I’m sure this review won’t make many fans happy but it’s just what I see or should I say hear:). Sound is subjective to the listener and the toning of their ear. For me things like Hifiman Sundara and Hifiman edition Xs with my thx amp and dac setup is the best thing you can add to your desk for true music quality and don’t need $1000 to do it especially when you Peace EQ installed on the Pc. So I understand the difference in hype, true audiophile tones and performance, and at the same time know and understand the snobs and brand seeks lies to flaunt their money claiming to others that spend less, as though they can’t possible get the sound they have(which is a lie). So when I tell you I am very well versed in the audiophile nation and understand what sounds good, I’m well deserving of your ear.
So does the Sennheiser momentum live up to its hype? No it doesn’t. But to go into detail I want to make it clear that it’s not a truly bad headphone and that there are many out there that will find value out there in it. For the obvious and easiest reason…it has a 60 hour battery life, something Sennheiser should be proud of. This will provide many user the juice they need to go anywhere 3x over in the world without a single charge. They also have nice hinges that turn the ear-cups and have a nice cloth like material on the top of the headband with minimal logos. Another proud moment for the headphone. The sound is where the rubber shows it’s age. The sound it delivers, EQ’d or otherwise could come to you muffled. And I say could, if you have come from anything clean and powerful like the Airpod Max or the Bowers and Wilkins headphones they just recently released. The bass line throughout the DNA of the headphones no matter what you really do beside playing them in podcast mode, will always ride along the tones of your music even if the music doesn’t need it. And the overall clarity due to its modified somewhat v shape means the mids are pulled back. This doesn’t effect rap and R&B but if you jump into other genres, it will show up as a overall muffled mid range and treble range limiter.
And so after this you really have to decide what you are going to use it for. The ANC isn’t as good so traveling won’t be number for it if you looking for the best Anc. And the ear-cups cut under your ears with clamping force so some will not like this feeling especially with the ear-cups being shallow allowing most ears to touch the drivers, which drives me crazy. I absolutely hate that and it’s worse on the Sennheiser than the Xm5. But wait then you have to deal with the weak transparency mode it has. And if you like just having “off” as your option, you can’t use that, it’s not there. You either use ANC or Transparency mode. And good luck trying to turn it on or use modes because you got one button that has the stupidest configuration of hold times to use different functions and if you get the hold times wrong you end up cutting off the unit or activating something different. So you better no forget the proper seconds for each function. So then you might decide to just put it back into it case and put in your bag. But if you do this you headphone might all of sudden reconnect to your phone even though you don’t want it to(fun times). And if all else fails to convince …be careful not to use the headphone if it’s 50 degrees or less outside because the touch controls don’t work so you will need the app and your phone to do anything for the headphones until they get back inside where it’s warmer. But if you manage to ignore all that you might find something you might like if you don’t want the Xm5 which works way better than this, has better features, has better phone quality, and more room inside the ear-cup with a lighter headphone fit. Or you might want the Bowers and Wilkins headphone instead. But the bottom line is that Sennheiser should have done better with its overall package and functions along with their quality control. It’s a shame they wasted a amazing battery life on a headphone they clearly rushed out before it was through cooking in the design labs. And clearly if it has these thing wrong…don’t even bother comparing it the AirPods Max. Maybe next time Sennheiser.
Tech-N-Things 