Noise cancelling earphones with new Z work in any device?

i know the earphones will work but will the noise cancellation feature work?

or is the noise cancellation feature dependent on software/hardware in the vaio laptop?

 

They'll only cancel noise when connected to the Z. Otherwise they're just passive earbuds (no battery or anything).

 

where are you ordering your Z from? do you know if the Canadian Z CTO offers the noise cancelling earbuds also?

 

Noise canceling will work with walkman x series. So basicly in order for noise canceling to work you just need another expensive sony product

Luckily I already own walkman x series, so I already have earphones that will work with noise canceling for vaio Z. Unforcanatly since I will rearly use Z on the desk and since jack for earphones is in front, it will be hard to use them anyway since hadphone plag will be stuck in my underbely if I work on the sofa as I usualy do

 

These things are HIGHLY overrated. Any of Shure's In-ear monitors will beat the crap out of those Sonys: http://store.shure.com/store/shure/en_US/DisplayCategoryProductListPage/categoryID.12165500

I have the SE 530PTH, best sound I ever heard.

 

Let's see here...

A) Free with $1699 laptop
B) $499.99 for SE530

Can we guess which one will sound better, and which one is the better deal?


Answer key: B, A

 

I was also referring to the lower models of Shure that retail for A LOT less in retail. All those Shure can be considered audiophile or near audiophile grade.

The idea was to point out that there's nothing special about Sony's included earphones and MUCH better quality can be had for a bit more.
Also, not every Z comes with earphones, the CTO dont.

 

I too own E530pth's and they are pretty damn awesome but for earbuds included with a laptop the sony's are quite good. Maybe as good as the E2c's (or whatever their new equivalent model is)

Also remember that the shure's don't cancel noise they just provide isolation, which is good but I could still hear the "ambient" engine noise of the plane I was on when I last flew through them unless i cranked the volume. I'd be interested to see if the sony's can cancel that out.

 

My CTO did. And I think they are very good quality.

 

Unless the earbuds have an earplug-style in-canal foam insert (I haven't seen them yet - tomorrow!), I doubt they're going to be completely effective on airplane noise. Although I'm still not sure how a free bundled accessory could be highly overrated.

I have some large older Sony over-ear noise cancelling 'phones (given as a gift), and even they aren't completely effective. Although I do take them on every trip, since they're a lot better than the drone.

 

They don't block out all noise when you're not playing anything, but when you're playing a movie or song, you can't hear ANYTHING around you. It's kind of creepy actually. I told my mom to yell while I was listening to some classical music and I couldn't hear her.

 

I ordered a cto and I also received the headphones. I don't know if that is the norm. Did some people order a cto and NOT get them?

Also, I have owned several Shure's (I think my current ones are the 310's or something). The Sony headphones sound quite good. I will have to ab them, I suppose, in terms of both sound quality as well as isolation.

I look forward to using them instead on my next trip. Their home, in fact, is one of the little zippered Shure cases from a former set that got killed.

 

after reading these forums, i was resigned to not getting the earphones on my cto, but there they were in the box. made paying this much money for a laptop a little easier

 

oh nice, so they are included...cool.
btw once you use the se530pth, nothing else compares.

 

for $500+ they had better make me a sandwich too...

 

i used the nc earphone (mdr-nc021) (bundled with the z115) on my handphone (SEw995) and noticed that the music was kind of 'hollow'. At first i thought the microphone (built into the earphone) feedback was the cause of the problem but later i discovered that the stereo plug was the issue as the plug 's insulator and conductor are slightly different from a normal stereo plug. So i did not fully plug (into the jack on the handphone) and the sound become normal!

 

You just have to be very careful with the cables. I used to use Shure headphones but I had both pairs replaced in the warranty period because the cables flaked around the ear loop, and once they were out of warranty they were screwed. Getting them apart to replace the cable is nigh-on impossible too. Now I use Sleek-Audio SA6s simply because the cables are replaceable and they sound decent.

 

@sunfox and the op of this thread...
The noise cancelling earphones (MDR-NC201) do NOT work anywhere else except one the TT and P series VAIO laptops, and the X and (older and newer) S series, and the new A series WALKMAN models.

The 3.5mm part has a little 'block' sticking out of it (like a PSP earphone control), which means it will NOT fit into other devices. That little dent just acts as a data channel for the microphones on the earphones to send their data to (the chip in the device) to give noise-cancelling.

With that said, any other normal headphones will work on the jacks with these shapes.

 

That is incorrect, the VPC-Z and VGN-TT have different tips on their noise canceling headphones. The TT's headphones will not work in any other devices, the Z's will.

Also, to the person earlier, the Z and the TT do active noise-cancelling that works even when there isn't sound coming from the laptop.

 

Notice to Customers using Walkman ?NWZ-S736F/S738F/S739F? and VAIO ?VGN-TT15/TT16/TT17? models : Sony Asia Pacific
Recall and replacement programme.

VGN-TT27GD : TT Series : VAIO Notebook : Sony Asia Pacific
VPCZ139GA : Z Series : VAIO Notebook : Sony Asia Pacific
Look at the SPECS tab and next to the SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES near the bottom.

They (TT and Z) have the same headphones (at least, for the Oceania region). Meaning they have the same tips.

