bpandbass
100+ Head-Fier
Before break in:
On Ears might have "special foam" in their Alcantara-covered ear pads, but that doesn't take away from the fact that their ear pads were BMW-seat-hard and had practically no give to them. This compounded with the tight grip from the aluminum headband produced ears redder than Conan O'Brien's hair that were unbelievably sore and tender after only 15 minutes of wearing. The only way the On Ears became even barely tolerable was to place them over a speaker cabinet to depress the ear pads and stretch out the headband for a couple of days. This did a good job of breaking in the padding on the ear cushions. Before burn in the sound was overly boomy, the upper mids howled painfully, and the treble was a sibilant mess. After about 24 hours of playing them on a shuffled music mix they finally settled down.
Whereas the XS doesn't have much for comfort break in. They don't clamp that hard on the ears so they don't improve much with stretching out, and the pads are protein leather, are lower profile and sit over the ears more evenly as well as have softer, more compliant padding. They don't improve that much other than fitting the angle of your ears. The XS sound wise prior to about 14 or so hours of burn in had a thin, scooped out mid section and little to no bass impact. I thought the XS sounded extremely dull. After burning in the sound different is SIGNIFICANT. The bass absolutely comes to life and warms up likely. It practically turns into a different headphone.
Build
The Momentums feel quite exquisite with their glass filled plastic cups mounted via ball joints to solid feeling slider adjustments on a riveted bare aluminium headband, and premium Alcantara (a simulated suede) lining the underside of the stitched headband, and the outside ear pads. The color choices are classy and the whole headphone feels modern yet retro (COUGH COUGH hipster).
What's NOT so classy, however, is the Apple-certified 3 button remote cable. It is very thin, and has a proprietary bayonet locking 2.5 termination to the recessed port on the left ear cup only (making finding aftermarket cables a challenge). It also terminates to a 90 degree jack which may not penetrate all smartphone protective cases due to how short it is, there is no strain relief on the end of the jack that goes to the earcup, and the strain relief on the end that goes to your source doesn't feel or look like it will take much abuse. My guess is that after a couple years the cable will fail, and a replacement will set you back a hefty 50 US Dollars. It's even worse for the Over Ear Momentum with its swiveling headphone jack. A replacement cable for that is an OUTRAGEOUS 70-80 Dollars. At least Sennheiser also includes a straight cable for use as a backup with the On Ear and the Over Ear for use with your hi-fi system, or with devices such as some Android phones, Blackberries and Windows Phones that may not play nicely with the 3 button Apple remote cable.
The XS on the other hand takes a different route. It has a more Italiano-fashionista, military grade design with only two color choices: black or white and silver. Both headphones have the interconnect cables exposed but the XS interconnect cable is kevlar lined and thicker, so it feels more durable. The XS headband is mostly covered with the headband padding. The cups are adjustable by a very aesthetically pleasing feeling and sounding click adjustment. The pads as I mentioned are a protein leather and so is the outer headband padding with a mesh cloth insert that touches your scalp. The shields covering the cups are aluminum and held in by six hexagonal screws. The shields can be laser engraved with an artwork design of one's choice or can be swapped with a variety of different colors of shields. I keep my iPhone in my left pocket so I always have the cable installed on the left cup, but what makes the XS unique is that the cable can be installed on either cup, and the unused port is plugged with the included V-Cork to prevent sound leaking through the open port and channel imbalance, or can be used as to output sound to another headphone (known as daisy chaining). Speaking of cables, the cable that comes with the XS is woven kevlar lined as well, and is about 3 feet long. It doesn't have the 3 button control like the Momentum but has a one button remote, making it compatible with almost any smartphone, not just the iPhone. That's a big plus for non Apple-users. Also the cable, although it tends to kink often when new, is rated at 1 million bends, has strain reliefs on both sides of the cables, has a more durable 45 degree angle jack going to the device, has a lapel-mounted microphone module separate from the play/pause module and terminated to the headphone in a standard 3.5 mm jack, which makes finding replacement cables a breeze. You don't get a regular straight cable with the XS unlike the Momentum, but should the cable break, you can buy a replacement directly from V-Moda for 15 US Dollars, not 50 like on the Momentum On Ear. The whole headphone feels solid and like a premium product that should last you years. Style is subjective, but I prefer the looks of the XS.
