Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I purchased these headphones to edit audio on my video projects. These work just fine. They are good quality, but they are a huge pain. These headphones need a power source. They can be charged to work for a couple hours, but they either need the battery adapter or they need to be plugged in with a separate power source. If you're like me, outlet space is prime real estate if you're using these headphones for your computer. Not to mention, the cord isn't long enough to plug into an outlet and have much moving room.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

These headphones are great. The music is so clear and loud and you hear every little note. They are very comfortable, light weight and not bulky. The digital noise cancelling feature really does just that, you can't hear anything outside of your music even in loud and noisy places. Only feature I wish it had was volume and playback controls on the cable. If I could just adjust the volume or skip to the next track from the cable it would be perfect.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

This is my first pair of noise cancelling headphones, and thus far I've been very impressed. Last weekend I traveled via two airplanes, the first a jet, the second a turbo-prop and neither of them could compromise the noise cancellation of these headphones. At times it was hard to know I was on an airplane they did such an amazing job cancelling ambient noise. The sound quality and comfort is uncompromised by any other pair of headphones I've ever tried on/owned. At just 6.9oz it's easy to forget they're even on your head which a good thing when I'm traveling/studying etc. for hours a time. Highly recommended if you can swing the price for them, which I found a little on the high side given the market these days... but at the same time nothing seemed to compare with the technology of the MDR-NC500D which at the time has the competition beat.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Bought these at the airport before a trip to Europe about 3 years ago and have used them many times, on several trips, and at home and the library. When they are on, it is quite but if I want sound, the itunes sound great. They last for 12 hour flights and in fact, have never run out of battery even though it comes with a battery back-up just in-case. They have exceeded my expectations and I expect a lot of Sony by now. Get yourself a pair. You will be very happy.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Bought these at the airport before a trip to Europe about 3 years ago and have used them many times, on several trips, and at home and the library.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

These headphones are amazing in just about all aspects. My only complait is that they do not do a lot of noise canceling. On airplains, you cannot hear a thing but on plains or in offices they do not do so well. These headphones could be the best headphones in the world only if Sony were to incorporate some sort of passionate noise canceling as well as their outstanding active noise cancellation technologies. My best regards the the dev. team.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I am glad, by reeding those reviews, that I am not the only one hearing those very disturbing noises using this headset (noices like wwiiiwwwwiiiiwwwiiii or glockglockglock). Maybe in a very quiet place, you'll have satisfaction using it, But forget an open window car or other noisy places, quality of sound and music will have sever distortions. On top of that, quality and torsional strength of the material they use is poor, just broke audio headset putting it on my head.. not good! Very disappointed on this one expensive peace.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Switched from Bose QC-15 headset to these and have been very pleased with the results. They headsets are comfortable, very quiet, and have excellent sound reproduction.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I use these for a noisy environment for extended periods of time. I like the multiple modes of power and the selection of cables to chose from. The noise cancelling is wonderful. The earpieces are somewhat small, although they fit completely around my ears. The biggest complaint, the AC adapter doesn't seem to fully charge the headset or accurately indicate when it is charged. I have left it to charge for 6-8 hours only to watch a movie off of battery power and find the low power indicator cursing at me after 2 hours. I don't know if it is always the input as well, sometimes it sounds like it is mono output. Occassionally the cable seems to have a poor connection as it takes some fidgeting with to get a clear sound.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Use it in public transports and during long flights.
Noise cancelling works but I was expecting more reduction. During flights I think the reduction is no more than 50% (not bad! but could be better).
The temporary switch off is not so useful as you can hear voices and announcements clearly without using it.
It is also not so comfortable if you use it for a long time (1 hour or more).
One use that I was not expecting is on my mobile phone. Even if there is no mike, I can use it to better hear my correspondents in a very noisy environment.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I have the misfortune of working in an office building with a terrible HVAC system - there's a constant drone akin to a jet engine in there. The office also happens to be next door to a fitness center, and when the classes come on next door, the bass of their music also transfers through the walls.

So this headset has been an absolute joy! Once it's powered on the sound is significantly dampened - there's the faintest remnants of noise still through though. It's done wonders for concentration and peace. Sound quality is also excellent - close to Sony's monitor headphones, with a little more bass.

It's also nice that they provide the modularity to allow you to swap a short cable instead of the longer ones, and to use the extra battery pack.

There are however some quirks to be mentioned - the headset doesn't produce any sound when it's powered off unlike some other models. Charging isn't an issue for me, but for people who are off the grid for a while or don't like using AA batteries as a backup power source this could be a problem as you must drain power to use the headset.

For what I use it for (office use and the occasional flight), this headset is perfect though. No qualms about giving it 5 stars.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

The sound is great and the noise reduction is terrific, but they take up more room in my briefcase than my computer!

