The world is an extremely noisy place, full of chattering teenagers, screaming babies and big cars revving engines. If you can't cope with that aural assault, you'll need a pair of sound-cancelling earphones.
The Sony MDR-NC100D earphones have an unusual design and do a good job of actively filtering out ambient noise. Sadly, their sound quality doesn't match their noise-cancelling skills.
Active noise cancelling works well; Light and sturdy earpieces; unusual yet attractive design.
Unimpressive sound quality; Bass response suffers when the battery runs out; battery holder may prove awkward.