Advantage: V-Moda XS
Comfort
The Momentums like I mentioned are torture to your ears before break-in. But afterwords they become more comfortable. The padding softens up nicely after a few days. What bothered me though was the clamping force on the ears. The weight and clamp is too much on the ears and this compounds comfort issues. The headband is rather hard and although the headphone is light I found the headband tended to hang up on the sagittal crest (that pointy ridge line) on the top of my head, causing it to pinch after a while. The headband has quite a wide gap where your hairline ends so the headphones tend to be larger profile and visually stick out more. Overall I found the Momentum On Ear to be reasonably comfortable for about 30 minutes to an hour.
The XS on the other hand has a more ovular headband that very evenly distributes the pressure across my head and with the softer cloth padding, I did not experience any hot spots on my head whatsoever. There isn't a prominent gap between the headband and the sides of my head, which makes the headphone look and feel more lower profile and form fitting. The pads while smaller and not as breathable as the Momentum pads due to their pleather material are softer on the ears and fit the shape of the ears very well without needing to be adjusted once placed on the ears. They form a better seal from the get-go. I could wear the XS for about an hour to an hour and a half before I needed to take them off due to sore ears.
Advantage: V-Moda XS
Portability
The Momentum On Ear is a fairly portable headphone due to its size and since it has a round headband that can fit around the neck very easily without feeling confining. The big issue I have with the Momentum On Ear, though, is the fact that it does NOT fold up, giving it a bigger footprint and making its soft zipper case rather large in size. The plus side is that there is enough space in the case to fit an iPod nano and a second cable, and you won't have to remove the cable from the headphone to put it in the zipper case or the also included drawstring cloth pouch.
The XS is a packaging wonder. It folds up via its click folding adjustments to a size about the size of my small fist. The case as a result is only about the size of a large man's fist, and with the white model comes in a light gray color and is rigid with loops for use as a small purse (clutch), and has an included aluminum carabiner latch to clip onto your book bag or backpack if you are short on space or want the headphone readily accessible. Though the XS case is small enough to pretty much fit into any sort of purse compartment of bag. It's very convenient. The two downsides I will say are that due to the ovular shape of the XS' headband, it feels more confining around the neck, and because of the small size of the case, it is difficult to stuff anything else into it other than the cable, which needs to be detached and crammed in itself. Other than that the XS has a better thought out case.
Advantage: V-Moda XS
Sound
Finally, the sound.
The Momentum while smaller sibling to its bigger, more expensive brother, the Full Size Momentum, sounds almost nothing like it. It has a very v-shaped sound signature, with an emphasized lower to mid treble, a very emphasized mid bass relative to the sub bass and upper bass, and a fairly distant or withdrawn mid section. This makes the Momentum On Ear a very forward and exciting headphone to listen to, and tends to fit more thumpy moods people may have. It sounds fantastic with dance music, house, deep house, trance, mid bass-heavy hip-hop and anything that demands a powerful, elevated mid bass. For that reason the Momentum On Ear will make a great on the go and workout listening experience. For my tastes, I am not a fan of the Momentum On Ear. I find that ironically for it being made for use with iDevices, the Momentum On Ear sounded splashy, harsh in the lower treble and grainy on my iPhone 5s and iPad Mini non-Retina. It seemed to smoothen out when either plugged into my Macbook Pro or into my hybrid tube amplifier (which I imagine most headphones would anyway when run on a better system). The treble is a little too forward and fatiguing for my tastes, giving female vocals a hard edge. My largest complaint though is the balance of the bass. The sub bass and upper bass are a little undefined and over shouted by the very elevated mid bass, giving the Momentum On Ear a rather droning or "one note" sound to the bass, which when I am not in a dance/trance mood, tends to become rather obnoxious and detracts from the musicality.
