Sony Noise Cancelling ear phones that came with the Vaio Z...

I am confused, the noise cancelling ear phone that came with the vaio Z sounds amazing WHEN plugged into the sony Vaio Z. (the earphones feel uncomfortable btw)

However, when I use it in my iPod, the music sounds funny.

 

I remember reading (here) that they only work properly in the Z. From what I recall, they use some of the Z's hardware to make the noise canceling work.

 

That, and the plug has 2 more connections on it that a standard 3.5" jack does. This means that the tollerances for the standard 2 contacts is severely restricted, making it unlikely to get a good connection on another system.

As a note, however, the reverse is NOT true. You CAN plug any 3.5" headphone jack into the Z; you just wont' get any noise reduction.

 

I have used the Sony headphones that came with my Z with both my iPod (older generation though) and my Kindle. They work just fine. No funny sound.

 

They have to be plugged in all the way, if they slip out a little bit they sound distorted. If they are in all the way they dont' sound funny.

 

the earplugs flawlessly work with ipod gen 5.5

not with ipod touch, iphone 3gs.

 

Could it be because the iphone/touch plugs are combined mic phone plugs and thus the mic connector interferes with the audio.

 

It's weird, I've tried the headphones in the Z, and I made sure to enable noise-cancellation (as well as different slider positions) but I couldn't feel any effect from the noise-cancelling. :\

Isn't it supposed to be quite noticeable?

 

Is there any noise to cancel?

These things are geared towards constant sounds like engines and wind etc. They don't work well for pulse sounds like drums. As I test, turn on the faucet or a fan. You should really be able to notice that.

 

I see, thanks.

I was testing it by having a youtube video play on my desktop.

 

I have a very noisy room A/C and the noise cancelling is very noticeable. The rubber earbuds don't form a tight seal and allows ambient noise to seep in.

 

The effect is quite noticeable.

I have noticed that sometimes when I plug in the headphones, I have to unplug/plug them in again before the noise canceling kicks in.
You might try that.

 

I have an iPod touch and the ear phone is plugged alll the way in,

 

These headphones are only designed to provide the noise canceling function on the Vaio Z. If you notice the connector on these headphones is non-standard, it's got 4 connections on it.

Most noise canceling phones have a battery in there and some kind of processing to provide the noise canceling function. On these all that is handled inside the laptop. That's why it is so integrally tied to it and that's why so many connections on that plug.

It may be possible to find other Sony products that are designed to work with these headphones (now or in the future). But I doubt that any non Sony ones would.

 

Letting ambient noise in is ok. It's the passive noise reduction earphones work by physically blocking out all external sounds. These are not that type of headphone.

This type of headphone is considered to be 'active'. It allows outside sounds in but at the same time cancels them out be re-generating those signals but 180 degrees out of phase. That's why the microphones are built into them (to detect the sounds reaching your ears).

I have both types and I can say that both had advantages and disadvantages. The passive ones are nice because:
1. Less total sound is reaching your ears.
2. No artifacts are being artificially introduced.
3. All external sounds are blocked. Not only the ones that the processor happens to be able to handle.

The active ones are nice because:
1. They are a lot more comfortable to wear.
2. Selective blocking can occur which can be nice for blocking certain frequencies like say jet motors and rumble while at the same time allowing you to hear what people are saying around you.

 

Does anybody have a partnumber of the Vaio-Z's noise cancelling earphones? Or does anybody know where they can be ordered?

They didn't come with my preconfigured Vaio-Z and I couldn't find them in the accesories list on SonyStyle.

I do want them though.

 

I would call Sony and tell them that they didn't come with your Z. Did you order from Sony directly? They should have been included...

 

here you go:



you can select that when you configure your laptop through sonystyle. maybe you can get some single from sonystyle.
there are other noise reduction in-ears in the headphone category of the sonystyle store, but they are more than double the price in NL, in germany they cost 59€, dunno why there is such a price diff.

here in the EU they cost additional 30€

 

Bummer.

 

I've plugged my iphone 3GS headset (speakers+mic) in the earphone connector of my Vaio Z12 and both speakers + mic functions worked fine.

 

I bought a preconfigured model so I didn't order the Vaio at SonyStyle.

Apparently this preconfiguration (VPCZ12Z9E) does not come with noise cancelling earplugs, since the box was sealed. Strange since it is the maxed out i7, quad raid, FHD config.

I know of the SonyStyle configuration site in the screenshot, however no model/partnumber is specified and I can't find the earplugs in the accesories section. And although I would like to have those puppies, I don't think I'll be ordering another Vaio-Z to obtain those plugs

I'll call Sony tommorrow.

 

I have a theory. Since these plugs aren't standalone noise cancelling phones, they look exactly like my $100 Sony NC earplugs except they are missing the controller box. I think all they are is a pair of plugs with microphones on the side. The Z is what does the NC processing. In that case, has anyone just tried a standard set of ear plugs with builtin microphone to see if NC works with that?

 

Which software controls the NC on the Vaio? Or can't you configure it?

 

yah, i noticed the earphones have 4 connections, i am assuming the 4th connection is the mic?

mine is a preconfig and it came with the earphones. actually all the preconfigs here (VPC Z126, Z127, Z128, and Z129) comes with the ear phones and cloth.

i wish we could order a CTO here, there were a few things i didn't really need.

anyways, i was browsing through the sony site in the USA and europe (pre config and CTO), i do not see a matte screen option as some people claim. its all the premium display aka glossy.

 

What is the exact model of these headphones anyway?

 

I called SonyStyle in The Netherlands and they were unable to help me and tried to sell me €120 headphones.

I bought a preconfigured model (VPCZ12Z9E) and it didn't come with the earbuds so they don't come with all preconfigs.

