Sssh! Did you hear something? (Sony MDR NC50)

Member Name: pgn!

Product:	Sony MDR NC50
Date:	02/12/07 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: price-performance ratio

Disadvantages: chunky, on the heavy side

"Excuse me, Sir, we're having a free trial of these headphones for some people on our flight today. Would you... Sure! Comfortable? Volume ok? Now allow me to..." >click< :::silence::: **

And so started my love affair, at 37,000feet, with noise-cancelling headphones. Little did that unsuspecting, helpful member of the cabin-crew aboard an American Airlines flight between the UK and Chicago know what those kind words have come to mean...

Those headphones which piqued my interest so were from another manufacturer; I have since tried to discover just what price silence, amidst the cacophony that is a long-haul jet airliner, can cost. For just under £100.00, these Sony headphones are pretty good. Similar functionality from other manufacturers can cost you almost 3 times that amount!

The Sony MDR-NC50 is a full-ear, foldable set of headphones, powered by a single AAA battery if you wish to use the noise-cancellation feature (the "NC" in the model number!). They do make you look more like you should be up at the front of the aircraft, in the driving seat, but for the total auditory exclusion which they afford, they are well worth the money.

A single cord, about 1.5m long, sufficient to allow you to stretch out comfortably and still keep the headphones on and connected to the average airline seat entertainment system, comes with the phones, alongside an adapter that fits most airline seat jacks. A stereo phone plug to mini jack converter comes along with as well. To complete the package, you get a nifty nylon zippered carry-case, with a small pocket inside to carry an extra battery, all the bits above and the folded-flat (!) headphones.

There are flatter models of full-ear headphones available - no doubt, the Sony MDR-NC50 is a chunky beast! However, the AAA battery lives beneath a plastic clip on the upper side of the right ear-cup, so unlike some flatter models, you don't have a separate battery-holder flailing around you as you engross yourself in the deeper reaches of Rachmaninov's 3rd! The NC on-off switch is at the lower edge of the same ear-cup.

The audio cord, complete with gold-plated contacts, plugs into the bottom of the left ear-cup. This cup also has a "monitor" or "mute" button, effectively silencing whatever you are listening to so you can hear what's going on around you.

Be warned: The padded ear-cups need to be fairly well positioned over your ears, otherwise the noise-cancellation circuitry can emit a sharp whistle! The Sony-emblazoned head band has plenty of adjustment to allow you to find the most comfortable position. In-flight, these phones can make your ears very warm after a while, so keeping them on for long periods is not to be recommended. They weigh just under 300g, another reason why you might like to remove them occasionally. You'll be walking around the cabin periodically to alleviate the risk of DVT anyway, won't you?

The Sony branding is obvious on the product packaging, as is the fact the product is suited to use on an aeroplane. There is a copious amount of packaging, though - so if you buy a set of these at the airport, prepare to deposit a good bin's worth of packaging before you get to your prized headphones. And buy an extra battery: you get about 25-30hrs use out of a decent alkaline cell.

Overall, for the price, the MDR-NC50 is a decent set of noise cancelling headphones.

** A variant of this review was also posted by my alter-ego on another UK Consumer Review site, in case you feel like you're suffering from an acute attack of déjà vu!

(c) pgn!/02-Dec-2007/dooyoo.co.uk

Summary: Sony MDR-NC50 represent a good, mid-range set of noise cancelling headphones.

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