Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear Stereo Headphone Review

[dalethorn]

Here is an amazingly good headphone that's way underrated due to an easily-corrected treble rolloff:

http://www.hifiheadphones.co.uk/for...ser-momentum-ear-stereo-headphone-review.html

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I'd love to be able to buy a pair of these for iPhone listening, but I find on-ear style phones uncomfortable after 30 minutes or so. I wish they'd do the same phones in a circumaural design.

Tim

 

[dalethorn]

I'd love to be able to buy a pair of these for iPhone listening, but I find on-ear style phones uncomfortable after 30 minutes or so. I wish they'd do the same phones in a circumaural design.Tim

I can't speak for anyone else's ears, but this is the most comfy on-ear I've ever used, and in fact I can list about 2/3 or more of my around-ear headphones that are way less comfy than the MOE.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I can't speak for anyone else's ears, but this is the most comfy on-ear I've ever used, and in fact I can list about 2/3 or more of my around-ear headphones that are way less comfy than the MOE.

That's good. On-ears are cartalidge-crushers for my Howdy Doody ears. No such thing as a comfortable pair.

Tim

 

[Asamel]

Easily correctable? Explain.

 

[dalethorn]

Easily correctable? Explain.

Most headphones at the $240 USD price level and below deviate quite a bit from the audiophile ideal of a smooth freq. response. I'm not suggesting a flat response necessarily, allowing for differences of opinion on what is truly neutral. But given a response that's acceptable to a large percentage of audiophiles, the deviations from that, and from a smooth curve, make most headphones in that price range unusable for me. Most in fact are unusable for me in the absolute sense, since the simple EQ curves available in iTunes devices (or computers) are not sufficient to correct these headphones' response deviations without creating roughness in the response - a common problem with simple EQ. But there are a few headphones that correct very well, and the MOE is one of those. I have a large collection of audiophile downloads in a number of genres, and the MOE does very well in all of them. It's not perfect, but it gets closer than any other $240 or less headphone I'm aware of.

When the EQ isn't simple, and requires an equalizer to correct more than one part of the spectrum, I bow out of that analysis since it's too specialized. My long experience with equalizers taught me that EQ'ing beyond a simple correction curve nearly always produces problems, unless there are at least 30 bands and I have a good way to manage those bands to apply the perfect correction curve. The Dirac-type DSP is very promising, but isn't available for full-size headphones yet. I mentioned i-devices above for their simple EQ selections, but that can apply to any brand or system as long as the curves are known to the user so they can match to their headphones' requirements if necessary.

It is true that EQ applied by i-devices or by computers running software such as Foobar2000 is applied in advance of the DAC by reducing some of the digital resolution, so purists might object to applying that type of digital EQ. However, it doesn't make sense that a purist would be listening to a highly colored $240 headphone anyway - the colorations, including the serious rolloff of the MOE, are far more serious than the loss of resolution by digital EQ. I trust my ears on that.

 

[Keith_W]

I am thinking of getting another pair of headphones to listen to while I am sitting in front of my computer. The most important consideration (next to sound quality) is that it must not leak sound. Can you comment on whether these headphones suffer from sound leak at all? Also, how do they compare to the HD800? I love the sound of the HD800, but it is off the list because it leaks sound.

 

[dalethorn]

I am thinking of getting another pair of headphones to listen to while I am sitting in front of my computer. The most important consideration (next to sound quality) is that it must not leak sound. Can you comment on whether these headphones suffer from sound leak at all? Also, how do they compare to the HD800? I love the sound of the HD800, but it is off the list because it leaks sound.

The MOE leaks a little, but less than 1/1000 as much as the HD800. The MOE with the treble boost is not as bright as the HD800, has a better bass than the HD800, and overall has a more uneven response (the HD800 is very smooth). The one thing that sets the HD800 apart from every other headphone I've used is the upper harmonic detail. The MOE is good, but not a competitor for the HD800. Still, the MOE with the treble boost is a good hi-fi experience, not a "fun" headphone with severe colorations as some reviewers seem to enjoy.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

I am thinking of getting another pair of headphones to listen to while I am sitting in front of my computer. The most important consideration (next to sound quality) is that it must not leak sound. Can you comment on whether these headphones suffer from sound leak at all? Also, how do they compare to the HD800? I love the sound of the HD800, but it is off the list because it leaks sound.

The HD800 is probably the best dynamic headphone on the market right now, arguably the best headphone on the market right now, depending on your preferences. If you want to reach for that kind of quality in closed cans, you'll need to listen to sets like the Denon AHD7100 and the Fostex TH-900, and they still won't get you all the way there. Sealed headphones have come a long way in recent years, but I still don't think they can be made to sound as good as the best open cans. If you don't mind the feel, you might also consider IEM. No leak, very good isolation (you won't be able to hear your wife talking, even during quiet passages ) and some remarkably smooth, even response. Expensive Shures and Etymotics are a great place to start.

Everything you wanted to now about headphones and then some:http://www.headphone.com/index.php

Tim

 

[dalethorn]

The HD800 is probably the best dynamic headphone on the market right now, arguably the best headphone on the market right now, depending on your preferences. If you want to reach for that kind of quality in closed cans, you'll need to listen to sets like the Denon AHD7100 and the Fostex TH-900, and they still won't get you all the way there. Sealed headphones have come a long way in recent years, but I still don't think they can be made to sound as good as the best open cans. If you don't mind the feel, you might also consider IEM. No leak, very good isolation (you won't be able to hear your wife talking, even during quiet passages ) and some remarkably smooth, even response. Expensive Shures and Etymotics are a great place to start. Everything you wanted to now about headphones and then some:http://www.headphone.com/index.php Tim

The B&O H6 for $400 USD is a great closed headphone for the price.

 

[Keith_W]

Thanks for the replies guys. Tim, I already have a few IEM's - I have the Etymotic ER-4P, Ultimate Ears TF10P, and Sennheiser IE800. I use them when I am commuting, but at home I prefer headphones.

dalethorn I agree that the HD800's sound a little thin but they are very smooth and very open. In fact, I heard them back to back against a Stax SR-507 and I thought they were utterly destroyed by the Stax. They make the HD800 sound mechanical and "engineered" by comparison - where the Stax sounds rich, with a beautiful fat midrange, the Sennheisers sounded dry and analytical. It makes you think one headphone was designed by music lovers and the other by engineers ... if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, the Stax is also off the list, because it leaks even more sound than the HD800's.

I will investigate the closed headphones mentioned in this thread. I haven't heard a pair of closed headphones that have impressed me yet, which is a pity.

 

[dalethorn]

I agree that the HD800's sound a little thin but they are very smooth and very open. In fact, I heard them back to back against a Stax SR-507 and I thought they were utterly destroyed by the Stax. They make the HD800 sound mechanical and "engineered" by comparison....

The Sennheiser sound as it were does impress lots of people that way, but your impression would be better with the right amp. Now I can't speak for the Stax, but compared to any dynamic headphone I've heard, the upper harmonic details with the HD800 are far superior. Try the Lehmann Black Cube for one example. But the HD800 is so much better than any of the dynamics, you can hear the difference on an iPhone, and that's not kidding.