[jetpacksam]

Granted, they can't be as dynamic as the 846,, few are {Holy crap, an ANC 846, drool}.
The sound stage is a bit tricky here.While the 846 obviously can't be as wide, the Aonic50's are not as defined and nuanced as the 846, but over all
It's a twin in terms of signature. Cannot comment on genres other than rock and a little hip hop, not much grey area there.for me.
Geoff Tate's vocals on Queensryche's "Anybody Listening?" are crisp clean precise, just not as defined as the 846, but to my ears, it's really close.
Holy crap these are good.

 

[jetpacksam]

A mix of precision, clarity, and wow factor, id est, not tiny sound, powerful, enjoyable.

I posted my headphones search history in the AONIC 50 and 215 thread. I tried to love the Momentum 3 because of their sound. But I couldn't stand with ergonomics. Not having tried the io6, as I have read they could lack a little of loudness and maybe bass, and they seem to be in the down side in ANC performance.

So I'm praying the AONIC 50 to be The Headphones.

I would say these will not disappoint you.

'Hold On' from '90125' is dense layered yet not muddy. great clarity. I just started laughing at how great these are.

'...And Justice For All', my fave Metallica record, HOLY....I may need to have private time.

After approx 4 hours use with 10 hours or so stand by, battery now at 78%, most of that non-anc.

Edit:
Xanadu...OH. My.

 

[Roberk]

Sorry. Message repeated

 

[DecentHeadphoneGuy]

So I really love these headphones. But after an hour or so my ears get a bit warm and I start sweating a little. Obviously that happens with most headphones but I want to limit the heat. Was thinking of looking into hybrid ear pads that give me better breathability, but doesn’t reduce the sound quality or bass, or doesn’t increase the amount of sound leakage. Any suggestions?

Also, not sure if anyone has this problem, but some of my flac files sound a bit odd on the Shure Play app. It sounds like some of my flac files only produce sound on one side of my headphone. Not sure why....because when I play them on other apps they sound fine. Anyone ran into this issue?

 

[jetpacksam]

OK, after a week:

the first 3 times I went out with them, I didn't have the NC on, and didn't even know it.
These Iso very well on their own, sound quality remains excellent.

So I really love these headphones. But after an hour or so my ears get a bit warm and I start sweating a little. Obviously that happens with most headphones but I want to limit the heat. Was thinking of looking into hybrid ear pads that give me better breathability, but doesn’t reduce the sound quality or bass, or doesn’t increase the amount of sound leakage. Any suggestions?

Also, not sure if anyone has this problem, but some of my flac files sound a bit odd on the Shure Play app. It sounds like some of my flac files only produce sound on one side of my headphone. Not sure why....because when I play them on other apps they sound fine. Anyone ran into this issue?

Regarding#1:
Haven't had an issue unless I was moving about.

Regarding #2
I have heard no distortion, but I'm using PlayerPro., the only thing you have to use the Play app for is the ACN settings.

 

[hotjava13]

I just received a brown pair today to compare with Senn M3, started with some Metallica and Ray Brown from iPhone and Fiio M11 pro ... with the anc on I can hear a faint hiss when playing jazz. Ears do get a bit warm after an hour or so on the A50 and it’s quite cool in Michigan.
Jetpacksam, in your opinion did these cans get better with breakin?

 

[Roberk]

I just received a brown pair today to compare with Senn M3, started with some Metallica and Ray Brown from iPhone and Fiio M11 pro ... with the anc on I can hear a faint hiss when playing jazz. Ears do get a bit warm after an hour or so on the A50 and it’s quite cool in Michigan.
Jetpacksam, in your opinion did these cans get better with breakin?

Waiting for these impressions and comparison. I hope the AONIC 50 to improve in ANC performance and at least match in musicality the Momentum 3.

 

[angelom]

Yesterday I receiving the shure aonic 50 (sa50) but only today I having the time for trying one hour. I didn't wanting waiting for later because I want today speaking only about the sound.

I trying in the past many (anc) wireless headphones, for example sennheiser momentum 1 and 3, dali io6, sony 1000xm1 and 3, b&o h8, h9, h9i, h9 3rd gen, master & dynamic mw65, b&w px, px7 and p7 wireless,

Only for the sound the shure aonic 50 is the best of everything in my opinion. In the past my favourite with or without anc is always (for 3,5 years) the p7 wireless (no anc) and the second is momentum 3 (with anc). This is first time in 3,5 years I hearing better sound in wireless headphone and this is in the sa50. This is in my opinion the real most close to a correct flat/neutral sound, is the most close with the good sound produced in real life.

