Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear Headphones Review

Sennheiser Momentum Introduction

If you've stepped into an audio store of any kind, or the headphone section of a big box store, you know the name Sennheiser. The first "real" headphones I bought were Sennheisers. I used them until the pleather on the cups cracked and started sticking to my ears (they were on-ears). I remember buying them and thinking I was a crazy person for spending $50 (might have been $80, I can't honestly remember) on headphones. Before that, headphones were something that came with the walk (and later disc) man. You didn't buy them - you received them with your purchase.

I've been fortunate (if you want to call it that) that I was never really one for concerts when I was young and impressionable. Many people in the audio world will tout their long history of live concerts as part of their resume. Well, I've heard plenty of live music but in more controlled settings (bars, nightclubs, orchestras, etc) plus I'm a musician (or was back when I was younger - piano and bass) but concerts aren't my thing. The few I've been to have been good ones (I saw Primus and Pixies open for Jane's Addiction in San Fransisco back in the day) but I always left with ringing ears.

While one concert won't damage your hearing, repeatedly exposing yourself to loud sounds can.

Curious about my hearing, I had myself tested. People mostly have themselves tested when they think they have hearing loss. The audiologist was surprised that I was there to see how well I could hear. To the best of his ability to detect, I had no discernible hearing loss. The headphones he used to test me?

Sennheisers.

The Momentum series is the newest line from Sennheiser They are priced in the getting-more-crowded-by-the-second $350 range of headphones. To my mind, this is the tipping point of headphone purchases. If you are willing to spend $50, you are probably willing to spend $100. If you are willing to spend $130, you'll probably spend $180. But if you are willing to spend over $180-$200, you'll probably stretch your budget to around $300. After that, you stop asking what people will spend because the sky is the limit. Those shopping in the $300-$350 bracket are connoisseurs that just aren't sure they need to drop four figures on a set of cans and probably don't have a headphone amp lying around. They want the best possible performance they can get in a package that they'll proudly show off to their friends. A bit of it is showing off, for sure, but sound quality will be paramount.

Momentum First Impressions

As you'd expect with $350 headphones, the Sennheiser Momentums came in a very nice box with a very professional design. Inside, the case was enclosed in black foam that was carved out to perfectly fit the case. The large case. The ridiculously large case. Just look at it.

 

Okay, I should have put something in the pic for reference. It is about the size of a baseball cap

Okay, Sennheiser is making a statement with the Momentum case. The Momentums, regardless of name, are not for exercising or traveling. Yes, you can take the case with you and yes, you'll probably have to count it as a second checked bag, but the real purpose of the case is two fold. First, it will protect the headphones. The case is firm but not hard, The edges are reinforced and the flat surfaces are thickly padded. The outside and in are covered in a soft fabric that just begs to be touched. And thus we arrive at the second purpose of the case - to convey the sense of quality. While the case may be overly large and impractical for a lot things we expect cases to do (make travel easier, compact the headphones), they do tell the world that you have headphones. Not only that, you have QUALITY headphones. Someone will look at your hatbox-sized case and ask you about it. And you'll say it is for your headphones. Eyebrows will be raised, impressions will be made, and you'll walk away with your head held high.

Theoretically.

Once the case is opened, you'll find the Momentum headphones and a small compartment. The Momentums have the more traditional (and coming back in style) exposed slide mechanism. The cable plugs into the left headphone to help you remember which side is which. The inside of the metal slide is etched with an R or L and there is are three braille dots on the left side. The cable is removable but it is not interchangeable with other cables. There is a twist lock to keep the cable from pulling loose accidentally and the connector is smaller than the traditional 3.5mm plug.

    

The compartment cover is covered in velco so it sticks anywhere inside the case

There are two included cables, both 1.4 meters. The one that comes connected to the Momentum headphones has the inline controls and a very interesting termination. The end has an adjustable right-angle connector which you can adjust from straight to ninety degrees to the side. The angle is hard to adjust so you'll have to do it manually and it will stay where you put it. I'm in love with this termination as it makes it very easy to use the headphones no matter where your gear is located. I often connect to my phone which will alternate between being on a table, in my back pocket, and in the side pocket of cargo shorts/pants which all could benefit from slightly different connector angles. My only complaint is that they only included the adjustable termination on the cable with the in-line controls. The other cable has a traditional, straight termination. I don't know why they didn't include this killer termination on both cables.

