Sennheiser MOMENTUM Review
Oct 6, 2012 at 6:50 PM Post #361 of 3,594
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what would putting some fiberglass in your Closed headphones Do too the sound?

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If you're talking about glass-fibre insulation material, you'll get VERY itchy ears with a million tiny shards of glass embedding themselves into your ear lobes. 

Have I missed an earlier post which precipitated this disquieting Q&A or is my local Head-fi broadcast being interrupted by a DIY show for masochists with init-cap randomizers?
 
Oct 6, 2012 at 7:59 PM Post #362 of 3,594
I can kill my little fish for one of those... 
o2smile.gif

 
Oct 6, 2012 at 8:47 PM Post #363 of 3,594
Repost from the mid-fi closed portable battle thread.
 
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I've just auditioned the sennheiser momentum at J&R today with my sansa fuze -> LOD -> E17. I made a playlist based off of the music that i've been listening to recently, which consisted mainly of electronic (touhou) as well as a few vocal, rock, metal, instrumental, and orchestral tracks. I will mainly be comparing these to my v-sonic GR07, my current IEM that I take around with me. I prefer a bright, and warm sound signature, like the sound provided by my dt880/600 powered by my decco2 & little dot mkiii. I've only started getting into the hi-fi hobby about two monthes ago, so please excuse my inexperience.
 
I have tried the m80, crossfade lp2, ath m50 and the hd-25 adidas. I definitely prefer the momentum's sound signature over those portables based off of memory. I can't really compare to the momentum to the other three very well, since i've only tried them for about 30 minutes each, and that was a while ago. For the record, those headphones were very uncomfortable for me to wear.
 

 
Comfort - I wear thick framed glasses, and the momentum clamped my glasses in a way that I couldn't move them unless i moved the headphones themselves. The leather is very soft, and would probably be very comfortable for those who don't wear glasses. I started experiencing pain on where my glasses' earpiece touches my head after about 30 minutes of usage. They momentum's earpads were mostly on my ear, not around it. On the other hand, the momentum was very nice around my neck; it was light, and the earcups were small enough to not bother my neck or chin.
 
Build quality - Solid metal, nice leather headband and earpads. The cable is pretty nice imo, it's thicker than most IEM cables, but not as thick as most full-sized headphones. It's also nice that the 3.5mm plug can be used straight or at an angle, and you can remove the cable for better portability
Soundstage - Decent soundstage for closed headphones, they sounded a little bit more closed than my dt770/250, more open than my gr07 of course. 
 
Imaging - Pretty good separation of instruments, could tell where the instruments were in the orchestral tracks that I played.
 
Bass - Based on many impressions that i've read about the momentum, I first thought that these were supposed to be BASSY. But upon listening to them, I felt that they were fairly neutral to me, and definitely not as warm as the gr07. The momentum has a very pronounced mid-bass emphasis, and is very tight and punchy; never bloated or muddy. What I find lacking is the sub-bass. I could barely hear the low notes at all, unless I pushed the earcups into my ears more, which resulted in pain from my glasses.
 
Mids - Very forward compared to the gr07 and the dt880/600. Vocals were clear, and guitars sounded great. I like it! No complaints here.
 
Treble - As mentioned before, I like the brightness of the DT880/600 and I usually EQ my headphones to get the treble levels up to the dt880's. So usually I use +4 treble on my gr07, which is considered neutral, but slightly warm. I feel that the momentum has just about the right amount of treble for me. Very clean, and extended treble response, no sibilance to note of (im not very sensitive to it, but then again in used to the dt880's). Never harsh or fatiguing at all, awesome.
 

 
I really like the momentum's sound signature, except for the lack of sub-bass. I would not buy the momentum though, mainly because it's uncomfortable for me and I feel that the $349 retail price is way too high for the SQ that you get out of it, as I feel that the SQ is just slightly better than my gr07; maybe perhaps I would consider it if it were around $200. 
 
I'm looking forward to impressions of the m100, as I liked the m80's sound signature. But if their comfort is anything like the LP2's, then it's a no-go for me.

 
Oct 6, 2012 at 10:21 PM Post #364 of 3,594
oh...yeah. 
 
I tried out them out at J&R and I must say I like them. I used my samsung S3 as a source un amped. I used dance, rap, and rock music. When the source calls for bass there is definitely plenty of bass being delivered. Other wise it's very clean sounding. I Finlay received my HD25 1 ii and I am not impressed.   I have come to the conclusion that on ear headphones are just not for me. I need full sized headphones. If these are available at he apple store I think I'll pick up some amperiors and these momentum to compare. 
 
Oct 6, 2012 at 10:30 PM Post #365 of 3,594
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Have I missed an earlier post which precipitated this disquieting Q&A or is my local Head-fi broadcast being interrupted by a DIY show for masochists with init-cap randomizers?

no someone mentioned earlier about putting something inside the headphones to dampen the bass. Then I remember hearing people put fiberglass in speakers to make it seem like the speaker is in a bigger box. So I figure hey maybe fiberglass in your headphones could increase the sound stage or something to that effect. 
 