I will commenting in next days other aspects like anc, ambient sound, eq in the shure app, the design and buttons, the construction and comfort.

I'm really very happy surprised for the sound.

One comment is that right now I have only b&w p7 wirelsss and sony xm3. I selling momentum 3 before because the sony is having much best anc than sennheiser.

Edit: I forgetting I also having in the past bose qc30, qc35, qc35II and nc700

 

[sfalexi]

Yesterday I receiving the shure aonic 50 (sa50) but only today I having the time for trying one hour. I didn't wanting waiting for later because I want today speaking only about the sound.

One comment is that right now I have only b&w p7 wirelsss and sony xm3. I selling momentum 3 before because the sony is having much best anc than sennheiser.

My Shure Aonic 50 is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, and I'm currently wearing Momentum 3's as I type this. I've also owned Sony WH1000Xm3 and Bose QC35ii in the past, as well has currently have in my possession a PX7 and H9i, both of which I'll DEFINITELY be returning.

MY intended purposes are likely different than many on this forum. I want good ANC headphones mostly for video media consumption as opposed to music... watching TV/movies and, and playing video games. So I want accuracy, I don't mind a little bit of "exciting" to make movies and gaming fun, but I prioritize clarity and soundstage over accuracy/perfectly flat response.

I like separation and clarity of details; footsteps in games, background sounds in movies, that sorta thing. For example, I was listening to an episode of Sopranos a week or two ago, and it was in a restaurant, and the sound was AMAZING as I heard clinking of glasses and silverware from the other customers and it made it much more immersive cause it sounded like there customers at tables far away from me, not right next to my ear. The sound engineers for that show were pretty freakin' good!

And very low latency - which is why I got rid of the WH1000xm3 and QC35... watching my TV was basically a ticking time bomb till I went crazy from audio/video sync if I wasn't using Aptx Low Latency. Once I figured out how to get the aptx-ll codec to be selected by my transmitter with the Momentum 3, I felt SO much better. I really do like these headphones, despite a few features that I wish the app had.

I also don't need a LOT of ANC. I use them only at home, and the ANC is used just to keep my AC, or refridgerator, or my neighbor who goes outside to talk on his phone and smoke a few times a day from distracting me while watching TV.



I'll post my thoughts as well maybe a day or two.

Alexi

 

[angelom]

MY intended purposes are likely different than many on this forum. I want good ANC headphones mostly for video media consumption as opposed to music... watching TV/movies and, and playing video games. So I want accuracy, I don't mind a little bit of "exciting" to make movies and gaming fun, but I prioritize clarity and soundstage over accuracy/perfectly flat response.

I like separation and clarity of details; footsteps in games, background sounds in movies, that sorta thing. For example, I was listening to an episode of Sopranos a week or two ago, and it was in a restaurant, and the sound was AMAZING as I heard clinking of glasses and silverware from the other customers and it made it much more immersive cause it sounded like there customers at tables far away from me, not right next to my ear. The sound engineers for that show were pretty freakin' good!

Hello Alexi. Your post is very interesting.

I'm listening now 3 hours approximately, only music no films or tv, but I want telling you this: Is very probable you will having no problems with latency because you know the codecs sa50 is have.

But about separation, clarity and accuracy, I can saying 100% sa50 is better than momentum 3 in this aspects. The frequency response of sa50 is already give you this aspects and I can hearing this easily. But the soundstage is interesting aspect because with (little) bass boost that is common in many headphones like momentum 3 you having more big soundstage and is more immersive experience (and more exciting) but isn't accurate, and is masking some details and accuracy sometimes. I'm sure you will hearing this.

If you want mastering with accuracy WITH a wireless headphone, I can't thinking of better headphone than shure sa50. The part of the spectrum from the mids to the treble is really fantastic, there isn't spikes or dippings that produce wrong sound in this frequencies. Obtaining good treble in a headphone is extremely difficult (not only in wireless!) and shure is doing a superb job in the frequency response of this new headphone.