The XS has some similarities to the Momentum in that it has an elevated mid bass, but unlike the Momentum On Ear, takes a smoother and a darker approach to the sound. The upper mids tend to be smoothened out by the fairly strong upper bass and the rolled off treble, though it transitions well. You will not get that lower to mid treble extension that you would get with the Momentum, but on the other hand this polite and refined sound gives the XS a more forgiving nature with tracks and will suit a wider variety of genres than the On Ear, and will be more pleasing to casual listeners. This softened treble does come at the expensive of being somewhat hazy and rounded sounding, which treble heads may despise. EDM fans may also like the On Ear more due to its more elevated mid bass and more exciting lower and mid treble. As I mentioned earlier, the XS does have an elevated bass. But the mid bass is better controlled than the On Ear, and has a better extension and tightness in the sub bass range. There is some looseness to the XS which can give it a thumpy nature to its sound, but I don't find it nearly as "one-note" sounding as the Momentum On Ear. My only complaint is that the XS mids can be a tad muffled and cupped or closed in sounding, but this is the case with almost any kind of supra aural headphone, which is a notoriously difficult headphone to engineer to sound great. As far as devices go, running on my iPhone 5s and iPad Mini, the XS did a commendable job. On the Macbook Pro it becomes even more powerful sounding, and responds well to EQing.
Advantage: IN MY OPINION, the V-Moda XS, but it does have some of those looseness issues to its mid bass at times, but less so than the Momentum On Ears.
Conclusion
I personally did not keep either the V-Moda XS or the Sennheiser Momentum On Ear since my ears are notoriously sensitive to supra aural headphones, causing them to become sore and tender and limiting my use of either. But between the two, I would have to say that the V-Moda XS is the better all-rounder headphone with its superior build and durability, its better portability, and its more even sound.
On Ears might have "special foam" in their Alcantara-covered ear pads, but that doesn't take away from the fact that their ear pads were BMW-seat-hard and had practically no give to them. This compounded with the tight grip from the aluminum headband produced ears redder than Conan O'Brien's hair that were unbelievably sore and tender after only 15 minutes of wearing. The only way the On Ears became even barely tolerable was to place them over a speaker cabinet to depress the ear pads and stretch out the headband for a couple of days. This did a good job of breaking in the padding on the ear cushions. Before burn in the sound was overly boomy, the upper mids howled painfully, and the treble was a sibilant mess. After about 24 hours of playing them on a shuffled music mix they finally settled down.
Whereas the XS doesn't have much for comfort break in. They don't clamp that hard on the ears so they don't improve much with stretching out, and the pads are protein leather, are lower profile and sit over the ears more evenly as well as have softer, more compliant padding. They don't improve that much other than fitting the angle of your ears. The XS sound wise prior to about 14 or so hours of burn in had a thin, scooped out mid section and little to no bass impact. I thought the XS sounded extremely dull. After burning in the sound different is SIGNIFICANT. The bass absolutely comes to life and warms up likely. It practically turns into a different headphone.
Build
The Momentums feel quite exquisite with their glass filled plastic cups mounted via ball joints to solid feeling slider adjustments on a riveted bare aluminium headband, and premium Alcantara (a simulated suede) lining the underside of the stitched headband, and the outside ear pads. The color choices are classy and the whole headphone feels modern yet retro (COUGH COUGH hipster).
