Sony MDR-NC60 Noise Canceling Headphone

First a few words about a noise canceling headphones in general. I'm a frequent traveler, flying about 50% of time internationally. I'm not a musician by any means, but I understand that having a pair of good "cans" sometimes is the difference between arriving to your destination wasted or completely relaxed. You owe it to yourself to have a pair of good quality noise cancellers if you travel internationally or coast-to-coast at least 3 times a year. I've owned my share of noise canceling headphones, starting from Sony "in-the-ear" MDR-NC11A, then graduating to Sennheiser "on-the-ear" RPXC 250. Finally, I borrowed Bose "over-the-ear" QuietComfort 3 to my conference flight to California and back to Ohio. If you are deciding which general design of headphones to choose - let me tell you up-front that "over-the-ear" design gives you the best comfort you can have on the long flight - hands down.

Now in the detail about this particular set. After experiencing the...Read more

I've used Bose's over the ear noise canceling headphones for a couple of years while traveling across country. On an overnight flight from LA with my wife along, I loaned them to her to watch the movie and never got them back. To make a long story short, I cast about and came across a review (here) that favorably compared this Sony model to Bose's, so I ordered a pair to have for those occasions my wife is along on trips. Guess what, I'm now using the Sony headphones and the Bose's are the ones sitting at home waiting for those occasions when she's along for the trip.

For those new to noise reduction headphones, don't expect miracles. They reduce noise, not eliminate it. Moreover, they react best to sound waves that are long; i.e., low tones. This means they take out a substantial portion of the noise on an airplane, which is a consistent roar, but will not remove intermittent sounds. It's still startles me to be able to hear the conversation going on in the seat...Read more

I got the new Sony NC60 base on reviews from the 2007 Las Vegas Electronics show. Took them on a recent flight to Japan so I could compare then directly with the American Airlines supplied Bose QC3 headsets.
Comparisons:
Noise Cancelling: No perceptable difference between Bose and Sony
Noise Isolation: Sony the clear winner over the "On ear" Bose QC3
Sound Quality: No clear winner here, the Bose might have a slight edge at lower listening levels. When you crack it up the Sony sounds better to me. The only issue I had with the Sony is the bass response was a little buzzy if I used the bass boost EQ feature of my IPod.
Comfort: The Sony by a wide margin. For my 7 1/2 size head, the Bose QC3 padding was almost painful. The Sony I could sleep with.
Other Features: The QC3 is smaller and lighter if that is important. The cable unplugs from the Sony (which is nice when you try to sleep on the plane). Some people complain about the on/off switch on the...Read more