[ericpalonen]

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?

Cable is 2.5mm plug in6 one side, 3.5mm plug on the other, no lock.

 

[deviltrombone]

Cable is 2.5mm plug in6 one side, 3.5mm plug on the other, no lock.

Is it recessed in any way, or should it take any old 2.5 mm plug such as this right-angle one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071LJJ6VG

 

[razorpakk]

I was trying to decide between XM5 and these, like many people, but being unable to disable ANC is a deal-breaker.
I'm also annoyed no review mentioned it.


I'm glad I read about it here, because I was going to buy a pair simply assuming it would be an option.

 

[hldn]

How come transparency mode is not disabling ANC?

 

[udd3n]

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

Thanks a lot!

The build quality feels good on the Momentum 4's but of course the B&O H9 3rd gen feels even sturdier and more luxurious with its real leather and metal but it also feels heavier.

I think the Momentums are more comfortable but the H9's are really good also.

The M4's are a little warmer sounding but also a little bit more spacious. But these are early impressions.

 

[willtim]

I was trying to decide between XM5 and these, like many people, but being unable to disable ANC is a deal-breaker.
I'm also annoyed no review mentioned it.

Yes strange omission, from Sennhesier and the reviews, especially as the sound quality is why most are interested in the headphone, the ANC is just "off the shelf". Fingers crossed for it to come in a software update.

How come transparency mode is not disabling ANC?

The reason one would want to disable ANC would be to increase sound fidelity. Transparency mode I believe also uses internal/external mics to affect the sound.

 

[hldn]

Yes strange omission, from Sennhesier and the reviews.

The reason one would want to disable ANC would be to increase sound fidelity. Transparency mode I believe also uses internal/external mics to affect the sound.

The M4 (and M3, etc) are active headphones, meaning that the are meant to be used ON. It is still possible to use them off just connecting a cable, but that wont end in better sound, more on the contrary, you'll lose the fine tuning.

 

[willtim]

The M4 (and M3, etc) are active headphones, meaning that the are meant to be used ON. It is still possible to use them off just connecting a cable, but that wont end in better sound, more on the contrary, you'll lose the fine tuning.

Being active headphones has nothing to do with noise cancellation and "transparency mode" (passing some sounds from the mics through). It makes complete sense to be an active headphone, perhaps with on-board EQ to improve the sound profile, but *without* ANC or any other use of the external microphones. I agree that the passive option is rather pointless, especially with such great battery life.

 

[meringo]

Just ordered a set. I'm Looking forward to it, as I've been hesitant about an ANC set since owning the Sony XM3. That had a typical bloated BT sound signature but excellent ANC that worked wonders for my NYC commute at the time. I'm hoping this M4 has at least the XM3 level of ANC, but with a better take on BT sound signature. I suppose I'll let people know early next week!

 

[TK33]

The M4 (and M3, etc) are active headphones, meaning that the are meant to be used ON. It is still possible to use them off just connecting a cable, but that wont end in better sound, more on the contrary, you'll lose the fine tuning.

I think you are missing the point. "Active" headphones as you are referring to them would refer to the internal DAC and amps as opposed to a traditional passive wired headphone (driven by an external DAC/amp).

Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) as used by @willtim refers to the noise cancelling function only. You can have an "active" headphone that is used "ON" (internal amps being used) but the ANC function (and transparency, if applicable) can be turned off. I can disable ANC on my Shure Aonic 50 and Bose QC35 SII while the headphones are still powered on. I can also turn ANC and transparency modes off on my Sennheiser MTW3s. I don't have the Momentum 3s but I understand that the M3s also had the ability to turn off ANC.

For me, the ability to disable ANC is important for when I am using the headphones at home or in a quiet environment and do not need ANC as I am pretty sensitive to the "cabin pressure" feeling that strong ANC gives me. Enabling transparency mode in such situations is not an option because that would be introducing external noise through the mics when all I want is passive isolation.

 

[hldn]

I think you are missing the point. "Active" headphones as you are referring to them would refer to the internal DAC and amps as opposed to a traditional passive wired headphone (driven by an external DAC/amp).

Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) as used by @willtim refers to the noise cancelling function only. You can have an "active" headphone that is used "ON" (internal amps being used) but the ANC function (and transparency, if applicable) can be turned off. I can disable ANC on my Shure Aonic 50 and Bose QC35 SII while the headphones are still powered on. I can also turn ANC and transparency modes off on my Sennheiser MTW3s. I don't have the Momentum 3s but I understand that the M3s also had the ability to turn off ANC.

For me, the ability to disable ANC is important for when I am using the headphones at home or in a quiet environment and do not need ANC as I am pretty sensitive to the "cabin pressure" feeling strong ANC gives me. Enabling transparency mode in such situations is not an option because that would be introducing external noise through the mics when all I want is passive isolation.