Ooooh...shiny

The in-line controls are very shiny with rounded front and back with tapered sided. There are raised plus and minus signs and a Sennheiser logo on the center button. While it looks like this would make the controls easy to find without being able to see them, it actually doesn't work all that well. I found myself having to run my finger up and down the control unit and estimating which of the raised areas was the center, plus, or minus. I could do it but an indentation at the center button works much better. The control unit does look pretty though. 

The cables are rubber coated rather than the more fashionable fabric coat or flat cable I've been seeing more and more of lately. Let me give Sennheiser a slow clap for this one. The rubber coated cable might not be as sexy as some of the other cable solutions but it has one thing going for it - it is far better at suppressing noise transference to the headphone. Sure, it might not be as interesting feeling as a fabric cable and it might not be as resistant to tangles as a flat cable but it also doesn't introduce noise to your playback every time to move your head.

It's looking at you

Sennheiser Momentum Fit and Comfort

The Sennheiser Momentums weigh 190 grams or about 6.7 ounces or 0.42 pounds. At this weight, the top band doesn't really become much of an issue for comfort. Sennheiser has used premium materials with the Momentum series headphones and that includes leather over the band and the cups. The band has a slight amount of padding which is really too firm to be called comfortable. I wouldn't call it uncomfortable since the headphones don't really weigh on you all that much but they certainly could have put some softer padding up there.

Hand stitched by...okay, I made that up. Could use some more padding though

The leather on the band is held down by for screws on each side. There is small plate on the outward-facing side of the band that displays Sennheiser on one side and Momentum on the other. The post that holds the earcup onto the slide arm has the Sennheiser logo etched into is. The slid mechanism works well though it is a bit hard to adjust. This can be seen as a good thing as the Momentums become a "set and forget" headphone. There is no ability to collapse the headphones into a smaller size. The fit is snug but not uncomfortable and my smallest head (I wear small to medium motorcycle helmets if that helps you at all) had the Momentum fit adjustment about midway through its range. If you have an extremely large noggin, you'll want to try these on before you buy. For the rest, you'll probably be okay.

For some reason these four screws were my favorite design element

When I first received the Momentum headphones, I thought they were their on-ear models (they make two different sizes). I have smallish ears (luckily given the size of my head) and I still doubted I could get my ears inside the Momentums. I could, but just barely. If you have large ears, these are going to be on-ears for you. I'm actually surprised that Sennheiser made the earcups so small - they certainly had space in the case for larger earcups. This is probably my biggest complaint with they Momentums though it really didn't affect me. Again, if you have larger ears, you'll want to put these on first.

More of an earshotglass than an earcup really

Momentums in Motion

The Momentums were so light that there was really nothing I couldn't do with them on. While I'm not one for exercising with on or over ear headphone on, I know there are people that do such things. With the weight and snug fit of the Momentums, I could easily see them going wherever you want. For long listening sessions, the Momentums provided enough comfort though I wouldn't call them the most comfortable I've ever felt. The top band is a bit hard but the earcups more than make up for this with their lush feel and supple leather covering.

The cord comes out with a twist and is easy to switch out. I'm always surprised that companies make the decision to go with non-standard cables for their headphones when they make their cables removable. I can see why - if you make the connection proprietary, you make sure they have to buy from you. But with 3.5mm being a fairly universal connection in headphones, going with something else seems elitist to me. In particular, the V-MODA BoomPro mic is a cable I would have loved to use with the Momentums. It has a standard 3.5mm connection that won't work which Sennheiser's offering.

Proprietary connection - the bane of aftermarket dealers worldwide

Adjusting the Momentums was slightly different than any other headphone I've used. Because of the design of the post connection for the earcups to the slide bar, I could place the cups perfectly on my ears and then rotate the band forward and back a bit to get the perfect fit. It wasn't a huge amount of movement, you couldn't rotate it behind your neck or anything, but it did give you a few degrees of freedom. It was enlightening to me to find how much of a difference this could make in the long-term comfort of the Momentums. A slight adjustment made enough of a difference so that I could find the perfect place on my head so that the band didn't press down on an uncomfortable spot or on that little ball they put on the top of baseball caps.

Sennheiser Momentum Sound Quality Tests

The meat and potatoes of any headphone review is how it sounds. Well, in short, the Sennheiser Momentums sound fantastic. At the $300 price point, they easily trump any other headphone I've reviewed. EASILY. Now go buy them.

Wait, you wanted more? Okay.