Oct 6, 2012 at 10:35 PM Post #366 of 3,594
I really wanted to like Momentum since the HD414 was my first headphone back in the day and they are a great looking headphone that is, shall we say, age appropriate for me.  However, after A/Bing with the UE6000, I am returning Momentum.  The bass is there, but not as tight, dynamic and deep as the UE6000.  Also, UE6000 seems to have more natural, smooth and enjoyable mids and highs.  The differences seem subtle and I apologize in advance to Momentum fans, but here is my personal distinction between the two:  for $200, the UE6000 gives me goosebumps with sections of my music and there were sections of music with the $350 Momentum that made me cringe.
 
 
Oct 6, 2012 at 10:51 PM Post #367 of 3,594
I really wanted to like Momentum since the HD414 was my first headphone back in the day and they are a great looking headphone that is, shall we say, age appropriate for me.  However, after A/Bing with the UE6000, I am returning Momentum.  The bass is there, but not as tight, dynamic and deep as the UE6000.  Also, UE6000 seems to have more natural, smooth and enjoyable mids and highs.  The differences seem subtle and I apologize in advance to Momentum fans, but here is my personal distinction between the two:  for $200, the UE6000 gives me goosebumps with sections of my music and there were sections of music with the $350 Momentum that made me cringe.

 


Sorry to hear that, man. Such is life though with audio products! Hopefully I will get a chance to listen to the new UE cans pretty soon!
 
Oct 6, 2012 at 10:56 PM Post #368 of 3,594
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Sorry to hear that, man. Such is life though with audio products! Hopefully I will get a chance to listen to the new UE cans pretty soon!


Well, it was good to at least hear them and know either way instead of speculating from reviews.  I can also see why many would like them, just not for me.  I consider the new UE line to be something special.
 
Oct 7, 2012 at 8:46 AM Post #369 of 3,594
Just auditioned a pair at John Lewis for 20mins. Had the M50s with me too. No comparison for me, M50 sound was clearly more fun. The clamp on the momentum is slightly on the looser side for me, isolation from outside noise was ok, but the sound was a little weak/tiny compared to the M50. There was clarity but i felt bass was not as strong as M50. Was using iPhone 5. Thought momentum were easy to drive... M50s sounded louder on same volume level.
Luckily did not order blind, now I've tried them I can strike them off my buy list! Build quality was on point though.
 
Oct 7, 2012 at 8:49 AM Post #370 of 3,594
Also, they were light as a feather. Good they come with a transportation case, as they feel a little fragile. From memory I definitely preferred the Amperiors.
 
Oct 7, 2012 at 10:23 AM Post #371 of 3,594
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I really wanted to like Momentum since the HD414 was my first headphone back in the day and they are a great looking headphone that is, shall we say, age appropriate for me.  However, after A/Bing with the UE6000, I am returning Momentum.  The bass is there, but not as tight, dynamic and deep as the UE6000.  Also, UE6000 seems to have more natural, smooth and enjoyable mids and highs.  The differences seem subtle and I apologize in advance to Momentum fans, but here is my personal distinction between the two:  for $200, the UE6000 gives me goosebumps with sections of my music and there were sections of music with the $350 Momentum that made me cringe.
 


I spent a few more hours comparing and thought I should be more specific.  First, if  I didn't purchase the UE6000 a day earlier for comparison, I may have been kinder to Momentum, but I will sing the praises of the UE6000 on the appropriate forum.  Both have very good mids, but could be more detailed.  Regarding the low end, Momentum's issue for me is that the sub bass doesn't extend low enough and  the mid bass extends too high creating an unnatural rumble with certain instruments.  Also, the punch could be tighter.  Regarding the high end, I consider these bright for my taste, but fans of Beyers may like these.  I have a reference song to test sibilance- Ellie Goulding's Lights.  The UE6000 handled the highs with presence, but not harshness; Momentum to my ears was offensively bright with some sibilance.  However, I would certainly not say Momentum is a sibilant headphone, I just prefer a more neutral high end.  Lastly, although Momentum is one of the lowest impedance mid-range headphones on the market, the sound absolutely benefits from some type of headphone amp, even my modest FiiO E11.
 
Oct 7, 2012 at 5:46 PM Post #374 of 3,594
Ok glad they're not the 9-10 that most are. Wouldn't make much sense to be a portable can any longer than 5 feet really. The distance from my pocket to my head is all I need to cover! :)
 
Oct 7, 2012 at 5:58 PM Post #375 of 3,594
Ok glad they're not the 9-10 that most are. Wouldn't make much sense to be a portable can any longer than 5 feet really. The distance from my pocket to my head is all I need to cover! :)


Completely agree. And even though the cable is removable, it has a non-standard twist-lock on the end of it. So we probably won't see too many after-market cables for these. Especially since this is the only model I have seen with this connector.
 

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