction, or in the case of lesser Sony's I bought several months ago, pretty good sound, but rather inadequate ear cups and poor portability (they wouldn't fold up to occupy as little as possible space in my briefcase.)Always worried about losing or damaging something while traveling I did not go for the full kahuna and buy Bose.
So, having seen these around some local shops and taken a listen I bought the NC40 and immediately took them on a trip.
By and large they are fine. When turned on (don't even try to listen to them when off) the sound is rich and clean; lovely base and good high end, which is important to my tired ole ears. Plenty of mid-range. Nice volume. I'm not sure they are world beaters in terms of overall noise reduction, but they certainly take the edge off and from my same old seat near the rear of a Southwest jet, they provide a relaxing and easy to take listening experience. One WANTS to use this extremely comfortable headset, whether noise reduction is needed or not. I hear things I didn't know my MP3 decoder put in a file. Oh, I listen mainly to jazz and classical music.
Oh yes, they fold up neatly and I like the on-off switch/battery holder, which lives by itself on the connecting line and has an override button that works beautifully.
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Don't know what I'd do without them
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| Review Date: January 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: pro-metheus, |
I've had these headphones for about 9 months. I wanted to wait to review them, because headphones sometimes fall apart and this is obviously relevant to their value. And while this set isn't on the high end price-wise, it isn't cheap either. But I can say that I have had no problems with them so far.
I've always had a love/hate relationship with headphones. Yes, I love them for the music, but there's always something about them that is uncomfortable or obnoxious. I listen to music while in transit, so I need a pair that is comfortable, but most headphones don't seem to be designed for comfort! Comfort means: doesn't hurt your ears to wear, and doesn't slip off. But this is usually a tradeoff; it's so difficult to find headphones that aren't a nuisance to wear in one respect or the other.
In fact, for a while I wore earbuds because they tend to hurt less than headphones for long periods of listening, and they don't slip off if you have them in securely. But the problem is I found that although they wouldn't slip, they'd get yanked off easily if my arm or another object brushed the cord. I also tried a pair of "in the ear" headphones and the problem was any movement of the cord transmitted up into my ear, which was very distracting.
I have none of these problems with Sony MDR-NC40. Actually they are very comfortable, so comfortable that at work I couldn't wait for a break to put them back on. The padding feels great, does not put painful pressure on the ears, but is snug enough that the set stays on if you lean forward or back. And while I won't say that they're the coolest option in the summer, they are very light so they are cooler than larger alternatives that can make you hot.
The sound is really great. I cannot compare to high end headphones, but I can certainly say that the sound is richer and clearer with these than with the Sony MDR-NC6 I wore before them. Another reviewer mentioned that one can hear singers more clearly, which is the first thing I noticed. Being outdoors, it's difficult to understand lyrics, but I can actually listen to audio podcasts now at a bus stop with cars rushing by - without cranking up the sound. This is in part due to the noise cancellation, which is excellent, and to the sound quality. I could make out not only words, but instruments that couldn't be distinguished with other headphones.
Others have mentioned that music does not sound good with the noise cancellation off. My only complaint is not so much about the lower base with it off, but the tunnel quality of the music. And with the cancellation on, wind is made very loud. Indoors this is obviously not a problem, but if you wear them outside as I do this means you sometimes have the tradeoff of music quality or wind noise. Maybe there's nothing they can do about this, and in any case I consider it a minor complaint.
I'll say this much about the noise cancellation, though. Even in the quiet of my apartment I love to retreat into the music with these. I can listen without even the minor distractions of the hum of the refrigerator or the low conversations just barely heard in other apartments. And while it won't let you completely tune out obnoxious people, I've worn them on the bus, the train and the plane and the cancellation eliminates much of the engine noise, making the ride a lot more pleasant. There may be better out there if money is not a limitation. But for the price, these headphones are a real gem. |
Quiet & Comfortable
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| Review Date: September 7, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Adrienne Boutwell, |
| I recently purchased these for a trip to Europe. I tested them out on a flight to California. I found them to be quiet and comfortable. I wear glasses, so some earphones grind the earpieces into my head. These did not. I am extremeley happy with my purchase. |
Great value!
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| Review Date: August 26, 2008 |
| Reviewer: R. Magelky, Fort Collins, CO USA |
| I have looked at other noise-blocking headsets and purchased these from Sony because of the great value. They are slimmer, sleeker, and just as effective as the much more expensive, bulkier ones. I have been using them almost daily and have been very happy with them. |
Surprising reviews, in short, a good headphone...
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| Review Date: June 6, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Akazgea, |
I am really surprised that this headphone gets average-to-bad reviews. Considering that I have both PXC-250 and PXC-300, I really enjoyed this one, and for now, more than those two.
It is one of the most comfortable headphones I have used, regarding the noise canceling ones. It fits on the ear quite well, and unlike the Sennheiser ones I don't need to correct its fit, after I move my head a bit. Sennheiser ones barely fit on the ear, but for the MDR-NC40 you don't really need to adjust its position to make it fit. That also means it is more sensually-hidden to my conscious.
It packs really well, and its bag is as protective as the sennheiser ones, so, as long as you are careful enough the lack of perfect protection shouldn't be a big deal. At least, while trying to minimize its size, there is almost no risk to break it, and you don't need to restart the process...
Regarding the sound quality, I think it is fairly good. I tried a few sub-genres of rock, mostly the following bands, T. Rex, Massive Attack, Pixies, Stone Roses, Floyd, Caravan. So for these bands, it performed quite well, so I am guessing any heavier types will lead to quite satisfactory performance too. I do hope it will do the same for the softer genres too (classical, new age, etc.). Since the general sound quality is good, I am guessing that to be the case.
Regarding the noise canceling performance, I think what it says as ~14db NR is a fairly accurate number. I bought this to use in a cubic farm, and it cancels most of the noises related to the machinery. It performed better than PXC 250, unexpectedly. Most likely the passive reduction is higher to compensate for the lower active noise reduction (ANR). For the speech related noises, I didn't have a chance to try this, but I don't expect too much. Because even the higher performing ones do fail in this area: they reduce the noise to a certain level, never completely get rid of it. So, this one will do similar. But, one good point of this headphone is the amount of hissing it introduces when the noise canceling is active. It is quite less than what I expected, where the expected refers to what the Sennheiser similar models produce.
It also has some nice features, like not boosting the sound when you turn on the noise canceling (it first lowers the audio, then increases to similar or same level). It also has a button to momentarily turn it off, in case you need a second break to hear something outside your noise reduced world.
In short, at ~$60 price, being an on-the-ear model, this is a really good headphone. And I do recommend it to anyone interested in buying a noise canceling headphone to use in a mid-to-low noise environment. |
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US $59.95
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