Sony Mdrnc200d Digital Noise-Canceling Headphones (Discontinued By Manufacturer)

Sony MDRNC200D Digital Noise-Canceling Headphones (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

• Precise noise canceling using digital technology
• Three distinct noise-canceling modes for airplanes, trains, and the office
• Up to 98.2% ambient noise reduction (at 160Hz)

Buy Now : Sony MDRNC200D Digital Noise-Canceling Headphones (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Brand : Sony
Category : Electronics,Headphones, Earbuds & Accessories,Headphones & Earbuds,Over-Ear Headphones
Rating : 3.9
Price : US $179.95
Review Count : 187
SalesRank : 0

Sony MDRNC200D Digital Noise-Canceling Headphones (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

• I was in the market for a high end noise canceling headphones as my old Sony NC Headphones died out. As with all of my other electronics purchases, I perform a thorough research before making a final decision. Although the old Sony ones cost me $50 back when new, they performed exceptionally well. I bought a pair of the Ultimate Ears Triple Fi 10 Earphones back when Amazon had it on sale for $99. The UE are the BEST pair of earphones I\'ve ever owned and were the top choice for flights. Although they were not active noise canceling, they sealed out most of the ambient noise including dramatically reducing Air Cabin noise. My UE Triple Fi were taken on a long airplane trip by my wife to visit my in-laws, but on the way back, she left them there. T.T :(Back to the search and it came down to either the Bose Quiet Comfort or these Sony ones. The Bose obviously are well known and received raving reviews. However, the deciding factor was the difference of price. The $100 difference made a huge difference. Given the fact that I was very happy with the previous Sony pair that died and so I decided to take the plunge. After receiving the package from Amazon, I used the included battery and test out the headphones. They seemed at first glance to be solidly built and felt very comfortable. Music was much better with the noise canceling on as the other reviewers stated. With the NC off, music sounded bland, like it was missing the ooomph.Now for the test. I was on a long International flight and it gave me a real chance to test these babies out. For 14 hours, I had these things on and they drowned out most of the noise, but some noise was still audible. Taking a pad off one ear and putting it back on, you can really tell that the NC mechanics really do a great job. My ears not being exposed to so much noise made it easier for me to catch some z\'s. However, where the problem occurred was the comfort. I wear glasses and the pressure the pads caused on my ears were unbearable after about a few hours. I had to take them off every 20 minutes to massage my ears. After taking off my glasses and falling asleep, the pressure from the pads were better relieved. I still took them off almost every hour to massage my ears.After thinking about it, it must have been the temples of my glasses pressing on to the back of my ears and on my skull from the weight of the pads. I tested the headphones with my glasses off days after my trip and I still felt pain in my ears being pressed on to my skull for too long.PROS:+ Great noise canceling performance (so necessary on flights)+ Active noise canceling monitoring system (changes noise canceling frequency depending on situation)+ Monitor Button (to cut the noise canceling function and music to hear stewardesses and activity going on)+ Amazing music reproduction+ Works without noise canceling on (YES!)+ Comes with nice carrying case and airplane adapter+ Foldable for easy storageCONS:- Uncomfortable after long use (read review above)- Music loses oomph factor without noise canceling on- Battery Life on the short sideAlthough $200 is a lot for headphones, the main purpose of these headphones are to cancel out ambient noise and for that I give it 5 stars for doing it well. Took off a star for the discomfort. Before making your decision, try to see if over ear instead of on-ear headphone (like these) will be better for you.UPDATE 8/17/2012After 5 months of moderate use, the cable has become unusable as there were tears on one of the ends. Luckily, Sony was able to replace the cable without much hassle. I will have to send the old cable back and wait for the replacement. Right now, I am using a Mediabridge 3.5mm to 3.5mm male to male headphone cable, which seems to do the job as a temporary replacement. The ends are too fat to fit in to the phone jack on the left ear and so it will fit perfectly. If your cable get slit or damaged from use, make sure to call Sony 1800-222-7669 for a replacement within the 1 year parts warranty. I also noticed that the headphones were eligible for a exchange for a flat fee of $25. That gives me re-assurance that Sony is willing to