Thread: Sony MDR NC7/WM

The MDR NC7/WM has an unnecessarily long name and is an active noise cancelling headphone - the noise cancellation circuitry is battery powered by a single AAA cell The headband armature gives the impression of being a bit flimsy, but this is no doubt the result of its folding nature.

The earcups are slightly smaller than full-size circumaurals but a bit larger than some supraaural designs like Grados headphones. However, since they don't encompass the ear entirely and the foam padding sits atop the outer ear we're classifying them as supraaural. Mind you, because they're plastic and light they won't fall off because of the loose headband.

One of the oddities we noticed is that enabling and disabling noise cancellation causes a lot of variation in the sound signature and quite frankly this should not be.

In fact, when using NC, the volume level also goes up. That being said the enabling NC does drown out some small external sounds although even without this feature turned on the headphones isolate pretty well. With NC turned off we found the bass to be lacking and it's not just a lack of punch but feels anaemic overall. The highs also sound thin and shrill, and the soundstage narrows by around 30 per cent. Turning NC on brings a certain amount of warmth to the vocals while the bass, although still weak, is a bit more noticeable. The highs lose their shrill nature. Any comparisons with other noise, cancelling sets are pointless since the Sennheiser PXC 45 we tested is very expensive il comparison.

But this one is not for discerning listeners, particularly since we couldn't figure out why enabling a feature meant to isolate external noise should change the way this headphone sounds.