[DrKrFfXx]

Quote:

The Momentum is pretty damn colored in the lows. You, my friend, are a basshead.

I always fail to *see* why everybody says Momentum is bass colored, bass heavily emphasized, or the likes. Bass is present, yes, but it doesn't flood the whole spectrum like most *bassy* headphones.
 
Yeeterday I was rocking the Sony MDR1R, which I read somewhere in this thread they had a *similar* sound signature to the Momentum. Those are bassheavy IMHO, they have a very thick, warm, reverberating bass response, they make the Momentum sound thin and even bright in comparison.

 

[roguegeek]

Quote:

I always fail to *see* why everybody says Momentum is bass colored, bass heavily emphasized, or the likes. Bass is present, yes, but it doesn't flood the whole spectrum like most *bassy* headphones.
 
Yeeterday I was rocking the Sony MDR1R, which I read somewhere in this thread they had a *similar* sound signature to the Momentum. Those are bassheavy IMHO, they have a very thick, warm, reverberating bass response, they make the Momentum sound thin and even bright in comparison.

 
There seems to always be a general consensus with some people hearing things a little differently. I don't see why that's too difficult to understand. Everyone's ears are different and everyone hears things differently. Makes sense to me.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

 
There seems to always be a general consensus with some people hearing things a little differently. I don't see why that's too difficult to understand. Everyone's ears are different and everyone hears things differently. Makes sense to me.

This is only half true.
If you're very well accustomed to listening to instruments first hand (like myself as I have been playing music in various bands, orchestras, choirs, quartets etc) then you can easily tell if an instrument or voice just doesn't sound right, which has less to do with the frequency response (emphasised bass or whatever) but the actual 'flavour' or tone of the instrument/voice (or timbre, which is the proper musical term).
 
That means a violin or guitar will still sound very much like one on some headphones, even if the bass is or treble is emphasised, but in some headphones the tone or timbre is COLOURED, meaning that things actually will sound different. A violin or guitar will sound slightly different to a real one, which can sometimes make acoustic instruments sound a bit synthetic, and the natural sound of wood and strings become plastic or synthesized. 

It's easy to confuse the two, but more often than not they do go hand in hand. 

 

[roguegeek]

This is only half true.
If you're very well accustomed to listening to instruments first hand (like myself as I have been playing music in various bands, orchestras, choirs, quartets etc) then you can easily tell if an instrument or voice just doesn't sound right, which has less to do with the frequency response (emphasised bass or whatever) but the actual 'flavour' or tone of the instrument/voice (or timbre, which is the proper musical term).

That means a violin or guitar will still sound very much like one on some headphones, even if the bass is or treble is emphasised, but in some headphones the tone or timbre is COLOURED, meaning that things actually will sound different. A violin or guitar will sound slightly different to a real one, which can sometimes make acoustic instruments sound a bit synthetic, and the natural sound of wood and strings become plastic or synthesized. 


It's easy to confuse the two, but more often than not they do go hand in hand. 

I think you may have misquoted or something. I wasn't really debating that. What I did say was everyone's ears are different and everyone hears things differently. I don't really consider that to be half true at all.

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

This is only half true.
If you're very well accustomed to listening to instruments first hand (like myself as I have been playing music in various bands, orchestras, choirs, quartets etc) then you can easily tell if an instrument or voice just doesn't sound right, which has less to do with the frequency response (emphasised bass or whatever) but the actual 'flavour' or tone of the instrument/voice (or timbre, which is the proper musical term).
 
That means a violin or guitar will still sound very much like one on some headphones, even if the bass is or treble is emphasised, but in some headphones the tone or timbre is COLOURED, meaning that things actually will sound different. A violin or guitar will sound slightly different to a real one, which can sometimes make acoustic instruments sound a bit synthetic, and the natural sound of wood and strings become plastic or synthesized. 

It's easy to confuse the two, but more often than not they do go hand in hand. 

 
Sometimes a headphone (or any piece of gear) can make an instrumental/vocal tone or timbre sound more real than what is actually on the recording (like the original Grado RS-1 w/flat pads). That also is coloration. But maybe coloration is like cholesterol...there is both good and bad.

 

[roma101]

Beagle a lot of your posts are right on the money and in so few words. I couldn't agree more with what you just said and have been pondering that for a while, being a timbre-head and often seeing the word 'colored' thrown around, usually in a negative light. Some coloration can sound so natural (thinking of the PRO 500 and my Panasonic RP-HJE900s) vs. many colored Ultrasone offerings that sound very digital and unnatural. In essence, every headphone has its own color in some way, shape or form unless it's something like the DT48 or whatever is 100% neutral. Just my opinion anyway.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

I think you may have misquoted or something. I wasn't really debating that. What I did say was everyone's ears are different and everyone hears things differently. I don't really consider that to be half true at all.