I think here the "problem" is just a misunderstanding of the term "transparency". I take the transparency mode as fully disabled ANC. The headphones and internal processing are still on, but the adaptive noise cancellation is fully disabled.

 

[TK33]

I think here the "problem" is just a misunderstanding of the term "transparency". I take the transparency mode as fully disabled ANC. The headphones and internal processing are still on, but the adaptive noise cancellation is fully disabled.

Transparency mode is generally for when you want to hear your external surroundings (you may also hear this referred to as "ambient"). The mics actively feed external sounds into the audio stream so you can hear and interact with the rest of the world around you without taking off the headphones. A great feature for commuters and the reason why I replaced my B&W PI7s with the Senn MTW3 as my commuting TWS (transparency mode on the B&W PI7s could only be toggled in the app, making it useless). For example, if you are on a train and you want to hear the announcement, you could enable transparency mode and listen without taking your headphones off. On my Aonic 50, the physical ANC/transparency slider has 3 positions (1) Off (ANC and Transparency off, i.e. passive isolation), (2) ANC on, and (3) Transparency ON (ANC Off and I can hear additional external sounds though the mics).

@ericpalonen or @Sennheiser any chance the ability to turn ANC off can be introduced via a firmware update? I have seen several posts relating to this both here and on reddit.

 

[hldn]

Transparency mode is for when you want to hear your external surroundings. The mics feed external sounds into the audio stream so you can hear and interact with the rest of the world around you without taking off the headphones. A great feature for commuters and the reason why I replaced my B&W PI7s with the Senn MTW3 as my commuting TWS (transparency mode on the B&W PI7s could only be toggled in the app, making it useless). For example, if you are on a train and you want to hear the announcement, you could enable transparency mode and listen without taking your headphones off. On my Aonic 50, the physical ANC/transparency slider has 3 positions (1) Off (ANC and Transparency off, i.e. passive isolation), (2) ANC on, and (3) Transparency ON (ANC Off and I can hear additional external sounds though the mics).

@ericpalonen or @Sennheiser any chance the ability to turn ANC off can be introduced via a firmware update? I have seen several posts relating to this both here and on reddit.

I've had them mostly on adaptive mode, but when I had them on transparency mode the outside sound was indeed in the outside, I.E. not from the mics and played in the speakers...

Have no experience with the M3s though.

 

[starfly]

Well bummer, guess I'm out with these if ears touch the inside. I absolutely hate that about my Sony XM4. I did buy bigger earpads from Dekoni, which 100% fix the comfort with my ears not touching the inside at all, but it really negatively affects ANC. The only good one appears to be Bose with deep earcups, but then I'm stuck to SBC/AAC with no AptX or LDAC (and I'm on Android - if I was on iPhone it wouldn't matter).

So what else could I buy that has great ANC and great codec support and is super comfortable for long flights? (I'm a regular flyer and I have big ears and I have a really long haul flight to Asia coming up).

 

[ericpalonen]

meaning that the are meant to be used ON

M4W is meant to be used on, as most users (and many here) will want Bluetooth wireless use as the main event. In that case, it makes sense to have the headphones sound as good as they can while active as passive-mode listening is a fringe case. M4W sounds best while on for certain.

@ericpalonen or @Sennheiser any chance the ability to turn ANC off can be introduced via a firmware update? I have seen several posts relating to this both here and on reddit.

I'll get some more clarification on this and understand the scenario, thank you for the detailed description. For everyone reading this thread, here's my "best option until..." take. First a quick primer:

• M4W, through the app, can utilize ANC in 2 ways: Adaptive (set and forget) and "blanket" ANC (strong no matter the environment).
  • Both versions of ANC work in tandem with the Transparency feature. You can blend the amount of transparency you want via the Smart Control app or the gesture control pad on the hardware
    • To adjust transparency amount via the hardware, pinch "open" (like zooming IN on a smartphone) in either ANC mode
      • From MOST ANC/LEAST TRANSPARENCY setting, you can pinch open 5x to reach LEAST ANC/MOST TRANSPARENCY
    • To adjust transparency amount via the app, use the slider (Adaptive mode only)
    • To achieve "least amount of ANC without too much transparency" (sorry I don't have a shorter name), turn ON adaptive, then slide your ANC setting to the middle. Based on what your own sensitivity you may want to adjust slightly. I've attached a screenshot
      • For non-Adaptive ANC mode, there's a middle setting but not available via a slider (hardware pinch only)
  • If you're using hardware gestures only, an easy way to get your bearings is to pinch open 5x, then start pinching closed until you get the balance you like (3x is great for office use, IMHO)

Again, while this is not the same as simply disabling ANC while retaining active Bluetooth and ZERO transparent hearing mode, but is close. More to come and I'll absolutely send this along to the team for a closer look. Quick reminder to update your firmware, as a new release is out 2.6.13

Thx again for the feedback everyone!

The screenshot