I think too that the people that liking momentum 3 very much maybe will not happy completely with sa50 because the bass is clearly less, but is definitely more accurate, clean and precise and is never interfering with mids.

 

[jetpacksam]

I just received a brown pair today to compare with Senn M3, started with some Metallica and Ray Brown from iPhone and Fiio M11 pro ... with the anc on I can hear a faint hiss when playing jazz. Ears do get a bit warm after an hour or so on the A50 and it’s quite cool in Michigan.
Jetpacksam, in your opinion did these cans get better with breakin?

Actually had to exchange the pair, 2nd time I took them out the ANC, in the left ear cup rattled badly,.though it was ok in passive and environmental mode. Just got the replacement pair back Sat. I would say I had about 30 hours on the 1st pair, and the sound signature was unchanged, but 30 hours is probably not long enough for a change to happen.

Going to put them on a player, wired, and let them cook for a bit.

 

[sfalexi]

SENNHEISER MOMENTUM 3 vs SHURE AONIC 50​

I consider myself an average person with needs for sound, but I’m a professional musician (clarinetist), so I feel that I CAN be critical of sound sometimes. I don’t listen to music often, but it’s typically not pop music, it's more classical, chamber, or jazz (various styles and eras of jazz). I prefer clarity (I HATE muddy sounds) and am not terribly sensitive to sibilance since my playing naturally LIVES in that high frequency world. And if/when I have free time, I’m watching movies (I own about 500 dvds/blurays!) or playing video games (first person shooters, single or multiplayer… or anything epicly awesome like The Witcher 3…. Seriously… buy and play Witcher 3 if you haven’t yet… it’s story, gameplay, AND it’s music and sound in general is AMAZING!!!!)

TL;DR 1 – I prefer and will be keeping the Momentum 3 for it’s more “fun” sound (I use my headphones for entertainment), wider soundstage (to me feels more ‘immersive’ when watching movies and playing games), and better implementation of multi-point pairing (from my limited testing). Also, keep in mind that the Momentum 3 has an equalizer with presets you can save (a very wierd way of implementing one, but it's there) that is saved to the HEADPHONES. This means I can tune the headphones on my phone while listening to it, and then connect it to a totally different device (not my phone at all), and get that same custom equalizer applied to the sound. The A50 has an equalizer that only changes the sound while you're listening to music through the app on your phone.

TL;DR 2 – Both are really good headphones, and if you’re interested in more critical listening out of the box or are afraid of battery life/want to listen with headphones unpowered, get the Aonic 50. I was looking to replicate a "movie theater" experience at home with headphones. And the tuning and soundstage of the Sennheiser seems better for that.



I’ll put my details below, it was a fun little test.

NOTE: I only spent maybe two hours going back and forth with A/B tests. But it was enough for me to make my determination. As in, play one minute of a song or section of a movie, or other thing I would normally listen to, rewind, and put the other headphones on. I tested them both in wired mode using the same cable (both use a 2.5mm input) so I just unplugged one set and plugged in the other to minimize variables. I also tested the ANC without music against varied normal noises in my apartment to see how well they worked JUST as a concept, without any music or videos being piped in. Lastly, I tested them in Bluetooth mode to see how quickly they found and how securely they stayed connected to devices, and test their multipoint pairing for scenarios I would normally use.

Pros and Cons (mostly as compared to each other), in various scenarios​

COMFORT – TIE

They both have something the other doesn’t have. But I think both are suitable for long-term wearing.

M3 – Comfortable. The headband and clamping force might be a LITTLE much for some. The headphone band takes some fiddling to get in the right spot to annoy a hot spot. But the earpads are nice and plush, and DEEP. My ears (I think they’re average, don’t stick out too much, aren’t flat against my head) don’t seem to touch or feel the speakers.​

A50 – Comfortable. The headband and earpads are very comfortable, but my ears touched and stayed touching the cloth over the speaker. Similar to the Sony WH1000xm3. I doubt this would be an issue for many, but for me, it was a little annoying. Although I’m sure I would forget about it or adjust to it after a while.​

MUSIC IN PURE PASSIVE MODE (power off on both headphones) – Winner, A50.​

It wasn’t even close. The M3 NEEDS power to sound good. It’s not HORRIBLE without power (Sony WH1000xm3, I'm looking at you...), but the A50 is MILES ahead. The A50 sounds really good without power. The M3 is lacking without it. But it DOES work well enough that you can use it in an emergency until you can charge it again.

