Sennheiser MOMENTUM Review

[nicholars]

Double post

 

[UnityIsPower]

CX 300 - II ?

Sennheiser MM50 IP

Purchased on Feb, 27 2009.
Seller: bprosper.
Cost: 44.99
Dreams: shattered...

Seems I tried again.

Vmoda vibe flashback chrom

Purchased on Mar, 6 2009
Seller: Amazon
Price: 58.58
Dreams: very very mildly meet.

Oh.



It's quite interesting looking back...



GITS, CB, Cosmos.... Winning!

Found more;

I called when these buds bit the dust and they quickly shipped me out new ones


LOL'z don't hate...


O the AKG put a smile on my face when I first put them on! Played some Beyounce!

The DJ1 pros had some issues so I got another pair sent:



I didn't really like the E11..



My HFI 580, I miss thee...
My hamster, Sir Sam Flufflyboots... The cuddly version of Sam Fisher. Jk XD


AKG FTW.


Sweet sweet DJ1's.... And Tom Clancy!



The peeps I sold my gaming PC to never fully paid me...


I thought the monoprice sounded sweet but made my ears hurt and stopped working after a short time...



You can never have too many K518's. JK, they were for gifting!

I've purchased more(HFI 580's quite a few times) but not on amazon. I'll stop here, most all this stuff has been sold of gifted. That projector was sweet tho \(>_<)/

 

[MickeyVee]

So I'm a big HD800 user and love it with my WA7.
I've tried the HD25-II, vModa m80 and M100 and wasn't all that impressed. I've finally nailed it with my momentums and iDevices.  I just set the EQ to treble boost with my iPod U2 4G, iPad Mini Retina and iPhone 5.  It reminds me of when I had the HD650 but with better top end.  It's been a while and I'm going from memory so I'm not too sure the comparison is too valid.
Anyway, I'm really enjoying these particular setups with the Momentum.  I've been thinking about getting the Fostex TH600 for a more fun sound. I'm sure that they'll do better than the Momentum/iDevice combos but at this point, I'm really not feeling an urge to to get something different.  The Momentum's are that good (for me). YMMV.

 

[MickeyVee]

Does anyone know of any third party cable makers for the Momentums?  I would love a 10 foot cable for use in my office.  I'm OK with the standard cable for everything else.

 

[zazex]

 

  As I thought, it's the treble that your after, admit it. 

Sennheiser Veil again.
Edit: The HD650 sounds noticeably different from the HD600, HD700 and HD800. It has less treble and the bass is pushed up some. These are more neutral, which to me is a good thing.

 


It is that a bit but I do not even like bright headphones... I just find the "sennheiser sound" to be a bit too "polite" and could be more agressive.... Not just the treble but the whole way that they present the music.... However I think they make very nice headphones that are perfect when you want to relax and get into the music.... When I want something a bit more "exciting" I prefer other headphones such as the Denons or HE400. If the HD650 are 10/10 for boringness I would rate the HD600 about 8/10 IE8 5/10 and Momentum 3/10... I would rate the Denons and HE400 at 1/10.... Grado or Beyerdynamic etc. are far too bright and agressive for me.... I actually really like the HD650, although it sounds like I don't... Just not for some genres...

 
 

  Ok, but what are the characteristics make the sound exciting for you?

 
After listening a lot to the Momentums for the past few days, the description of their sound that comes to my mind is "clinical".
 
Meaning: adjective unemotional, cold, scientific, objective, detached, analytic, impersonal, antiseptic, disinterested, dispassionate, emotionless 
(as per Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002)
 
They don't seem 'veiled' to me at all.  "Polite" is close...
I just think they're very clinical sounding, and that's not a judgment on them.  Just a description.

 

[StanD]

   
 
 
After listening a lot to the Momentums for the past few days, the description of their sound that comes to my mind is "clinical".
 
Meaning: adjective unemotional, cold, scientific, objective, detached, analytic, impersonal, antiseptic, disinterested, dispassionate, emotionless 
(as per Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002)
 
They don't seem 'veiled' to me at all.  "Polite" is close...
I just think they're very clinical sounding, and that's not a judgment on them.  Just a description.

I can only think that is how you feel about them, as I don't think headphones have feelings - lol. Personally I prefer cans that don't impose their color onto the music, for the times when I want to change that, I can use EQ. I can't stand resonant peaks or dips that are prominent. I think that Momentums have a slightly elevated bass and slightly rolled off treble, any more of either and I would become dissatisfied.The things that perhaps one can't measure like the snap of percussion or the clink and clang of cymbals it does OK with. IMO my HD600's does all of this very well.

 

[nicholars]

I did not find the momentums very clinical sounding personally... I thought they were accurate and generally good.... Clinical sounding to me would be AKG or some Beyer... This is the last time I repeat this now but please Sennheiser make some bigger ones with a better soundstage thx.

 

[zazex]

  I can only think that is how you feel about them, as I don't think headphones have feelings - lol. Personally I prefer cans that don't impose their color onto the music, for the times when I want to change that, I can use EQ. I can't stand resonant peaks or dips that are prominent. I think that Momentums have a slightly elevated bass and slightly rolled off treble, any more of either and I would become dissatisfied.The things that perhaps one can't measure like the snap of percussion or the clink and clang of cymbals it does OK with. IMO my HD600's does all of this very well.

