[ddlo]

I got mine during weekend when ordering acoustune act03. The shop offered a good price (for now) but there's no demo so I just decided based on my consistently great experience with mtw3, ie900 and certainly hd820/800s/580 I've got over the years.

My very preliminary observations:

Pros: The connection range and stability is good. Extremely long battery life. Good quality case and slightly smaller in size then xm5

cons: excessive bass! Even more exaggerated then hd820, or even comparing to empire ears legend x! A bit too much cramping force. The ear cups a bit too small and are touching my ears on the edge on all sides! No way to turn off anc afaik. Very different tuning comparing with other Sennheiser products. excessively long time (25mins) to update firmware.

Setup process is ok but not great. Far less smooth and polished apps and process then xm5. Frankly, I think Sony xm5 sounds better, offer more all round package (at a lower street price in my own experience.), and are more comfortable.

 

[bizkid]

After having a long listening session yesterday I'm a bit torn on these. They do sound very good for a ANC headphone but I'm missing the icing on the cake somehow. The M3W had that and I thought Sennheiser would improve on that aspect even further.. well they didn't, instead the dialed it back. The M4w has very good depth and width but no more holographic or 3d like soundstaging as the predecessor had in a small degree. That's extremely unfortunate for me personally since this is what I loved so much about the M3W...

 

[hldn]

Not had any issues with the smart pause on my set. In fact I’d say other than the APM it’s the most reliable head detection I’ve seen

I'm 99% sure it has to do with the light sensor getting steamy. Something that will happen most of the times after 30 minutes wearing them I guess.

 

[bizkid]

Was testing the ANC of the M4W in the subway today. It's clearly behind Sony.. and the sound of the Sennheiser isn't worlds better to make up for it. I'll probably buy the XM5 again and return the M4W.. I was really hyped for these but sonically they just don't excite me, as much I love to support Sennheiser. MTW3 vs Sony WF1000-XM4 is another Story, the Sennheiser trumps over the very average sounding Sony, ANC is very good for a TWS as well. Too bad they couldn't carry this over to their full size portables...

 

[starfly]

Was testing the ANC of the M4W in the subway today. It's clearly behind Sony.. and the sound of the Sennheiser isn't worlds better to make up for it. I'll probably buy the XM5 again and return the M4W.. I was really hyped for these but sonically they just don't excite me, as much I love to support Sennheiser. MTW3 vs Sony WF1000-XM4 is another Story, the Sennheiser trumps over the very average sounding Sony, ANC is very good for a TWS as well. Too bad they couldn't carry this over to their full size portables...

Would you mind measuring the size of the earpads, specifically the inner dimensions? height x width x depth in mm?

And yeah, nothing can touch the Sony ANC, it's definitely the best. How are the M4's comfort wise though? I don't find the Sony XM line that comfortable.

 

[TrueBlueKew]

Would you mind measuring the size of the earpads, specifically the inner dimensions? height x width x depth in mm?

And yeah, nothing can touch the Sony ANC, it's definitely the best. How are the M4's comfort wise though? I don't find the Sony XM line that comfortable.

Very interested to have someone comfirm the inner ear dimensions as well. Ryan's Tech on YouTube states "Earcup hole: 35*58mm." If that is accurate then either these earcups are really small, or my big ears (72+ mm long) are even bigger than I thought. (My ears are probably even bigger than I thought. )

 

[starfly]

Very interested to have someone comfirm the inner ear dimensions as well. Ryan's Tech on YouTube states "Earcup hole: 35*58mm." If that is accurate then either these earcups are really small, or my big ears (72+ mm long) are even bigger than I thought. (My ears are probably even bigger than I thought. )

Well if they're really 58 x 35mm, then that's really small. Currently also giving a B&W PX7 S2 a test run, and those are at 60 x 38mm, and I'm already doubting they'll be a winner comfort wise. The Sony XM4 is 65 x 40mm, but the pads compress almost flat while wearing them, so they're resting on my ear, making the cartilage sore after a while.

I just had someone else on reddit say they measure at 60 x 40mm. Looks like 60+mm is rare in these wireless ANC headphones.

My ears are about 67mm long. Maybe I'll just have to get a Bose QC45. Those are universally praised for comfort, SQ and LDAC/AptX be damned. I'm primarily getting them for travel anyway.