MUSIC WHILE POWERED, NO ANC – Winner, MOMENTUM 3.​

Nothing really to add. Just that I prefer the “fun” sound, and noticeable wider soundstage of the Momentum. I would say, A50 = analytical, M3 = entertaining and still clear. Both good, but my sonic priorities are soundstage and fun for movies/games. M3 serves that better. If my priorities were listening to music, I’d probably go with A50.

ANC PERFORMANCE – Winner, MOMENTUM 3.​

I intend to use them at home. I have no public transportation need to test them, so I tested them against my computer fans if the fans were ramped up, my central air in my apartment, and the kitchen vent if I was cooking, as well as with silence in the apartment.

NO MUSIC

M3 – It works pretty darn well. It’s not as good as Bose or Sony. But it’s good enough for me. At MAX it blocked everything very well. And there was little to no noticeable “hiss” when you turn it on without music.​

A50 – Doesn’t work well. It works, but just not well. Even at MAX, I could still hear my fans on the PC next to me. The M3 made them disappear. Also, you WILL hear that “hiss” when you turn it on (to max).​

PLAYING MUSIC

M3 - Very little difference in sound between powered, and turning on the ANC. Sounds fine.​

A50 – Noticeable difference in sounds. Couldn’t put my fingers on it, but I preferred the subtle change it made WITH ANC. So if I were to keep these, I’d just leave it on the “normal” ANC setting (to avoid hiss) and always leave ANC on.​

BLUETOOTH PERFORMANCE – Winner, MOMENTUM 3 (for ME)​

Yup. A50 has more codecs. But more importantly, what codecs to YOU need? THAT’S what’s important! As much as I loved the convenience of the way the PX7 was setup, it didn’t have a low latency codec and for MY use case, I needed low latency. So for me, I need AAC for my iOS devices, and aptx-LL. Anything past that are just “bonus” codecs.

MOMENTUM 3 Performance

It finds my devices just fine. The aptx-LL works well. The big reason it wins is the application of multipoint pairing. Here’s what happens. I connect to my TV transmitter, and to my ipad. It plays the audio from my TV. I open my ipad, and it stops playing audio from the TV transmitter for the “click” of the ipad, and then resumes the TV when I do nothing else. I play a song on my ipad, and it changes to the ipad. Until I stop the song. Then it changes back. Same situation with my PC audio and TV transmitter. I play a youtube on my computer, it switches to the computer. Youtube video ends, it goes back to TV.

AONIC 50 Performance

It finds my devices just fine. The aptx-LL works well. But the multipoint pairing doesn’t work well (or at least intuitively enough for a dunce like me since I couldn’t figure out how to make it work). I connect to my TV transmitter and to my ipad. It plays audio from my TV. I open my ipad, nothing happens. TV continues playing. I play a song on my ipad, and all of a sudden there’s loud crackling. I leave the audio playing hoping it’ll recognize, but it doesn’t switch. I pause, and EVENTUALLY it goes back to TV. On my PC audio, it never switches from the TV. I can play a youtube on my PC and it doesn’t switch at all. Even though it clearly shows up as connected. FWIW, if I was ONLY connected to the PC, sound plays just fine. So it’s not a codec or Bluetooth issue. Just a “how it handles multipoint” issue.

BATTERY LIFE​

Obviously the A50 is rated higher. FWIW, I woke up yesterday at 0900, put on my Momentum 3s with ANC, and left them powered on and on my head caused I was watching movies all day. Hey! It was my day off! Don’t judge! When I went to bed at midnight, the app said they were at about 10% (the app is not precise, it approximates). Since I use these at home, I could have easily done a quick charge halfway through, or plugged them into a battery bank while on my head for one movie to fully charge them halfway through the day. They’ll be just fine and I won’t need much more.







If you read everything, I both congratulate you for dealing with my long-windedness, and also pity you for having to read my disjointed, haphazardly organized thoughts. Maybe this will help someone down the road.



Thanks all! It was quite a Journey figuring out which company was going to get my stimulus money, but Sennheiser, you have won this round. But years down the road as the battery life lowers to a point where it becomes annoying? Well… we’ll have to see….



