MDR-NC40 Noise Cancelling Headphone (Black)

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.

Out of the box, as a critical listener I give these headphones three stars, since the bass is very strong but the highest treble is weak. However, with frequency compensation, I give five stars for the excellent sound. This headphone can give audiophile quality sound, if the treble is turned up in playback. The bass response is flat, tight, and goes down beyond the lowest note on a bass guitar. I heard 32 Hz organ pedal notes with these headphones! The midrange is neutral and flat, but will not be appreciated unless the high frequencies are boosted. I achieved excellent sound by adjusting the frequency response of the music played into the phones. You can do this best with a free software program such as Audacity, but you could also use the equalizer on your player. Many of the Sansa mp3 players have them built in. I got the best results by reducing tones 50 Hz and lower by 3 dB, tapering up to flat at 100 Hz. The high end was smoothly boosted from flat at 2.5KHz to +4dB at 6.3KHz, continuing to +7dB at 12.5KHz, and +12dB at 22KHz. With this equalization the sound was splendid, and I could easily hear the subtle difference between my personal CDs ripped with Nero and those ripped with "Easy CD Ripper". The noise reduction of the headphones was as specified at 10 dB reduction of ambient noise. This was enough to reduce the noise of a cheap treadmill so that I could listen to music without blasting my ears. It also had the same effect on a noisy upright vacuum cleaner. The noise was reduced, not eliminated. On two airplane trips, sitting near the front of a 737, the noise was reduced enough so that I could listen to music if I turned it up slightly from my normal quiet-background level. In a rental 2011 SUV, the noise was reduced for better listening. My conclusion is that the noise reduction is sufficient, but not outstanding. Battery life is specified as 40 hours, and I believe it! I ran my 1.5V battery down to 1.1V, and the headphones still worked fine. These headphones fit snugly against the ears, but the pads are comfortable. These are on-the-ear, not over-the-ear headphones. I don't listen for more than an hour at a time, so I am not bothered by the snug fit. I would recommend these headphones both for casual listeners to use out of the box, and for more critical listeners to use with frequency compensation for excellent sound.

My trusty Sennheiser PXC 250 headphones died the other day and I replaced them with a pair of Sony MDR-NC40's based on a favorable Consumer Reports review. The trade-off was immediately clear after my first flight with them. The Sonys sound noticably better in terms of audio quality and richness of sound, but the Sennheisers did a better job reducing the noises associated with jet travel. I'm a very frequent flier and I'm very hard on my gear. The Sennheisers took a serious beating for about three years before they broke down; they owed me nothing when they died. The Sony's feel like they are of a similar build quality. The Sonys use a single battery vs. the dual battery in the Sennheisers. The Sony case is fatter than the Sennheiser case and doesn't fit as well in the seatback pocket on most aircraft. The Sennheiser case and general folding design is better and more convenient, but the Sony is fine. In general, I suspect that I'll get accustomed to the better sound quality of the Sony headphones and be even more disappointed if I compare them with the Sennheiser audio quality in a month or two. The price is about the same, the build quality seems comparable. One oddity with the Sonys: the single stereo plug doesn't make good contact with the audio jack on a Blackberry 8330 resulting in mono audio when listening to music, but if you use the clever single/double airline adapter, it sounds fine. When used with the headphone jack on a Macbook Pro, it was fine. The Sennheisers never had any of these quirks. But it isn't a significant issue as the adapter is stored in the case with the headphones so you'll rarely be caught without the adapter being handy. My ears get sore from earbuds, both of these headphones are comfortable although my ears are happy to get them off after about 6 hours. I have used the Sennheisers in a noisy hotel room before and was able to sleep with them on, the Sony's have a similar fit so comfort isn't an issue. If you're looking for lightweight, compact active cancellation headphones for a price that won't make you cry if you lose them in your travels, either pair will do the job. The price points are low enough that if you try one and you're disappointed with either the audio quality or the noise cancellation, just buy the other one. They are good examples of different strengths in very similar products.

This is not a durable product. I have had these for less than a year. One of the ear pieces fell off. I use them on flights pretty much every week, but am about as gentle as possible with them. For the price they do a decent job of noise reduction and sound quality is fine. Comfort is good. It is still under warranty, but it costs $24 to replace $60 set. And this would be a refurbished replacement. Hardly worth repairing