 

[TrueBlueKew]

Well if they're really 58 x 35mm, then that's really small. Currently also giving a B&W PX7 S2 a test run, and those are at 60 x 38mm, and I'm already doubting they'll be a winner comfort wise. The Sony XM4 is 65 x 40mm, but the pads compress almost flat while wearing them, so they're resting on my ear, making the cartilage sore after a while.

I just had someone else on reddit say they measure at 60 x 40mm. Looks like 60+mm is rare in these wireless ANC headphones.

My ears are about 67mm long. Maybe I'll just have to get a Bose QC45. Those are universally praised for comfort, SQ and LDAC/AptX be damned. I'm primarily getting them for travel anyway.

Do you by chance know the inner ear dimensions for the Sony XM5?

I gave the XM5 a short listen yesterday, not EQ'd. They fit my ears well. If that's the route I end up going, I really hope the EQ will improve things, especially the vocals and around the 2-4kHz range. Seemed excessive and was not impressed. Again though, not EQ'd.

 

[starfly]

Do you by chance know the inner ear dimensions for the Sony XM5?

I gave the XM5 a short listen yesterday, not EQ'd. They fit my ears well. If that's the route I end up going, I really hope the EQ will improve things, especially the vocals and around the 2-4kHz range. Seemed excessive and was not impressed. Again though, not EQ'd.

I don't, but I did see them side by side in best buy the other day, and I held the pads together (XM4 on XM5). They seemed to be about the same size, with the XM4 being more oval shaped and the XM5 a bit more rectangular.

In general Sony usually does a good job of making big earpads. I just wish they made them thicker and firmer so that the driver wouldn't directly rest on your ears. Really my only big complaint with the XM4, it really hurts when wearing them for hours on a long flight. Otherwise the ANC is excellent and SQ is good enough for what it is (I'm not looking for a hifi experience while traveling, just good enough SQ).

 

[stickertape]

Well if they're really 58 x 35mm, then that's really small. Currently also giving a B&W PX7 S2 a test run, and those are at 60 x 38mm, and I'm already doubting they'll be a winner comfort wise. The Sony XM4 is 65 x 40mm, but the pads compress almost flat while wearing them, so they're resting on my ear, making the cartilage sore after a while.

I just had someone else on reddit say they measure at 60 x 40mm. Looks like 60+mm is rare in these wireless ANC headphones.

My ears are about 67mm long. Maybe I'll just have to get a Bose QC45. Those are universally praised for comfort, SQ and LDAC/AptX be damned. I'm primarily getting them for travel anyway.

There's a surprising amount of room in the QC45 and yes, they are super comfortable. My main gripe is the wind noise, which basically makes them unusable when commuting. If they added the ability to turn off ANC/transparency completely then that would solve that problem, but I think they would have added it already if they were going to.

 

[Tuomas L]

Ryan's Tech on YouTube states "Earcup hole: 35*58mm."

These measurements describe the ear_pad_ hole pretty accurately, the earcup is about a centimeter longer in both directions.

Having flexible auricles not shaped like a pipe, one has the advantage to slide them between the earpad and the driver without significant effort. As the pads are very soft and the clamping force is not excessive, there is no discomfort at least for me with this setup.

 

[matteventu]

When you guys mention that you don't like the sound ad much as you did with the sound of the Momentum 3, what exactly are you referring to?

Can you please describe the difference in sound signature between M4 and M3?

Thanks!

 

[Maukey]

When you guys mention that you don't like the sound ad much as you did with the sound of the Momentum 3, what exactly are you referring to?

Can you please describe the difference in sound signature between M4 and M3?

Thanks!

I don't have the Momentum 3 on hand anymore to direct compare, but off memory, the M4 has a little less bass and a little more accuracy/detail. It's closer to neutral and not as warm in character as the M3. I can see some missing the big, fun, dynamic sound of the M3. The M4 still has some fun to it, but not to the same degree as the M3. I personally think the M4 is an improvement and is one of the better sounding wireless ANC headphones out there, even rivaling wireless ANC headphones twice its price. Maybe someone who has both can do a direct compare in case my memory isn't accurate in some respects.

 

[kish05]

Any comparisons against Apple Airpods Max?

 

[ubs28]

Any comparisons against Apple Airpods Max?

The Sennheiser MW4 plays at the level of Sony, not at the level of the Apple AirPods Max. It's a different class of ANC headphone. I was interested to replace the Apple AirPods Max with these headphones from Sennheiser, yeah ..... that was clearly not going to happen.