Lach you seem to like the Amperiors a lot. Sorry for the off topic question but do you prefer the Amperiors over the original full size Momentums? My impression is that I have read from you great things about the originals but at the same time you don't stop suggesting the Amperiors. Which one wins the battle after all?
Haha I don't really tend to believe in any headphone 'winning' or 'losing'. If I was looking for absolute bass precision and tightness, I'd go for the Amperior. But if I was looking for a mellower can that I could relax overall with, the Momentum takes the cake. It's also an extremely comfortable headphone and I value that a lot.
However overall I tend to listen to the Amperior more just because a) it works with the kind of music I've been listening to lately b) I am more confident in its durability.
In this case though as vaheg says I keep suggesting the Amperior because at the current clearance prices it costs similar or less to the Momentum On-Ear and I believe it delivers a more articulate sound and better durability / build quality.
See... I think that was what I saw in Apple Store a year ago.. it was attached to an iphone 3gs in the end of the store.. and I usually if I were at Apple Store would try all headphones and would have no idea why some of them were so expensive since they sounded as bad.. it had weird type of cord right? So I was like woah sounds fine I like it, somebody even came to say they are closing the store I was listening for so long, I was like I need to buy this how much they will be, he said "100-200" probably, and I thought it should be muuuch cheaper than that, went upstairs, trying to quickly explain other employee what headphones I was listening downstairs, in the end he says "Sennheisers?", and he shows the blue box.. and I see the price tag...
I don't know how to describe it.. I thought they are some really cheap blue headphones that sounded alright and would be ok to use with mobile phone..
yes, totally worth to get them with special price, but still they are not better than momentum on-ears, they look great, they feel nice, look at what Sennheiser himself did to them in the interview (imagine if it would gone wrong), so they are super durable, which I am really looking for. Soundwise I don't either of them is better than the other(though it's nicer to listen to amperiors), so I would prefer momentums.
Also, volume is really low on mobile phone, but it's fine
All good points vaheg - the build on the Amperior is not initially very impressive compared to the Momentum On-Ear. However, here's what you should know: the Amperior is based on a 25 year old design, the HD25, which is has become an extremely popular headphone for DJ's because of a reputation for being virtually indestructible. DJ's put a great emphasis on durability because they need their headphones to make a living and handle them comparatively roughly. They get taken on and off constantly, packed away with other equipment, the cord gets yanked, etc etc. I've spoken with DJ's who confirmed that the HD25 is a bit of a legend.
Even if the Amperior breaks, every single part of the headphone is replaceable with parts from the HD25. (Except the driver cups themselves, which I would feel are unlikely to break because they are milled from a single piece of aluminium and not plastic like the Momentum On-Ear).
So while I'm sure the Momentum On-Ear is a durable headphone, the HD25 has a tried and tested design
As for the sound between the two, that is more of a preference thing. I think the Amperior has a smaller soundstage than the On-Ear but much tighter bass control and overall a sound that is more precise and balanced. The On-Ear might be more impressive on first listen but I really have issues with the way it presents bass. Again though this is a personal thing.
For around the same price I also think the V-Moda M80 is very good if you like a smoother sound, and the Audio Technica ATH-ES700 is an incredible performer as well and a nicely balanced all rounder compared to all these other headphones. Unfortunately it isn't quite as comfortable.