Alexi

 

[angelom]

SENNHEISER MOMENTUM 3 vs SHURE AONIC 50​

I consider myself an average person with needs for sound, but I’m a professional musician (clarinetist), so I feel that I CAN be critical of sound sometimes. I don’t listen to music often, but it’s typically not pop music, it's more classical, chamber, or jazz (various styles and eras of jazz). I prefer clarity (I HATE muddy sounds) and am not terribly sensitive to sibilance since my playing naturally LIVES in that high frequency world. And if/when I have free time, I’m watching movies (I own about 500 dvds/blurays!) or playing video games (first person shooters, single or multiplayer… or anything epicly awesome like The Witcher 3…. Seriously… buy and play Witcher 3 if you haven’t yet… it’s story, gameplay, AND it’s music and sound in general is AMAZING!!!!)

TL;DR 1 – I prefer and will be keeping the Momentum 3 for it’s more “fun” sound (I use my headphones for entertainment), wider soundstage (to me feels more ‘immersive’ when watching movies and playing games), and better implementation of multi-point pairing (from my limited testing). Also, keep in mind that the Momentum 3 has an equalizer with presets you can save (a very wierd way of implementing one, but it's there) that is saved to the HEADPHONES. This means I can tune the headphones on my phone while listening to it, and then connect it to a totally different device (not my phone at all), and get that same custom equalizer applied to the sound. The A50 has an equalizer that only changes the sound while you're listening to music through the app on your phone.

TL;DR 2 – Both are really good headphones, and if you’re interested in more critical listening out of the box or are afraid of battery life/want to listen with headphones unpowered, get the Aonic 50. I was looking to replicate a "movie theater" experience at home with headphones. And the tuning and soundstage of the Sennheiser seems better for that.



I’ll put my details below, it was a fun little test.

NOTE: I only spent maybe two hours going back and forth with A/B tests. But it was enough for me to make my determination. As in, play one minute of a song or section of a movie, or other thing I would normally listen to, rewind, and put the other headphones on. I tested them both in wired mode using the same cable (both use a 2.5mm input) so I just unplugged one set and plugged in the other to minimize variables. I also tested the ANC without music against varied normal noises in my apartment to see how well they worked JUST as a concept, without any music or videos being piped in. Lastly, I tested them in Bluetooth mode to see how quickly they found and how securely they stayed connected to devices, and test their multipoint pairing for scenarios I would normally use.

Pros and Cons (mostly as compared to each other), in various scenarios​

COMFORT – TIE

They both have something the other doesn’t have. But I think both are suitable for long-term wearing.

M3 – Comfortable. The headband and clamping force might be a LITTLE much for some. The headphone band takes some fiddling to get in the right spot to annoy a hot spot. But the earpads are nice and plush, and DEEP. My ears (I think they’re average, don’t stick out too much, aren’t flat against my head) don’t seem to touch or feel the speakers.​

A50 – Comfortable. The headband and earpads are very comfortable, but my ears touched and stayed touching the cloth over the speaker. Similar to the Sony WH1000xm3. I doubt this would be an issue for many, but for me, it was a little annoying. Although I’m sure I would forget about it or adjust to it after a while.​

MUSIC IN PURE PASSIVE MODE (power off on both headphones) – Winner, A50.​

It wasn’t even close. The M3 NEEDS power to sound good. It’s not HORRIBLE without power (Sony WH1000xm3, I'm looking at you...), but the A50 is MILES ahead. The A50 sounds really good without power. The M3 is lacking without it. But it DOES work well enough that you can use it in an emergency until you can charge it again.

MUSIC WHILE POWERED, NO ANC – Winner, MOMENTUM 3.​

Nothing really to add. Just that I prefer the “fun” sound, and noticeable wider soundstage of the Momentum. I would say, A50 = analytical, M3 = entertaining and still clear. Both good, but my sonic priorities are soundstage and fun for movies/games. M3 serves that better. If my priorities were listening to music, I’d probably go with A50.

ANC PERFORMANCE – Winner, MOMENTUM 3.​

I intend to use them at home. I have no public transportation need to test them, so I tested them against my computer fans if the fans were ramped up, my central air in my apartment, and the kitchen vent if I was cooking, as well as with silence in the apartment.

