My mistake. I'll go in and fix that. won't change the overall score though.
Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
julian67
The steel headband: yes, a stainless steel band is flexible. It's an ideal material when you want longevity and flexibility and a nice finish. Does anyone make a headphone with a totally rigid headband?? How would it be expected to fit different head widths, heights and wearing positions?
Leather is from the stone age? Only Fred Flintstone wears leather glover, shoes, jackets? Personally I would usually be satisfied with velour or pleather pads and headband padding but leather is a really good material: it's extremely durable, it's very supple and soft, it doesn't provoke allergic reactions, it's much more comfortable in hot climates than synthetics. I bought my Momentums after trying (buying then returning) a cheaper pair of Sennheisers with pleather pads which on a hot day made my ears sweat like they were in dual ear saunas. eeuurgh.
The cables: I don't know what the problem is. I've had my Momentums 11 months. The cables are not perfect but are nicely made of good materials and they don't tangle. I would prefer a less secure fit (simple plug-in instead of bayonet fit) as I prefer a loss of sound and a moment's inconvenience to the headphones being pulled off or cable getting tugged hard. A month or two ago I replaced the plain cable with an aftermarket cable with full Samsung compatible smartphone controls. It cost about £10 i.e. not a lot. I never had a problem with the originals except the lack of Android compatibility.
As for sound quality, well to some extent that is a matter of taste and perception, and each to his own.
Value for money: here I have some sympathy with your opinion. I think the full retail price is eye watering. I bought mine used from a fellow head-fier and did state in my review that I would not be prepared to pay the full retail price. However I would class the Momentums as expensive but not a rip off. The reason is that you do get a very nicely made product that sounds great. You can certainly get better headphones for less money but it is very, very hard to find better closed headphones for less money, and more especially closed headphones which are as well made of such good materials.
btw amazon.co.uk has recently been promoting Momentums at very heavily discounted price, so it looks like they are heading for end-of-line/discontinued status here, and finally the retail price looks a bit more reasonable.
I'm really puzzled that you find your Momentums to be "badly built". I find mine to be one the nicest made products I own, of any category. I can find numerous faults with most stuff I buy and use long-term but with the Momentums I have to say the choice of materials and construction is beyond criticism. I think it's a shame you feel ripped off. I wonder if you bought fakes? They are extremely common. 5 minutes on ali baba will show you these fakes are available for about $80 wholesale and many ebay sellers offer these as genuine items
Leather is from the stone age? Only Fred Flintstone wears leather glover, shoes, jackets? Personally I would usually be satisfied with velour or pleather pads and headband padding but leather is a really good material: it's extremely durable, it's very supple and soft, it doesn't provoke allergic reactions, it's much more comfortable in hot climates than synthetics. I bought my Momentums after trying (buying then returning) a cheaper pair of Sennheisers with pleather pads which on a hot day made my ears sweat like they were in dual ear saunas. eeuurgh.
The cables: I don't know what the problem is. I've had my Momentums 11 months. The cables are not perfect but are nicely made of good materials and they don't tangle. I would prefer a less secure fit (simple plug-in instead of bayonet fit) as I prefer a loss of sound and a moment's inconvenience to the headphones being pulled off or cable getting tugged hard. A month or two ago I replaced the plain cable with an aftermarket cable with full Samsung compatible smartphone controls. It cost about £10 i.e. not a lot. I never had a problem with the originals except the lack of Android compatibility.
As for sound quality, well to some extent that is a matter of taste and perception, and each to his own.
Value for money: here I have some sympathy with your opinion. I think the full retail price is eye watering. I bought mine used from a fellow head-fier and did state in my review that I would not be prepared to pay the full retail price. However I would class the Momentums as expensive but not a rip off. The reason is that you do get a very nicely made product that sounds great. You can certainly get better headphones for less money but it is very, very hard to find better closed headphones for less money, and more especially closed headphones which are as well made of such good materials.
btw amazon.co.uk has recently been promoting Momentums at very heavily discounted price, so it looks like they are heading for end-of-line/discontinued status here, and finally the retail price looks a bit more reasonable.