I think what I was trying to say is that even though I agree people hear differently, experienced listeners of various headphone and genre preferences are still better at making comparisons regarding timbre/colouration; and despite their preferences and differences in hearing, those experienced listeners will still pick out the same headphones as being coloured, or uncoloured. 
 
Meaning that there are some absolutes that trained ears are better at picking out. 
 
It sounds like what you were saying is that some headphones will have the correct timbre for some people and others not - but I believe this is not the case, or rather impossible. 
Subjective disagreements are made, but there are always emerging trends regarding certain headphones that are known to be especially neutral with truthful tone.  
 
For example ff someone posted that the HE-500 wasn't neutral, people would first ask what kind of source material and amp they were using. If they persisted with their claim I think most people would simply consider them to be an untrained/inexperienced listener. 

 

[streetdragon]

Punch me or hit me but when i tried these on today they had surprisingly less bass than i expected.

 

[musiclife]

Quote:

 
There seems to always be a general consensus with some people hearing things a little differently. I don't see why that's too difficult to understand. Everyone's ears are different and everyone hears things differently. Makes sense to me.

I actually wonder if one's frequency response hearing could differ drastically from another person, just like different headphones have different response to a sound signal.

 

[plakat]

I'd say thats what loss of hearing is all about: someone hearing some frequencies more quiet than someone else. And we all more or less loose our ability to hear the highest frequencies as we grow older...

 

[roguegeek]

Quote:

I think what I was trying to say is that even though I agree people hear differently, experienced listeners of various headphone and genre preferences are still better at making comparisons regarding timbre/colouration; and despite their preferences and differences in hearing, those experienced listeners will still pick out the same headphones as being coloured, or uncoloured. 
 
Meaning that there are some absolutes that trained ears are better at picking out. 
 
It sounds like what you were saying is that some headphones will have the correct timbre for some people and others not - but I believe this is not the case, or rather impossible. 
Subjective disagreements are made, but there are always emerging trends regarding certain headphones that are known to be especially neutral with truthful tone.  
 
For example ff someone posted that the HE-500 wasn't neutral, people would first ask what kind of source material and amp they were using. If they persisted with their claim I think most people would simply consider them to be an untrained/inexperienced listener. 

 
Makes sense. Off topic, how do you like your HE-500? Do you find it exciting or laid back? I can't get consistent replies.

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

 
Makes sense. Off topic, how do you like your HE-500? Do you find it exciting or laid back? I can't get consistent replies.

Off Topic
 
It's the most exciting sound I can relax to.
It's exciting because I'm hearing new things in my music (everything in the music), and it's relaxing to listen without the distractions of a flawed headphone. 

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Beagle a lot of your posts are right on the money and in so few words. I couldn't agree more with what you just said and have been pondering that for a while, being a timbre-head and often seeing the word 'colored' thrown around, usually in a negative light. Some coloration can sound so natural (thinking of the PRO 500 and my Panasonic RP-HJE900s) vs. many colored Ultrasone offerings that sound very digital and unnatural. In essence, every headphone has its own color in some way, shape or form unless it's something like the DT48 or whatever is 100% neutral. Just my opinion anyway.

 
Tubes are another example. Many people find them so much smoother and more musical than solid state, yet they usually measure rather poorly. I've always maintained that what makes music more musical is the audio equivalent of food seasoning or cheese sauce on broccoli.....up goes the sodium but so does the taste!

 

[HiFiRobot]

Quote:

Today is a good day 

. Just can't decide what color of the Momentums to keep? Notice how small the cups are, but works for me. Headband not the comfiest, small disappointment.
 

(protective film still on the Momentums)

 

 
HHNNGGG... how do they compare to the D2000 and X1?

 
Haven't had much time to do comparisons yet. But initial impression is that both D2000 (slight Dynamat mod) and the X1 are better headphones soundwise. Bigger soundstage on both being the most noticeable difference so far. But the Momentum is really nice and I like it a lot, bought it mainly for travel and was not expecting full-size open sound anyway. I'll try to post more impressions later.


Edit: not

 

[sofastreamer]

got my second pair momentum today and from memory they sound dull compared to my first pair. is that a known issue, that sennheiser has some factory problems on them?