I've owned the S736 WALKMAN (featuring NC) with MDR-NWNC20 buds. Sony then issues the recall / replacement programme, and I complied (as my buds were having that exact issue). The original NC buds were black, and had gold WALKMAN branding on them. A week later I got back silver buds. They were exactly the same in regards to shape, however were silver coloured and had SONY branding on them. And looking at the model no. inprinted on the Y junction, I confirmed that they were MDR-NCO21LP, originally intended for the TT.

Hence, I why say the TT's headphones WILL work with other Sony devices supporting NC. That includes the WALKMAN X series (and my S series), and the VPC-Z, as the two websites above indicate.

I can't really comment too much on the Z. I've owned the S736, and have mates who own the TT. Never got too hands-on with the VPC-Z, but regardless, I understand that they are the same (from what I hear and read on the net as above). It may not be any leverage, but the phones that the Z comes with look IDENTICAL to the silver buds I used to own. Some eBay sellers also used to tout the MDR-NCO21LP as being Z compatibile

The Japanese WALKMAN series (NW-A847, and the newer NW-A857) however use completely different NC phones altogether (different looks and wider freq. response), but again, I have no reason to believe that they are DIFFERENT connectors.

 

In my experience, the Sony NC buds (came with my CTO VPCZ1290x) sort of work on other devices, but not well, the fit is always wrong, and I either get one channel or out of phase or something like that until I play with the jack, and if I'm trying to use them while walking around, I can't keep them in just the right place to deliver solid stereo reproduction.

 

Mine Z headphones are labeled MDR-NC021, there's no LP at the end. Also, my girlfried has the TT, and her headphones are different from those on my Z. She's currently at work, so I can not check her model #.

Her TT headphones have square notch on the plug not allowing it to plug into other devices. My VPC-Z headphones simply have an additional band on the plug, so it can plug into different devices. The VPC-Z headphones can plug into a TT, but they won't cancel noises. FWIW she has a VGN-TT290 and I have a VPC-Z135G, maybe there's variation within the product line itself...

 

Same here, for my nokia phones (I used them with an Xpressmusix 5800 and my current N900), i actually have to make sure the headphones arent completely plugged in by about a millimeter. If they go all the way in, i get a loud buzzing sound so walking with them on is a hassle as i keep having to either walk carefully not to disturb the careful balance or constantly adjust it. However, they are a pretty good set of earbuds even without the noise-cancelling

 

The LP part of the model no. could be region dependent, and don't forget the colour variations could play a part as well.

Though regardless, during the short time I played with a VPC-Z, I never focused on the headphone jack. That plus, it's actually the first time I hear the VPC-Z's headphones have, instead of the little 'notch', an extra channel on the contacts itself.

If that is the case, I would personally say such earphones are not designed for any other device. To me that's like using 3.5mm -> 3.5mm jacked wire on RCA connections; it works, but they technically weren't designed for such operation.

It is indeed quite possible there could be a difference between the Oceania models and the ones sold in the States. Heck, Oceania does not have CTO options; we get them fresh from Japan. Might be a difference there maybe...?

 

Well I bought the Vaio VPCZ137 laptop recently and I got the noise cancelling headphone with model number MDR-NC021.

Like the previous poster mentioned, the jack has an additional two notches compared to regular jacks. Since these are in-ear buds they pretty much block most of the noise but the noise cancellation does not work on other devices.

But the MDR-NC021 jack has the same dimensions and shape as regular headphone jacks and works fine. Tested on HP laptop and Samsung mp3 players.

I noticed there was a special noise cancellation software that came pre-installed with Vaio Z. Since I did a clean install of Win7 I can't find this software on Sony Support. Any clues?

 

I think it's part of the soundcard installation package.

 

Does anyone know where can I find noise cancelling headphones for VAIO Z? The NC021s on eBay all have that extra notch.(for walkman s series) Where can we find ones that's for VAIO Z? I read somewhere that noise cancelling headphones that work for walkman x series will also work on the vaio z. Can anyone confirm? Where can we get those headphones?

 

My MDR-NC021s that came with my VPCZ11 last year were destroyed yesterday. I spent about an hour on the phone with Sony today to order a replacement pair. After some pushing (which you always have to do with Sony reps), I was directed to this site: https://servicesales.sel.sony.com/ecom/accessories/web/welcome.jsp. The rep helped me order a replacement pair from here. A pretty penny though: $116.25.

 

ouch, for that price i'd get some other IEMs that work "normally" with any other device. the ones that come with the Z requires the plug to be not in 100%, but rather 90%... any more and i hear buzzing, any less and i dont hear out of one ear...

 

Are you sure?
I could have sworn that there is white noise when not playing anything.
Ok just plugged them in, they pump white noise when not playing anything.

 

I know there have been complaints about the Z's earbuds not working "normally" with other devices. But I did not have to keep the earbuds unplugged slightly to work on my iPod, and that's the only other device I really use them for. My wife used them the other day for my Dell and didn't complain...

 

1. The noise cancelling earphones are NOT free. They are there because the built in speakers are pathetic. A sort of consolation prize.

2. There are microphones in the earphones which pick up the ambient sounds. These are connected to the extra rings on the jack (not a regular stereo jack). Circuitry inside the connected device take these signals, invert them, and send them back to the earphones to produce the cancellation effect. They should work in any device which is able to properly process the signal from the microphones. Like Sony Walkmans but you could build your own if you are into that sort of thing.