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Good Value for money
Comfortable
Great Sound
Good Noise Cancelling

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Very Comfortable
Great Sound and noise Cancelling
Great Price

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I've test it in the air plane and in some trains, it do a really good job. It reduce also the noise made by the fan of computers.
It's expensive but it really work. With this you can enjoy music without destroying your ears.
You can wear it several hours before to get your hears tired.
The sound quality is really good, and I know what I'm talking about, I'm a classical music recording engineer.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I bought these headphones last week and just got off a 10h flight - they turned out to be completely unusable due to the thumping sound also described by other reviewers. Noise cancellation works very well, but the thumping is worse than tinnitus!

FYI: The problem persisted even after repeated pressing of the mode select button. In my case, it affected both speakers. Removing the headphones from the ears for a few seconds would stop the thumping, but it would start again after a short time (up to a minute or so). Accidentally leaning on the headrest would also trigger the thumping.

I can't believe Sony are selling these.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

The best seperation & defination I have ever heard on any head phone system !!
I use them on my Zune 120 gb. mp3
With this system I will never go back to I Pod...
My flights from Hawaii back to the mainland are more enjoyable now......

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Extremely comfortable! This is a must have for anyone who appreciates music.

Price tag is HIGH....but totally worth it.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

This unit has strange noises (thumping) and when I try to change the mode it flips back and forth not to the next mode. Not usable and sending it back for an exchange. Also This unit has hard pads that are uncomfortable on long flights. The QC2 and 3 work better. Sony's support is poor.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I bought Sony headphones twice now, this is the second time I have the same problem ...on left speaker an intermittent sound starts after few minutes working. Not sure why but it happen twice to me.

On first headphones set -MDR-NC50, after a year or so, I have to listen a constant buzzing while on the go -on a bus or a plane -especially when I had altitude changes. It was so bad that I need to turn off the noise canceling feature and hear the music + external noise.

I decided to buy this model -MDR-NC500D just because I thought the digital NC was a nice feature and would never have the same problem again. Despite my hopes, now I'm having same problem back, it starts with some constant, repeated interruptions on left speaker -sounds like a drum, very low sound, about every 1/3 of a second, until I either separate the left speaker a little bit from my ear and/or change the AI NC mode manually -and some times not even that helps. It's really uncomfortable.

NOTE: sometimes the same defective sound effect can be heard is left speaker is being firmly pushed against the ear,

The real problem is that I can't turn off the NC feature on these new headphones, as the sound goes completely off too as a difference to the old ones.

Can someone help me to explain if I'm doing something wrong or is just a headphone defective construction or so?

Thanks ...Germy

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I purchased these headphones to edit audio on my video projects. These work just fine. They are good quality, but they are a huge pain. These headphones need a power source. They can be charged to work for a couple hours, but they either need the battery adapter or they need to be plugged in with a separate power source. If you're like me, outlet space is prime real estate if you're using these headphones for your computer. Not to mention, the cord isn't long enough to plug into an outlet and have much moving room.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

These headphones are great. The music is so clear and loud and you hear every little note. They are very comfortable, light weight and not bulky. The digital noise cancelling feature really does just that, you can't hear anything outside of your music even in loud and noisy places. Only feature I wish it had was volume and playback controls on the cable. If I could just adjust the volume or skip to the next track from the cable it would be perfect.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

This is my first pair of noise cancelling headphones, and thus far I've been very impressed. Last weekend I traveled via two airplanes, the first a jet, the second a turbo-prop and neither of them could compromise the noise cancellation of these headphones. At times it was hard to know I was on an airplane they did such an amazing job cancelling ambient noise. The sound quality and comfort is uncompromised by any other pair of headphones I've ever tried on/owned. At just 6.9oz it's easy to forget they're even on your head which a good thing when I'm traveling/studying etc. for hours a time. Highly recommended if you can swing the price for them, which I found a little on the high side given the market these days... but at the same time nothing seemed to compare with the technology of the MDR-NC500D which at the time has the competition beat.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Bought these at the airport before a trip to Europe about 3 years ago and have used them many times, on several trips, and at home and the library. When they are on, it is quite but if I want sound, the itunes sound great. They last for 12 hour flights and in fact, have never run out of battery even though it comes with a battery back-up just in-case. They have exceeded my expectations and I expect a lot of Sony by now. Get yourself a pair. You will be very happy.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Bought these at the airport before a trip to Europe about 3 years ago and have used them many times, on several trips, and at home and the library.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