NO MUSIC

M3 – It works pretty darn well. It’s not as good as Bose or Sony. But it’s good enough for me. At MAX it blocked everything very well. And there was little to no noticeable “hiss” when you turn it on without music.​

A50 – Doesn’t work well. It works, but just not well. Even at MAX, I could still hear my fans on the PC next to me. The M3 made them disappear. Also, you WILL hear that “hiss” when you turn it on (to max).​

PLAYING MUSIC

M3 - Very little difference in sound between powered, and turning on the ANC. Sounds fine.​

A50 – Noticeable difference in sounds. Couldn’t put my fingers on it, but I preferred the subtle change it made WITH ANC. So if I were to keep these, I’d just leave it on the “normal” ANC setting (to avoid hiss) and always leave ANC on.​

BLUETOOTH PERFORMANCE – Winner, MOMENTUM 3 (for ME)​

Yup. A50 has more codecs. But more importantly, what codecs to YOU need? THAT’S what’s important! As much as I loved the convenience of the way the PX7 was setup, it didn’t have a low latency codec and for MY use case, I needed low latency. So for me, I need AAC for my iOS devices, and aptx-LL. Anything past that are just “bonus” codecs.

MOMENTUM 3 Performance

It finds my devices just fine. The aptx-LL works well. The big reason it wins is the application of multipoint pairing. Here’s what happens. I connect to my TV transmitter, and to my ipad. It plays the audio from my TV. I open my ipad, and it stops playing audio from the TV transmitter for the “click” of the ipad, and then resumes the TV when I do nothing else. I play a song on my ipad, and it changes to the ipad. Until I stop the song. Then it changes back. Same situation with my PC audio and TV transmitter. I play a youtube on my computer, it switches to the computer. Youtube video ends, it goes back to TV.

AONIC 50 Performance

It finds my devices just fine. The aptx-LL works well. But the multipoint pairing doesn’t work well (or at least intuitively enough for a dunce like me since I couldn’t figure out how to make it work). I connect to my TV transmitter and to my ipad. It plays audio from my TV. I open my ipad, nothing happens. TV continues playing. I play a song on my ipad, and all of a sudden there’s loud crackling. I leave the audio playing hoping it’ll recognize, but it doesn’t switch. I pause, and EVENTUALLY it goes back to TV. On my PC audio, it never switches from the TV. I can play a youtube on my PC and it doesn’t switch at all. Even though it clearly shows up as connected. FWIW, if I was ONLY connected to the PC, sound plays just fine. So it’s not a codec or Bluetooth issue. Just a “how it handles multipoint” issue.

BATTERY LIFE​

Obviously the A50 is rated higher. FWIW, I woke up yesterday at 0900, put on my Momentum 3s with ANC, and left them powered on and on my head caused I was watching movies all day. Hey! It was my day off! Don’t judge! When I went to bed at midnight, the app said they were at about 10% (the app is not precise, it approximates). Since I use these at home, I could have easily done a quick charge halfway through, or plugged them into a battery bank while on my head for one movie to fully charge them halfway through the day. They’ll be just fine and I won’t need much more.







If you read everything, I both congratulate you for dealing with my long-windedness, and also pity you for having to read my disjointed, haphazardly organized thoughts. Maybe this will help someone down the road.



Thanks all! It was quite a Journey figuring out which company was going to get my stimulus money, but Sennheiser, you have won this round. But years down the road as the battery life lowers to a point where it becomes annoying? Well… we’ll have to see….



Alexi

Very good post for helping people deciding between 2 excellent headphones.

I'm not finish testing the sa50 but I want commenting some things. Remember I don't having momentum 3 (m3) anymore so I can't comparing directly, but I having m3 maybe 5 months and think I remember very good some aspects.

I testing the anc of the sa50 and from my memory I think is more strong than m3. I remember before I selling my m3 I hearing big difference between m3 and sony xm3, big, big difference, the m3 isn't very good for me, not terrible but not sufficient good. The sony xm3 is better too than sa50 but the difference isn't big like I remember with m3. I use fan in 4 different settings for comparison, noise in the street and the vacuum cleaner. Sony is always best but sa50 always better than momentum 3 (from my memory).

I have last update in sa50, is coming already with last firmware update. I don't hearing big difference with anc on or off, only very very small, maybe little more bass if anc on.

