The Bottom Line: These headphones are a great choice for frequent fliers who desire a quieter atmosphere. They also work well as conventional headphones and provide good bass and decent overall sound quality.
cnymike's Full Review: Sony MDR-NC11 Consumer Headphones
The Sony MDR-NC11A is a compact, ear-bud type, noise canceling headphone system.
Package Contents
The MDR-NC11A is packaged in a blister-pack and contains the following items...
- MDR-NC11A Headphone unit
- 3 sets of differently sized ear buds, S, M and L
- 1-AAA Battery
- 1-Adapter plug for use on airplanes if needed
- 1-plastic ear bud retainer clip
- Operating Instructions
- Soft carrying case with drawstring
Specifications
Driver units - 9mm diameter
Power Handling capacity - 50mW
Impedance - 20ohms at 1kHz (power on), 8 ohms at 1kHz (power off)
Sensitivity - 102dB/mW (power on), 98dB/mW (power off)
Frequency Response - 10-22,000 Hz
Frequency Range of active noise attenuation - 50-1,500Hz more than 10dB at 300Hz
Power Source DC 1.5V, 1 AAA battery
Weight - Approx 1.7oz including battery box, cord and battery
Features
The headphones utilize a noise canceling circuit to effectively reduce ambient noise in noisy environments, to enhance audio entertainment.
The headphones are compact and fit comfortably in the ear using the appropriately sized silicon rubber ear buds for a customized fit.
There is a variable volume control on the battery box of the unit.
An earphone holder clip attaches to the headphone cord to minimize cord tangles during storage.
Operates as passive headphones when noise canceling circuit is not activated.
Hands-on experience
I have been wanting a pair of noise canceling headphones for years but have never gotten them due to size, weight and expense. Previously all the headphones I had seen were bulky, conventional "over the head" type headphones and I just didn't want to have the bulk with me on my frequent flights.
I finally discovered the ear bud type Sony MDR-NC11A headphones and they are exactly what I was looking for. Extremely lightweight, compact headphones with great sound quality that effectively eliminate the low pitched drone that can be so tiring to hear when flying. In practice I use these heaphones mostly to mask the ambient noise I experience on flights and usually don't even bother hooking up an mp3 player or using the in-flight sound system. But when I do use these as audio headphones, I am impressed with the quality of bass and crisp overall sound reproduction. I actually am blown away by the bass response. Never did I ever expect these headphones to provide the deep bass response that they do.
The silicon earbuds are very comfortable and fit perfectly in the ear. It is vitally important with noise canceling headphones, to have a snug fit otherwise the effectiveness of their noise canceling circuit will be greatly diminished. A good fit is not a problem with these headphones because three differently sized earbuds are provided so you can choose the optimal fit for your ears. The headphones ship with the medium size installed and small and large ones are also provided.
I was wary of battery life, but am surprised at how long alkaline batteries last. It's difficult to accurately gauge battery life because I don't log the time I use them, but the operating manual says that alkaline batteries will last up to 40 hours. My experience with them simply lets me say that's probably about right. I do not change the batteries very often and I use these a lot when flying. I also use them when working on my computer in my home office to mask the noise of the computer fans and other low frequency office noise.
Conclusions
I am very happy with these headphones. They take up very little space in my briefcase, they sound fantastic and they are extremely effective at masking undesirable sound in office environments and while flying. They also function as excellent heaphones when the noise canceling function is not used. How can you go wrong? the price is reasonable, battery life is good and they work as great headphones even if your battery is dead.
One caveat (and this is no reflection of this specific headphone but is common to all noise canceling headphones) is that noise canceling headphones do not mask all noise, only noise in a specific frequency range. Do not buy these if you are expecting them to eliminate all ambient noise, for that you need ear plugs.
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