Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony MDRNC22 In Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones With Monitor Switch To Hear Surround Sound
Sony MDRNC22 In Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones With Monitor Switch To Hear Surround Sound
See it at Amazon.co.uk for £44.39Average Customer Rating
(3.5 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
'Noise cancelation' seriously underwhelming
(1 out of 5) by J. Cheverton on Dec 29, 2008 (Rutland, UK)This is a nice-looking, decent-sounding, well-designed pair of earphones with just one major flaw: the 'noise cancelation' really does no such thing!
Obviously, playing music through any phones can mask irritating background noise and any in-ear phones will physically block noise to some extent - but I have a much cheaper pair that are better at such 'passive' attenuation.
With Sony's name behind these earphones, and claims of '75% reduction' in outside noise by Active Noise Reduction, I expected a very distinct effect when switching on the ANR, instead I just heard a faint hiss from the circuitry. I know from being a pilot that the effectiveness of ANR does depend very much on the nature of the background noise - so I tried them in three situations: snoring, motor noise, and background music with prominent bass (which should be easier to cancel due to the lower frequencies). NONE of these noises was reduced by a useful amount, and if it hadn't been for the tell-tale hiss, I would have struggled to tell whether the circuits were active at all.
I have (briefly!) tried some Bose 'X' headsets designed for pilots with deep pockets: they really do work very well, at a price - so ANR can work. However, I suspect that the quality of electronics needed to produce just the right amount of out-of-phase signal is way beyond what one can expect for under fifty quid.
Sadly, these little Sony earphones are on their way back to Amazon!
Obviously, playing music through any phones can mask irritating background noise and any in-ear phones will physically block noise to some extent - but I have a much cheaper pair that are better at such 'passive' attenuation.
With Sony's name behind these earphones, and claims of '75% reduction' in outside noise by Active Noise Reduction, I expected a very distinct effect when switching on the ANR, instead I just heard a faint hiss from the circuitry. I know from being a pilot that the effectiveness of ANR does depend very much on the nature of the background noise - so I tried them in three situations: snoring, motor noise, and background music with prominent bass (which should be easier to cancel due to the lower frequencies). NONE of these noises was reduced by a useful amount, and if it hadn't been for the tell-tale hiss, I would have struggled to tell whether the circuits were active at all.
I have (briefly!) tried some Bose 'X' headsets designed for pilots with deep pockets: they really do work very well, at a price - so ANR can work. However, I suspect that the quality of electronics needed to produce just the right amount of out-of-phase signal is way beyond what one can expect for under fifty quid.
Sadly, these little Sony earphones are on their way back to Amazon!
4 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
Worst product ever bought
(1 out of 5) by R. Mencia on Apr 24, 2008Noise canceling only works if you have have the the rubber ear-buds so tight that hurts.
The rubber ear-buds come off so easily that you are all the time looking for them on the floor, in your bag... Any friction any they are off. Replacement of ear-buds are a rip-off for only a piece of plastic.
They don't work as normal headsets if battery for the noise canceling element is finish.
After few days the clip to hold the noise canceling element broke. Ear-buds disintegrated after a while because carried them in my bag.
At the end, used for one month and forgot about them. Too much hassle.
No, what you can expect from Sony. Completely waste of money.
The rubber ear-buds come off so easily that you are all the time looking for them on the floor, in your bag... Any friction any they are off. Replacement of ear-buds are a rip-off for only a piece of plastic.
They don't work as normal headsets if battery for the noise canceling element is finish.
After few days the clip to hold the noise canceling element broke. Ear-buds disintegrated after a while because carried them in my bag.
At the end, used for one month and forgot about them. Too much hassle.
No, what you can expect from Sony. Completely waste of money.
4 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
noise cancelling headphones LOL
(1 out of 5) by Mr. BS Forbes on May 31, 2009 (Scotland)On my home planet, Earth, the humanoids have their ears on the side of their headsa fector that the manufacturer didn't seem to allow for, nevertheless, These very strange pieces of equipment are overpriced and over here/hear.
Having assembled them and tried unsuccessfully to sit them in the orifices, supplied at birth on either side of my head I quickly realized that I would be better if with a 1940's pair of Bakelite GPO cans.
I wish the manufacturers would not experiment with my dosh..
Having assembled them and tried unsuccessfully to sit them in the orifices, supplied at birth on either side of my head I quickly realized that I would be better if with a 1940's pair of Bakelite GPO cans.
I wish the manufacturers would not experiment with my dosh..
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Absolute Tripe
(1 out of 5) by OrsonX on Apr 6, 2009 (UK)Finally decided to splash the cash to try & cancel out the sound of the Unwashed Masses & Mr. Important "Hello, I'm on the TRAIN!" Business man. I commute every day and bought these Sony MDR-NC22s in order to try and preserve my sanity, it was either these or a shotgun. Well, I am sorely disappointed. The headphones claim "up to 75% noise reduction", having tested them thoroughly on the train/bus I can testify that they offer 0% noise reduction! You can't tell the difference between switched on and off!! That is apart from the added hissing when they are switched on! Your music sound like it's coming from a tape not an Mp3. Absolute tosh! Come the w/e I will be attempting to get my cash back on the basis that they don't do what they say on the tin.
Fairly good
(3 out of 5) by K. Helsdon on Nov 12, 2009 (UK)First time using NR headphones.
Slightly disappointed with these headphones but I'm using them quite a bit on the tube & train. There is a fair amount of hiss on the headphones & why the volume changes when you turn them on I dont know. They do reduce some but not all of course of the background noise while on the train. So overall it's better with them on but don't expect miracles!
They should have put a volume control on the clip, another thing is I keep forgetting to turn off the power, why not just have them turn off after 10mins if there's no sound being processed, stupid flaw.
Slightly disappointed with these headphones but I'm using them quite a bit on the tube & train. There is a fair amount of hiss on the headphones & why the volume changes when you turn them on I dont know. They do reduce some but not all of course of the background noise while on the train. So overall it's better with them on but don't expect miracles!
They should have put a volume control on the clip, another thing is I keep forgetting to turn off the power, why not just have them turn off after 10mins if there's no sound being processed, stupid flaw.