The Momentum on-ear deserve to be in this guide as well IMO! Here's by short impression though:
The build quality itself is very impressive. The luxury touch you get! <3 but the cable is slightly on the thin side. As for sound, I find them pretty clear with quite a lot of emphasis on bass although not more than Philips X1. It's bass somewhat reminds me of the UE4000; well controlled and tight. Mids on the Momentum On-Ear is very warm. It's too warm for some of the tracks that it produce slight muddy sound to it. I can also hear that at some point of the mids, it's slightly recessed making some of the instruments to fall behind the music and I think it's the only one out of two weak point of this headphone. The other downside which I could think of would be the soundstage, I feel like I am in a rather small room with the artist and all the instruments playing right in front of me. It may not be the most detailed headphone at it's price range but I do find it decently detailed. When I read some others' impressions, I though the resolution will be a lottttttt more worse than the original Momentum but I find it great for it's price! Lastly, as usual; like all Sennheiser's headphones, the highs is on the dark side.
All in all, I love how it sound for the price except for the soundstage and recessed mids (somewhere mids, can't tell which part is it
) . I also find this headphone to be great for those whose looking for a lil bit of more bass presence in a portable package. Best genre for this headphone would be Hip hop, rap, pop, EDM.
The rig I use for this review / comparison (below: based on memory)
iPhone 4 -> LOD -> FiiO E07K
vs AKG K550
I am not sure of it's obvious but I love this AKG K550 to death except for the rather thin sound to my ears. The K550 wins in soundstage, detail, imaging and instrumental separation, more neutral and it's brighter. The momentum on-ear on the other hand sound much more bassy, warmer, darker. In short, they are both completely different animal, everything you found on K550, will not be found on Momentum on-ear and vice versa.
vs UE6000
In terms of sound signature, I find both share the very similar thing! While UE6000 will have better details, soundstage and instrumental separation, the Momentum On-Ear have much better resolution to my ears. The UE6000 have almost no upper mids, making vocals sound rather artificial which I don't find it on Momentum On-ear. For comfort and ANC, I will stick with UE6000 as for sound quality and more color choice, I would prefer/recommend you to stick with Momentum.
On the side note, I prefer this better than the X1... I am not impressed by X1 except for their big bass, yet airy sound and very comfortable. Other than that, I am not a fan of it's recessed mids, to my ears, it's even more than the Momentum on-ear. The bass tend to "melt" into other frequency (or is it the stock cable issue?). I also tested Beats Exclusive, but it's driver have bitten the dust. ANC is pretty impressive though but the comfort... *deep breathe*
IMO
Billson