gelastic
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2014
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I'm sitting here with all of these at the moment, doing a brief comparison in particular since I didn't find anyone explicitly comparing the H6 and NAD. This is also the Sennheiser Over-Ear, not on-ear, in ivory (rare, but they exist). iPhone and laptop only, no amp.
I don't have great experience with the technical terms here or a very discerning ear, so a lot of this should be taken with a grain of salt, but I think the conclusion at the end is more solid. This is also completely price-agnostic, assuming identical prices.
I listen to a wide range of music, but light on classical, light on metal and light on deep bass. I really want clear mids and highs and good separation, and bass shouldn't be consistently booming, however felt when it's supposed to be there. Pretty sure that's what's called "tight bass".
I actually started out without the NAD. And it seemed like you could put them on a scale defined by the bass bloomyness, going H6-Momentum-P7.
The Beoplay H6 is bass-light. It absolutely exists where it should be, but it's more like it's just briefly showing the bass to you than forcing it into your head. Mids and highs are crystal clear, best of the three in my opinion. Special sibilance resistance. Feels incredibly competent, like it could handle any kind of music without any kind of distortion. With the tight and constrained bass and absence of distortion and really any strong signature it feels really laid back.
Hard to describe, but compared to the others it's a bit like a working professional putting on classical in the background over dinner rather than a young guy getting really into some heavy bass. Maybe signature aligned to an older and cultured customer base. It's an extremely relaxing listening experience, helped by the overall lightness of the unit and very comfortable earpads, which are large and I think lambskin filled with memory foam. Really stress-free listening. Also great design.
I have read that the H6 gains a lot from an amp (iPhone has to be at top volume to get acceptable volume out of them), in particular filling out the bass quite a bit, but haven't tried one.
The Sennheiser Momentum has a tight and clearly present bass, more so than the H6, and really at a comfortable level. It's somehow a really fun, warm and welcoming sound - not really sure how they did it, but it was my sound quality preference amongst the three - it's got top tier nodding factor, does nothing wrong, no real distortion. Feel-good winner. Oustanding design imo.
The main issue for me was that even the Over-Ear cups are small. Like, particularly small. I have somewhat larger ears than average, and it gets sweaty and somewhat uncomfortable after a while. They are more sitting on-ear. If I first put on headphones I'm going to keep them on for hours, so this was a dealbreaker. But as everything else is so great, it's really based on one single issue.
The B&W P7 just moves further along from the H6 - more bloomy bass, seems slightly more distorted. I find it hard to put my finger on why, but it's not a relaxed listening experience, more like you have to work to listen to them. I agree with this review: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/sumptuous-and-sonorous-bowers-wilkins-p7-page-2 and in particular a so-called "V-shaped" sound signature is something I really dislike. I love my clear mids, and the problem might have been that I was straining to make out the mids as expected, in the face of bloomy bass and high treble. Same preference for neutrality as the reviewer, and had to make the same effort to like them. Stress enhanced by the unit being heavier than the others, although with an attractive design and acceptable cup size.
So I ranked them something like: H6 - limited bass & great mids, Momentum - decent bass & good mids (or really just different, maybe preferred by some), P7 - bloomy bass and goodish mids.
Enter the NAD HP50. Bass that is tight and powerful at the same time, even somewhat more than Momentum, great mids, really great everything. Absolutely agree with the most positive reviews.
In this way the NAD makes the P7 redundant imo, because it's better all across - lighter and comfortable unit, less bloomy, clearer mids with less distortion.
The NAD is however side by side with the Momentum Over-Ear and very much competing in the same space. The sound quality is quite similar with a very slim advantage across the range for the NAD, but the Momentum is just levels above in terms of design. I've got a really special thing for the Over-Ear Ivory. The NAD looks kind of meh. The decider here for me became the cup size - if I had small ears I might have ended up with the Momentum based on looks alone. All of this is assuming they are priced equally - it's possible that the NAD is quite a bit cheaper which could make it preferred.
The NAD is more of a realistic alternative to the (at least un-amped) H6. As in, the NAD are so good across the range and with a strong and tight bass that they are extremely engaging, whilst the H6 is far easier and more laid back. Going back to the "classical music over dinner" example, I can actually do something else whilst listening to the H6 and feel it more in the background, whilst the NAD is just so stellar that I cannot ignore it. The NAD is like surfing on the music whilst the P6 is just listening to the waves.
Bottom line, I can see myself reaching for the NAD most of the time and early in the day, but the H6 if I'm tired, trying to concentrate on something else, or needing something more stylish. NAD dominates the P7 across the range imo, and is a strong contender in the same space as the Momentum, with sound quality pulling slightly for the former and design apart from cup size very much for the latter.