I searched eBay and just ordered a pair of MDR-NC022 earbuds. Don't know if these are exactly the same as the Vaio Z's (SonyStyle couldn't find a model number of the earbuds), however for $24,99 I don't mind to take a little chance.

Can't wait to make those puppies cancel out the Vaio-Z's fan noise

 

It's part of the realtek driver package. Don't you have a tray icon for noise canceling ? All options are greyed out until you connect the earphones. The driver detects it and enable noise canceling. Theres like a slider bar where you configure how strong is the noise canceling.

 

Nope. I haven't got a trayicon for noise cancelling.

My "Sony" (related) trayicons are:

• Vaio Update
• CD/DVD Drive Power
• Hybrid Graphic switch
• Synaptics Touchpad
• Protector Suite 2009
• Intel Rapid Storage Technology
• Smart Network

I've also haven't got any Realtek related trayicon and haven't got anything related to Realtek in the Start Menu (Windows 7 x64 Professional).

Device Manager does display "Relatek High Definition Audio" as the sound controller though.

 

Thats weird. I have exactly the same tray icons as you do plus the realtek noise canceling one. I think maybe you should reintall the realtek drivers ? Try downloading latest versions from support website Sony eSupport - VPCZ122GX - Software Updates & Drivers

 

I had a Sony Walkman MP3 which did noise cancelling (the NWZ-S736) with the EXACT phones that the new Z comes with today. That was over a year ago now. The model no is MDR-NC022. Note that these phones do NOT work with any other devices except those made by Sony which support NC. That little bump on the jack prevents the NC022 from fitting into the sockets of other incompatible devices. The NC devices however do allow for the use of everyday headphones.

The mics on the earphones capture sound from the surroundings, sending that data back to a chip in the VAIO which then processes some anti-noise, which is then sent back to the earphones along with whatever sound is suppose to be played back.

@travfar
That will require a firmware hack. There is a chip which processes the anti-noise. You would need to reconfigure the software managing the headphones and laptop mic to get the laptop mic capturing the sounds instead of the earphone mics.

@Cusem
I know it is theoretically possible to configure how much noise the headphones cancel out on the S736, but not too sure with the VPC-Z. Though it is possible, theoretically.

 

Thanks! Site does mention the driver only being for US/Canada based models. Mine is EU. I downloaded the same driver from the EU Sony site (same version). Package differs in size 1MB though. If the EU driver update doesn't work, I'll try your link.

Great! Nice to know I didn't waste $25.

 

I am also aware of the MDR-NC023, which only come with the now superseded NWZ-X1000 series Walkmans. They have the exact same connectors and physical shapes (including the jack) just different model numbers.

The MDR-NC022 also came in two colours. I originally had a black one which I was forced to replace under warranty with a silver one (the rubber edging around the perimeter of the metal driver-casings fell off and got stuck in my ear canal; a relative of mine had a tweezer on her and I got it out that way...)

 

I bought the MDR-NC022 headpones for my z-11 and my headphone jack doesn't have a notch in it to accept the male connector.

I physically removed the notch on the side of the headphones,plugged it in, and one side of the headphones does the noise reduction, so I'm positive I've got the NR chip in my laptop. Wasted 20 bucks though

Am I missing something here? Does everyone else's z have a notch in the headphone jack to accept these weird headphones? Did I get the wrong pair?

If anyone can take the time to photo the male and female headphone jacks, that would be helpful too.

 

@fourfournine
I hope you are talking about the VPC-Z11 (not the VGN-Z11).

Also, don't all VPC-Z come with noise cancelling? Which is why I'm curious as to why your machine doesn't have the 'notch'. Well, if it seems to be doing noise cancelling on one side, it means it's working somewhat. Try installing the Realtek Audio driver from a VPC-Z model you KNOW comes with noise cancelling from the factory.

 

Yep, I have the newer VPC.

My port looks identical to this one. Perfectly round, with no notches to fit that weird plug into. THe headphones I ordered have a male connector like the one shown here.

I installed the official vpc z11/z12 realtek driver, and it's working great. Like I said, even turing on the noise canceling works for the one still-connected ear, there's just no way I can shove in that proprietary plug unmolested.

Does your headphone port look like the second picture?

 

Actually I have the VGN-Z (which of course doesn't have NC features).
That said, I have owned the Sony NWZ-S736F MP3 player which has NC and used the same earphones that the VPC-Z come with.

Living in New Zealand, where there are only 2x variants of the VPC-Z (2x variants per refresh), I have yet to see a VPC-Z that does NOT have the male connector bump on the ear jack; all the VPC-Zs here come with noise cancelling and the appropriate NC earphones from factory.

Which brings me to ask you this question...
Was your VPC-Z advertised to have noise cancelling? The fact that it partially works at the moment is, unfortunately, irrelevant; I believe that Sony ships all VPC-Zs with the same sound board regardless of them being advertised of having NC or not; they just change the earphone jack as required. But yeah, your case is strange... I have never seen (or even heard of for that matter) a VPC-Z that doesn't have NC...

 

Mine is a VPC-Z11DGX-SJ, manufactured March 2010. Every early review shows the same round, notchless plug just like mine, so I think you're right: unless it specifically came with the (I'm guessing optional?) PC earbuds, then they don't include the proprietary plug.

The noise canceling hardware is certainly onboard though...I bet if I were able to source out the newer plug I could solder it to the mainboard and it would work just fine..

Ahh whatever, I don't even care that much. My passive earbuds work great anyway.

 

did you solve your problem ?
i just bought a VPCZ1390X and they came with the same headphones, they have a notch and wont fit in

regards
SMAA