[tombrisbane]

aptX adaptive certainly increase the resolution a bit over AAC, probably on par with the Px7 S2 now. Unfortunately the creative BT-W4 draws too much power so have to have power plugged into the camera adapter for it to work.

 

[hldn]

I'll check on this. My hunch is that aptx adaptive is more of a goldilocks codec when it comes to performance on the widest variety of devices. Stay tuned (pun intended)

Can you check if there are plans to add "High End Sound tuning" to the app (same as the other generations)

 

[stickertape]

I've spent a few days with the M4. Here's my take on them so far.

Summary: Wonderful sound and plush feel, but fatiguing when on the move with no ability to disable ANC/Transparency modes without turning it off and resorting to the cable (ie. no wireless passive mode).

Comfort / Look & Feel (Good, but not great)

• You don't forget these are on your head and they tend to slip off when leaning forward
• My ears touch the insides which I really don't like - the drivers don't sit back far enough
• The QC45 are absolutely the benchmark in this regard
• The M4s look and feel more premium in person than in photos
• The earcups are massive, and they look massive on your head
• The headband keeps close to your head and don't jut out which is good!
• The earpads are probably the most plush I've ever felt - lovely
• The headband cushioning also has a delightful feel to it
• Carry case is great even if a little larger than I would have liked. A little fatter and wider than the Bose NC 700. Pleasing colour and material.

Sound (Glorious)

• I'm least qualified to comment on this.
• Yes, the bass is significant, but dropping the bass by a two Db in the app EQ helps - but not too far, -3 makes some songs lack texture.
• To my ears, the performance is better than anything I've heard before wireless - I enjoy them at least as much as the M3, which was my previous benchmark.
• They are a very enjoyable listen

ANC (Fine)

• Nowhere near as good as the QC45
• Good enough

Travel (Not great)

• Commuting is where things started becoming problematic for me.
• It blocks out wind, at the expense of shifting the ANC/Transparency modes around constantly which is super distracting - the noise floor is constantly shifting
• Why can't I double tap to disable both ANC/Transparency completely? This would solve the wind noise and is my preference when walking anyway.
• Using the app to drag the slider to the middle is futile on an iPhone, partly because the app is so sluggish that it's impossible to drag it where you want while moving.
• These really feel massive when on the move and become fatiguing after a while, to the point where I had to take them off to give my head a break.

Smart Application (OK)

• Good features.
• Performance is woeful on iPhone.
• There's some delay while the app connects to the headphones, but it's generally pretty reliable in limited testing.
• What a refreshing feature to display the current codec in use when playing content - I wish all manufacturers did this.

Other notable things - Good

• The cups swivel all the way around both ways - an underrated feature. Though the cups are so large that they cut into my neck anyway when I try to lay them on my shoulders.
• Calls seem fine in limited zoom/teams testing - sidetone is great and also very underrated
• These turn on and connect super quick - love this
• They turn on as soon as you remove them from the case, which is amazing!
• Touch controls are responsive and they pause and play music with very little delay - probably the quickest I've experienced

Other notable things - Bad

• Wear sensors are no good - stop when I take off my head, play again when I rest around my neck!
• Have to reduce back to their "smallest" setting to fit back in the case
• Touch controls - I just prefer buttons…
• Connectivity is confusing and it doesn't always connect to the same device/devices it connected to last - I wish there was a way to set an "always connect to device" (this was absolutely my favourite feature of the PX7)

 

[hldn]

I've spent a few days with the M4. Here's my take on them so far.

Summary: Wonderful sound and plush feel, but fatiguing when on the move with no ability to disable ANC/Transparency modes without turning it off and resorting to the cable (ie. no wireless passive mode).

Comfort / Look & Feel (Good, but not great)

• You don't forget these are on your head and they tend to slip off when leaning forward
• My ears touch the insides which I really don't like - the drivers don't sit back far enough
• The QC45 are absolutely the benchmark in this regard
• The M4s look and feel more premium in person than in photos
• The earcups are massive, and they look massive on your head
• The headband keeps close to your head and don't jut out which is good!
• The earpads are probably the most plush I've ever felt - lovely
• The headband cushioning also has a delightful feel to it
• Carry case is great even if a little larger than I would have liked. A little fatter and wider than the Bose NC 700. Pleasing colour and material.