I don't have great experience with the technical terms here or a very discerning ear, so a lot of this should be taken with a grain of salt, but I think the conclusion at the end is more solid. This is also completely price-agnostic, assuming identical prices.
I listen to a wide range of music, but light on classical, light on metal and light on deep bass. I really want clear mids and highs and good separation, and bass shouldn't be consistently booming, however felt when it's supposed to be there. Pretty sure that's what's called "tight bass".
I actually started out without the NAD. And it seemed like you could put them on a scale defined by the bass bloomyness, going H6-Momentum-P7.
The Beoplay H6 is bass-light. It absolutely exists where it should be, but it's more like it's just briefly showing the bass to you than forcing it into your head. Mids and highs are crystal clear, best of the three in my opinion. Special sibilance resistance. Feels incredibly competent, like it could handle any kind of music without any kind of distortion. With the tight and constrained bass and absence of distortion and really any strong signature it feels really laid back.
Hard to describe, but compared to the others it's a bit like a working professional putting on classical in the background over dinner rather than a young guy getting really into some heavy bass. Maybe signature aligned to an older and cultured customer base. It's an extremely relaxing listening experience, helped by the overall lightness of the unit and very comfortable earpads, which are large and I think lambskin filled with memory foam. Really stress-free listening. Also great design.
I have read that the H6 gains a lot from an amp (iPhone has to be at top volume to get acceptable volume out of them), in particular filling out the bass quite a bit, but haven't tried one.
The Sennheiser Momentum has a tight and clearly present bass, more so than the H6, and really at a comfortable level. It's somehow a really fun, warm and welcoming sound - not really sure how they did it, but it was my sound quality preference amongst the three - it's got top tier nodding factor, does nothing wrong, no real distortion. Feel-good winner. Oustanding design imo.
The main issue for me was that even the Over-Ear cups are small. Like, particularly small. I have somewhat larger ears than average, and it gets sweaty and somewhat uncomfortable after a while. They are more sitting on-ear. If I first put on headphones I'm going to keep them on for hours, so this was a dealbreaker. But as everything else is so great, it's really based on one single issue.
The B&W P7 just moves further along from the H6 - more bloomy bass, seems slightly more distorted. I find it hard to put my finger on why, but it's not a relaxed listening experience, more like you have to work to listen to them. I agree with this review: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/sumptuous-and-sonorous-bowers-wilkins-p7-page-2 and in particular a so-called "V-shaped" sound signature is something I really dislike. I love my clear mids, and the problem might have been that I was straining to make out the mids as expected, in the face of bloomy bass and high treble. Same preference for neutrality as the reviewer, and had to make the same effort to like them. Stress enhanced by the unit being heavier than the others, although with an attractive design and acceptable cup size.
So I ranked them something like: H6 - limited bass & great mids, Momentum - decent bass & good mids (or really just different, maybe preferred by some), P7 - bloomy bass and goodish mids.
Enter the NAD HP50. Bass that is tight and powerful at the same time, even somewhat more than Momentum, great mids, really great everything. Absolutely agree with the most positive reviews.
In this way the NAD makes the P7 redundant imo, because it's better all across - lighter and comfortable unit, less bloomy, clearer mids with less distortion.
The NAD is however side by side with the Momentum Over-Ear and very much competing in the same space. The sound quality is quite similar with a very slim advantage across the range for the NAD, but the Momentum is just levels above in terms of design. I've got a really special thing for the Over-Ear Ivory. The NAD looks kind of meh. The decider here for me became the cup size - if I had small ears I might have ended up with the Momentum based on looks alone. All of this is assuming they are priced equally - it's possible that the NAD is quite a bit cheaper which could make it preferred.
The NAD is more of a realistic alternative to the (at least un-amped) H6. As in, the NAD are so good across the range and with a strong and tight bass that they are extremely engaging, whilst the H6 is far easier and more laid back. Going back to the "classical music over dinner" example, I can actually do something else whilst listening to the H6 and feel it more in the background, whilst the NAD is just so stellar that I cannot ignore it. The NAD is like surfing on the music whilst the P6 is just listening to the waves.
Bottom line, I can see myself reaching for the NAD most of the time and early in the day, but the H6 if I'm tired, trying to concentrate on something else, or needing something more stylish. NAD dominates the P7 across the range imo, and is a strong contender in the same space as the Momentum, with sound quality pulling slightly for the former and design apart from cup size very much for the latter.