These headphones are amazing in just about all aspects. My only complait is that they do not do a lot of noise canceling. On airplains, you cannot hear a thing but on plains or in offices they do not do so well. These headphones could be the best headphones in the world only if Sony were to incorporate some sort of passionate noise canceling as well as their outstanding active noise cancellation technologies. My best regards the the dev. team.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I am glad, by reeding those reviews, that I am not the only one hearing those very disturbing noises using this headset (noices like wwiiiwwwwiiiiwwwiiii or glockglockglock). Maybe in a very quiet place, you'll have satisfaction using it, But forget an open window car or other noisy places, quality of sound and music will have sever distortions. On top of that, quality and torsional strength of the material they use is poor, just broke audio headset putting it on my head.. not good! Very disappointed on this one expensive peace.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Switched from Bose QC-15 headset to these and have been very pleased with the results. They headsets are comfortable, very quiet, and have excellent sound reproduction.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I use these for a noisy environment for extended periods of time. I like the multiple modes of power and the selection of cables to chose from. The noise cancelling is wonderful. The earpieces are somewhat small, although they fit completely around my ears. The biggest complaint, the AC adapter doesn't seem to fully charge the headset or accurately indicate when it is charged. I have left it to charge for 6-8 hours only to watch a movie off of battery power and find the low power indicator cursing at me after 2 hours. I don't know if it is always the input as well, sometimes it sounds like it is mono output. Occassionally the cable seems to have a poor connection as it takes some fidgeting with to get a clear sound.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Use it in public transports and during long flights.
Noise cancelling works but I was expecting more reduction. During flights I think the reduction is no more than 50% (not bad! but could be better).
The temporary switch off is not so useful as you can hear voices and announcements clearly without using it.
It is also not so comfortable if you use it for a long time (1 hour or more).
One use that I was not expecting is on my mobile phone. Even if there is no mike, I can use it to better hear my correspondents in a very noisy environment.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I have the misfortune of working in an office building with a terrible HVAC system - there's a constant drone akin to a jet engine in there. The office also happens to be next door to a fitness center, and when the classes come on next door, the bass of their music also transfers through the walls.

So this headset has been an absolute joy! Once it's powered on the sound is significantly dampened - there's the faintest remnants of noise still through though. It's done wonders for concentration and peace. Sound quality is also excellent - close to Sony's monitor headphones, with a little more bass.

It's also nice that they provide the modularity to allow you to swap a short cable instead of the longer ones, and to use the extra battery pack.

There are however some quirks to be mentioned - the headset doesn't produce any sound when it's powered off unlike some other models. Charging isn't an issue for me, but for people who are off the grid for a while or don't like using AA batteries as a backup power source this could be a problem as you must drain power to use the headset.

For what I use it for (office use and the occasional flight), this headset is perfect though. No qualms about giving it 5 stars.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

The sound is great and the noise reduction is terrific, but they take up more room in my briefcase than my computer!

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Good Value for money
Comfortable
Great Sound
Good Noise Cancelling

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Very Comfortable
Great Sound and noise Cancelling
Great Price

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I've test it in the air plane and in some trains, it do a really good job. It reduce also the noise made by the fan of computers.
It's expensive but it really work. With this you can enjoy music without destroying your ears.
You can wear it several hours before to get your hears tired.
The sound quality is really good, and I know what I'm talking about, I'm a classical music recording engineer.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I bought these headphones last week and just got off a 10h flight - they turned out to be completely unusable due to the thumping sound also described by other reviewers. Noise cancellation works very well, but the thumping is worse than tinnitus!

FYI: The problem persisted even after repeated pressing of the mode select button. In my case, it affected both speakers. Removing the headphones from the ears for a few seconds would stop the thumping, but it would start again after a short time (up to a minute or so). Accidentally leaning on the headrest would also trigger the thumping.

I can't believe Sony are selling these.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

The best seperation & defination I have ever heard on any head phone system !!
I use them on my Zune 120 gb. mp3
With this system I will never go back to I Pod...
My flights from Hawaii back to the mainland are more enjoyable now......

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

Extremely comfortable! This is a must have for anyone who appreciates music.

Price tag is HIGH....but totally worth it.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

This unit has strange noises (thumping) and when I try to change the mode it flips back and forth not to the next mode. Not usable and sending it back for an exchange. Also This unit has hard pads that are uncomfortable on long flights. The QC2 and 3 work better. Sony's support is poor.

Comments about Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise-Cancelling Headphones:

I bought Sony headphones twice now, this is the second time I have the same problem ...on left speaker an intermittent sound starts after few minutes working. Not sure why but it happen twice to me.

On first headphones set -MDR-NC50, after a year or so, I have to listen a constant buzzing while on the go -on a bus or a plane -especially when I had altitude changes. It was so bad that I need to turn off the noise canceling feature and hear the music + external noise.

I decided to buy this model -MDR-NC500D just because I thought the digital NC was a nice feature and would never have the same problem again. Despite my hopes, now I'm having same problem back, it starts with some constant, repeated interruptions on left speaker -sounds like a drum, very low sound, about every 1/3 of a second, until I either separate the left speaker a little bit from my ear and/or change the AI NC mode manually -and some times not even that helps. It's really uncomfortable.

NOTE: sometimes the same defective sound effect can be heard is left speaker is being firmly pushed against the ear,

The real problem is that I can't turn off the NC feature on these new headphones, as the sound goes completely off too as a difference to the old ones.

Can someone help me to explain if I'm doing something wrong or is just a headphone defective construction or so?

Thanks ...Germy