Sound (Glorious)

• I'm least qualified to comment on this.
• Yes, the bass is significant, but dropping the bass by a two Db in the app EQ helps - but not too far, -3 makes some songs lack texture.
• To my ears, the performance is better than anything I've heard before wireless - I enjoy them at least as much as the M3, which was my previous benchmark.
• They are a very enjoyable listen

ANC (Fine)

• Nowhere near as good as the QC45
• Good enough

Travel (Not great)

• Commuting is where things started becoming problematic for me.
• It blocks out wind, at the expense of shifting the ANC/Transparency modes around constantly which is super distracting - the noise floor is constantly shifting
• Why can't I double tap to disable both ANC/Transparency completely? This would solve the wind noise and is my preference when walking anyway.
• Using the app to drag the slider to the middle is futile on an iPhone, partly because the app is so sluggish that it's impossible to drag it where you want while moving.
• These really feel massive when on the move and become fatiguing after a while, to the point where I had to take them off to give my head a break.

Smart Application (OK)

• Good features.
• Performance is woeful on iPhone.
• There's some delay while the app connects to the headphones, but it's generally pretty reliable in limited testing.
• What a refreshing feature to display the current codec in use when playing content - I wish all manufacturers did this.

Other notable things - Good

• The cups swivel all the way around both ways - an underrated feature. Though the cups are so large that they cut into my neck anyway when I try to lay them on my shoulders.
• Calls seem fine in limited zoom/teams testing - sidetone is great and also very underrated
• These turn on and connect super quick - love this
• They turn on as soon as you remove them from the case, which is amazing!
• Touch controls are responsive and they pause and play music with very little delay - probably the quickest I've experienced

Other notable things - Bad

• Wear sensors are no good - stop when I take off my head, play again when I rest around my neck!
• Have to reduce back to their "smallest" setting to fit back in the case
• Touch controls - I just prefer buttons…
• Connectivity is confusing and it doesn't always connect to the same device/devices it connected to last - I wish there was a way to set an "always connect to device" (this was absolutely my favourite feature of the PX7)

I think I can agree with you in every aspect.

 

[nat3z]

Bought the M3 six months ago, is it worth upgrading for the sound?

 

[GlobalAudioSquad]

Picking mine up today, very excited as I'll be pairing with the Ibasso DX20, anyone know if the cable is the the standard locking style?

 

[stickertape]

Bought the M3 six months ago, is it worth upgrading for the sound?

Not in my opinion. But they are big upgrade in comfort and connectivity (especially multipoint).

 

[ubs28]

Very disappointing headphone. I had such high hopes after they recently launched their amazing Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3, which is arguably the best bluetooth in-ear on the market.

I guess Sennheiser looked at Sony and basically tried to copy them, including all the wrong things. Even my ears touch the inside of the headphone, just like Sony’s. So not only Sony, but also Sennheiser is not testing their headphones if ears touch the inside of the headphone. The thing is, Sony is no longer the best, so I’m not even sure why Sennheiser is trying to copy Sony?

These headphones are such a big downgrade from the Apple AirPods Max, I stopped the demo after 5 minutes already. There was no point to continue.

I guess it was a different team in Sennheiser that created their wireless IEM as those guys did an amazing job, absolutely destroying the Apple AirPods Pro.

 

[hartphoto]

I've spent a few days with the M4. Here's my take on them so far.

Summary: Wonderful sound and plush feel, but fatiguing when on the move with no ability to disable ANC/Transparency modes without turning it off and resorting to the cable (ie. no wireless passive mode).


Travel (Not great)

• Commuting is where things started becoming problematic for me.
• It blocks out wind, at the expense of shifting the ANC/Transparency modes around constantly which is super distracting - the noise floor is constantly shifting
• Why can't I double tap to disable both ANC/Transparency completely? This would solve the wind noise and is my preference when walking anyway.
• Using the app to drag the slider to the middle is futile on an iPhone, partly because the app is so sluggish that it's impossible to drag it where you want while moving.
• These really feel massive when on the move and become fatiguing after a while, to the point where I had to take them off to give my head a break.

Thanks for the details/review!

@Sennheiser

Big fan of the Momentum 3. Have had over 2 years....use them often (several times/week).

Won't upgrade to M4 though if ANC/Transparency can't be completely disabled when using the BT connection like the ability of the Momentum 3. Passive noise reduction should always be an option, wired or wireless. The M4 appears to be a step backwards in this regard.

Sure....it's only one sale, but I'm pretty sure there are others who want to only hear the music/etc with the 'Sennheiser Sound'.

 

[C_Lindbergh]

Im pretty pleased with my M4s as well, my biggest gripe is that I wish the earcups were larger...The app could use some improvments as well! Overall its great, but its very slow and clunky. And add high-end tuning please!

And ofc I dislike the damn touch controls, why Sennheiser?! Give us premium buttons instead...You can use them with gloves and there's no accidental triggers...Just by adjusting the ear-cups slightly i trigger something...

For the price they deffo stand out in this field of ANC-headphones tho!

But my dream of a pair of ANC/BT-cans with the comfort and somewhat close SQ of the Meze Liric will live on for quite some time I guess

I'll give them 8.5/10 (Haven't tested ANC/calls for real tho, so the score might change).

