[.Sup]

By the description by Jude it looks like Momentum is bassier than M50 as it's bassier than V-Moda M80 (which he referred to as more neutral) which has about similar bass quantity as the ATH-M50 about 5dB or so boost which I concider "entry-lvl" basshead. I'm guessing Momentum might be more in the 7~9dB bass boosted or so range. It sounded like Jude tried to "mask" the Momentum's relatively huge bass boost with as polite way of wording as possible around that (especially due his reference to this isn't reference material and it's good with bass boost for a portable headphone in a noisier environment), at least that's the impressions I got. I'm personally a basshead and probably searching for this kind of quantity as Momentum has though so I only read it as positive personally as M50 for example has slightly too little bass for my taste.

Thanks man this was a very helpful preview. I don't like if the bass is overwhelming but I do like bass.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Brilliant review, Jude. Thank you so much for this. It's highly tempting to pick one up.

 
At this rate, you'll end up with all the new mid-range headphones available. I'm going to see if I can actually get to try a pair in October.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Thanks man this was a very helpful preview. I don't like if the bass is overwhelming but I do like bass.

 
Should be noted though, quantity isn't all, but quality of the bass matters at least as much when we're talking about bass overhelming the rest of the range, the $2000 Fostex TH-900 measures with even 10dB bass boost which is similar to Beats Studios but in terms of how it actually sounds like they don't appear to have nearly the same bass quantity, they are world apart, so even if this Momentum had say for example 8dB boost or something like that it could still have better quality bass than for example M50 which I didn't find to have very good bass quality.

 

[plakat]

I really like the design and was about to order them... this review lets me reconsider that. In my opinion the M-80 has way too much bass, so if the Momentum is actually even more accentuated in this regard that would be too much for my taste. Better highs than the L1 might mitigate that somewhat... but I really like the clear, deep bass of the DT1350 (or the K550 btw).

 

[putente]

It seems these are just another good looking portable but overpriced and consumer oriented headphone, like many more that are arriving to the market almost every day! I guess that's what's selling right now, but for those looking for sound quality, just move along...

 

[caesium5]

Hi Jude, thanks for the great review
 

Though it won't take the place of my current portable reference over-ear headphones for more critical listneing, I find myself grabbing for the MOMENTUM instead of those more than I thought I would, in large part because of the MOMENTUM's comfort--and, yes, I admit because of its style, too. Again, though, if your personal preference is generally for a thicker, bass-emphasized sound with good overall detail, the MOMENTUM might just be the reference headphone you've been looking for.

 
 
A little disappointed as I am not really a "basshead" and am listening more to female jazz vocal.
 
 
Struggling to decide what to get for my first "proper" headphones.
Trying to figure out between the Sennheiser Momentum, Sennheiser Amperior and V-Moda M100).
 
 
Curious to know what's your portable over-ear reference headphone.
 
Any portable headphone recommendations for listening to female jazz vocal?

 

[Maxbas]

Jude! Thank you very much for this review. 
 
I think these headphones are exactly what I was looking for , for my on the tube to work and office listening. 
 
I just wondered how the momentum handels fast music in particular and a broad bandwidth of music genres in general, compared to the Fidelio L1.
Thank you ! 

 

[plakat]

Quote:

A little disappointed as I am not really a "basshead" and am listening more to female jazz vocal.
 
 
Struggling to decide what to get for my first "proper" headphones.
Trying to figure out between the Sennheiser Momentum, Sennheiser Amperior and V-Moda M100).
 

 
I'd say neither of them is suited for your musical preferences... Have a look at the Beyerdynamic DT1350 (the only one I have personally tried that is both portable and more balanced than the models mentioned above (except the still unreleased M-100: its exact sound signature might of course differ a lot from the M-80, bringing it into neutral territory. which I doubt btw

 

[imackler]

Quote:

 
I'd say neither of them is suited for your musical preferences... Have a look at the Beyerdynamic DT1350 (the only one I have personally tried that is both portable and more balanced than the models mentioned above (except the still unreleased M-100: its exact sound signature might of course differ a lot from the M-80, bringing it into neutral territory. which I doubt btw

 
x1  I'm in the same boat as you. The DT1350 is the best I've found from a portable for acoustic/classical genres. I really don't like comfort/fit though... I had such high hopes for the Momentum. Seems like it will be a fun headphone for just enjoying the music...

 

[Lorspeaker]

thanks Jude for the detailed review.
 
=======
 
i think there is still hope for improved clarity..
The pads looks THICK...would a shallower pad reduce the "wide-band boosted bass sounds" ? 

 

[Craigster75]

I thought Jude painted an excellent picture of Momentum's sound.  If I had the luxury of having a headphone manufacturer custom design a headphone, Momentum would come darn close to my ideal for both sound and style.  I am almost as excited to audition Momentum as the M-100 which is really saying something since I have been anticipating the M-100 for about 6 months and never heard of Momentum until a few weeks ago.  My only tweaks would be tighter bass and more sub bass based on Jude's review.
 
I look forward to comparisons between Momentum and PSB M4U2, Denon D600 and, of course, V-Moda M-100.

 

[xaval]

How is it possible that a headphone built to compete with Beats can actually sound good? At least they do look quite nice

 

[plakat]

Quote:

 
x1  I'm in the same boat as you. The DT1350 is the best I've found from a portable for acoustic/classical genres. I really don't like comfort/fit though... I had such high hopes for the Momentum. Seems like it will be a fun headphone for just enjoying the music...

On a side note: did you try to bend the dt1350's headband? I had some success with that (or I simply got used to it
 
Regarding the Momentum: yes, it seems to simply be made for a different target audience... unfortunately most headphones are either good looking *or* sonically balanced (ignoring the wide range of visual preferences

 

[Ishcabible]

Quote:

At least there's a big difference in bass, the Z1000 by FR graphs doesn't have any bass emphasis to speak of, well it actually rolls-off quite a lot in the deep bass so it's quite basshy in comparision to Momentum by Jude's description. Then mids & highs I can't answer but at least you can question yourself, do I like more basshy or bass emphasized headphone which should rule out one or the other.

 
Yeah that's my main "issue" with these. I'm also assuming the Z1000 has better mids, but I'm wondering more about how it all melds together in comparison. I'm looking for a slightly warm headphone for portable use. The Z1000 is currently my front runner because it's the only one I've actually heard, but I did want a little more bass than the Z1000 had. I just don't want to sacrifice too much mids.

 

[Curly21029]

I'd never base a purchasing decision off of a singular opinion, but --
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The boosted bass sounds to me to be rather more wide-band than the more focused...

 
strike one.
 
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...more treble detail and shimmer. 

 
Strike two.
 
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...I'd be less quick to recommend it as a reference headphone for more critical listening.

 
Strike three.
 
If the forthcoming user reviews impute similar attributes to the Momentum then it's not for me.  However, there's a huge market for a headphone with a layman-leaning (this is not stated derogatorily, mind you) sound signature housed by a ritzy aesthetic, so kudos to Sennheiser for bringing something to market that the Beats-using masses could unrepentantly graduate to. (again, no derision intended)
 
Thanks for the review, Jude!
 
EDIT: Cleaned up the obnoxious formatting.  Sorry, all!