These are the headphones you're looking for

Sennheiser claims a 16Hz to 22kHz frequency response with the Momentums to which I respond. "Really? That's the story you're sticking too? Alright then." I see such frequency response claims all the time and, while they may be technically true, the question I would always like answered is "At what volume?" I played some test tones and it seemed to me that the usable bass dropped off somewhere closer to 25-30Hz. If that sounds disappointing to you, you've spent too much time on the forums worrying about whether your wife will divorce you if you buy a sub big enough to serve Thanksgiving dinner on.

I paired the Sennheiser Momentums with the Emotiva Stealth DC-1 DAC and headphone amp. I also tested them with my phone and directly connected to the headphone output of my laptop. While the Sennheisers aren't the easiest to drive headphones, they certainly will get loud enough with any device. On my computer I never felt the need to max out the volume though I spent most of my time in the upper third to quarter of the volume control. My phone was about the a bit higher. This means that while the Momentums will benefit from some external amplification, they certainly don't demand it. The Emotiva simply allowed me to feed the Momentums the cleanest signal, free of jitter, with all the power the Sennheisers could want.

    

SWEET!

To answer the most important question to most Audioholics and audiophiles - the Sennheiser headphones sound very linear through the bass and midrange to me. There is a dip near the top of the frequency response but that is pretty standard with headphones (take a look at literally any graph of headphone frequency response and you'll see a dip). The top end is definitely laid back but not at the expense of detail. Too often headphones will get shrill as they get louder and I end up having to temper the volume not on what I think is safe, but on where the headphones make me wince. That never happened with the Momentums.

While the bass wasn't extended as low as I might have wanted, it was very well controlled. Even with the test tones, I could tell that they had done a good job keeping any fluttering or noise out of the playback. When the bass was present, however, it is quite impressive. More than once during the course of this review I checked the headphones to see if they were physically vibrating. They weren't but I still checked. At times they feel like they want to jump off your head.

Still shiny!

But the best part of these headphones is how they get out of the way of the music. Nothing really sounded out of place or garbled. The bass, in particular, wasn't overdone or distorted. On the top end, there were moments when I thought the extension could be better but the smoothness of the presentation had that complaint quickly forgotten. The Sennheiser's were particularly responsive to very quick sounds. Trills on the top of a piano came through clearer (if softer) than any other headphone in my arsenal. At lower volume levels the bass dropped off as you would expect but the Momentums still sounded very clear.

I wonder if they wish they had gone with a shorter name so they didn't have to make the font so small

Imaging and soundstage were also very impressive. Pans from side to side were convincing though I was most impressed when a pan went not just side to side through my head, but also over the top as if it had followed the headband. I happen to know through an experience with some $20k a pair electrostatic speakers that this was by design of the recording artist - I was just surprised to hear a pair of $350 headphones do it.

Lastly, the real reason I like headphones with a flatter frequency response is because you can use them with any music. The bass emphasis on just about every headphone being released these days make highly compressed as well as very specific types of music sound good. But once you step away from those genres and you find the bass distracting. That never happens with the Momentums and that means they are a great all-around headphone - something that is hard to find these days.

Think how much smaller this zipper pull could be if their name was SH or Senn

Value

During the course of this review, I've seen the price of the Momentums vary from full down to $300. Our practice is to only consider the MSRP in the value rating. I have a number of $300-$350 that I can use to compare with the Momentums but the V-MODA Crossfade M-100s are the most direct competitor. I found the Crossfades to have a lot going for them but they are a bass heavy headphone. From a sonic standpoint, the Momentums are a clear winner to my ear. There is less bass bloat, better detail, and an overall more "audiophile" sound. But in nearly every other category, the M-100s win. They are more portable, they earcups are bigger, the band is softer and more comfortable, and their detachable cable uses the standard 3.5mm connection. But if I want to listen to music and have both headphones sitting on the same table, which will I reach for? Yeah, the Sennheisers win because, in the end, sonics are what is most important to me. Note that with these two headphones, it is a game of inches and you may very well feel differently. I urge you to try both and let your ears decide.

Conclusion

The Sennheiser Momentum headphones are not the most expensive headphones that Sennheiser makes. Not by a long shot. But for $350, you're going to have a hard time finding something that sounds much better. While they do have small earcups for an over-ear headphone and the headband isn't the most comfortable, the sonics more than make up for these issues. I've reviewed a lot of headphones but these are the first from Sennheiser. If this is the quality of headphone they put out, I can see why they are one of the biggest names in headphones. The Momentums are a great headphone and you should give them a listen.

Sennheiser Momentum Over-Ear Headphones

MSRP: $349.95

www.sennheiser.com

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Ergonomics & Usability
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value