For those of you that don’t like shoving in-ear buds half way to your brain, then there are other ways to reduce ambient noise. We all know that listening to music while travelling on tubes and planes is a real chore using regular earphones which is why I have been pleasantly surprised by my ability to erase [mostly] the outside world thanks to the new Sony MDR-NC500D noise cancelling headphones. Launched in July and billed as the ‘world’s first digital noise cancelling headphones’, the NC500D provides you with a few more options than more common analog noise cancelling offerings. But first, let’s start with the headphones themselves. Design-wise, we are not looking at anything revolutionary here but they are a solid, well-made pair of headphones with glossy black finish, chrome edging, and leather cups. They are comfortable enough - maybe a little tight - and you can expect your ears to be pulling Rudolf’s glowing nose impressions from prolonged use. That’s the same for most headphones though, although I would have been happier with something a little lighter, considering they are meant for people on the move. The headphones need to be charged up first, which takes about 3 hours, but promises around 16 hours of use. For those flying Down Under though, there’s also a bundled battery pack which takes 2 x AA batteries and can power the headphones for another 10-12 hours after the rechargeable batteries in the headphones run out of juice. Very handy. The phones come in a rigid case which is a little on the big side but then, it is built for protection and features handy internal Velcro straps and pockets for the accessories. Now, time to fire them up. After pressing the power on button, you can choose from automatic noise cancelling or manually choose from three modes. Unlike regular analog noise cancelling headphones, these ones use microphones to assess the ambient noise in your area before choosing the most suitable mode. The three modes are: A: Airplane B: Bus, train, tube C: Office environment Choosing the mode manually is a cinch, as there’s corresponding beeps and light flashes near the power button to tell you which mode you have picked. There is a noticeable difference in some of the modes and in testing on transport, out and about and in an office, you can hear just what is, and what isn’t being excluded. Noise cancelling tends to work best on eliminating background, low-end drone and these do a great job. Even with loud metal music on in the office, we were able to listen to mellower fare on the MP3 player at a reasonable volume [not low though] and not have the angry roaring and thrashing guitars of Stone Sour interrupt. It can be quiet eerie listening to something on the headphones in blissful audio silence only to pop the headphones off and be greeted by the real world audio barrage. There’s a ‘monitor′ button on the phones that allows you to kill whatever you are listening too in order to speak to a colleague or, order another double Jameson from the in-flight trolley. Pity though that you have to hold the button down for it to work. The sound quality from the headphones is solid. The bass is heavy but not overwhelming and there is good clarity of sound - maybe not as crisp as some other phones I have listened too, but nothing to grumble much about. I tested the phones with a wide array of music from Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age to Kate Nash, The Gutter Twins and any number of quieter acoustic and classical tracks - although it must be said that the outside world will intrude on quieter material played at the same volume as the more raucous stuff. That said, the noise cancellation capability of the NC500Ds is very impressive overall. On the quibble front, it’s a pity you can’t turn the noise cancelling off for those times when you’re in a quiet place and, then there’s the price: £200. That’s a lot. In fact, it’s probably enough to put off most casual shoppers but, for someone who travels a lot or, just hates the morning commute on public transport as well as their fellow commuters, it’s a reasonable price to pay for a little bubble of audio silence.-Martin Lynch music headphones travel
Original post by nafiz
