Noise Cancelling Item ID: #28Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphone (Black)
WAS
Product Information:Sony’s MDR-NC500D headphones are extremely lightweight and they utilize digital technology in order to effectively reduce disturbing or stressful noises on trains, planes,and even buses. These headphones will also significantly increase the quality of your music and because you are not hearing the outside environment, you will enjoy it much more. Item Reviews5 Responses to “Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphone (Black)”Leave a Reply |
Panasonic RP-HC500 Noise-Canceling Headphones
WAS 
Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Canceling Headphones
WAS 
WAS 
Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphone (Black)
WAS 
Sennheiser PXC 250 Active Noise Canceling Headphones
WAS 
Sennheiser PXC 350 Active Noise Cancellation Headphone (Black)
WAS 
Bose® QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones
WAS 
Sennheiser PXC 450 NoiseGard Active Noise-Canceling Headphones
WAS |
Bookmark This Page 
Email A Friend 
Print This Page
Bought this to replace my Bose noise cancelling headphones whose headband broke. Flew two days later and the thumping started. You move the headphone and it goes away. Of course by then your listening pleasure is ruined. Very disappointed. Imagine a rythmic thumping that occurs at any time and goes away after you lift the headphone off of your ears. I’m in the process of trying to return it back to Sony for a refund since I’ve had it too long (fifty-four days) and the store won’t refund me. It is also over engineered with too many parts therefore too large for travel.
I recently drove myself, after a lot of careful consideration, to the Sony Style Store in San Diego with one goal in mind… To test three their most expensive headphones in a battle royale and buy the winner. Before going to Sony I’ve tried Beats by Dre (overpriced, utter junk) and Bose (extremely overpriced, but not junk). The winner of this comparison decimates all above mentions.
I chose to go with Sony because of all the positive reviews received by independent individuals. Amazon seemed to be oozing with enthusiasm from people about the value and quality of these and other Sony Cans. The reviews helped, but I just had to see for myself what all the hoopla was about.
Before I continue, a little about me. I love my music!! I guess you could call me an audiophile of sorts. I prefer to listen to my music extremely loud with no compromise. I want to hear awesome treble with uncompromising bass, I want to hear full, undistorted sound while my ears bleed. I listen to everything from Slipknot to Portishead. All these tests were performed on my iPhone 4 and iPad. These are my primary listening devices.
First Place: MDR-XB700 $129.00 at Sony Style Store
The way it’s advertised almost swayed my from trying them. Advertised at “Extra Bass”, to me, sounds like it’s just a couple of sub-woofers you tape to your head. As soon as I pressed play till the time I pressed stop I had an enormous smile, ear to ear. Just Incredible!! NO BS!! By far the loudest headphones with the biggest sound. These headphones murdered the competition for a fraction of the price. I mean, 3 to 28,000Hz?!? You can’t even hear that bass at 3Hz, you can only feel it, and with these headphones you definitely feel it. Granted, there is a lot of bass, but there is also a lot of treble and mid-range. They are also extremely comfortable. The mattress’s they use for cushions are just delightful. I can’t say enough good things about the sound these things produce.
For the cons… They are huge and heavy, not unbearable by any means. You definitely can’t exercise with these things on. They are meant for stationary listening. I’ve also hear people cry about “no noise cancel”. Who needs noise cancel when you can turn these things up so loud that you couldn’t hear someone throwing your first born into a wood chipper?
Second Place: MDR-NC60 $199.00 at Sony Style Store
These headphones aren’t bad… if they cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $79. As it stands they don’t. These cans are extremely overpriced and a huge disappointment upon sampling. Massive distortion when maxed out, I can only compare it to a cat getting hit with a baby. Bass is punchy but flat and lost in the mids and highs. Definitely expected a lot more for the price tag they pinned on these. The noise cancel feature requires you to constantly change batteries out. If the noise cancel feature isn’t activated these cans go from bad to worse, the bass gets lost in the background completely. Overall, I would suggest passing these ones up.
Third Place: MDR-NC500D $399.00 at Sony Style Store
They had these things sitting on a pedestal above all other headphones with indirect lighting. These were their “Rolls Royce” of headphones. They sound great, can’t really complain there. The one MAJOR complaint I have though is when maxed out, these cans sound like they’re only at a quarter volume. I checked my settings and the headphones to no avail. These headphones maxed out sound like a whisper. To me this makes them total junk. Again, I was using an iPhone 4 and an iPad, you might get different results on a Magnolia system with a massive amp.
Overall, the cheapest of the three were the best. Not the best by a little, but by a lot. I bought the MDR-XB700′s and haven’t looked back. If you see a guy with headphones the size of a small truck, a smile ear to ear and blood protruding from the base of the headphones, that’s me, and I love these things!!
When they say “noise cancelling” they only mean stead-state noise, like a motor or wind & rain. If you’re buying this to drown out distracting office noise like other peoples’ conversations, it doesn’t work.
“Office noise” to me means loud people on the phone or gossiping at the water cooler or printer. Those sounds are NOT removed. In fact they’re not even lowered. I don’t understand how this product can easily remove the not-so-annoying hum of my computer, yet the conversations going on around me are not even attenuated. I still have to turn on loud music to drown that out.
I would have given this product only one star, but since it does remove certain specific types of noise, I give it two stars for performing that limited function well.
I still want a product that removes ALL distracting noise to include conversations without requiring loud music. I’m still searching.
I usually do not take time to write an review, but I do read a lot of them to be better informed about a product. For this product, however, I am compelled to write an review to increase the product rating because the overall three stars for this item is not really an accurate description of the item. I own this headphone for about ten months now and use them everytime I travel across the country from Dulles to San Diego or Los Angeles, which is about once or twice a month. I always carry and use it on the plane. IMHO, it is the best headphone, better than Bose which I’ve tried. The sound quality, fit, construction are all superior. Particularly, I like the fit of this headphone better than any others I’ve tried, that includes Bose and Denon. The sides bridges do not protrude or stick out like the Bose and others headphones even you extend them to the fullest. Therefore, the design of it is the best and you look cool wearing it. It is the best headphone out there. The only complaint I have is the same shared by other reviewers. That is the case is too large. The case provided is designed to carry everything, charger and a battery pack, but I do not carry those because the battery last a long time. I’ve never run out of the battery. I wish Sony would provide a smaller case or at least the same size case as their less expensive model, which I had in the past before this model. Overall, this headphone is compact and elegant and the quality is definitely there. I like it so much, I recetnly purchased a second pair as a gift. But, please do not pay the retail price of $399. The Amazon sell for much less and it’s worth it.
If you love sony like I do then you know you need to purchase these head phones. The materials on NC 500 are Great, the Noise Cancelation are 99 percent. and there perfect for flying or on a train.
There is one thing tho its nothing much. when riding a bus on in a car, you will get a occasional thump. but it not to enoying so, dont stress.