It's very strange you can only using the eq if you play the music from the app and not from the music app of the iPhone. I don't like using eq but the sa50 eq so very good, very professional than sony, and isn't terrible like the toy eq (gimmick is correct word?) of the m3 and the bang & olufsen apps. But it's one more problem with the music app of shure and this is that for scrolling artists, albums or songs is very very small (I have very good and fast iPhone). Shure must correcting this because the eq is excellent quality for the scrolling is very terrible.I experimenting playing some music and to arrive at the letter L or P or W is taking long, long, long time. This is a big problem if you, like I, having many albums and artists in my phone.

The ambient sound of the sa50 is very good because you can in reality changing the level of outside noise you want to hearing. For me this is very useful for my personal case.

One important aspect of the difference between the m3 and sa50 is the volume up/down and play/pause (and next/previous song) buttons. With the m3 is always frustrating for me because I changing volume or the track (next or previous) much frequently (because I listen often big playlists with different volumes in the recordings) and I spending more time looking finding the correct button in m3. With sa50 this is much better, I can fast changing volume, pause, play or clicking next/previous track. But this 2 headphones, and the rest of headphones I testing in the past years, aren't so excellent in this aspect like the b&w p7 wireless, but the sa50 (and qc35/qc35II) isn't far from p7 wireless.

I want speaking more about the sound now. I playing now maybe 9 hours of music, very varied music of much genres. Yesterday I speaking of the fantastic mids and treble and I want insisting about this because good treble is very difficult reproducing correctly in headphones. The cymbals and the snare drums is reproducing in the sa50 very superb! If I put volume up, it's never killing my ears. Other headphones are warm and losing detail, and other headphones having peaks that hurting my ears with cymbals and snare drums, or high violin notes for example. AND never is a problem with sibilance with sa50 but at the same time is never dark or warm sound (big dipping in frequencies). Usually the analytical headphones or earphones having peaks in some place in mids or treble that causing problems for me. Is difficult for the manufacturers avoiding this peaks or the dippings. Shure really doing a big good job here. Dali io6, b&o 3 h9 models and mw65 (more analytical headphones) having bad peaks (px7 have bad peak too) and others having dark or warm sound with big dips (px, xm3, etc).

The reproduction of the female and the male voices is also very very correct, and the pianos too (piano is also percussive instrument). The bass isn't boost and is sufficient fast for complicated passages of music, the instruments are clear and the bass very clean and sufficient in weight (amplitude) for me.

The m3 sound is usually very good in my opinion, is exciting but sometimes with some music m3 is sounding little muddy and slow in low frequencies. What I liking a lot about sa50 is if I put volume up I hearing more bass (obviously) but the mids and highs isn't hurting my ears or dominating in negative way the music space (is difficult explaining this). For me this is what only VERY good headphones do. Is normal when volume is down the bass is more difficult for hearing, this is normal in the human ear (its a special name for this I forgetting now).

With m3 and other headphones, even my favourite p7 wireless, when I hearing music of loudness wars albums (music that isn't recorded very good), I have to play next track or put the volume down a lot because my ears can't taking this assault. With sa50 this isn't happening so drastic, yes, the sound isn't great (because the music isn't recorded good originally), but the negative effect of the bad recording isn't hurting my ears like m3 or p7 wireless (and a lot of other headphones) that having boost in different parts of spectrum.

After I saying all this, for the more normal person I recommend more m3 because is more exciting and still having very good quality of sound. I think sa50 isn't necessarily for the audiophiles only. The people that listening much classical music and very good recorded and mastered music (from 60s, 70s and 80s) I think preferring sa50. For me a very nice surprise is that with sa50 all the music I listening is never hurting my ears or is missing some information.

 

[angelom]

I testing connecting with 2 devices at the same time (iPhone and macbook pro). This isn't a problem, I pausing one device and start playing in the other easy. Only this is a problem and it's with cracking sound if I having open the shure app in the iPhone. When the app is closed this isn't a problem. Maybe is because my macbook pro having bt 4.0 or 4.1 (macbook pro is middle of 2015 model), I don't know. My iPhone having bt 5.0.

 

[sfalexi]

(copied from the Momentum 3 thread.... in case people are looking in ONE thread but not the other on thoughts)

(I copy my post from shure aonic 50 thread here)

Very good post for helping people deciding between 2 excellent headphones.

Thanks! Just tried to put forward one average dude's impressions!