stand behind their products. The headphones are well built and keeps on going, but it\'s the cable that\'s not.UPDATE 9/14/2012Sony sent me the wrong item. Instead of sending me the replacement cable, they sent me the Airline dual jack adapter. Now, I have 2 of them. I will be sending it back on Monday to get this thing straightened out. I DID tell them it is the cable many many times. It may be a simple mistake, but it surely is annoying. However, I still use the Mediabridge Cable instead and it has absolutely been nothing, but great. The headphones are still going strong without any issues except the cable.UPDATE 11/30/2012Still no cable. Sony hasn\'t sent me a replacement cable as of yet, but they keep sending me reminders of surveys about the warranty claim. Mediabridge cable is still holding up well. In fact, it makes the headphones look MUCH better and is much more durable.
• I recently purchased a pair to replace my old Sony noise cancelling phones (MDR NC6, an inexpensive but surprisingly well-performing set. The replacement in Sony\'s line for the NC 6, the NC 7, was purchased and returned due to very poor sound quality. Frankly, they don\'t hold a candle to their predecessor).Having just completed my first transcontinental round trip with the new phones, here\'s the pluses and minuses:SOUND QUALITY: Very good. Nice frequency response, all across the audio spectrum.NOISE REDUCTION: Good, with a caveat. If you don\'t have these precisely adjusted (i.e., positioning of each earpiece) and seated properly on your ears, sound reduction is almost minimal. Proper adjustment isn\'t hard to do but you do need to find the sweet spot. Sony claims \"intelligent\" noise reduction based on environment, with three different options. Having fiddled with this feature in several different environments (Airplanes: turboprops, rear-engine jet seated at rear; rear-engine jet seated forward; on-wing jet seated mid-cabin, airport environment) this seems to be more of a marketing gimmick than an actual feature.ERGONOMICS: Only fair. It\'s very easy to accidentally put the phones into mute mode if you grab the left ear piece to remove the phones (like when a flight attendant wants to speak with you).COMFORT: Fair. They\'re fine for an hour or two but after that you\'ll want to take them off for a while. I do, anyway. This is noticed both with ear pressure and the headband.QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION: So far, I\'m pleased. These seem to be pretty sturdy and feel solid (particularly the earpiece lengthening adjustments).PORTABILITY: Very good. They fold into a compact shape, which then fits into a compact and sturdy carrying case. The case does have a pocket capable of holding an iPod and it will zip shut with iPod in place. It would have been nice if the pocket had some mechanism (such as a velcro strap or other closing mechanism) to keep the player from slipping out. It doesn\'t.VALUE FOR MONEY: I\'d call it good. Solid construction and $100 less than a Bose, with very good audio quality and nearly-as-good noise reduction.
• Prior to these headphones I had a pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones that surrounded my ears, even though I loved them, they eventually stopped working after 6 years. I decided to replace them with these because of the price for a new pair of Bose. My first reaction upon taking them out of the box was that they felt fragile compared to the Bose. However, they take up much less space then the Bose, which make traveling with them much easier.I took them out, put them on and they fit very well and comfortable. Daily, I use the headphones that came with my phone on the way to work, but I need a pair of noise cancelling for travels (planes, trains and buses), which isn\'t that often, but I can\'t imagine a plane ride or train ride without them.I\'m a young guy and a lot of my music is \'club\' music, which obviously has deep bass. The first song I listened to in that genre sounded AMAZING. Great sound, deep bass, and the vocals sounded crystal clear. That was with the power and noise cancelling on. A lot of reviews said that when you turn all that off, the sound suffers. That was simply not the case. When I turned the power and noise cancelling off, you could notice a slight change in the richness, but the sound was still really great.The other thing people had mentioned as a negative in their reviews was the sound gets distorted at high volume. Again, that was not the case with my headphones. I don\'t listen to my music that loud, but I did turn up the volume as high as it would go and there wasn\'t any distortions that I could hear.If you\'re looking for a great pair of noise cancelling headphones, with great sound, that are light and compact and easy to travel with for a decent price then these headphones are for you.

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