The over ear Momentums... Although they are almost on ear....
Well.... to be honest it is rally a tough choice....
First and foremost let's get this out of the way... the momentums are the better headphone! the 3 share basically the same sound sig, the differences are that the cal!'s have more forward vocals, the m50's have brighter highs and the momentum's are in between having the most balanced sound overall. What makes the momentum win is the sound definition... although not very noticeable it is clear after testing the 3 on a quite room that the momentums have a better textured and more defined sound. For example when listening to biffy clyro or same trance tracks it is true that the highs on the momentums do not extend as well as on the m50's or do not have such forward vocals as the aurvanas, the texture on the sound is more complex, the guitars and sounds have a more defined texture and this contributes to a more hi fi sound overall (but keep in mind that the difference is not abysmal).
Of the 3 maybe the momentums are also more detailed.... i was listening to smooth sailing by queens of the stone age and realized this... on 1 minute ad 4 seconds of the song there is like a trompet "tara tara tara ta" on the background... this sound is much more noticeable well defined for example on the momentums than on the ath m50s (also more noticeable on the call!)...
So very short (i will try to keep updating....)...
The best overall?
Momentum
Best confort?
Maybe the aurvanas but the m50's are close.
Better seal and noise isolation?
The m50's seem to be the most effetive on seal because the clamp force almost glues them to you head and they have really big earcups...
But the momentums are on par because of the pads material... you have chap pads on the m50's against sheep skin(?) on the momentums and the quality of the momentum pads is amazing and gives you an amazing seal... the problem is.... they are small... and you end up adjusting them every 5 minutes... on the momentums i get a almost complete over ear effect but a tiny bit of my bottom ear sticks out... I have 67 mm ears....
Construction and portable use?
Aurvana looses clearly... amazing confort... but only for home use because this ones simply will not last on the street... they are a bit fragile,... The m5's are amazingly built, they are robust (a little anoying when the cups twist by themselves... XD) and actually lighter than i thought... the problem is.... they are damn big... for street believe me, yo wont go unnoticed with them....
Once again here the momentums here because they are strictly designed for outside use... metal beats plastic, its a fact.... and the pads and headband material is more premium....
If i had to ditch one right now?
This does not mean it is the worst....
I would ditch the aurvanas.
Why?
because the momentums do what the aurvanas do and add a tiny bit more texture and definition to the overall sound, but once again the differences are small... the sound sig is very very similar on both. The cal!'s would only win on confort and soundstage (better of all 3)
Since both are similar in sound sig, but the momentums privides me better isolation, better construction and better portability the choice is easy.
if i did not have the momentums?
i would keep both, the m50s's for edm and the cal!'s for pop rock indie (more natural styles of music).
They are 3 amazing hedphones....
I would recomend them based on these principles....
The aurvanas for people who want natural sound reproduction with a tiny more bass strictly for home use (perfect for vocal tracks, rock indie) because although being closed they also have a very airy sound.
The m50's also for home use but more for people who just toss things around, these seem to be very durable. I would recommend them to edm lovers like me because the really good seal combined with the slightly accentuated bass and highs makes edm a very pleasurable experience.
Some anjunabeats stuff sound rally cool on the m50s and i was affraid they would be a bit more muddy because of the bass (many peolpe complain here on head fi) but to be honest i think they are closer to neutral than to warm... the accentuated bass just makes them a little warmer but this is compensated by the more forward highs.
The m50s' are probably the worst options for vocals of all the 3...
The momentums's i have to admitted.... i thought they would be better... maybe the expectation i had were too high.... but nonetheless of all 3 they are clearly the best headphones. They are aimed to please all styles of music and that is a great quality but at the same time they do not shine as much as you would like.
For example on trance more extended highs would be nice....
But still out of the three these have the more balanced. the more well defined/textured and the more precise and realistic sound.
If you have the aurvanas....
if you love them in terms of sound sig....
and if you want something that will give you a slitghly better textured sound with the ability to take them wherever you want?
The momentums are the way to go because they are the perfect combinination of sound and portability... although they have a very tiny soundstage and sound more confined (but this is balanced with very good (superior to the other 2) instrument separation).
these are the portable aurvanas many peolple were waiting for...
For me i just wish they had a tiny bit more sparkle for edm.... XD
But overall they are suitablle for any genres, rock, pop, indie,,, these types of music are all amazingly delivered on the momentums.
I bought the 3 headphones for 260 euros... 40 for the aurvanas 60 for the m50's and 160 for the momentums....
In terms of sound quality the m50's and the cal!'s have a more bang for buck price and to be honest i would never pay the full retail price for the momentums (300 euros) because although they are good i am not rich and i also i think 300 euros is too much (specially when you have the simirar sound sig cal!s at 65 euros on amazon.es).