I'm really puzzled that you find your Momentums to be "badly built". I find mine to be one the nicest made products I own, of any category. I can find numerous faults with most stuff I buy and use long-term but with the Momentums I have to say the choice of materials and construction is beyond criticism. I think it's a shame you feel ripped off. I wonder if you bought fakes? They are extremely common. 5 minutes on ali baba will show you these fakes are available for about $80 wholesale and many ebay sellers offer these as genuine items
Hifi Man
The cables have broken for me. I don't do anything weird to them, I just use the headphones every day. This is simply talking about my experience, and my experience is that they're terrible. They feel cheap too. I got mine from amazon and I'm pretty sure they're not fake. They came with the case, the pamphlet, the carrying case, the extra cables. It was all there.
As for the leather design. I always got the impression that leather was very susceptible to wear. I had a leather jacket when I was younger and you couldn't toss it in a pile, it would tear and I had to get it fixed, I was always told they are vulnerable to rain, so you can't even wear them in bad weather. It's a matter of my preference. I prefer utilitarian designs.
When I talk about the headband, I think about other brands that have a much more sturdy looking design like the v-moda. I know that no design is completely ridged, but they feel weak. It's just a strip of steel that's been fastened to some parts. It's too minimal in it's design and I feel like it subtracts from how I feel about the headphones over all. I want something more badass!
As for the leather design. I always got the impression that leather was very susceptible to wear. I had a leather jacket when I was younger and you couldn't toss it in a pile, it would tear and I had to get it fixed, I was always told they are vulnerable to rain, so you can't even wear them in bad weather. It's a matter of my preference. I prefer utilitarian designs.
When I talk about the headband, I think about other brands that have a much more sturdy looking design like the v-moda. I know that no design is completely ridged, but they feel weak. It's just a strip of steel that's been fastened to some parts. It's too minimal in it's design and I feel like it subtracts from how I feel about the headphones over all. I want something more badass!
Hifi Man
and when I say it bends, I mean I can bend it into positions that you have to unbend it from. It isn't ridged and it flexes, but I'm not talking about flexing, I'm talking about bending.
julian67
"when I say it bends, I mean I can bend it into positions that you have to unbend it from."
"They feel cheap too. "
"they feel weak. It's just a strip of steel that's been fastened to some parts."
That sounds like a piece of aluminium, not steel. I have my Momentums here now and short of applying really alarming brute force it simply isn't possible to put the headband in a position from which it doesn't spring back to as new.
I suspect more and more that these may not be genuine. The best and surest way to check is to contact Sennheiser, but here is a quick way to determine if they are fakes: remove the right hand leather pad and check that there is a small white label with a printed number affixed to the right earphone. If not then the item is definitely not genuine. If there is such a label, well maybe some counterfeiters pay more attention to detail than others, but I would tend to think those are the real thing.
"They feel cheap too. "
"they feel weak. It's just a strip of steel that's been fastened to some parts."
That sounds like a piece of aluminium, not steel. I have my Momentums here now and short of applying really alarming brute force it simply isn't possible to put the headband in a position from which it doesn't spring back to as new.
I suspect more and more that these may not be genuine. The best and surest way to check is to contact Sennheiser, but here is a quick way to determine if they are fakes: remove the right hand leather pad and check that there is a small white label with a printed number affixed to the right earphone. If not then the item is definitely not genuine. If there is such a label, well maybe some counterfeiters pay more attention to detail than others, but I would tend to think those are the real thing.
Hifi Man
http://i.imgur.com/HBj2vDb.jpg
This might be reassuring that they're real. If you have any more idea I will be willing to test them. I'm pretty sure these are real though.
This might be reassuring that they're real. If you have any more idea I will be willing to test them. I'm pretty sure these are real though.
Hifi Man
Eh, I dunno. I would definitely like to do some more tests. That head band is just very easy to bend. About as easy to bend as a metal spoon.
how open back can be compared with closed back??