Sony MDR-NC500D User Reviews March 3rd, 2008 | by Mike Kobrin
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Average user rating from 7 users |
I have bought a pair and feeling is mixed.
by John Chan on Mar 11th, 2009 at 11:28 AM:
I have a pair of Sennheiser PXC300 I used for years. It is quite compact and easy to carry but the noise cancellation job is just fair.
I have others but I won't discuss them here. I just bought the NC500D. I wouldn't rate it 10 because it is very bulky. I don't rate it 3 either because it is comfortable and sounds good to me. I bought it with a 20% discount, that was the selling point that pushed me over. I love new technology and like to support products in that direction. I hate Sony as a company because their product reliability is just so-so, but they hook people with fancy fashionable designs. Anyway, I have tips for people who felt pressure or discomfort in their ear drums. It has 3 modes of operation. I noticed discomfort in the auto mode, I had to open the cups once in a while because I did feel some pressure discomfort to the ears. I switched it to another mode, like the salesman taught me. Not earth shattering difference in noise cancellation characteristics, that I could distinguish. But the pressure discomfort was gone and I was wearing it over 12 hours from San Francisco to Shanghai. I did not do any more research on why I had felt the pressure discomfort but I did find a work around it. As I said, Sony's quality is more on cosmetics than in the guts. I could have a less than perfect production headphones.
Bottom line, I am pleased with it but it is really bulky just like the Bose and a pain to carry around.
great equipment
by udo schuklenk on Mar 11th, 2009 at 9:16 AM:
I have used the headphones on a flight from Europe to North America (surrounded by a bunch of teenagers). I think these headphones are well worth their money. The noise cancellation works superb and the headphones' sound quality is great (well, I watched an in-flight movie and was very impressed as all I heard was high quality movie sound and nothing much else, certainly no engine/air con sound).
I am naturally worried about the longevity and quality issues others mentioned - Sony in my experience is great for design and sky-high prices and usually bottom-third in terms of product quality/longevity. Fingers crossed, I experienced none of the glitches mentioned by others here. Loved the phones. Very comfortable to wear. I wore them for about 8 hours without discomfort.
$400 Big Dissapointment, Get Shure earbuds
by David Laurent on Feb 17th, 2009 at 11:07 PM:
Sony MCD-NC500D
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For $400.00 you would expect something really great but I was very disappointed.
First the Carrying case it comes with is far too large. When you try to put all the components which I have to do each day, it is very annoying to find ways to organize the components so that they do not damage the headphones. The carrying case has fixtures that the ear pieces fit onto so as to protect the drivers and electronics. This fixture actually ripped the clothe covering over the driver elements. Extremely poor design! I do engineering product design work and it is clear no one thought this product through.
Now to the head phones themselves. The prior comments by other reviewers about the rechargeable internal battery is right on the mark. Don’t go anywhere without the supplemental dual AA battery pack, you will need it. They won’t last long so make sure you cary around some extra AAs. That means you will also have to carry around the charger as well. All this with all its wires have to go into the carrying case ( good luck ). Then fid this very large carrying case in your briefcase or carry-on luggage.
The noise cancellation was about the same as the Bose Quiet Comfort when it works and it does not always work. I bought the Bose Quiet Comfort in the past and compared its performance against the Sony’s Digital NC500 product. Comparable music quality I would say. I listen to just about everything and I think that the quality and balance is well suited for “Classical Musicâ€. There is clearly an AC humming noise when the phones are attached to the charger. That is inexcusable from a design standpoint; somebody forgot to put an adequate grounding plane on the devise.
When you put the device on you head you can turn on the headphones with a slider switch on the outside rim of the headphones. It is supposed to sample ambient noise and find the best of three noise cancellation to use. This slider switch is frail and prone to not working! While you are listening ( hopefully with reduced ambient noise ) the head phone will cutout. Pressing the slider switch, sometimes several times, will restart the head phone initialization and you can continue to listen until it does it again.
Do not buy these the Sony MDR-NC500D. IT IS NOT WORTH IT.
I ended buying Shure's SE530 noise suppression in the ear buds. WOW, Unbelievable performance!! Great design also. Shure has been in this business for a long time and it sounds like it. It's about the same price but provides great sound isolation. I got the Push to Hear model to support the many interruptions I get.
When I went back to the Sony store to get a replacement Sony MDR-NC500D they said they could not help me. I had my receipts with me at the time. They said they do not support the product, they only sell it. I tried to contact support 2 months ago and I have yet to receive a response.
Excellent
by Chris on Dec 10th, 2008 at 10:17 AM:
I'm in Japan for a couple of days and finally got to test the Sony MDR-NC500D in store against the Bose, Senheiser and a couple of other brands I can't now remember off the top of my head.
The Sony MDR-NC500D are outstanding and the clear category winners! Agree with previous reviewer re the negative review and 3 star score. I have also seen this exact same review on several sites.
The Sony is very comfortable, light weight and the noise cancelling is exellent. The advertised 99% noise cancellation is complete crap, 90% would be generous, but do a much better job than the competition.
Price in Japan around $440 USD (based on todays exchange rate) can also pick them up in flight duty free on ANA for $408 USD.
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Don't buy these Sony's - read my review. I am NOT a Bose Employee.
by Mike Silvey on May 1st, 2009 at 4:56 PM:
I have to say, on the ground, testing for a few minutes in the Sony store, they perform really well, remarkably in fact - and that's what sold them to me - amazing!
Take them on the aircraft though and within 2 minutes from take off you get a 'cavitation' or 'beating' sound, first in one ear, then the other, then both.
No amount of swallowing, mouth reshaping (people must think I have a twitch), resettling on the ears, switch on / off, AI mode changing, etc etc etc can get rid of this 'beating' effect for long, either in one ear, then the other ear or both.
Can I get anyone in Sony to acknowledge the problem, talk about a refund, etc? No.
On the last leg of the return to London [from New York] I was very fortunate to be in Virgin Upper Class where you are supplied with a complimentary set of NC headphones for the flight.
I'm severely disappointed with the waste of money that this breakthrough technology represents and want my money back, but there appears to be no way to get your money back from Sony.
Take them back to the store you purchased them from and all they offer is to send off for repair or replacement with another set [white elephant!].
Nice business eh?