I'm not finish testing the sa50 but I want commenting some things. Remember I don't having momentum 3 (m3) anymore so I can't comparing directly, but I having m3 maybe 5 months and think I remember very good some aspects.

1. I testing the anc of the sa50 and from my memory I think is more strong than m3.....

2. I have last update in sa50, is coming already with last firmware update. I don't hearing big difference with anc on or off, only very very small, maybe little more bass if anc on...

3. I don't like using eq but the sa50 eq so very good, very professional than sony, and isn't terrible like the toy eq (gimmick is correct word?) of the m3 and the bang & olufsen apps...

4. The ambient sound of the sa50 is very good because you can in reality changing the level of outside noise you want to hearing. For me this is very useful for my personal case...

5. One important aspect of the difference between the m3 and sa50 is the volume up/down and play/pause (and next/previous song) buttons. With the m3 is always frustrating for me because I changing volume or the track (next or previous) much frequently (because I listen often big playlists with different volumes in the recordings) and I spending more time looking finding the correct button in m3...

1. ANC addressed above, but just in my apartment, I felt like the M3 blocked more noise. Could be any sort of thing. Maybe the frequencies in my fans are blocked better in the M3, or maybe something like the passive noise canceling (seal around my ears) is better with the M3. Just my experience. I'M AN IDIOT!!!! I tried it again, and realized that I had the A50s in passive mode when testing fans. Cause on the A50, the switch in the center is passive mode, and the M3, the switch in the center is ANC. so when I stopped being dumb and actually put the A50 in ANC mode, it worked MUCH better and DID block noise more than the M3. Still a faint hiss, but DEFINITELY blocked noise better.

2. I also felt like the bass was a little more with the ANC on, but there was also a VERY slight recess of some other instruments. I listened to a track called "Caribe" (it's a big band chart) and has every instrument playing some awesome lines, headed by the screeching trumpets and chordal hits in the beginning. With ANC on, the chords seemed SLIGHT more out of balance than with the ANC off. For the record, on the M3, the beginning definitely emphasized the bass guitar and bass drum (they're heavier on the base it seems like), but it was not to the point of overpowering the rest of the chords, and the chords seemed well balanced above the sustained bass tone.

3. 100% agree!!! I rarely (if ever) use an EQ, but you're right. The EQ in the SA50 is MUCH better implemented than the M3 or the B&O apps (I also have owned an H9i in the past). Moving a dot around looks cool, but it's so much harder to figure out what the hell is happening, ESPECIALLY if you KNOW the frequencies you're trying to reduce or boost. I will say though, the ability to have an EQ be persistant across devices because it's saved to the headphones is a BIG plus for the M3. A pain in the ass to find your desired EQ, but once you set it, it's applied EVERYWHERE, whether you're connectred to your phone or not.

4. Not an issue for me. But each headphone has features that are more important to one person than another.

5. I would say that almost everyone will EVENTUALLY build muscle memory to their specific headphones. My advice, is don't let this be a big deal in the future. EVENTUALLY, you'll adjust.

...After I saying all this, for the more normal person I recommend more m3 because is more exciting and still having very good quality of sound. I think sa50 isn't necessarily for the audiophiles only. The people that listening much classical music and very good recorded and mastered music (from 60s, 70s and 80s) I think preferring sa50. For me a very nice surprise is that with sa50 all the music I listening is never hurting my ears or is missing some information.

This is the dilemma. My thoughts on the sound for the most part mirror yours. The chamber music I listened to was absolutely more balanced with the Shure A50. And you're right, the volume didn't raise anything specific to "pain" level. I would be happy with either. But for me, using for movies and gaming, the increase in soundstage was nice and it makes me enjoy the TV more. I personally would NOT consider the M3 a 'reference' headphone, cause I do feel the bass gets more emphasis. But for me, the increase in bass helped me feel immersed in movies and TV shows (my main reason for owning headphones), and didn't hurt music enough for me to regret it. Chamber and classical music to me on the M3 still sounds good, although I can tell the bass is increased a bit and I'm SURE that's not how it sounded if you were in person.

But to reiterate, angolem, I agree. If you're listening to classical music or something you KNOW was perfectly blended in a live situation recorded well, the A50 will be more accurate to the that performance than the M3. The M3 doesn't make it bad, but it won't be how it sounded if you were there. When it comes to mastered music, then who knows what the hell the intent was. Certainly not me.

Alexi