 
Yep, that is my impression of them at this point.
 
I obviously don't think headphones 'have feelings',
nor do I understand why you wrote that...(?)
 
I think all cans impose color onto the music
in one way or another.  You can use EQ all you wish,
but that will affect only the FR aspect of the coloration.

 

[nicholars]

 
Yep, that is my impression of them at this point.
 
I obviously don't think headphones 'have feelings',
nor do I understand why you wrote that...(?)
 
I think all cans impose color onto the music
in one way or another.  You can use EQ all you wish,
but that will affect only the FR aspect of the coloration.

 


If I drop my headphones on the floor they look sort of sad like "why did you do that"..... Also I am sure once when I dropped my HE400 they made a little yelping noise... So who knows maybe they do have feelings.

 

[StanD]

   
Yep, that is my impression of them at this point.
 
I obviously don't think headphones 'have feelings',
nor do I understand why you wrote that...(?)
 
I think all cans impose color onto the music
in one way or another.  You can use EQ all you wish,
but that will affect only the FR aspect of the coloration.

Why I wrote, 'have feelings', c'mon where's your sense of humor?
Yes all cans impose color onto music, I prefer ones that do as little as possible. That's why I'm not so keen on most overpriced fashionable celebrity endorsed junk. I'd rather sink money into something that is both functional and sounds right to me. Each of us have our own preferences.

 

[koolas]

Why I wrote, 'have feelings', c'mon where's your sense of humor?
Yes all cans impose color onto music, I prefer ones that do as little as possible. That's why I'm not so keen on most overpriced fashionable celebrity endorsed junk. I'd rather sink money into something that is both functional and sounds right to me. Each of us have our own preferences.

It's less about color and more about smoothness. Interesting thing is that your brain adapts to what you hear, so after longer listening and without any noise from outside world you won't be able to tell whether one headphones have more bass or treble (as long as you don't switch between them, but listen to ones one day and others on other day after some break). The things your brain cannot figure out are usually unexpected peaks in mid treble and high bass, and thus no matter how long you listen and how quiet is environment, you will still hear those peaks. Personally I am allergic to peaks @ ~3kHz and ~200Hz. Momentum does have this slight bump around that high bass, but fortunately it's not as bad, so I can still like them

 

[nicholars]

It's less about color and more about smoothness. Interesting thing is that your brain adapts to what you hear, so after longer listening and without any noise from outside world you won't be able to tell whether one headphones have more bass or treble (as long as you don't switch between them, but listen to ones one day and others on other day after some break). The things your brain cannot figure out are usually unexpected peaks in mid treble and high bass, and thus no matter how long you listen and how quiet is environment, you will still hear those peaks. Personally I am allergic to peaks @ ~3kHz and ~200Hz. Momentum does have this slight bump around that high bass, but fortunately it's not as bad, so I can still like them

 


One thing I really liked about the Momentum is how even the frequency response is, there are basically no peaks / dips and no part of the sound is louder / quieter / missing.... I had the Momentums at the same time as the Vmoda M-100 and it was almost laughable how uneven the M-100 sound compared to the Momentum, I honestly do not know why there is a million page thread about the M-100 because to my ears they are nothing special.

 

[StanD]

It's less about color and more about smoothness. Interesting thing is that your brain adapts to what you hear, so after longer listening and without any noise from outside world you won't be able to tell whether one headphones have more bass or treble (as long as you don't switch between them, but listen to ones one day and others on other day after some break). The things your brain cannot figure out are usually unexpected peaks in mid treble and high bass, and thus no matter how long you listen and how quiet is environment, you will still hear those peaks. Personally I am allergic to peaks @ ~3kHz and ~200Hz. Momentum does have this slight bump around that high bass, but fortunately it's not as bad, so I can still like them

I switch around a lot between:
HD600 My favorites at home
Momentums - at home when I need closed backs.
HD558 (Modded) used at the office, the leakage isn't so much to bother co-worker. Then again we have decent space.
Sony XBA-3 - on the bus or outside. Needs an amp to sound right.
Bose QC-15 on the bus, once you're in a rumbling environment they sound better than most cans so one can no longer nitpick Bose under such conditions.
 
Since I switch around a lot, I can feel the different flavors. I can't stand resonant peaks, especially in the sss...silibant region, which ruins the Klipsh S4 series which otherwise would be an ok cheapie. I've used the parametric EQ in NeutronMP to cut it down, but they still suck.
 
Edit: Forgot to mention, the Momentums have no bad habits, I enjoy them. Given a choice, I pick up the HD600s.

 

[ieee754]

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNf9nzvnd1k
It starts being quiet at about 3.9kHz and then at about 4.3kHz it sharply goes up to similar level as it was in 3.5kHz, what in measurements happens about 0.5kHz later.

I'd be happy if someone could confirm this experience, so I would know that there is nothing wrong with my pair. I think I will be buying myself Amperiors, as they seem to have much more treble and more solid bass than Momentum, so they should be better for trance (but I will keep Momentums for everything else).

 

[MRiNiCK]

Hey Guys,
I have the Momentum for sale. check out my Thread for info