Noise Cancelling Headphones comparison

The comparison was done to select noise reduction headphones for noise inside airplane passenger cabin. The noise consist mostly of high frequencies generated by badly designed ventilation fans. Contrary to popular believes, jet engine noise is almost nonexistent inside passenger cabin in modern airliners.

Sony MDRNC60 Noise Cancelling Headphones.

According to Sony: They provide 16.5dB noise reduction at 200Hz
list price: $300   as reviewed: $210

visual design	4	good looking
engineering	4	good
ergonomics	3	earlobes do not fit iniside cans
marketing	4	fair

pros: good music quality, well built.
cons: Bose is better in noise reduction.

Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones.

list price: $350   as reviewed: $350

visual design	3	cheap silver paint
engineering	5	good noise cancellation
ergonomics	4	good
marketing	0	consumer hostile price fixing

pros: better noise reduction than Sony.
cons: slight reverberation generated by low frequencies, cheap looking silver paint over black plastic, any scratch will look badly. Direct marketing, no price competition.

verdict: selected Bose for better noise reduction.