What's NOT so classy, however, is the Apple-certified 3 button remote cable. It is very thin, and has a proprietary bayonet locking 2.5 termination to the recessed port on the left ear cup only (making finding aftermarket cables a challenge). It also terminates to a 90 degree jack which may not penetrate all smartphone protective cases due to how short it is, there is no strain relief on the end of the jack that goes to the earcup, and the strain relief on the end that goes to your source doesn't feel or look like it will take much abuse. My guess is that after a couple years the cable will fail, and a replacement will set you back a hefty 50 US Dollars. It's even worse for the Over Ear Momentum with its swiveling headphone jack. A replacement cable for that is an OUTRAGEOUS 70-80 Dollars. At least Sennheiser also includes a straight cable for use as a backup with the On Ear and the Over Ear for use with your hi-fi system, or with devices such as some Android phones, Blackberries and Windows Phones that may not play nicely with the 3 button Apple remote cable.
The XS on the other hand takes a different route. It has a more Italiano-fashionista, military grade design with only two color choices: black or white and silver. Both headphones have the interconnect cables exposed but the XS interconnect cable is kevlar lined and thicker, so it feels more durable. The XS headband is mostly covered with the headband padding. The cups are adjustable by a very aesthetically pleasing feeling and sounding click adjustment. The pads as I mentioned are a protein leather and so is the outer headband padding with a mesh cloth insert that touches your scalp. The shields covering the cups are aluminum and held in by six hexagonal screws. The shields can be laser engraved with an artwork design of one's choice or can be swapped with a variety of different colors of shields. I keep my iPhone in my left pocket so I always have the cable installed on the left cup, but what makes the XS unique is that the cable can be installed on either cup, and the unused port is plugged with the included V-Cork to prevent sound leaking through the open port and channel imbalance, or can be used as to output sound to another headphone (known as daisy chaining). Speaking of cables, the cable that comes with the XS is woven kevlar lined as well, and is about 3 feet long. It doesn't have the 3 button control like the Momentum but has a one button remote, making it compatible with almost any smartphone, not just the iPhone. That's a big plus for non Apple-users. Also the cable, although it tends to kink often when new, is rated at 1 million bends, has strain reliefs on both sides of the cables, has a more durable 45 degree angle jack going to the device, has a lapel-mounted microphone module separate from the play/pause module and terminated to the headphone in a standard 3.5 mm jack, which makes finding replacement cables a breeze. You don't get a regular straight cable with the XS unlike the Momentum, but should the cable break, you can buy a replacement directly from V-Moda for 15 US Dollars, not 50 like on the Momentum On Ear. The whole headphone feels solid and like a premium product that should last you years. Style is subjective, but I prefer the looks of the XS.
Advantage: V-Moda XS
Comfort
The Momentums like I mentioned are torture to your ears before break-in. But afterwords they become more comfortable. The padding softens up nicely after a few days. What bothered me though was the clamping force on the ears. The weight and clamp is too much on the ears and this compounds comfort issues. The headband is rather hard and although the headphone is light I found the headband tended to hang up on the sagittal crest (that pointy ridge line) on the top of my head, causing it to pinch after a while. The headband has quite a wide gap where your hairline ends so the headphones tend to be larger profile and visually stick out more. Overall I found the Momentum On Ear to be reasonably comfortable for about 30 minutes to an hour.
The XS on the other hand has a more ovular headband that very evenly distributes the pressure across my head and with the softer cloth padding, I did not experience any hot spots on my head whatsoever. There isn't a prominent gap between the headband and the sides of my head, which makes the headphone look and feel more lower profile and form fitting. The pads while smaller and not as breathable as the Momentum pads due to their pleather material are softer on the ears and fit the shape of the ears very well without needing to be adjusted once placed on the ears. They form a better seal from the get-go. I could wear the XS for about an hour to an hour and a half before I needed to take them off due to sore ears.
Advantage: V-Moda XS
Portability
The Momentum On Ear is a fairly portable headphone due to its size and since it has a round headband that can fit around the neck very easily without feeling confining. The big issue I have with the Momentum On Ear, though, is the fact that it does NOT fold up, giving it a bigger footprint and making its soft zipper case rather large in size. The plus side is that there is enough space in the case to fit an iPod nano and a second cable, and you won't have to remove the cable from the headphone to put it in the zipper case or the also included drawstring cloth pouch.
