Just got the 1-RNC last night. I only had a couple of hours to play around with them, so these are just initial impressions:
- Comfort: these are incredibly comfortable cans, I can easily imagine where these for hours on international flights. They migh be the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn.
- Looks: they're beautiful. Even my wife likes them. They are plastic, but they still feel very high-quality and very well built.
- Noise canceling: Quite good. I'm comparing it chiefly to other Sony noise canceling systems, but I'm impressed. It blocks most ambient noise, even on highly traffic city streets. The one category of sound that tends to get through is conversation. People's voices are definately quieter, but you can hear them if you turn the music down. Again, i think these will be ideal on a plane.
- Sound: with NC off, the bass is actually a little muddy and almost overwhelming of the mids and highs. But once you turn NC (and by extension the built in amp) on, things really tighten up nicely. This is in no way a bass head set, but the bass is strong and clear. What was most interesting to me is that with NC on the kids really come out and there's a lot more sparkle on the top end. The sound actually becomes quite natural and sweet sounding. It should be familiar to anyone who has spent time with the upper end of Sony's headphone range.
So, all-in-all, after one night I am very verry satisfied. The first test of them on a plane comes next week, but right now I'm expecting them to perform beautifully.