Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MDR-NC6 Noise-cancelling Headphones

These were the first noise cancelling headphones I've used. For the price I feel they do a decent job of reducing the background noise on planes, and generally I can't believe that much more expensive models could do a vastly superior job. Why spend £200 more? Can't see the point myself. Give these a go and see for yourself.

Traffic noise is a major problem when using ones mp3 player out and about. I decided to invest in some noise cancelling headphones. As passive headphones these are great, sound is awesome BUT turn on the noise cancellation and, yes background noise is reduced slightly, but the slightest breeze goes past and all you can hear is CSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH CSHHHHHHHHHHH CSHHHHHHHHHH louder than any noise or music. Essentially, this makes them unfit for purpose

These are my first noise reduction headphones and generally speaking I am very pleased with them for the money (£32.49 +P&P). I've had these for about two months and find that they give very good sound quality and I'm pleased with noise reduction. The AAA battery lasts a nice long time and I like the fact that the headphones still work when the noise reduction facility is switched off. There is also virtually no noise leakage which I'm sure my other commuters appreciate.

On the other side of the coin, the headphones feel fragile and so I treat them 'tenderly'. Additionally I find after a while (about an hour) that my ears get very warm and slightly sweaty from the pads. Initially as well I found them a tight fit though this seems to has eased off over time.

Wind noise is greatly amplified when noise reduction is switched on, but by switching this off it is a problem easily resolved. This isn't a problem at all on the train, underground, etc. just outside.

Overall I'm pleased with my purchase but if I had to wish for something it would be for a better build quality.

I bought these to replace a pair of Creative HN-700 sound cancelling earphones which died on me after 3 years. As the Creative pair had also cost around £35, I expected something similar from this Sony Pair and was not disappointed.
They are comfortable and have a fair sound quality. The sound cancelling is not amazing but is enough to enable me to hear the soundtrack to movies etc. which I like to watch on my iPod on the way home on the tube (Northern Line - pretty noisy!).
They're good value for the money, if you're after real sound cancelling you'll need to spend upwards of £250, so I opted for these as something which was "good-enough".
One strange thing is that from time to time it feels as if the sound cancelling "white noise" causes a "wave" feeling on my ears - a bit as if I am getting hit gently with a wave of sound. It's not overly-unpleasant, just a bit weird!

They cancel out a very respectable amount of noise, and the little circles on the outside of each earpad (vissible in the picture)are actually the microphones that listen to work out how much noise canclling stuff to produce. No if you run your finger over it at different speeds, it sounds like your scratching a record. Brill fun and really good.