MDR-100ABN Noise Cancelling problem

[nickydivers]

Hi,

Don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I've found that when on a bus/coach, whatever noise it makes going over bumps isn't caught by the noise cancelling - in fact it enhances it! The 'womp' noise alters the bass in whatever music I'm listening to making it easier to just turn Noise Cancelling off. Does this sound like a fault or is this normal?

Thanks in advance,

Nicky

[morty89]

Registered just to answer your question, as you're one of the very few online that actually notices this problem.

Unfortunately, no ANC headphone i've tried so far handles bus rides or "hard walking". Renders them totally useless as ANC is supposed to remove noise, not ADD noise.

I've yet to try the Bose CQ35 on a bus ride, but i suspect they will be the same,

as when i tried them in a store they enhanced the noise off jumping up and down (yes i actually jumped up and down just to test this, must have thought im crazy).

If Bose is no better im giving up ANC.

[dsodso]

Hi,

Good to know that I'm not the only one. My situation is a bit different. When I'm on the train noises around me is barely noticable (which is good) but once the train gets into tunnel you can feel the 'humming' from the head phone.

David

[trinafour]

I notice the drumming noise on a pair of MDR-NC50 headphones too.  It seems to be worse on one side and worse again if you are close to a hard vertial surface.  I suspect it is a design fault in a large range of their noise cancelling products, presumably they all use the same electronics.  Sometimes the drumming is triggered by an outside noise and sometimes it just starts as I approach a harrd vertical surface with the problem side towards the surface!  Once it starts sometimes the only way to stop it is to power them off and move away to an open space!!  It can get almost painful and I worry it may damage my ears!

[stuhac]

Just thought I'd throw in my experience with ANC. I am one of the few who are sensitive to peripheral headphone noise (microphonics, bone conduction, wind noise accentuation, friction rustling, creaky hinges etc etc) - disappointing that almost no reviews take any of this into consideration.

I haven't tried any Sony ANC headphones, but with both the Sennheiser Momentum 2 and PXC550 the ANC accentuates every bump in a bus journey. Additionally, the over-ear design causes bone conduction that makes both pairs quite poor to use while walking around because every footstep can be heard over the music. 

I returned the Momentum 2's because it's not possible to turn the ANC off while using Bluetooth and they were pretty uncomfortable too.

I may also return the PXC550's because I rarely fly and IMHO that appears to be the only travel-based usecase where ANC actually works. However, their comfort and sound quality with ANC turned off is really very good so I may just accept that I've paid for a feature that I'll very rarely use (as I've got an ex-display pair for a great price).

I'm going to stick with my on-ear bluetooth Jabra Moves for walking the dog - light as a feather, good sound quality and negligable peripheral noises make them a fantastic piece of kit, just a shame they don't fold up...

TLDR: ANC is only really any good if you're flying, especially if you're suceptible to peripheral headphone noise.

[trinafour]

Thanks for the comments Stuhac

After a long period of use (mostly mowing the lawn and using a noisy shredder) I notice that at least some of the drumming seems to occur when the ear muffs are not making a good seal against my head.  My theory is that without a good soundproof seal against my ear, the noise cancelling circuit is suffering positive feedback from the sound picked up from the headphones.  It seems to me that re-seating the ear muffs against my head often stops the drumming.