Sony On-Ear Noise Cancelling Headphones (MDRZX110NC) - Black

There's a reason why these are not on demo display next to its better siblings that costs 7x more. Once you experience those, you will not dare call this set noise cancelling. These should be labeled as Conversation Cancelling headphones (Put these on and your seat neighbor will think you can't hear them). So for the fidelity of wired and comfort of on-ear... they're good enough when on sale.

I bought 2 pairs of these for a plane ride for my kids. I didnt want to spend a lot of money, but wanted something with decent quality for both audio and noise cancelation. I was stunned how well these things work! The audio is great and the noise cancelation was beyond impressive. I have found myself using these instead of much more expensive options I have from Bose and others.

The sound quality only becomes adequate if the noise cancellation is enabled. If you turn off noise cancelling or the battery dies, the passive sound quality falls off a cliff. With active noise cancelling on, sound is clear with heavy emphasis on mid-bass and treble. With noise cancelling turned off, treble is gone, bass is gone. The sound reverts to a muffled, flat echo.