I've had a pair of Shure E2C in-ear headphones since about 2004. The cords were starting to fray, so I wanted to replace them with another noise canceling option that would be more comfortable, not to mention cleaner and less wasteful, than jamming disposable foam pieces into my ear canals every day. I also don't want to spend $300 for Bose headphones. So I decided to trust the Sony brand name and pony up the cost of these headphones instead. I've got other Sony products that I really like. On the upside, typical of Sony products, these headphones are very sleek and well-designed. A nice leatherette case is included, which holds the phones and an adapter, as well as a space for an extra battery. The battery holder does not detach from the body of the control piece, another nice touch for people who are prone to losing that sort of thing. The headphones fold up very small, and are very light. The earpieces themselves are very soft and quite comfortable, kind of feeling like "memory foam." The sound quality when turned on is pretty good - a little mushy and overly bassy, but vocals and instruments can easily be made out, and there is very little hiss. Now for the bad news: they don't "cancel" a heck of a lot of noise. At all. Not even a little bit. I tried these headphones on a Chicago city bus, a Chicago CTA "el" train, and outdoors in moderately windy conditions. These headphones canceled absolutely no talking noises, very little ambient droning, and very little of the loud sorts of noises you'll hear on a subway train. When I walked from my bus to my home, the wind overwhelmed the sound easily. I was, needless to say, extremely disappointed, especially having tried out the Bose product, and having used the Shure product for several years. I think the Sony's problems are three: 1. The earpieces do not surround the ear, thus passively blocking outside noise. They are simply too small. 2. The active noise canceling hardware is designed only to cancel out low frequency hums, not higher frequency loud noises (which basically account for 95% of the noise you'll encounter in the world). 3. In the off position, not only do they neither isolate nor cancel ambient noise, they also sound terrible - power is required to amplify the sound and give it a relatively rich tone. Turned off, these headphones just don't sound very good. In the end, they just ended up being a decent-sounding regular pair of headphones which use up batteries in order to get good sound. Pretty lame, if you ask me. I knew there would be a difference, since in-ear headphones passively block a lot more noise. But I did not expect this much of a dropoff in noise reduction, especially for the price. I guess I'll have to stick with the Shure "earplug" phones, and tape up the cords with electrical tape. At least until I win the lotto and can afford the Bose headphones. Sigh...

My wife and I travelled to the UK just a couple of weeks ago, and we decided to look around for a cheaper alternative to Bose headphones - we cannot justify the cost because we travel so infrequently. I looked around and found the Sony MDR-NC40 headphones at a very reasonable price on Amazon, and bought 2 - one for myself and one for my wife. On the long flight over the Atlantic I had the headphones on all the way and found them comfortable to wear - not too tight, and comfortable around the ears (didn't make my ears sweat either!). As soon as you turn them on you can hear a noticeable reduction in the outside noise - it does not go away completely (these aren't Bose headphones) but it is a significant improvement. I plugged them into my MP3 player and as soon as the music began playing the outside noise was almost imperceptible. There is still some very slight noise from the engines, but for the price paid I was very satisified. There is a 'mute' button so that you can talk with someone without taking off the headphones, and on the flight out I kept pressing this to see how much noise there would be without using the headphones. Oh yeh, the headphones were definitely doing their job. They will certainly be with me in the future every time I fly or want peace and quiet in a noisy and busy place. They also come with an adapter, so you can plug them into those weird outlets used on planes, and the battery life is longer than the flight to Europe and back (15 hours). They fold up quite small, too, and come in a handy case, with a slot for a spare battery. Well done, Sony!

They sound pretty good, but I took 2 stars off for these reasons: - Sound quality without battery. They sound good with an AAA battery, but they sound really bad without a battery. It's like the bass goes away without battery. - The in line battery compartment. I understand Sony tried to make the headphone more compact, but the in line compartment makes the wire clunky. At least they make a clip so that you can clip it on your clothes. - The headphones are very uncomfortable for a long period of time. I fly from Ohio to Vietnam twice a year, and the net flying time is about 22 hours (one-way). These headphones make the flights much more pleasant, but I can't keep them on for more than 2 hours without taking a break. The excessive clamp-down force will really hurt your ears after a while. Overall: these headphones are pretty good for the price: good built quality, good sound (with battery). The downsides are the in line battery compartment and the excessive force they exert on your ears.

This product is great when the active noise canceling is active. I use this with a SANSA Clip MP3 player/Dell 1505 PC and the sound is simply amazing for the money. I have stood next to the air vent while cooking and I was not able to hear it. It works great with low level continuous noise. If you are looking for a set of headphones to eliminate voices, you should look for something else. It does diminish the sound but it does not cancel it out, even with casual conversation that is happening 10 feet away from where you are listening. The headphones are very tight and cover most of the ear. The top of the headphones can cause a little irritation to the cranium crest. The earphones fold neatly and the construction seems to be top grade for the price. If you are expecting complete isolation or bullet proof construction, then go with much higher quality headphones. Overall sound quality is excellent with great lows and highs. MP3's sound very rich at 128kbs or higher levels. Response levels down to 14Hz provide base response without distortion and the 21KHz upper end provides excellent highs. The bypass switch cuts off the input to the headphones for easy conversation. The cord 1/8" plug is a little small and is hard to remove from the device. The small soft silicone sides tempt you to pull at the cord rather than the plug cover. It has not caused any difficulty as of yet, but could become an issue if you are not used to it. Without the active listening engaged sounds very hollow and does not reduce much of the ambient sound. They still work but they are not enjoyable. The battery compartment is a little difficult to get into on the first try. Once you learn how to open it this does not become an issue. Overall, this is a great product that should provide at least 500 hours of intermittent service without trouble (last about 2 years @ 5 hours/week).