Sony has announced an upgrade to the MDR-NC50 noise cancelling headphones, with the MDR-NC60. The NC50 launched in Dec 2004 had a noise cancelling ratio of 1/5 whereas the NC60 has a ratio of 1/6. It has a built in microphone using which it analyzes the ambient noise and sends out equal-but-opposite canceling signals to the headphone driver thus blocking outside noise. It provides a noise reduction of 16.5 dB at 200 Hz when mute the mic can be used to monitor surrounding sound without removing the headphones. The MDR-NC60 is very comfortable thanks to a new soft material. It has a playback frequency of 14Hz - 24kHz, impedance of 40 Ω and sensitivity of 102dB/mW. It is powered by 4 x AAA batteries which provide 30 hours of noise cancellation.

The Sony MDR-NC60 weighs 230 grams and comes with a 50cm cord, 1.5 m long extension wire and plug adapter for aircraft. It will go on sale in Japan by March 10 for 24,675 Yen ($ 200).