[Shorty03]

I have always had cheaper in ear headphones and I am ready to upgrade.
I have decided I want over ear for more comfort on long trips. I also listen around people that don't want to hear my music so keeping the noise in is a almost a deal breaker to me.
I listen to basically everything except rap and country, with an emphasis in rock.
I like to hear base but I definitely don't want it overpowering because I love amazing vocals. I also like to listen to instrumentals in a lot of my music.
I basically need a headphone that can play many genres, and still sound good in all of them. If I understand correctly they are said to be a little on the punchy and harsh side but maybe something close to the sennheiser hd25 would work. The only problem is that I don't want on ear.
Right now I am looking at the sennheiser momentum. They are said to be uncomfortable on people with large ears but if I measured correctly my ears are 55mm which is way under average from what I've seen. So that shouldn't be a problem.
I guess what I want to know is am i making the right choice for what I need? I'm am open to suggestions, but from my research I'm not really interested in the vmoda or Sony mdr, unless someone could sway me.
I would like to keep the price under $300 but I will consider anything. I will be using an iPod touch with no amp, at least for a while, to play these. Sorry for the long post.

 

[GREQ]

The Momentum is probably the one for you. It's a genre master. Be warned the carry case is quite big and almost fills a shoulder bag. 
 
If you PREFER to have light bass, get the Sony MDR-1R. It has a good sound, but the bass is a bit quieter than most of the competition.
 
Another that might work for you sonically is the AKG K550/K551, their sound signature probably suits your needs well, but they're ridiculously huge, so probably don't work well outdoors. 

 

[Shorty03]

Yea I'm a small person, so the akgs would probably swollow my head. Thanks!
EDIT: What about the kef500? From what I've read they are almost exactly the sound I'm looking for. If anyone has experience with them, how is the comfort? That is the main problem I have with on ear.

 

[GREQ]

Yea I'm a small person, so the akgs would probably swollow my head. Thanks!
EDIT: What about the kef500? From what I've read they are almost exactly the sound I'm looking for. If anyone has experience with them, how is the comfort? That is the main problem I have with on ear.

 
KEF M500 are ridiculously comfortable - feather light. But those who actually own it (I've only auditioned it) say that it gets uncomfortable after about 2 hours of wearing. 
They are genre masters, but have a strange/unique sound presentation that slightly scoops the mids and has a very wide but thin soundstage giving it an almost speaker-like sound. I didn't like it because the mids made some vocals sound cold and hollow, but while they sounded almost perfect for almost anything, they don't isolate as well as my Momentums, so I was never even tempted to buy them.

 

[Shorty03]

   
KEF M500 are ridiculously comfortable - feather light. But those who actually own it (I've only auditioned it) say that it gets uncomfortable after about 2 hours of wearing. 
They are genre masters, but have a strange/unique sound presentation that slightly scoops the mids and has a very wide but thin soundstage giving it an almost speaker-like sound. I didn't like it because the mids made some vocals sound cold and hollow, but while they sounded almost perfect for almost anything, they don't isolate as well as my Momentums, so I was never even tempted to buy them.

 
Yea, I've decided against the 500's because of reports of them being very loose.
Thanks for your help!

 

[Trunks159]

You can easily tighten the pressure.
 
If you don't want the kef, then I'd recommend the ATH WS99.  If you don't want those Id recommend the PSB M4U, and if not that, I'd get the Focal Spirit One or Momentum.

 

[GREQ]

Focal Spirit One is a little bass heavy though.

 

[Trunks159]

The Momemtun has more bass (to me at least).  I don't find them bass heavy in the slightest.  They have around the same bass as the 1r, maybe more.  Less bass then the WS99.

 

[GREQ]

Well just to put things into balance, that goes totally against my experience with the Spirit One.  
In order of bass quantity, my ears heard this - Focal > Momentum > 1R. 
 
Never heard the WS99 though. I thought the PSB M4U had about the same bass as the Momentum (just curious to see if our hearing is wildly different

)

 

[Trunks159]

I'd actually say the momentum has ever so slightly more bass.

 

[StanD]

I have the Momentum as well as HD600, etc, etc (read as a collection of HPs and IEMs). I really enjoy the Momentum (Around Ear) as it has a touch extra bass but does not sacrifice mids, treble or definition. The sound is very pleasing and detailed, you can't go wrong them. My Galaxy S3 can drive them well. Is there a place that you can bring in your own DAP and try them for SQ and fit? My ears just make it, so I find them comfortable.
 
I tried the new Momentum On Ears and they are for bass hounds, but unlike Beats and Dre's the Sennheisers have a sense of clarity.

 

[Trunks159]

Yeah, you might as well get the momentum if you don't like its main competitors (m500, 1r, m100).

 

[Shorty03]

Yea last night i was dead set on the Momentums then I stumbled across te Mad Dogs. So now I'm looking at them too. Only thing with them is most say you need a good amp to get them at their best. I think that factor is driving to the Momentums over them even thought from reviews I would like the mad dog sound better.

 

[Trunks159]

The mad dogs require some hardcore amping.

 

[mistakaroo]

My first post here. I was going to start another thread but saw this one.
 
I got the Sennheiser Momentums this week and my first step into headphones (high end or not). I wanted something over the ear and closed because it will be used in public places (library) and didn't wan't any sound leaks. It was between this and the PSB M4U 1 and the Momentum's came out on top because of the smaller profile and from pictures, it looks better if wearing out in public (the PSB's are wiiide).
 
These headphones look beautiful but a touch too small for my ears. Buying them sight unseen, I thought people were exaggerating how small these are but they really are small, both in the total size and the ear cup. They sit on top of my ear lobes so it's more of an on ear than over ear. I was going to make a thread asking about something else that's similar to the Momentums but a little bit bigger.
 
My first impression of it was that it sounded awful and I was ready to box it up and send it back to Amazon. The music sounded muffled unless I turned it to the max volume setting on my Galaxy S3. Not only then did it sound more "clear." I played 10-15 different songs and got the same muffled sound. It wasn't until I connected it to my laptop where I really heard a clear sound at all volume levels so in conclusion, the S3 sucks for playing music. I don't know if it's just that I haven't auditioned any types of >$10 earphones/headphones but I'm still a bit underwhelmed with the sound of a set costing $350. I'm deciding if I want to send it back and get a less expensive set of IEM's, DAC, and Amp for the same cost as a portable setup and in the future get some HD 598's or 600's.
 
I listen to some hip hop, alternative rock, chillstep, pop, house, some trance, and other genres. Artists include (in no particular order):
 
The Killers
Tupac
Biggie Smalls
Eminem
3 Doors Down
Beck
Cake
Coldplay
Boyz II Men
Foster the People
The XX
Cafe Del Mar cd's
Linkin Park
Jack Johnson
Green Day
Sublime
The Shins
Zero 7
DMX
Michael Jackson
Weezer
Florence the Machine
Franz Ferdinand
ATB
Motorcyle (As the Rush Comes)