Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MDRNC22 In Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones With Monitor Switch To Hear Surround Sound

Well... I can see from the other reviews that lots of people like these earphones but I've just given up on mine. I got them for every day use not just for a flight. The sound is good and noise cancelling good but - I found the cable was way too long and constantly getting tangled up in my bag and pocket; the ear buds have two components, the sized bud that goes into your ear, and then a ring thing round the outer part of the bud. Both of these bits kept coming off or sliding out of place which was driving me batty. Finally, the monitor bit developed an intermittent fault after 6 months, so I've given up on them.....

I found it is not very effective for noise cancellation in normal situations where people are talking, etc... May be it is better suited to monotonous noise like machines, engines etc... So i guess it would be better for a trip by a plane, or road noise in a car.

I bought these primarily for travel whilst on the train and Tube and they don't disappoint.

For anyone wondering about the "hiss" that's mentioned in other reviews - it's not half as bad as it's made out by others. In fact, unless you're listening to all but the quietest acoustic music/spoken word in a totally silent room, you don't notice it at all.

Don't expect the noise reduction to cut out all external noise. It works best with the monotone drone of a train/other vehicle engine or road traffic noise if walking down a busy street.

However, it does very little for high frequency sounds like people rustling newspapers or the squeaks/creaks of a train carriage/bus. Conversations of other people are another thing that is not totally dealt with, but is dulled slightly.

In short, I wouldn't be without them now when travelling. It's made my daily 2-hour commute much more pleasant.

One thing to note is that the sensation of the noise-cancelling when using these semi in-ear phones is something that some might have to take getting used to. Since the tips do go pretty far into your ears the initial sensation is not dissimilar to your ears popping mildly as the noise cancellation circuit kicks in, but you quickly get used to it.

The sound in general is well rounded, with a very good amount of bass yet not too harsh treble. My personal fave budget earphones up until now were the JVC HA-FX66 Air Cushions. Now, these Sony 'phones (with the supplied Sony tips) are not quite as bass heavy, but neither are they as treble-harsh as the JVCs - they are also MUCH more solidly made and have a better overall feeling of quality.

My only gripe really is that the earpiece tips are VERY thin, and as such even with the correctly-sized ones for my ears I find that they eventually work their way slightly loose after even moderately prolonged use (>1 hour) as they warm up inside your ear and become slippery. This leads to external sound leaking in more, and a pronounced loss of bass. It's important to get a very tight seal with any of these semi in-ear 'phones since otherwise you'll lose almost all deep bass response (the tips should ideally audibly "pop" out when you take them out of your ear).

I've replaced the tips with those from my JVCs which are made from slightly thicker, stiffer rubber, and it has improved the sound no end. Now, the sound is deeper, more rounded yet not as harsh or trebly as the JVCs.

Overall, I'd highly recommend them, but try and get yourself some other earpiece tips from maybe another brand of 'phone since these ones are really too thin to stay in your ear for a prolonged amount of time. If it wasn't for this I'd give them 5 stars for the sound quality and noise cancellation considering the relatively modest price. It might just be my ears that are odd!

Sony MDRNC22 deliver. The noise cancelling function is excellent. I wear them at my gym all the time, as they like to blast club music, and these little wonders do the job. I can listen to my own music and forget all about the exterior noise. But these wonder of technology doesn't come at no cost.

Now the drawbacks:
1. The connections to the white box in the middle of the wire are quite delicate. I have already lost a couple of these wonders to losing the connection to one or both ears, presumably because of fatigue on the connection due to repeated tensile stress (aee below wire length).

2. The wires are all around badly designed,
a. The wire that goes from the box with the clip to the earphones themselves is too short, so if secure the clip to your belt and stretch the wrong way, you end up janking it from time to time.
b. The wire that goes from the box to the device is far too long. Who needs a whole meter between the device and the noise cancelling unit?
c. The length of the wires to both ears are different. It would be a much cleaner solution to have them both be the same length, as to avoid a silly-looking loopy wire necklace hanging under the user's chin.
d. The overall bad design of the wires makes unfolding these babies a challenging PUZZLE. If it happens to you, just take a deep breath, but whatever you do, don't pull hard! remember what I told about the fragility of the connections!!!!

Overall, I do recommend this product, as long as you are aware of the setbacks, and the potential need to replace them ridiculously often. By the way, the often-mentioned issue with the hiss and the size of the earcups have been no problem for me at all.

Although I didn't buy these from Amazon, I always find reviews helpful so I thought I should leave one.

I was flying in the summer quite regularly, and had grown tired of the drone and hiss in the cabin. So I looked for noise cancelling headphones and seen these. I read a couple of reviews and most were good. I bought a pair and tested them on a flight to Bournemouth within a week.

I waited until we were allowed to use elecronic devices then plugged them into my mp3 player. I left the noise cancellation off at first, to see how their basic sound quality was. As they're a deep inner ear fit they blocked out a lot of noise anyway, allowing me to hear my music clearly and with impressive bass. Then I turned on the noise cancellation, and with a hiss and a phaser-style rise it was on. And it worked brilliantly. The incessant drone was gone, music became slightly louder and puncher (great for films especially), and I was in a calm place, sitting in my seat smiling to myself, probaly looking a bit special to people nearby. You become used to the quiet very quickly, I had to keep turning the noise cancellation off to make sure that it was noisy in the first place.

Overall then, great product with no problems. As for value for money, I got mine for £30, a total bargin. I'd pay up to £50, maybe £60 if I had the money. So when I saw these very headphones in an airport for £90, I smiled to myself and once again looked a bit special to the people nearby.