Sony MDR-NC6 Noise Canceling Headphones (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

After seeing BOSE's Noise Cancelling headset, and reading the tech specs, I was a bit Leary of the quality of these , but they are more than worth it.If you are familiar with the concept of White Noise, then you should understand what this headset does; the difference is that this headset detects sound values, and conteracts with varying degrees of the white noise. Whilst a white noise machine in the background is often set at a constant value, these headsets have microphones on the outer part of the left and right head-sets to detect external noise values , as well as a circuit operating the internal noise reduction.The noise reduction will vary according to the external sound value, and works very well, not great, but extremely good for the price.This noise cancelling device will go for 30 hours on standard high value triple a batteries ( one for the headset) but will work longer with Lithium E2 Batteries.If this helps: these headphones are Noise cancelling, and so whilst they do a great job of reducing standard noise, if the range is above 85-95 db, you will have a diminishing return. Since these headphones can work with no music input at all, if you use stereo ear-buds that go down the ear canal a way ( I have a set of these, but I can't remember the model and make... I checked, they are KOSS, a model called THE PLUG, and buy a small packet with different adapters, believe me, you will need it, but do not buy the adaptors from RADIO SHACK, you will regret it, unless you have no other choice, try COMPUSA if you are in the US, or JB-HIFI if you are in East Coast Australia) and place the Noise Cancelling headphones over the buds, then you will have a better blocker, however, the earbuds that extend down the ear canal should be used carefully, since too high a volume is harmful, but the better response in bass, and full range sounds, are good. Its best to check the NC6 specs for the actual full coverage. If you need something more heavy duty, then go for BOSE, but these are good for the price they have. You will still hear outside sounds of higher db values, but the noise reduction cancels within a certain range. If you have a crowd around you, with constant chatter, you may need something better. However, these items so far have been superb, simply because the actives work well within a certain range ... check the specs, and check the environment you will be using these headphones in, and if you can, check the db value.Also, thanks to Amazon for making good on USPS's mess up: USPS claimed to deliver to me on May 29th ( A Holiday), at 2:40 am... an outright lie. I have had so many problems with USPS deliveries from Amazon to me, that if you can, always go for UPS. I have had 2 problems with UPS, both Made good by UPS, with apologies, as opposed to a huge range of USPS deliveries that exteneded to a fragile package, which the sender paid much extra for, being shattered by USPS.

I haven't tried any other noise-canceling headphones, so I don't have a good point of reference in this review, but you can take it for what it's worth.Good points: - Noise canceling eliminates a lot of low-frequency airplane and computer fan noise - Comfortable when worn backwards (but stereo sounds are reversed) - Airplane adapter, although most planes now have standard headphone jacks. - Nice carrying case - Headphones fold flat for storageBad points: - Noise canceling doesn't eliminate much besides steady, low-frequency background noise - Cause severe ear pain from thin padding and hard plastic underneath when worn properly until your ears get broken in after a few weeks - Too loud! With my laptop, I basically have two volume settings with these: muted and too loud (corresponds to the lowest non-muted volume on my laptop sound card) However, they work fine with my Audigy 2 sound card, because it has more adjustments and can produce lower volumes. I have the same problem on airplanes; the lowest non-muted volume is far too loud to be healthy through these. Other headphones are much quieter when plugged into the same jack. These headphones definitely need a volume control. - I wish they would automatically turn off after some time to prevent you from running the battery down accidentally. - Cord is too short to reach my computer. My Logitech headphones have more than enough cable length.

I don't own these anymore. I either tossed them or donated them. I really loved the "on the ear" style. It's smaller than the over the ear ones and doesn't hurt your hears by cramming them in your ear canal. As I remember, the noise cancelling was not that great. They are open, so sound leaks and people can hear what you are listening to. Not too great in public, but fine in a confined space.The sound was fine. I do remember the foam on the pads were easy to rip or tear. The price was right though. I remember watching a WNBA game on TV and one girl had these exact same ones, which made sense, since they don't get NBA money. Lol.

This headphone meets the need for noise reduction at a modest cost. I bought a cheaper brand earlier but it broke after 2 uses. The Sony is very well built, works well as a plain headphone or as a noise cancelling one. You can switch the noise cancelling feature on or off. The noise cancelling circuitry is built into the earpiece, thus there is no separate piece with a microphone to pick up the noise. There are other brands of headphones that have slightly better specs, but cost 10 times more. I have used it at work, and tested it under a noisy bathroom fan, you can really tell the difference when the noise cancelling feature is on or off. I have used regular headphones to drown out noise at work, these noise cancelling ones allow you to reduce the noise and listen to audio at a lower volume, thus reducing the potential damage to your hearing. These headphones are lighter and smaller than the full size headphones, but sound as good (compared to Sony MDR-XD200). I have not had a chance to try them on a flight, so keep this mind. The only drawback I see is that you cannot disconnect the cable from the earpiece, which would be handy to do if you only want to use it for noise reduction, and not connect it so a music player. Even with that, I still give it a 5-star rating, great value!