+Sound Quality
+Battery Life
+Price

-Touch Controls
-Slightly cramped earcups
-No LC3/LE-audio support.

Basically for the price it's prob the best wireless cans on the market right now, but I do hope for more premium wireless AND cans in the feature with support of LC3.

So yeah, please launch a premium set of ANC-cans that cost around 2-2.5x the price of the M4s! With Aptx Lossless/LC3, premium buttons, supreme comfort etc

 

[matteventu]

Just got mine. Initial impression is that they sound fantastic and are very comfortable.
Other wireless headphones at hand: B&W P7 Wireless, Audeze Mobius/Penrose, B&O H9 3rd Gen, AirPods Max, Sony XM4 and Bose QC35II.

How would you compare them to H9 3rd Gen, in terms of build quality/polish, sound signature (warmer? brighter?) and comfort?

Thanks a lot!

It uses a Qualcomm chipset which provides no hardware decoding of LDAC (if this even exists anywhere). [...] The problem with Qualcomm aptX adaptive is that none of the Samsung phones support it; and Samsung is by far the largest manufacturer of Android phones.

Well there's plenty of LDAC headphones with Qualcomm chipset, so they could have done it anyway (maybe even at the cost of disabling EQ/multipoint).

By the way, even if a phone doesn't support aptX Adaptive but does support aptX HD, headphones with aptX Adaptive will fallback on aptX HD (in case of Samsung most recent phones, as they don't even have aptX HD, then it will fallback just on aptX Classic).

Big fan of the Momentum 3. Have had over 2 years....use them often (several times/week).

Won't upgrade to M4 though if ANC/Transparency can't be completely disabled when using the BT connection like the ability of the Momentum 3. Passive noise reduction should always be an option, wired or wireless. The M4 appears to be a step backwards in this regard.

Have you tried to "pinch" in/out on the touch panel, to disable ANC?

It would be quite odd for Sennheiser to have introduced non-deactivable ANC here. Momentum 2 Wireless had it that way (always on, couldn't switch to off or transparency), and they were heavily criticised for it (indeed, they added it in the Momentum 3 Wireless).
I'd say it's safe to assume it can be disabled on Momentum 4

 

[hartphoto]

Have you tried to "pinch" in/out on the touch panel, to disable ANC?

It would be quite odd for Sennheiser to have introduced non-deactivable ANC here. Momentum 2 Wireless had it that way (always on, couldn't switch to off or transparency), and they were heavily criticised for it (indeed, they added it in the Momentum 3 Wireless).
I'd say it's safe to assume it can be disabled on Momentum 4

I do not own the Momentum 4 yet....I was basing my comments on the details that @stickertape had in his post.

On the Momentum 3, I keep the ANC switch off always.

The Momentum 4 is completely button/switch free.....stickertape's post said he couldn't turn it off in the app. Love to hear the capability to turn anc/transparency off is available on the M4. Anyone successful at that?

 

[stickertape]

They’re certainly up there! They’re in a different league to Sony and Bose sound wise. Soundstage and resolution is impressive, even over AAC - I think they must have a bit of magic happening as I usually need to use my creative BT-W3 (APTX HD) to get decent sound from my iPhone. I do have the new BT-W4 coming which supports APTX Adaptive so will be interesting to see if there is any difference when using that. Sub bass hump is big but I haven’t felt the need to EQ. I’m still gathering my thoughts in comparing them to the S2/H95 but they’re certainly an excellent wireless can and easily near the top of my list when it comes to wireless options. Glad I got rid of my APM’s for them!

Thanks, Tom. Are the cups deeper on the S2 compared to the M4?

 

[stickertape]

I do not own the Momentum 4 yet....I was basing my comments on the details that @stickertape had in his post.

On the Momentum 3, I keep the ANC switch off always.

The Momentum 4 is completely button/switch free.....stickertape's post said he couldn't turn it off in the app. Love to hear the capability to turn anc/transparency off is available on the M4. Anyone successful at that?

To clarify - there's only a slider to shift between ANC at one end and transparency at the other. You can see reviews where this is shown in the app. The pinch gesture just slides between the two. There's no way to "disable" completely. Trying to drag it to the middle might have a similar effect, but I can't seem to drag it to the "middle".

What I really want is a double-tap toggle between ANC on/ANC off/Transparency. It looks like the PX7 S2 does this, which is exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[tombrisbane]

Thanks, Tom. Are the cups deeper on the S2 compared to the M4?

Very similar, both have sloped drivers (S2 maybe a little more), I think the S2 may be deeper at the bottom of the slope. The M4's pads are softer so the S2's have more room when on head. M4's do touch my ears a bit (I've never paid attention as it doesn't bother me), S2's don't.