Sony MDR-NC6 Noise-cancelling Headphones

When I think of noise-cancelling headphones, my mind always conjures up the wonder Bose headphones that they demo in their stores that miraculously make all loud sounds disappear. They are great however rather expensive, not that they're not worth it.However on a price comparison, I think these do a sterling job at a fraction of the cost (less than £50 compared with circa £300).First of all, noise cancelling means you shouldn't expect absolute silence. Technology hasn't advanced that far yet and when it has, we'll probably also master teleportation so you won;t need these for long flights anyway. What they can do is "listen" to external sounds then play the opposite which means it cancels out and you get a quieter atmosphere (I'm sure the science boffins would correct me but that's close enough). So on a flight, it reduces the constant drone / hum of the engines and overhead aircon and means you don;t have to have the volume up so high to listen to your iPod. They also come with an adaptor so you can into the 2 prong airline sockets. Some flights still charge for plastic headphones but now I can listen for free, lower volume and enjoy whatever's on.The alternative is to get some in ear headphones like  Sennheiser CX 380 Sport II - High Performance Noise Isolating Ear-canal Phones with Sports Optimised Design  which physically create a seal when pushed into your ear so still reduce the outside noise. I use these for running / carrying in my pocket when out and about. I sue the Sony noise cancelling ones for flights / travelling.So after 12 - 18 months, various trips to the US and Europe they are still going strong. Batteries seem to last a long time and use on 9 hour flights plus holiday time over 2 weeks, I don;t change the battery. They have developed a tiny crack where the headphone meets the head band but that could just be because I've not been that careful with them but nothing has broken yet, no broken cables etc.Comfort wise I've not had any issues and I do have big flappy ears. Some reviews said they were painful but they're fine for me.I would do my research again if I was buying another pair but would be quite happy not going for the Bose and sticking with Sony.

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!

These are excellent value for money, and offer great sound. The headphones take a few seconds to "kick in", and after that most background noise disappears. Its a strange sensation the first time you flick the switch, as though your ears have popped.Sitting next to a computer, you no longer hear the fan noise, however you can still hear people talking - which is to be expected.Your ears get very warm due to the large pads, however there is virtually no noise leakage even on high volume. They offer very good sound, with good bassey tones, and crisp vocals.They are fairly lightweight, even with the AAA battery.Even though they are sold as Noise Cancelling, the writing on the headphones is mis-spelt as Noise Canceling.Overall, a great value product.

These are pretty effective at low frequency noise, but unless the whole environment is quite noisy then they do have a noticeable background hiss when the noise cancelling is switched on, which I find annoying. On the other hand they are quite light and comfortable, so make reasonable everyday headphones with the noise cancelling off.

the headphones give a quality sound and are no rip offlove them and they have worked for a very long time xx

Had this a while before I rated the product - I think its rubbish, and broke some while ago. The noise cancelling was not that great either.

Good name, not the best cancelling as they fit too much on the outer ear, not very forgiving on adjustment, hard band. All in all, there are better on the market and getting cheaper all the time

Works well, good price, and strongly made. Note that the speakers are 'on ear' rather than 'around ear' so they do not have an 'ear defender' capability, if that's what you need.