One of the best sounding headphones I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. Honestly speaking I wasn't expecting much from these headphones as much as they are hyped. So here it goes, a long read. Thank you for reading.
Research:
A buy for an expensive headphone involves tonnes of research. And likewise, I spent two months looking for some of the best headphones out there, after finally deciding that Bluetooth headphones were more gimmick than function. I had shortlisted these momentums, the ATH M50x, Sony MDRs, Logitech and of course Bose (because everyone shortlists Bose). Looked at many reviews but some of the most helpful were the ones from InnerFidelity, TrustedReviews, Amazon.com customer reviews and some YouTube reviews. The toughest decision was between the ATH M50s and Sennheiser Momentums. This is where the InnerFidelity and TrustedReviews, gave a decisive judgment. This pretty much settled it for me. I did try out the Bose Soundlink on-ear headphones at their store, and more than the sound I loved the comfort they offered. But at Rs 21k, and no real online sale in India, I gave that a pass.
The last and final confusion was among the various Sennheiser momentum models you will find on Amazon, Flipkart with varying prices. The most recent version of Momentums have leather pads and foldable hinges. These will set you back by 20k, and the wireless versions by a 30k. But I couldn't find these here for some odd reason. The good news is that the sound signature is 95% the same between the old and the new version, and unless you are a music connoisseur you wont notice the difference.
Deal: Stay vigilant on Amazon, as these Momentums are almost out of production to make way for the newer momentums. On one such deal days, Amazon was offering this for 5800, and with an SBI cash back, I scored these for 4700. Best deal ever !! Thank you Amazon.
Sound review:
I'll keep it simple and easy to understand. Listen to "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons, and you'll hear the sound tearing. Not because there is something wrong with the headphones, but that's how the artist wanted it to sound. Rookie mistake. Move on to this particular track from Evanescene "Bring me to Life", 11 seconds into the sound, a bass note plays which is ridiculously hard for most headphones I have ever heard to reproduce. These momentums, don't just pass the test, they blow it out of the water. You can hear the note play, sustain and slowly fade away at exactly the right times. Apart from this, some hip hop tracks don't go *dhup dhup dhup*, instead they go "dhum dhum dhum". The p-m transition gives a fantastic feel to the music, and makes it more alive.
Over to the treble, playing a few lovely songs like Carnival of Rust, My Own prison lead you to hear more closely to the string sounds. Instead of TWANG, they go twanggggg, subtle and sustained with the notes incredibly clear. Indian songs especially sound the loveliest thanks to their beautiful instrument spectrum. The vocals are exactly at the right volume for you to enjoy the melody as well as the lyrics. For most genres, the sound reproduction is brilliant, it wont hurt your ears or sound dull.
If you are concerned about how loud these are, you don't have to worry. On any standard iOS device, at about 75% of the volume these sound loud enough to most people with difficult hearing. Turning it up further would only ruin your ear drums. So watch out.
Build:
The construction is excellent and very sturdy. The metals don't feel cheap, are easy to work with. The fabric trips on the head is ok and the fabric ear pads may polarize most people. Some love it, and some absolutely don't. You'll probably get used to it. The detachable cable and a spare that come along with the box are better than what Sennheiser provides with its cheaper models. Just the right thickness. The device comes with a lovely pouch and a soft case. They don't fold, which will be an annoyance as they take up a lot of room in your average laptop bag. Don't even think about carrying these in your ladies purse or a sling bag. About them controls - I was initially skeptical. Made no sense that they had to be that big and so distracting on the cable. But now that I have been using it, those bigger keys are very comfortable, and the metal housing gives me the confidence that they wont break like most other headphones I have used.
Comfort:
Right. I think this is where the Sennheiser probably scores lower than other categories. After testing the Bose SoundLink, these feel immature. The clamping force is not hard as the Beats, but they are still a bit hard for those with ears that stick out more. The pads do heat up as you listen to music and they will get uncomfortable after 20 minutes or so. But this isn't a lasting damage, a quick 40 second break will get your ears airy again and you are good to go. Been using this for over a week now, and I am beginning to get used to it. its not as bad as it feels the first time.
Note: There is some sound leak. So if you work in an office with open cubicles and silent colleagues, then they will notice the sound if you turn up the volume to 65%. You can only hope that they are distracted with a phone call or someone is always speaking around you for the distraction to go unnoticed.
Conclusion:
9.2/10 for sound, because we are stingy people and always believe that there is room for improvement :P
7/10 for comfort, cause I have those bat ears and my cartilages are just beginning to get along nicely with these. Wish I had leather replacements for those pads.
9/10 for build quality and design. Those sliders man. Can adjust in mm's. Wish they folded like the new model
10/10 for the pricing. Even at 8k these are a steal. its impossible to get such a good sound for so less.
If you are the kind of listener who needs an awesome pair of headphones to enjoy music/movies at home, work then go for these. They aren't very travel friendly, and lets not kid ourselves (on-ear, over-ear aren't travel friendly anywhere in India). Don't go gyming with these, as they aren't up for the sweat challenge, but I promise they wont fall off.
Hope this was helpful.
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