The XS is a packaging wonder. It folds up via its click folding adjustments to a size about the size of my small fist. The case as a result is only about the size of a large man's fist, and with the white model comes in a light gray color and is rigid with loops for use as a small purse (clutch), and has an included aluminum carabiner latch to clip onto your book bag or backpack if you are short on space or want the headphone readily accessible. Though the XS case is small enough to pretty much fit into any sort of purse compartment of bag. It's very convenient. The two downsides I will say are that due to the ovular shape of the XS' headband, it feels more confining around the neck, and because of the small size of the case, it is difficult to stuff anything else into it other than the cable, which needs to be detached and crammed in itself. Other than that the XS has a better thought out case.
Advantage: V-Moda XS
Sound
Finally, the sound.
The Momentum while smaller sibling to its bigger, more expensive brother, the Full Size Momentum, sounds almost nothing like it. It has a very v-shaped sound signature, with an emphasized lower to mid treble, a very emphasized mid bass relative to the sub bass and upper bass, and a fairly distant or withdrawn mid section. This makes the Momentum On Ear a very forward and exciting headphone to listen to, and tends to fit more thumpy moods people may have. It sounds fantastic with dance music, house, deep house, trance, mid bass-heavy hip-hop and anything that demands a powerful, elevated mid bass. For that reason the Momentum On Ear will make a great on the go and workout listening experience. For my tastes, I am not a fan of the Momentum On Ear. I find that ironically for it being made for use with iDevices, the Momentum On Ear sounded splashy, harsh in the lower treble and grainy on my iPhone 5s and iPad Mini non-Retina. It seemed to smoothen out when either plugged into my Macbook Pro or into my hybrid tube amplifier (which I imagine most headphones would anyway when run on a better system). The treble is a little too forward and fatiguing for my tastes, giving female vocals a hard edge. My largest complaint though is the balance of the bass. The sub bass and upper bass are a little undefined and over shouted by the very elevated mid bass, giving the Momentum On Ear a rather droning or "one note" sound to the bass, which when I am not in a dance/trance mood, tends to become rather obnoxious and detracts from the musicality.
The XS has some similarities to the Momentum in that it has an elevated mid bass, but unlike the Momentum On Ear, takes a smoother and a darker approach to the sound. The upper mids tend to be smoothened out by the fairly strong upper bass and the rolled off treble, though it transitions well. You will not get that lower to mid treble extension that you would get with the Momentum, but on the other hand this polite and refined sound gives the XS a more forgiving nature with tracks and will suit a wider variety of genres than the On Ear, and will be more pleasing to casual listeners. This softened treble does come at the expensive of being somewhat hazy and rounded sounding, which treble heads may despise. EDM fans may also like the On Ear more due to its more elevated mid bass and more exciting lower and mid treble. As I mentioned earlier, the XS does have an elevated bass. But the mid bass is better controlled than the On Ear, and has a better extension and tightness in the sub bass range. There is some looseness to the XS which can give it a thumpy nature to its sound, but I don't find it nearly as "one-note" sounding as the Momentum On Ear. My only complaint is that the XS mids can be a tad muffled and cupped or closed in sounding, but this is the case with almost any kind of supra aural headphone, which is a notoriously difficult headphone to engineer to sound great. As far as devices go, running on my iPhone 5s and iPad Mini, the XS did a commendable job. On the Macbook Pro it becomes even more powerful sounding, and responds well to EQing.
Advantage: IN MY OPINION, the V-Moda XS, but it does have some of those looseness issues to its mid bass at times, but less so than the Momentum On Ears.
Conclusion
I personally did not keep either the V-Moda XS or the Sennheiser Momentum On Ear since my ears are notoriously sensitive to supra aural headphones, causing them to become sore and tender and limiting my use of either. But between the two, I would have to say that the V-Moda XS is the better all-rounder headphone with its superior build and durability, its better portability, and its more even sound.
