Sony MDR-NC31EM No longer working as headphones, just mic

[AvkommaN]

Tried with support but they couldn't replicate the issue, whenever I plug my MDR-NC31EM headphones in my phone it thinks it's a mic so no sound is played through them, at first I thought it was just the headphones themselves so I ordered a new pair but the new ones act just the same way, I don't believe it's a hardware problem since all other headphones I've tried work like they should, the problem also did occur at the same time as I updated to 4.4.4 so I'm wondering if it's a bug or something, does anybody else have the same issue?

I did a software repair as adviced by the support at Sony but that didn't work, I don't know what to do, now I'm here with 100 bucks worth of headphones I can't use!

[Aknetster]

Hello !

It happend to me too, after checking I think it would be probably a jack issue; because when I press on the headphones connector it switches from mic detected to noise cancelling but the sound works on one earphone only, and when I try to move it a little bit either to the left or the right, the sound works on both of them.

Try that and see what happens.

Best regards.

[SamsonT]

So... Ya this is also my problem. My NC headset is reconginzed as a MIc.... 
Any ETA for 5.0?

Thanks

[MRGC]

Just updated 5.0 lollipop. Seams to have fixed the problem

[kadaj]

Hello please help me,

I recently bought the noise canceling earphone and it was great suddenly right earphone is not working, please advise for this one

Mdr-nc31e

[jayj1405]

Looks like Sony support forums will Delete any post that criticise them, so as nicely as possible, I still have this problem after updating, any ideas

[Rickard]

Sorry to hear that you still have issues after the update 

In case you should still notice issues with the headset after updating to Android 5.0 you need to contact a service location to have the headset/phone checked and fixed. For more information about how to submit your phone and headset for repair and where, please contact your local support team.

[amazingZ2]

Hi everyone, I've had the same problem when I downgraded to from lollipop to kitkat. Because lolipop update was one **bleep** of buggy and my battery life suddenly dropped to extreme low. Anyhow, for this problem the key is not in smart connect. I verified it. So when you connect the headphones you see the mic icon in notification area. I presume you're on kitkat. Long press that mic notification. You'll get a small pop-up saying app info. Click that. You'll be taken to app info of an application named Audio Settings. This is the culprit. Be sure to remove the headphones first. Then force stop it. After that click clear cache. Now restart from that point itself without messing around. Plug your earphone once your device comes back. Everything'll be fine. Enjoy...

[Yannis07]

I experience, exactly the same issue. It happened immediately after the update. The sony headphones work in other devices but not recognized by z2. Only as mic. What should i do? 

[streamcap]

I had the same issue.
I fixed it by clearing the data from the Smart Connect app.
To do this, unplug your headphones, go to Settings and select Apps. Swipe until you see "All apps". Find Smart Connect in the list and tap it. tap "clear data" and "clear cache". Finally click "force close" and reconnect your headphones.

[streamcap]

Hmm... Scratch that. The problem returned and now no fix helps. I'll try to reset the device and will report back.